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I was planning on trying the Rod True method, but I thought that koa would not work as well as rosewood. So I did what you see in the pictures. I bonded a piece of koa on. I was planning to put a small piece of bloodwood instead, but I sanded too much off while trying to make the surface square and flat. The guitar will be bound in blood wood.
Do you think koa is too soft to hold up at the point? It will be rounded off some. Do you think I should add a piece of bloodwood, or would that look goofy now?

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Nothin' wrong with that at all. Finish it up!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Keep your eyes away from it looks good

Thanks guys, I'll leave it alone. It is a bit soft. Would flooding it with CA be a good idea?

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

I don't think there will be anything wrong with the strength of it, and just because the koa is kind of "soft" shouldn't really make much difference.

If it gets banged around once it's finished, than maybe who ever did the banging should have been more carefull, that's all heresay though isn't it.

Sorry the side mitre didn't work out for you, it sure looks like you have the book match right. Next time you do an EIR with a florentine, give it a shot.

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Koa isn't any softer than soft maple which gets used for bindings all the time.
That said, I'm with Michael...don't poke your eye out with it!

Looks good.... keep going...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I always considered Koa pretty tuff stuff but if you want saturate it in thin CA it is no a problem. you will put a seal coat of shellac on it before what ever finish you use I am assuming.

I have built 2 Ziricote b/s sets. I flooded the sides with thin CA prior to bending. I have had no issue with finish on either. Many luthiers use CA exclusively for pore filling.

I think that's a pretty darn good idea myself. To me it looks great.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

I do that on all my florentines, and add another at the neck/cutaway joint as well to match. Its a great idea.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Looks good to me!

Mike
White Oak, Texas

Steve, it looks great!!
I would not flood it with CA. It should be fine like that! That part of the wood will take a totally different look if flooded with CA, besides if any of the CA runs into the sides you'll have another problem there too.

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Steve, It's looking great! Please post the finished guitar when your done. Would love to see it! I just finished a florentine with koa on the tip. It looks great, and I don't believe it's soft at all.

Steve, I think it looks fine, and will be plenty hard enough.
I would suggest something you didn't ask about, though.
It looks like the angle of the inside of the tip is a bit more accute than the rest of the cutaway.
You could pare off (at least from the angle I'm seeing here in Texas) a little on the inside--back the point up a bit-- and have a little slimmer end piece.
The outside curve looks perfect.

Hmm, does that make sense?

Anyway, I like it.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

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Steve, I think that may be the angle of the picture....

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

That looks great! I'll have to remember that.