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I need your thoughts on wether or not to zpoxy the top on a all Koa jumbo. I want the pop that zpoxy gives, but by putting the zpoxy on the top, how much will I change the sound of the guitar. If I don't do the top with the zpoxy, how should I fill the grain and get the pop that the back and sides will have?
Thanks,
Tim

Tim;
I am at the same stage with my first all koa guitar. My thinking is to use an epoxy fill, but sand the surface enough to leave the filler in the pores only. Then a very light wipe with thinned epoxy to bring out the grain.
I am interested in hearing how others have dealt with this.
Timely thread, thanks for posting the question.

I just built this all koa wedge body OM with z-poxy all over. I did sand back to wood and do a thinned coat on the top. There is a video with a clip of me playing it. Sound quality is not great, but in person, it sounds awesome! Go for it with the z-poxy on the top but keep the coat you leave thin. My top was .115 thick when done for what its worth.
viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=31919

Tony

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Dan and Tony, thanks for the replies. What are you thinning out with?
Tony, my top was 120 before final sanding, so it should be close to what you have. I am looking forward to stringing it up and hearing it.
Thanks again,
Tim

I thinned with denatured alcohol. Todd Stock has a tutorial series on zpoxy on youtube. Thats where I learned.

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

We can't easily get denatured alcohol in Canada (archaic alcohol laws!).
Check out the West System site. They have an excellent page on using their products.
They recommend using lacquer thinners if thinning is necessary. There are limits to how much reducer you can use without impairing the curing properties.
I've started using Z Poxy recently, but assume lacquer thinners will work on any epoxy product.
I'm sure gonna do some tests first, though!

On my koa tricone I used zpoxy to fill the pores, however the top of a reso is not as important to the sound

viewtopic.php?f=10104&t=29796

I am building two koa weissenborns right now and just finished pore filling with zpoxy - masked the bridge area, thinned about 10-15 percent with denatured alcohol. Took two applications but I'm happy with the way it looks. I doubt that it will hurt the tone.