Official Luthiers Forum!

recently finished; sunburst 12 fret dreadnought east indian rosewood back and sides adirondack top flamed maple binding . Thanks for looking, jack

Very nice Jack. I love the sunburst.

What formula\shcedule did you use to build that burst?
I hope that question made sense. What I mean is can you provided details on how you did the burst?

Great job,

John

Jack,
I love the sunburst also. To piggyback onto John's question, in what order did you do the different colors? Sprayed, or what? And how did you keep color off the bindings and rosette? Great job.

René

Nice!

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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.

Beautiful job Jack!
And gorgeous burst! I just built the mold for a 12 fret dread I'm fixing to start.
How about some more pictures?

Joe

Absolutely stunning Jack - love the burst too!

Once in a while I see a guitar that another OLFer has built that I would love to own - this is one of those!

Great job Jack!

PS: Great picture too!

Lovely colors on that burst, Jack! Very F4 like...

Thanks for all the kind comments!
To answer John and Rene's questions about the sunburst finish schedule:
(1) z-poxy entire guitar, including top
(2) vinyl sealer one to two coats, no more then scuff sand w 220 dry
(3)tape the binding off ; I use a 3M fine line masking tape # 218 from an automotive body shop supplier.. comes in very narrow widths.
(4) tape the sides and back... no overspray
I usually mix my colors in quart glass jars; one for the amber/yellow, and one for the color coats

(5) Belhen's nitro, one pint, tinted with a couple, maybe three drops of colortone vintage amber and a drop of lemon yellow over the entire top.
(6) for the color coats, I use Medium brown , tobacco brown and red mahogany... a drop or two of each, if you like the color of the 12 fretter, maybe 3 or 4 of the red mahogany.

I use a small touch-up gun for the colors like StewMac#5436.

When you are spraying, aim for the top binding of the guitar... that way the bulk of the finish will hit on the masked side, but the rest will concentrate on the outer edge and then 'feather-out' as it gets closer to the center of the top...Sorry I'm not good at explaining this!
Once I am satisfied with the burst, and before the lacquer has time to cure fully ( but is dry to the touch), I remove the masking tape from the rosette, and the binding, and spray a coat of the amber/yellow mix... this, I believe, lessens the possibility of having a 'ridge' between the burst coats and the top coats... try not to sand the burst coats, as it's a good possibility that you may sand thru. Follow with two to three top coats ( can be the amber/yellow tint) allow to cure, and sand/ buff out...
speaking of buffing, if you haven't tried the micro-mesh abrasives, you owe it to yourself, they will really make a difference in your finish, at least on nitro

Thanks again for all the nice comments, and as to the pictures; Joe and Hesh, my son took the pictures, so I can't take the credit. I would love to post more pics of this and other guitars but my photo's are too large, and the forum software rejects them... I'll check with my son and see if he will reduce a few other shots for me to post.

Again, thanks for the encouraging comments, I'll be happy to try to explain any thing else
my best regards,
jack

Thank you Haans! Coming from you, and after seeing your mandolins and great looking 12 fretters, I take that as a complement!
jack

Excellent looking guitar! Very nice work.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

WOW !!!! beautiful. guitar and burst. and thanks for letting us know your schedule. .

Lars

Boy, your burst looks alot better than mine did.

John (jncllc)
It took me several attempts before I was satisfied with my bursts,so if you aren't pleased, I'd say keep on trying...
I am including another close-up shot of the 12 fretter, which shows the rope styled purfling and the maple binding.
jack

Man that is just rich looking Jack!

Thanks for the detail shot,
Joe

More photos!! that's too nice for just two

Jack,
Thanks for your method. But I am a little confused and hope you don't mind some dumb questions.

1 "one for the amber/yellow, and one for the color coats" - do you really mean one quart EACH for the color coats? one quart jar for med. brown, one jar for tabacco, and one jar or red hog?

2 "for the color coats, I use Medium brown , tobacco brown and red mahogany... a drop or two of each" - I assume you must be mixing the color with clear laquer? surely you can't spray one or 2 drops by themselves?

3 What is the order of the colors that you spray?

4 As you spray different colors, I assume you aim differently. Or do you aim all color coats "for the top binding of the guitar"?

Thanks for the help.
Ed

Very inspiring work Jack. I haven't built a dread since my first, but I fell in love with a friend's slope shouldered Gibson recently. His is a 14 fretter, but that's easy to fix! I think I see one in my (near) future.
I'm not usually a fan of bursts, but yours just looks "right"! Beautiful job. Fantastic finish too!

Hey Ed; sorry the long time since your post, but I just noticed the thread had re-emerged.. I'll try to answer your questions:


1 "one for the amber/yellow, and one for the color coats" - do you really mean one quart EACH for the color coats? one quart jar for med. brown, one jar for tabacco, and one jar or red hog?

No, not a quart of each, I just choose to use empty (usually) quart sized glass jars for the color coats.


2 "for the color coats, I use Medium brown , tobacco brown and red mahogany... a drop or two of each" - I assume you must be mixing the color with clear lacquer? surely you can't spray one or 2 drops by themselves?

yes, mixed in clear lacquer ; no I don't spray one or two drops by themselves.


3 What is the order of the colors that you spray?

(a)amber/yellow over the entire top, followed by tobacco brown, red mahogany, medium brown, in that order...

4 As you spray different colors, I assume you aim differently. Or do you aim all color coats "for the top binding of the guitar"?

With the exception of the amber/yellow, all the color coats are aimed for the top outer edge of the top

I can do this better than I can explain it , Ed, and by the way, not dumb questions at all, I'll be glad to try to answer any other questions if I have left something out.
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Daniel,
Many thanks for your kind words; Consider building a 12 fretter.. you won't be disapointed.

This certainly reinforces for me that I am really building the guitar I want- 12 fret, 12 string, Martin-style Slope- shouldered dreadnought. They look compact and elegant at the same time. I haven't decided upon a burst yet, but it is likely. Thanks, mt