Unique Choice, Worth It?

[Jcurl02]

For both my builds I opted to go the Unique Choice.  1) I was speing a decent amount already so I might as well have a say in the top I'm getting and 2) the book matches are usually very good but there are some the don't line up near as much as others.  That was / is important to me.  IMO the best looking examples are the ones that you can't tell there are two pieces.

 

[anorakDan]

What a great thread! Lots of tasty guitar porn and I learned a new word to boot!

Chatoyancy

Chantoyant:

1. changing in luster or color

origin: 1790-1800, French, special use of present participle of chatoyer  to change luster like a cat's eye, equivalent to chat cat 1  + -oy-  v. suffix + -ant -ant

Thanks for asking the question. Betcha didn't think there would be such great responses, didja? 

 

[rorycosgrove]

What a great thread! Lots of tasty guitar porn and I learned a new word to boot!

Chatoyancy

Chantoyant:

1. changing in luster or color

origin: 1790-1800, French, special use of present participle of chatoyer  to change luster like a cat's eye, equivalent to chat cat 1  + -oy-  v. suffix + -ant -ant

Thanks for asking the question. Betcha didn't think there would be such great responses, didja?

lol never thought there would be so much discussion. I got the answer I needed quickly, but it's cool to see all the pics and opinions

-Rory

 

[Corey P.]

My Jazz body order predated unique choice options, but when I phoned in the order I did request a higher grade top for a nominal upcharge - I asked for AAA maple, and got this:

I'm honestly not sure if phone orders are still handled the same way; basically it seems like unique choice costs vary based on the grade of the wood, so in essence it's the same process, with the bonus of having the discretion of seeing the pieces you're paying the upcharge for.

 

[stubhead]

I'm confused by the number of "A's" in grading wood. It seemed like for a long time, "AAA" was the best. But then somebody popped up sportin' some AAAA tops, and the inevitable AAAAA had to come. I sure wanna get the first six-A board - somebody, please lie to me.

Like Fonzie says - "AAAAAAAAAAAAAY...." :cool01:

 

[Cagey]

I wondered about that a couple years ago and went "In Search Of..." to find out what the criteria was for that rating system. Turns out there isn't one. Or, at least not a standard one. It's whatever some self-appointed authority sets up for themselves. So, Warmoth grades up to 3, PRS has their "10 tops", the lumber industry usually grades up to 5, and so on.

Also, there's no such thing as "Flamed Maple" or "Black Korina". Gibson's marketing weenies were the self-appointed authority that came up with those terms. It's actually "Curly Maple" and "Black Limba" to the rest of the world.