Official Luthiers Forum!

Any of you gluttons for punishment ever used ablam or some such to purfle the sides of your guitars? I'm considering this now and was just hoping to avoid making yer mistakes. Thanks in advance, JohnJohn How38463.7899884259

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

As explained to me by the infamous TJ Thompson, it's pretty much like any other shell purfling except you're breaking along the flat axis and perhaps bevelling the inside edges so when they butt up you don't have a gap on the outside curves of the instrument. I also remember him muttering a few off color words after explaining. I assume that was because it's a LOT of work.

But, it did look GORGEOUS!

That is exactly what worries me, the breaks and then sanding them smooth around the outside curves. I guess maybe the key is to braek often and try to keep it tight. Well I'll post a report before I throw it out. Thanks Pete.

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Because the breaks make corners when joined you have to sand them flush. this is a minimal task but you get some funnly looking patterns in the ablam because you sand through part of on lamination and expose the next. I had rather use the solid abalone because of this. but to quote a line from an old commercial "only the hair dresser knows for sure". I did one for a client and complained about the pattern. He looked at it and thought I was crazy it looke great to him

What Michael said. I used solid pearl on my 'Winter' arctop, and still got some funny stuff in a couple of spots. Nobody has complained, though.