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I'm kind of starting the design process for this gorgeous cloudy cocobolo set I have. It will have:
Bearclaw spruce top
Bolivian Rosewood fingerboard, bridge, head plate
curly maple neck
curly maple bindings

I'm wondering if it would look bad to separate where the maple binding touches the maple neck with a contrasting purfling.

Pics of both scenarios wanted!
*Bound fingerboard with purfling on both sides of binding
*Bound with same colored wood as touching part with no purfling in between.

THANK YOU for looking!!!

i don't really know what you mean.
could you cut out some tape and tape it on a guitar you have lying around and take a pic and post?
might help you envision it.

Check out some archtop jazz guitars.
Benedetto has some info on getting neck purfling to line up with the headstock purfling/lines.

John

@Alan: I mean normally when I see bound headstocks and fingerboards, the purfling is only on the top.
I'm looking for pics of purfling on the side also.
or same colored bindings as surrounding wood with no purfling separating them


Looking at Benedetto's examples right now. Thanks!
edit: Hmmm, not a lot of closeups of the areas I want to see.
Is this info in the book "Making an Archtop Guitar" by him? I don't own that one.

Like this?

i think Bruce Petros usually glues a thin veneer between the fingerboard & neck.
while this might not count as "purfling" per definition,it does create a fine seperating line between the two parts.
i think it could look good as a single dark line between a bright neck/bright fingerboard binding.

Pretty common on archtops as John says, & can really make the lines "flow" together (as Haans' beautiful example shows). You can preglue side purfs to binding ( should be lots in archives about this) just like for a body binding.
Haans, is white purfling full height behind tortoise?? ...really makes it "pop" ...great look!

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Dave
Milton, ON

I was making white bound fretboards with a black line between the binding and the neck wood for awhile. Unfortunately, the model those were going to be used on got canned by Gibson when the recession hit! It's a really nice effect.

I've seen the same type thing used on some Somogyi guitars, and there are pictures of such on his site.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

McPherson guitars does this. Looks nice if executed properly.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Consider all those examples fine! I just found Howard Klepper guitars as well, and a nice example there before I checked back on this thread.

So I think I'll end up doing a simple line of bolivian rosewood- to separate the maple parts- from a board I have that is a nice consistent dark brown with just a hint of red in it. Very subtle and pretty.- same stuff I've got a good supply of for fingerboards and bridges man 5 boardfeet goes a long way!

Thank you for the examples guys! I really need to make a stop to the local GC and other guitar shops again soon and re examine what I like and dislike in woods and features. I haven't been since I got bitten by the builder bug.

What a shame. So what happened to the fingerboards you had made already?

I've done it with black and white veneers before - glued up flat with the fingerboard. It worked very well indeed. You have to include the thickness of the veneers as part of the fingerboard and make sure you get the feel you really want (make the fingerboard thinner if necessary).

Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Dave, that is a full depth white (and black next to the wood) strip of purfling. The tortoise is also rather special as it came from a guy in Canada, and I must have used 10 strips of it and cut out the best looking parts to use.

Did that on the banjo necks I used to build.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com