Official Luthiers Forum!

Just strung it up Thursday. The burst turned out nice, but it has some finish checking. It is braced very lightly, like a 1931 L-1 that came to me in a dis-assembled state. I used the L-1 as a pattern before I put it back together. I used Maple on this one. Most of the L-00's I have done in the past have had mahogany bodies. I really like the sound.

Sweet. Do you have a photo of the light bracing?

That is a very nice burst. Can you give any tips on your method to pull that off? I would walk past dozens of other guitars to pick that one up and play it.

Rubbed burst? Very very nice guitar. Did your bracing end up very different from the grellier plan? Any info on bracing etc much appreciated. Did you burst the maple back? Got my first maple l00 waiting for a burst. All my others have been mahogany too.

that is a fine looking sunburst James

I would also like and explanation or some pics of doing the sunburst. It is exceptional. How does the sound differ in maple from Mahogany?

Ed

No back shot? Now I want one.

Nicely done. What did you use for finish?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I like that a lot! I would like to second the requests for:
- Shot of the back
- More info about the bracing
- More info about the finish/burst

I'd also like to add that I would love to hear a sound clip. Bonus points if it includes one of your mahogany ones too.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Looking great man. I like that sunburst

Yes. We want all your secrets and knowledge gained over years of painstaking toil. And we want it now. Out with it! And pictures! And videos!

Thanks for all the kind comments. I will try to get more pictures tomorrow.

The sunburst is "mostly" hand rubbed with Mohawk Ultra Penetrating stain, thinned with DNA. I say "mostly" because the dark areas of the burst would not get dark enough, and looked a little splotchy. So, I sprayed over that with tinted lacquer, to darken those areas, and even them out. I still got the look that I was going for like the early 30's L-1's. I sealed it with Seal Lac and the clear coat is Mohawk nitrocellulose. Something about the combination of nitro over the Seal Lac, caused 5 or 6 lines of finish crazing. No problem, since I built this one for me.

Sorry, but I am not set up for sound clips.

Here are some more pictures:
The sides have a decent amount of figure"



The back does not have as much figure as the sides



I didn't get a shot of the bracing before I closed the box. It is hard to tell much from this Iphone shot:

Back and sides look lovely but can't see much on the bracing pics. You got any dimensions? Are they scalloped?

You absolutely nailed that period look right down to the tuners!

Suuweett!

Very nice!

Mike

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Mike Collins

Beaut!!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.