Though the name would suggest a tasty recipe for preparing wood, "seasoning" is the process by which wood is prepared for guitar building. It involves not only the removal of water, which leaves comparatively quickly, but also other, more subtle changes. This includes the removal and/or hardening of less volatile materials such as oils, fats, resins, and gums, as well as the structural changes that take place over time. The use of dehumidifiers and kilns are common tools for achieving the optimal moisture content within the wood (generally around 5% of the weight of the wood).

Careful attention is required to guard against drying the wood too rapidly, particularly in thicker dimension lumber. If not dried properly, the non-uniform stresses involved can cause cupping or twisting upon subsequent re-sawing or working. Once wood has been dried, it is allowed to "rest" in a climate controlled environment for several days to several months.

"Bookmatching" refers to the matching of two pieces of wood used for the top of the guitar (or the back). The two pieces are cut from the same billet of wood. Then, just as a book is opened to read, so the two pieces are "opened" to create a mirror image of each other on either side. The same process is also used when cutting a pair of sides.

"Figure" refers to the pattern produced by the wood's grain, annual rings, rays, coloration, or knots. "Fiddleback figure" results from curly grain. A stripe (or ribbon) figure is caused by interlocked grain.

"Luster" is the effect of reflected light on the surface of the wood. We use the terms "Curly" to describe tiger-striped maple and "Quilted" to describe swirly, cloud-like maple figuration.

Timber that is cut parallel to the rays (the lines that run out from the center of the log) is termed "quarter-sawn." This means that the log is first cut into quarters, then each cut is made from the outer edge (bark area) towards the center of the tree. Wood that is cut perpendicular to the rays is termed, "flat-sawn" or "plain sawn".

Quarter-sawn wood is the strongest cut of wood that you can get, and it's specifically what we use in the construction of Taylor guitars.