3A Flame Maple
Appearance: White, with especially vivid striped grain patterns.
Tone: Bright, with a good bite and attack that isn’t brittle.
Weight: Medium
Finish: Required. Dense, closed grain is easy to finish. Looks best with clear gloss.
Feel: Hard, smooth, and fast.
While there are several maple species that show the flame figure, the only one hard enough for making necks is Acer saccharum. Blanks with a "AAA"designation are unusually highly figured and extremely beautiful.