Buying Spruce in Billets

[Robert Freemond]

Hi everyone, I've just purchased a billet of Spruce so as to cut my own tops & save a little cash. I was able to get 6.5 tops. The bad news is that -every piece- has either a dark streak, or a knot in a place that cannot be avoided, so it's all unusable. My question is, Has anyone dealt with this situation before ? The guy was so helpful & trusting about the money that I feel bad in complaining. Should he have been able to tell the quality before hand or is it always a Crapshoot & buyer be ware ?

[Clay Schaeffer]

Was there a dark streak or knot showing on the surface of the billet? One reason low grade tops are available is because of hidden imperfections in the wood. Tonewood sawyers don't intentionally cut 2nd quality tops, they are just the "run of the mill". I have had tops that were cut to rough dimension (1/4 inch thick) that looked good, but when sanded to final dimension showed pitch pockets and pin knots.
It is rare that a top can't be used for some purpose, perhaps a smaller instrument, or a four piece top with the streak cut out of it. Knots can sometimes be "moved" to a part of the soundboard that will be cut away or hidden under the fretboard. Cosmetic flaws can sometimes be hidden by finishing techniques - sunbursts and "blackface" instruments.
It's possible that the best use for that billet was to make brace wood from it. If you have a lemon, make lemonade.
A rock shop I used to visit sold uncut geodes. The shop owner would cut them for you after you purchased them. He didn't guarantee what you might find inside, crystals or mud. You made your choice and took your chances. I think resawing billets is much the same. The next one might bring you some real gems.

[Clay Schaeffer]

One other thing about that rock shop - he also sold cut geodes. The good ones were considerably more money than the ones you bought uncut and unknown.

[Robert Freemond]

The one good thing about a bad Geode is it can be used as a paper weight. I guess, in my case - Fire wood would be the one good thing but seriously, I was really asking if anyone had encountered similar situations & how they dealt with it.
Thanks for your help Clay.

[Arnt Rian]

I can't tell you how to handle the situation around your purchase as we don't really know all the details, but I do know that you can't always know what a billet will look like on the inside until you have opened it up. "Surprises" like the ones you have found are to expected now and then, and cannot always be predicted, even for professionals. That is one reason we have to pay a premium for nice, clear top sets over billets or logs; someone has to pay for all the scrap too!

[Robert Freemond]

Seemed like a good idea at the time. I garnered 6 tops for $100.00. Maybe I'll try again. Thanks Arnt.

[Rodger Knox]

I resaw almost all the wood I use, except for spruce tops. The top is the most important piece of wood in the guitar, and very good top wood is readily available at reasonable prices. If I could get a log for free I'd certainly mill it into tops (or bracewood ), but buying a board to resaw into tops seems like false economy to me.YMMV

[Clay Schaeffer]

Six "A" grade tops for $100 might not be too good of a deal, but Six "Master grade" tops would be a steal. It all depends on the billet. Although some things are outwardly obvious, many things remain unknown until the wood is sawn into tops. Chuck Tweedy mentioned resawing some grungy looking cocobolo others had passed by, to reveal some beautiful color and grain. Sometimes we get lucky, and sometimes we are just "paying for our education "

Good quality top wood can be bought for reasonable prices by buying multiple sets.
Do sellers "grade" billets like they do soundboard sets?

[Bryan Bear]

I think the cost differential between tops and bullets represents the risk involved. The tops are more expensive because the sawyer has had to eat the losses it took to find the good tops. If you buy a billet, you assume that risk. You may get lucky, you may not. If you couldn't tell that it was bad before you resawed it, he probably couldn't either. . .

I know I haven't seen the tops you ended up with, but I would be surprised if firewood is your best "lemonade" option (am I mixing metaphors?). If you are only interested in building guitars (without colored finishes) they may be of no use to you, but a uke/dulcimer/mandolin. . . builder could make use of them. I'd either give them to someone locally who builds smaller instruments or hang on to them for that day when you decide to do something different.

[Robert Freemond]

It's all good advise - Thanks Bryan.