In the "old" days, flame and quilted maple were considered trash woods and the craftsmen wanted no such markings; My mom had several big pieces of furniture made from maple without any pattern and with as straight a grain as I've ever seen, but the old school desk she bought, which was cheaply made in those days, had flames all over the surface, and I kept wanting to use it to make the top of a guitar.
Even Gibson's early use of maple caps shows no real concern for the patterning in the wood. Some of the old bursts are nicely flamed, others are not. I think they were more concerned with the density of the wood, and it was later when people started asking for flame and quilt that they started to demand a premium.
I suspect PRS requests a certain grade of maple that will supply a large number of patterned blanks. Some are better than others and the best get used for the wood library and 10-tops, and the normal tops get used for non-10-top and solid finishes. I have two that have bursts and are not 10-top, and they're quite figured in comparison to the tops of regular companies. That the goldtop shows strong patterning fits the idea that it's got flame, just not enough to have been a 10-top.
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