For myself I like billets, maybe others have trouble with the splices. I had the pleasure several years ago of examining an osage static, found in the attic of a house my friend was remolding, Billets spliced so finely that you almost couldn't see glue lines, fish tail type, but cut at a 1/4", with four cuts in the splice. The bow was dated for 1952 or 3, couldn't make out singature at all.