Do you consider these tops "AAA Flamed Maple"?

[JOLLY]

No.

 

[Aceman]

Maybe 211830356....and I'm being generous.

 

[GuitarDoc]

THIS is AAA.

unplaned, unsanded boards of maple and you can see the flame being even, consistent, and all across the board.

Dang, that's some mighty fine looking wood. Maple like that is very hard to find at a reasonable price. You can easily spend $250-500 just for enough to make one top.

 

[orpheo]

Dang, that's some mighty fine looking wood. Maple like that is very hard to find at a reasonable price. You can easily spend $250-500 just for enough to make one top.

I know. I had to look hard to find a reliable source of figured maple. I have three or four I think, and I'm very pleased with them. Some are better than others, these ones are truly epic and I'll make the most out of them for sure. The black spots is not spalt, just dirt.

 

[Top-L]

I would rather just have a great veneer than stress over the quality and grading of real tops. But I realize I am not the typical Gibson buyer who is looking for traditional construction.

 

[GuitarDoc]

I would rather just have a great veneer than stress over the quality and grading of real tops.

Of course you would. (But that's not a bad thing).

But I realize I am not the typical Gibson buyer who is looking for traditional construction.

I don't think it's an issue of "traditional" construction, it has to do with quality and tone. That's not to say that some guitars with veneer tops don't have great tone nor are they not quality built. But generally, putting a veneer on the top of a guitar is a cheaper way of making a guitar look pretty, and it sometimes negatively affects the tone of a guitar. But if you are spending over $3000 on a Gibson, you have the right to expect the highest quality of every part of that guitar.

I personally feel that the effect on tone of having a veneer instead of full thickness wood has a very small impact on the tone of a guitar relative to the pickups, speakers, and amp. And the wood of the fretboard and neck have a greater impact on tone than that of the top of the body...all else being equal.

I would generally agree with you that whether the top is full-thickness AAA flamed maple or just a veneer is really not something to get stressed about, providing that you can play the guitar before buying it to be sure that the tone is what you want. But like I said, other factors are more important to tone than a veneer top.

 

[soulforger]

They have the type of figuring typical of vintage Les Pauls, with the flecks and spots that for me are perfect on a Les Paul, I don't know if that qualifies as AAA, maybe one or two of them. These do look way too yellow for "Appetite Amber" though, unless the lighting is off these look more like lemon yellow.

 

[JOLLY]

These do look way too yellow for "Appetite Amber" though, unless the lighting is off these look more like lemon yellow.

I thought the same thing.