Bear Claw Sitka Spruce, Better Sounding?

[idealassets]

I noticed that my F512, with some "bear claw" patterns on the top, sounds quite nice in my opinion, with an especially sweet and well blended sound. It has a few small swirls, and a larger cross-shaped pattern going parallel to the grain and 90 degrees perpendicular to the grain.

I didn't like the appearance of this when I bought it, and as a result I negotiated a slight discount from the ask price. However I noticed that the GSR F30 rosewood guitar is especially made with a bear calw grain.

I don't especially think that it is aesthetically pleasing, but what is the consensus about the sound quality versus a "plain" grained top?

Thank you,
Craig

 

[idealassets]

I noticed that my F512, with some "bear claw" patterns on the top

Here's an image of the top:

Not all the bear claw swirls show up, but you can see the "cross" on the lower bass bout, going vertically down from the strap button, and across from the 20th fret.

Craig

 

[davismanLV]

I believe that the "bear-claw" issue is mostly an aesthetic consideration. Although it seems that most bear-claw sitka spruce is of fairly high quality, and used mostly on higher end guitars. I don't think the phenomenon effects sound, just appearance. However, its presence does indicate a high quality of spruce.

I think we've talked about this before. Some people love it, some don't care for it at all. I, personally, think it's awesome. I love pattern and figure in wood.

I'll attach this quote from Dana Bourgeois regarding the spruce of this type:

"Before leaving the spruces, I should mention bearclaw figure, or hazelficte-a delightful pattern in the grain occasionally occurring in all species of spruce. Bearclaw, like the curl in curly maple, is a rippling of the longitudinal fibers, which divides the surface of the wood into shimmering patterns. Unlike the even waves that usually occur in maple, bearclaw usually appears on asymmetrical or randomly broken patterns. This phenomenon almost always occurs in older trees that have dense, stiff grain structure and high sound velocity. Thus bearclaw is usually a reliable indicator of the better examples of tonewoods within any given species of spruce."

Which would tend to confirm my earlier statements.

 

[southernGuild]

:wink: Great answer Tom. It's very informative, and personally, I would agree on all counts. I just love the look of the bearclaw.
Beautiful guitar Craig.

 

[charliea]

My 512 has a lot of bear claw which I tried to photograph, with no success. The guitar sounds fabulous. I don't have a clue about Guild's standards for spruce tops. They've never seemed to worry about runout. My 412 has a good bit of it, and I think it adds to the appearance of the 'burst guitar, but there are those who won't buy an instrument that has it.

 

[SFIV1967]

Some of the GSR F-30 Rosewood's have a spectacular looking bear claw sitka top!
And they sound very full and loud, but they also use "Master Grade Indian Rosewood".

Or look at this piece of wood from a Breedlove guitar.
Breedlove said: "Lateral wood figure reinforces the stiffness of Sitka Spruce.
This stiffness and strength yields pure round root notes. Punchy and clear."

Ralf

 

[SFIV1967]

My 512 has a lot of bear claw which I tried to photograph here, with very limited success. The guitar sounds fabulous. I don't have a clue about Guild's standards for spruce tops. They've never seemed to worry about runout. My 412 has a good bit of it, and I think it adds to the appearance of the 'burst guitar, but there are those who won't buy an instrument that has it.

@Charliea: I am not sure but in that picture I don't see any bear claw pattern?
Ralf

 

[hojo199]

My D30 is loaded with it; it's a fine sounding guitar, an extraordinary toned instrument -- almost a freak .... Coincidence? Don't know.

 

[SFIV1967]

Another chart here, also from Breedlove:

And to compliment it with the body woods:

So "better sounding" always depends what you want to do with the guitar and what style of guitar it is.
Ralf

 

[SFIV1967]

And a bit of "over the top" bear claw sitka!

Ralf

 

[Greenwoods]

I've read a lot of differing opinions on bearclaw. My personal feeling, based on nothing other than gut reaction, is that the bear claw pattern in and of itself should NOT relate to improved tone. In fact logic might say just the opposite to be the case. HOWEVER, the presence of bearclaw can also be indicative of a tonewood that ITSELF is superior but not due per se to the claw pattern itself.

The compounding factor is that you would have to look VERY hard two find 2 identical guitars one claw and one straight grain to compare side by side. And even then, the top is only part of the sound equation.

I would have to say that among my herd some of the "best" sounding guitars are indeed bearclaw, but that probably has more to do with the fact that they are "better" guitars to begin with, independent of claw or not.

 

[charliea]

My 512 has a lot of bear claw which I tried to photograph here, with very limited success. The guitar sounds fabulous. I don't have a clue about Guild's standards for spruce tops. They've never seemed to worry about runout. My 412 has a good bit of it, and I think it adds to the appearance of the 'burst guitar, but there are those who won't buy an instrument that has it.

@Charliea: I am not sure but in that picture I don't see any bear claw pattern?
Ralf

Yeah, my photography stinks. I dropped the pic.

 

[Ridgemont]

Going off of Ralf's comments, I think there is a difference between bearclaw and the stripes we see in Sitka.

 

[SFIV1967]

Some more examples:

Ralf

 

[Scratch]

Bearclaw fan here. My GF-25 is all the more special for it:

 

[hojo199]

This is a public photo. I think you will be able to see it.

• http://s1132.photobucket.com/albums...535287113_1226075129_33449999_797990151_n.jpg

 

[fronobulax]

This is a public photo. I think you will be able to see it.

• http://s1132.photobucket.com/albums...535287113_1226075129_33449999_797990151_n.jpg

or (for us Lazy folks)

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

I still remember when Bear Claw wood was rejected for guitar tops.
Then as wood became harder to obtain, smart business people got us thinking that Bear Claw was cool.
The plan worked and today we not only accept Bear Claw, some of us seek it.
I don't have a problem with Bear Claw myself, in fact I'm one of the people that like it.

Does Bear Claw affect the tone/sound of a guitar?
I have not heard that it has any affect.

 

[SFIV1967]

Does Bear Claw affect the tone/sound of a guitar?
I have not heard that it has any affect.

There are endless discussions on other forums about that topic. Breedlove thinks it sounds different, see my previous charts I posted above. Also I read that Bearclaw sitka tops are denser and stiffer, and denser, stiffer tops can be thinned further for added tonal and dynamic range. So that might have an influence.
Somebody else said that the bearclaw phenomenon almost always occurs in older trees that have dense, stiff grain structure and high sound velocity. Thus bearclaw is usually a reliable indicator of the better examples of tonewoods within any given species of spruce.
Ralf

 

[idealassets]

I didn't like the bear claw on my guitar at first, just the sound, and the reduced price that I negotiated. But it is not that prominant, so today I don't really mind it.

I have seen a few guitar images for sale where the bear claw looked badly placed on the top pattern, and quite unnatractive in my opinion. In other cases it is evenly spread and resembles birds-eye maple, that looks quite nice.

So far I am a bear claw fan as long as it doesn't look too radical or unnatractive on the guitar.

Its unfortunate that most bear claw tops don't image very well, or I would begin a photo archive of it.

Craig