Mismatched tops

[sleepingtiger]

Am I the only one who has noticed that Ricks never seem to have tops that are any way near bookmatched? It seems almost haphazard! Anybody have a clue as to why?

Tony

[johnhall]

We don't book match nor do the specs call for it; we don't market or promote them as having that feature. However, they are end-grain matched, which is to say the left and right halves are the next blank cut from the same board.

Probably the main reason for not doing this is that fact that we have no tradition of doing so. Our line has remained rather evolutionary from the original 50's Spanish guitars and that's something they never had.

Another reason is the availability of Maple lumber in the thickness required to do this; you'd have to use something like 12/4 boards on many of the models. Not only would the selection of quality boards go down exponentially, the cost would go up similarly. In addition, there's quite a bit of additional labor involved to saw, plane, and fine surface a book match set.

We certainly could do it but at a fairly significant cost that would be directly reflected in the selling price of the instrument. How much more would you be willing to pay for that strictly aesthetic feature?

[sleepingtiger]

Thanks for the quick answer. It just always seemed strange to see one side with a lot of figure & the other plain as could be. Given the obvious care & craftsmanship put into these guitars, it just seemed inconsistant.

Tanks Again,
Tony

[Clint]

I don't want to appear to be kissing up to the CEO, but I've always thought that the mismatched lumber gave Rickenbackers (and Fenders for that matter) more of a cool "working man" vibe.