Official Luthiers Forum!

I thought it might be fun to see your favorite rosette. Hopefully one that you have made. I have a few new ideas that I have not tried yet but will once I finish this current run of guitars. I have about 10 in various stages right now (mostly finishing) and hope to try some of my new ideas soon.
Here is one I did using tortis type plastic binding material. The inlay channel was painted white to give a backlit sort of appearance. It looks quite striking in person.
Please post your favorites!!!!

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

Howdy, John.
Yes indeed, that is a handsome rosette! I bet the light catches it almost like abalone. And it looks perfect against that 'burst.

Here's the one that has remained my favorite.
Uncle Bob supplied the spalted Ambrosia Maple blank from which it was cut.





It is let into a striped Engelmann top. Seemed to go together...

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Very nice Steve, I think I have a piece of that from Bob too, I'll have ta dig that out again.

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

I'm not sure it's my favourite, but it's one Ive just done and is 'my style' of rosette. I always make the rosette of the same wood as the B&S, and use the same purfling. This one is Walnut with ebony/pear/ebony purfling.



This is the favourite Rose(ette) of mine, though not stricly what you meant John!



Again not stricly as asked John, but this is my all-time favourite rosette, not by me though (I wish!) but by Joshua French.



Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Steve, That colorful maple is so beautiful. I would say that is one of my favorites I have ever seen. Is that curly maple in the purfling too? It looks great.

I just got two together that are my favorites so far. The first is a close up of a herringbone I made to match the binding and purfling- madrose, yellow and black veneer, and the other bands are satinwood. I made the herringbone a while ago and that wasn't so bad, but it was a little difficult to get it in that channel. You can see where the inside veneers buckle a little. The second is a spalted glue up. I was trying to get the line to surround the hole.





I really liked some of the ones that Gary L (I think) posted some time ago in a whats on your bench thread too.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

John,
Here's a recent one of mine.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

All very nice rosettes guys.
Burton, I really like the way you linned that up all around. Creative use of some fine wood there.
Here is another I did making tiles do the hard work.
I assume that is what you did also Ken.

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

Yes, that's what I did, John. I like yours. Bet it reads well from a distance, too.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Wow, there are some beautiful rosettes going on here!

Here's my favorite from my own work:



I love rosettes. They offer the best opportunity to make a personal and artistic statement. Unfortunately, the opportunity to speak can tempt you to say to much, with the result that you say something just for the sake of saying something. "Abalone for the sake of abalone."

My goal with the rosette is to reach a perfect blend of artistry and subtlety. It should blend so smoothly with the guitar's overall design and feel that it doesn't jump out at you and shout "look at me!", because that would distract your eyes from the rest of the guitar. But it should be interesting enough that when you do look at it, you find yourself exploring it, and finding all sorts of happy little things.

For me, segmented rosettes are the first thing I have tried that, for me, reached that blend in a way I liked. (It's impossible to tell from the picture above because it doesn't show how the rosette works with the rest of the guitar.) I'll keep doing them, but I'm also anxious to find something else that has a similar blend of artistry and subtlety so that I have some more options.

Here are a couple of my favorites...



This is the design that Antonio de Torres used in his famous FE08 guitar. I believe that Joshua French has also built a verion of this guitar.



This is a closeup of the rosette made by Jose and Liam Romanillos.

I also agree with Colin... Joshua French has one of the nicest rosettes I have seen.

There really is something special about the arches. I can't put my finger on exactly why I like it so much, and that is probably why I like it so much.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

john that tortoise rosette is cool. is that white on the inside and outside the paint or something else.

I'm still stuck on my favourite standard standby:

Simple and elegant, with little to go wrong.

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka

Not being a big fan of rosettes in general, it's a bit hard for me to contribute to this thread. But here is my "favorite" that I've done. Mun Ebony and Ab. And of course the obigitory ebony binding of the soundhole.

Boy, howdy, that edit button would come in handy when you hit POST before you attach the pic.

One of my favorites was Gary L's Ziricote guitar.
To me it was stunning
I need to find a pict of it

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Man-oh-man, I love threads like this. You guys do such fine work...it's all of it inspiring.
An answer: Burton, that purfling you mentioned is in fact not curly maple, which would have been a good idea. It's a fall-back of mine, insisted upon by Hesh. It's simple black/white/black (doubled up), made of good old fiber. That's right, it's paper. But hey, it's the good kind!

Thanks again, guys. Keep 'em coming?

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

[QUOTE=Steve Kinnaird]It's simple black/white/black (doubled up), made of good old fiber. That's right, it's paper. But hey, it's the good kind!



Steve[/QUOTE]

Would that be the kind that's made from trees?

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Paul, I like that a lot! You should do more rosettes, they are fun.

I was quite happy with this one, it is simple BWB purfling and snakewood. It looks more "alive" in person!

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

There sure are a lot of beautiful rosettes here guys! Some Amazing work indeed. I only have a few done, so this last one has got to be my best to date.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

-Like Shawn, my all time favorite is the Romanillos arch, but I must say that Joshua's is the most tasteful and stunning I have seen.
-John, I love the braid.
-Ken, something about the recent one with the lines moves me with a very calm and clean aesthetic. It reminds me of bamboo.
-Burton, Ken, and Andy, I think this is the one--the DNA double helix by the biochemist in me. It's on a special pair of guitars for my wife and me. Having been side-tracked with other projects and moving twice, they're still not done! A friend may have the helix put on her SJ.

Not one of mine but one of Al Carruth's

Manouk Papazian's turtles aways struck me as bold but beautiful.



I love Al Carruth's maple leaf purfling as well!

Warmest regards,
Terence
www.goodacoustics.com

Whoa! I knew Al was a guitar scientist, but apparently he is a guitar botanist too! Do you know how hard it is to grow trees small enough to get their leaves to fit in a rosette? Al kidding aside, that is really awesome.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

There are some very inspiring rosettes here!!!