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1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
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Author:  JRE Productions [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:55 am ]
Post subject:  1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
I almost hate to post these with the great tallents on this board...but anyway: I took these pictures with a camera phone so they suck! Here is my first attempt at a sunburst on my first atempt to build a guitar. These shots are of the guitar after the first few clear coats have been sprayed over the burst. It still needs a few more coats and will need to be buff out in 30 days. I have done some guitar refinishing in the past, but never a burst. This was done with Powder dye from LMI and Lacquer. Sorry for the poor lighting and camera work. The finish is much deeper looking in real life and the colors are slightly more vibrant too. The attempt was to capture the vintage vibe of the older sunbursts from the 40-50's. I studied a lot of pictures and came up with this version. I notice the sides were bursted in the waists, cutaway and at the end grafts as wells the heels. So I gave that a shot too.

Actually, I am quite proud of the work I have done and all I have learned on this one. Thanks to everyone for answering questions I had on building guitars.

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Author:  SteveCourtright [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
You should be proud, Joe. I have an idea of what you were going for and I must say, that this is looking great.
Author:  WaddyThomson [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Sure looks nice to me!
Author:  Hesh [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Joe my friend your burst looks fantastic!!!!! And so too does the guitar.

You certainly bit off a chunk building an archtop as your first and then doing a beautiful vintage burst too.

You should be very, very proud!!! [:Y:] [clap] [clap] [clap] [clap] [clap] (you get one more clapping hands emoticon when the geetar is strung up and completed :D )
Author:  Peter Pii [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Very nicely done!!
Author:  JRE Productions [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
SteveCourtright wrote:
You should be proud, Joe. I have an idea of what you were going for and I must say, that this is looking great.


Thanks Steve,

We need to get together one of these days.....

Joe
Author:  Howard Klepper [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
That's quite good, Joe. Congratulations!
Author:  JRE Productions [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Thanks everyone. I appreaciate the feedback. In some small way, I am amazed at how natural all of this was for me to complete. While I had a few setbacks, most were due to first timer "lack of knowledge" and not so much lack of skill.

I had the raw guitar at Ed Lynse's house last week and he asked about the neck contour. I told him I did it all by how it felt in my hands. No real measurements to speak of. As a working musician, I have a guitar in my hand about 20 hours or more a week. When I completed this one, I was amazed at how close it was to the contour of the guitar I use week in and week out. Ed took some measurements with templates from a Taylor model he had. He checked the 1/3/5/7/9 fret locations with his templates. It was almost a perfect match all the way up the neck. Hmm...I may have to check out that Taylor..ha ha ha! I would say its thick and meaty yet feels broken in and played...just like my old Les Paul.

PS: I strung it up in the white to ensure the neck was straight etc. It sound quite nice and rich even with crappy light guage strings on it. Only time will tell if it will stand up next to my vintage guitars.

Cheers!

Joe
Author:  James Orr [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Joe, the others are right---it's very good!
Author:  JRessler [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Way to go!! [clap] [clap]

You sure have been making tremendous progress. I'd say you are a natural! That binding looks great too. Keep it up

I would love to hear it when finished
Author:  Kim [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Nice work, she looks fine Joe.

Cheers

Kim
Author:  JRE Productions [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Thanks James.

John,

Yep for sure. I will bring it out by you when its done. Funny, but when I stopped by your house over the summer, I think I only had the back carved. All the rest of the stuff we played with was either violin related or junk necks that got burned this summer. So from about early august to mid september, the guitar really came together. I ended up with ABS binding due to me breaking the rosewood bindings at the cutaway. That changed the entire color scheme and why it ended up sunburst instead of honey-blonde/natural. I like it this color! The next one will be fancier. I was worried for nothing on this one. So I did not bind the headstock or neck. I only used dot inlays and no headstock markings. Now I wish I did!

PS: My dad has been using the files you sent me for his dreadnaught. He closed the box this weekend and did the end graft using your tips. I thought he was gonna give up with all the jigs he had to make, but in the end he concord! The box looks nice and is loud...easily blowing out the match stick.

Joe
Author:  Dave Stewart [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Joe, be assured there's nothing wrong with that as a first go. I know you've had a lot of questions throughout the build & sense that you're expectations (but also your confidence) were quite high. With the copious notes that (I hope) you've taken & #1 under your belt, you've got a solid foundation to refine & perfect techniques.
To my eye, an archtop is all about subtlety - of arching & transitions, body shape, recurve etc. The problem with the first is a tendency to be heavy-handed...abrupt topographical changes, overdone recurve, non-subtle changes in colour etc etc. I find you're much better to "sneek up" on a desireable effect and maybe fall a bit short, than overshoot it (if that makes sense.).
Author:  Dave Stewart [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
I forgot to mention, if you haven't got it, get Stewmacs Guitar finishing step-by-step for techniques/recipes for classic vintage finishes/bursts (Gibson, Gretch etc)
Author:  npalen [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Nice work, Joe!
It's kind of an addiction, isn't it.
Author:  JRE Productions [ Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Thanks again guys. I am quite proud of this first guitar. While I am somewhat tongue/cheek about "what was I thinking", I could not be happier with the build. I purposely did not try to go overboard with ordamentation, so I could focus on function/form. I do see there are a ton of different sunburst patterns that have been used over time. Some very subtle while others (like Gibson/Norlin in the 70's) were very heavy handed and abrupt. The particular sunburst pattern I followed I think accurately captures the color blends of the 50's gibson factory.

Here are a few more cell phone shots of the paint progress.

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Notice how white the wood was? This was the first obstical to over come. So it was shot with amber. Then I did a red/brown burst pattern for the middle color. I also sprayed the rest of the gutiar with the same red/brown to give it the base coat.

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I then added dark brown to the gun to give me the dark burst edges (ala 1950's). I followed up by an light brown coat to aged the white aspen top the rest of the way. A coat of amber made it all blend. Several clear coats top this one off.

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Author:  JRE Productions [ Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Here are two of the examples of what I was sort of trying to capture...though the Aspen has a little different color pallet to work from:

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Author:  dmills [ Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Very nice Joe!! I'm going to have to invite myself over to hear you play that beauty. I actually picked up a copy of the Benedetto book last week out of curiosity. Hey - if carving braces is enjoyable, carving most of an entire guitar has got to be more of a good thing, right? :lol: .

Are you going to install a pickup?
Author:  JRE Productions [ Tue Sep 23, 2008 1:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
Hi Doug, stop by anytime...or call me and I can swing by. BTW: My dads guitar is comming along nicely too. Its an all cedar dread. The box is close!

I ordered a floating pickup that mounts on the pickguard. I figured if I didn't like it, I could make a new guard with no extra holes in the top.

Thanks!

Joe
Author:  JRessler [ Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: 1st Sunburst on 1st build....an archtop! What was I thinking
It sounds like another Chicago OLF gathering is in the works when Joe's guitar is finished?
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