How much of a difference does the Epi maple top make?

[Dave]

Biff, I can see where Gibson would change the construction methods from time to time. The wood is different, but the construction is the same. All you can go by is what you see and that's what I saw on the episode of "Some Assembly Required". They had stacks of what looked like 2x6 and 2x2 mahogany and there were many variations in color. The line guys picked matches and glued and stacked them, along with the mahogany top, then placed them into a press. From there, they went into a "wheel" which is a machine that rotates and a worker places the glued body blanks in the machine and it rotates to put them into the assembly line where they are routed and sawn by a computer controlled robotic router. It even routes the shape of the carved top.

 

The body is made of quarter sawn wood. For those of you who aren't familar with the term, QS means that the plank is cut from the outer edge to the middle of the tree, as opposed to flat sawn where the tree is placed on a saw and the plank is sawn where the grain viewed from the end shows the rings as circular patterns in the end grain (kind of like a meat slicer). Quarter sawn wood viewed from the end will have vertical grain lines across the short side.

 

I guess this would be a good place for the moderator to step in and clear up this issue. Maybe there is a link they can provide with pictures.

[Biff]

I guess this would be a good place for the moderator to step in and clear up this issue. Maybe there is a link they can provide with pictures.

 

From experience, they won't.

 

But it's okay though, no need to argue - you're okay anyway as long as you buy the "better" guitars at a shop where you can check the number of pieces from the butt at the strap button. I think it's only a question of aesthetics whether the LP is made of 3 or 4 pieces.

 

My ebony LPC's top has two seams under the finish, so that much for the similarities between the Gibsons and the Epiphones..