Why doesn't the FMT's match either side?

[audiophile]

I always assumed on one side you are looking into the precut slab and the other side is looking out of the slab (If that makes sense).
180 degree different perspective and typically the effect is inverted between sides when illuminated.

Very rarely (if ever?) have I seen bookmatched tops that one side mirrors the other (at least at the seam).
The nature of the bookmatch. Otherwise, you get a solid top with no seam.

[toejam]

It looks like the line is the same all the way across, just one side looks lighter, the other darker. I think it's just the nature of the wood and how the stain takes to it. My old Carvin DC400 seems the same way. I don't know how the pic got crooked, though.


And a pic of a guitar I found online.

[emperor_black]

Nice guitar joe. So you're saying the SL2HT's top is already "Book matched"? I would have thought that when something says "matched" a line starting from left will continue all the way to the right with the book crease in the middle...

[toejam]

Looks pretty normal and bookmatched to me. Here's the top of my old Hamer Special FM (now owned by Travis).

[emperor_black]

I love the Flame Maple Top on my SL2HT...but whenever I look at it, I've always wondered, Why isn't one half a mirror reflection of the other? I mean, look at the picture below. Why dont the lines on one half match with the other half? I've seen guitars where the line are EXACTLY spaced out, yet there is a slight offset (either up or down) that makes a mismatch. Do they deliberately "mis-match" them? Is it more cool to have a mis-match?

Along the same lines, when the specs of a guitar says "book-matched" does it mean the lines will match?