Maple (Quilted) — Lutherie Encyclopedia

Maple (Quilted)Type: tonewoodA rare and visually dramatic maple figure resembling billowing fabric, sharing standard maple's bright tonal properties with even more eye-catching visual appeal.## Botanical Description Quilted maple is a figured variant most commonly found in bigleaf maple (*Acer macrophyllum*) from the Pacific Northwest, though it occasionally appears in other maple species. The quilted figure presents as a three-dimensional, pillowy, bubbling pattern that resembles draped or rumpled fabric when light plays across the surface. Unlike flame figure, which runs perpendicular to the grain in regular stripes, quilted figure has an irregular, organic pattern that can range from subtle to extremely dramatic. The cause of quilted figure is not fully understood botanically, but it appears to involve abnormal cellular growth patterns. Only a tiny percentage of bigleaf maples produce the quilted phenotype, making it genuinely rare. ## Tonal Properties Quilted maple shares the fundamental tonal properties of other maples: bright, clear, articulate, with a fast attack and clean frequency response. The figuring itself does not significantly alter the acoustic properties compared to flamed or plain maple of the same species, density, and thickness. Some builders and players report a very slight difference in sustain characteristics, theorizing that the irregular grain structure of quilted maple dissipates vibration slightly differently than straight-grained or flamed wood. In practical terms, however, quilted maple sounds like maple: transparent, reflective, and bright, allowing the top wood to dominate the tonal picture. The primary distinction of quilted maple…