Is Bearclaw Good or Bad???

Dnunen · Unread post by **Dnunen** » Wed Feb 26, 2003 2:07 am

My Martin has some prominent bearclaw in the sitka top and I was wondering what you all think about this. I've heard good and bad. My tone is awesome, so I don't think it could be that horrible of a thing. The worst part is people always think that I've scratched up my baby. Any info to relieve my curiosity would be great.

Pickles · Unread post by **Pickles** » Wed Feb 26, 2003 3:09 pm

someone told me the top on my acoustic might be bearclaw (3 types of wood now) but it sounds/looks great. for a picture/sound sample go to the site in my signature

ticohans · Unread post by **ticohans** » Thu Feb 27, 2003 1:10 am

if it actually is bearclaw and not scratching, then it is good. there is some debate as to whether or not it does anything for the tone: some say it's better, others say it does nothing. but it does make the wood more valuealbe as the bearclaw top is considered to be more beautiful than just a regular spruce top.

shane, just so you know, it's not that your top is (or might be) bearclaw, but it's that you have some bearclaw on your spruce top.

and the markings aren't caused by bears or anything wierd like that. It's just the way the tree grew, and to someone it looked like bear claw marks, and thus the name.

dnunen, what is the model number/year on your martin??

Dnunen · Unread post by **Dnunen** » Thu Feb 27, 2003 3:07 am

Thanks for the response. It is a road series auditorium body. Perfect for a lot of finger picking that I do. I think 000-M is the model number. I have no idea when it was made but i got it brand new last year. The marks are definately bearclaw and not scratches, because they have always been there. Also, I just have a satin finish on the top and I think that makes it more evident.

gravedigger · Unread post by **gravedigger** » Thu Feb 27, 2003 10:09 am

Am I wrong or is Adirondak spruce naturally have bearclaw. I saw a picture of a Martin (I think) with Adirondak spruce top and it was beautiful. it has a finer grain than sitka but about the same color, but like had streaks on it like Lightning on the top. It looked really cool.

Pickles · Unread post by **Pickles** » Thu Feb 27, 2003 10:40 am

ticohans wrote: shane, just so you know, it's not that your top is (or might be) bearclaw, but it's that you have some bearclaw on your spruce top.
and the markings aren't caused by bears or anything wierd like that. It's just the way the tree grew, and to someone it looked like bear claw marks, and thus the name.

i know the markings arent caused by bears lol. but since ive been looking around ive been told the top could be:
1) sitka spruce
2)adirondak(??) spruce
3) bearclaw spruce
of course no one has been able to give me an answer (not even the hofner dudes) but you never know

ticohans · Unread post by **ticohans** » Thu Feb 27, 2003 12:23 pm

bearclaw isn't a specific type of spruce, but a certain growth pattern of say a skita or adirondak spruce. i couldn't really tell from the pictures of your guitar. does the top have lacy, almost kinda windswept patterns in the grain?? or was that just some reflection i was seeing??

grave, i'm almost positive, like 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% sure that bearclaw is not typical on adirondak tops

Pickles · Unread post by **Pickles** » Thu Feb 27, 2003 2:32 pm

ticohans i always thought that was a light quilt around part of it. i never thought it would be the natural design.

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Is Bearclaw Good or Bad???

Is Bearclaw Good or Bad???

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