Some detailed pics of my Edwards Page Relic top and hardware

rick66 · Jun 25, 2007

here are some pics of my page relic. what is confusing me is where i read somewhere (forgot where) that said the tops on these guitars are laminate. looking at these pics, it doesn't look like that is true? the last one is a pic of my tone pros bridge and lightweight tailpiece.

deoreo · Jun 25, 2007

You need to look and see if the centerline in the top matches the centerline of the maple cap.

If the cap centerline and top surface centerline match up, you need to look at the end grain in the pick-up cavity, and see that it matches up to the grain pattern of the top surface.

Here is a picture that shows the cap seam offset from the laminate top seam:

Here is a picture that shows a solid center seam top, in person, or with a magnifier, you can follow the grain from the side of the pick-up route to the top:

Hope this helps.

marcusnieman · Jun 25, 2007

Great, descriptive pics....

rick66 · Jun 25, 2007

very nice. thanks for taking the time to offer your guidance. based on what i have then, it appears as though my page does not have a laminate top then? you can see in my pic i have posted that the centerline of the top matches the centerline when viewed from the cavity. would you all agree?

tudor · Jun 25, 2007

rick66 said:
here are some pics of my page relic. what is confusing me is where i read somewhere (forgot where) that said the tops on these guitars are laminate

Rick,

I have always claimed that the JP and JS have solid tops ... I've never seen a JP with a lam top ... !!! :evil:
Here's the discussion perhaps you've mentioned above ...

http://forum.japanaxe.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=411

BTW - Congrats on yours ... a great guitar, m8 ... !!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Roger

BaggyPants · Jun 25, 2007

I'm having trouble seeing the seam inside your pickup cavity. The grain of the wood appears to be uninterupted from one side to the other, so it appears to not have a join at all.

rick66 · Jun 25, 2007

yep tudor, that's the one. that got me wondering so i took apart the axe yesterday and snapped the pics. looks like my pics are one more to add in an effort to indicate that page relics are made with solid tops. wow. long tenon, solid top and buid qulaity second to none. for $1,000.00. can't beat that.

deoreo · Jun 25, 2007

rick66 said:
You can see in my pic i have posted that the centerline of the top matches the centerline when viewed from the cavity. would you all agree?

Hard to tell, as BaggyPants said, the grain appears to be uninterupted thru the pick-up cavity. Also, the grain of the cap seems very wide compared to the tight grain of the top. - But details like that are hard to make out in pictures.

In this picture I drew lines that follow the grain of the cap, and it appears to go right thru the centerline of the top:

Usually the seam of the cap is very well defined.

rick66 · Jun 25, 2007

thanks for the input. i don't know how you were able to add the arrow in your pic, but, if you look at my pic, you can see a very faint horizontal line (just a little bit below the top) running accross the width of the pick-up cavity. is this an indicator of the possible laminate top? i can't get any better pics than these unless there is something else you could suggest for me to take a pic of. thanks again.

tudor · Jun 25, 2007

rick66 said:
thanks for the input. i don't know how you were able to add the arrow in your pic, but, if you look at my pic, you can see a very faint horizontal line (just a little bit below the top) running accross the width of the pick-up cavity. is this an indicator of the possible laminate top? i can't get any better pics than these unless there is something else you could suggest for me to take a pic of. thanks again.

You mean this line, Iguess ...

... NO - it's no lam, because at the edges it is too thin ... I think it comes from the edge of the pup or the saw or the molding tool ... the lines of the wood are continuous from the bottom to the top ...

Roger

rick66 · Jun 25, 2007

yep roger, that's the one. from all indications, it appears pretty certain then that my top is solid, ie., no laminate??

thanks all for the help here. i really do appreciate it.

deoreo · Jun 25, 2007

rick66 said:
From all indications, it appears pretty certain then that my top is solid, ie., no laminate??

I hate to break it to you, but that is a laminate top over a maple cap.

Carefully look at these pictures of a particularly fine solid top Tokai LS320:

This example clearly shows how the seam in the top, and in the pick-up cavity match up.
It also illustrates very well the grain pattern in the routed out area for the pick-up matching up with the grain on the top surface.

Not all examples are this easy to see, but the center seam is generally very easy to see.

Most likely the maple cap of yours is a 3 piece, that is why no seam is showing up in the pick-up cavity.

rick66 · Jun 25, 2007

understood. thanks for the detail.

tudor · Jun 25, 2007

deoreo said:
I hate to break it to you, but that is a laminate top over a maple cap

It's funny ... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Deoreo, with all respect ... it's a nice top you've showed ... but I will show you the lam cap over a maple top of my 90LTS ... the lam has a thickness of 0,5 cm, the solid maple beneath 1,0 cm ... that's the way a laminated cap is looking ...

... and the solid 2p of my Gibbo ...

... do you see the lines going up to the surface ??? ... and so it is on his !!!

Roger

rick66 · Jun 25, 2007

the more i looked at my pics and the top of my guitar, the more i'm beginning to agree with roger. plus, if my top was anything more than 2 pieces, wouldn't there be a seam visible on the top or when viewed from inside the pick up cavity?

benrod · Jun 25, 2007

NO WAY IS THAT A SOLID TOP! deoreo's photo with the black line's show it to be a laminate top! - i have 2 edwards j.p. and they both are a thin laminate top( about 3/32 thick) .

tudor · Jun 26, 2007

benrod said:
NO WAY IS THAT A SOLID TOP! deoreo's photo with the black line's show it to be a laminate top! - i have 2 edwards j.p. and they both are a thin laminate top( about 3/32 thick) .

Pics ???

Roger

deoreo · Jun 26, 2007

rick66 said:
If my top was anything more than 2 pieces, wouldn't there be a seam visible on the top or when viewed from inside the pick up cavity?

No, a three piece top is made up of a center section, with "wings" added to the sides. Here is a picture that belongs to BaggyPants, that shows an unfinished 3-piece top. I added arrows showing the seam lines:

japanstrat · Jun 26, 2007

The 3 piece seams above are exactly like my Tobacco Burst Greco EG-500 and some of the early K Orville burst LP's and the low end Tokai burst 3 piece top models and some Gibson burst 1970's models and some higher end non burst models (like a white LP) where they can use a 3 piece top on non burst models because no one can see through the solid colour and they can also put a thin 2 piece veneer over a 3 piece maple top so it looks like a 2 piece centre seam top, they do this also with mexican Strats where the body is 5 or 7 pieces of wood and they put a thin veneer over the top for the burst models so it looks like the body is made from 2 pieces of wood.
Sometimes the 3 piece seams are matched so closely that it looks like a one piece top.

In the original image of this thread I can't see a centre seam in the maple top so it must be a very thin 2 piece veneer placed over the maple top which is a 3 (or more) piece maple top.

rick66 · Jun 26, 2007

japanstrat said:
The 3 piece seams above are exactly like my Tobacco Burst Greco EG-500 and some of the early K Orville burst LP's and the low end Tokai burst 3 piece top models and some Gibson burst 1970's models and some higher end non burst models (like a white LP) where they can use a 3 piece top on non burst models because no one can see through the solid colour and they can also put a thin 2 piece veneer over a 3 piece maple top so it looks like a 2 piece centre seam top, they do this also with mexican Strats where the body is 5 or 7 pieces of wood and they put a thin veneer over the top for the burst models so it looks like the body is made from 2 pieces of wood.
Sometimes the 3 piece seams are matched so closely that it looks like a one piece top.

In the original image of this thread I can't see a centre seam in the maple top so it must be a very thin 2 piece veneer placed over the maple top which is a 3 (or more) piece maple top.

here some more pics of the top itself. what is this line?

not trying to start any kind of problem here, just trying to educate myself. that's all.

Some detailed pics of my Edwards Page Relic top and hardware

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