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So now that I'm recovered from Saturday's mishap, I'm looking for some input.

I had some trouble with the redwood top I've been working on (tear out at the purfling edge).

My question is, would you all burst this top? And if so, what type of burst?

I was considering some kind of black burst starting from the inside edge of the purfling. I don't want to burst the entire top. I like the spalted maple rosette and natural color of the redwood too much. Any thoughts?

That's the body below with a seal coat of shellac. It's for me & not a customer.

Thanks,

Flori

How deep is the tearout? How thick is the top?

Do YOU want a burst or is this just a "fix"?

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I looked the full size picture over pretty good. I can see the tear outs.

First I have a question. Did you do climb cuts on the bouts before a final running pass. Doing so will always help prevent tear outs.

If you decide to burst that top I would go from translucent burgundy to opaque tobacco. With you fist coat being very light and transparent and then work from a heaver transparent burgundy to opaque tobacco brown just at the edge of the purfling. I would not let the burst get wider than 2” of so from the edge of the purfling.

Redwood for many reasons is one of the hardest top woods to keep from tearing out and look at it wrong and you have a mile deep ding

Rod, This is just a fix. The tear out is deeper than is fixable just by sanding down the edges.

Michael, I did the climb cuts. I put down a seal coat of shellac around the edges before routing too. The redwood was just a pain in the a$$. And I was warned...I have no excuses. I was thinking about a relatively thin burst, as you suggested.

Does anyone have pictures of anything that'd work? I'm having trouble imagining what this could look like.

Thanks again,

- Flori

On redwood no but I have a burst of the same colors I mentioned at home I will post tonight.

Here is a brown burst on mahogany I just did. It has not been wet sanded or buffed yet, so take the overall finish with a grain of salt. When done, this will be a deep rich burst. The mahogany was very simular in color to that redwood top. Also note, I darken the entire guitar up a little with brown and amber over-coats to make the colors on the sides and top match the dark mahogany back. The top and sides were very white.





The process on the back was:
1) amber coat to give the over-coat colors some depth. (Amber underneath tends to make the top coats more vibrant and 3D-ish)
2) Inside red/brown burst about 3"-4" wide fading to just a light red in the center
3) Outside dark brown edge color gone over and over to get the darkness desired.
4) An over all light brown coat to wash the burst a little (make it all blend)
5) Amber coat over the top to age the color to that antique look.
6) Final clear coats.

BTW: Just because I like looking at the front too...here is a picture of the same process over the white aspen top. You can see the difference the same process makes over the two different wood types. One thing to note, on the top, I did not get as much red near the center allowing more of the amber to shine thru. The back has more of the red burst color toward the center. (The red portion of the burst on the back is much wider and shaded)

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This is kind of a root-beer burst:

Nice burst Hesh...my friend.

I am not sure if you could get the redwood top that light and yellow in the center. I think if you burst the redwood top, it would have to be an antique or dark burst in color.

J

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Joe

I'd just inlay a small piece of the spalted maple if it was me. But then, anything to avoid a burst!

Colin

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I'd love to see that.

Thanks!

Flori

I'm with Colin, anything but a 'burst! I've never cared for them and don't understand the appeal. OK, maybe the occasional subtle burst, but that's it!

If it was me, I'd hand cut that Redwood and do a a nice, slightly wider, purfling scheme.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

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Dangit I got busy and just plane for got look tonight

Flori,

Sorry I am late

Each to his own, I like burst, especially Tobacco. Well, I must say a well done burst.