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Hello everybody,

I am about to embark on building an acoustic with a top other than spruce. I have some mahogany and looking to buy some koa. I have always heard and read that when looking for spruce tops that the tighter and straighter the grain on the top the better. Should this hold true for other species as well. For example, looking at the sample koa selection in the picture would the center option have a better sound than the option on the right (all things being equal). I realize there is much more than just the grain orientation to consider, I guess my question is how much does that effect? Is there a real sacrifice of sound for asthetic appeal?

Thank you!

Mark