Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi
The beginner again. I am debating my finishing of guitars. I don't have
spray equipment and I will probably build only a few guitars a year. This is
not my profession, but a hobby that I am loving.   I am wondering is
brushing KTM-9 OK...good results.

or

Do any of you send your guitars to be finished by someone else. People
always notice the finish....it is all they see. I am considering having a very
experienced person finish the instrument. Who does this service???? etc

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

i use nitro but there are any number of folks who have had excellent results brushing waterbournes. perhaps requires a bit more leveling but works well.

lancek sends his out to be finished; what say you lance?

Andy, a belated welcome to this great forum, you really will find some of the best builders in the world here, and always willing to help.

If you are a hobby builder (like me) you should look at possibly using the king of guitar finishes, French Polish!    Some of the very best guitars in the world (look at the stunning guitars on Joshua French's site) are french polished. As time is not a factor you can take as long as you want perfecting the system. As with all processes in lutherie, try it out on some scrap first while you build. It's not so hard wearing as nitro or the waterborn finished but it can be argued that it is acoustically more transparent.

Unless you are willing to invest in a fully controlled spray booth leave nitro alone, it is nasty stuff.

ColinColin S38517.5138888889

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

I send my guitars out (lance uses the same guy) His name is Tony
Ferguson, his pries are very reasonable, and he does an amazing job.

Phone number is:

616-842-4114

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Andy I have to agree with Collin. I think for the first couple personal hobby built guitars French polish is a great choice for a couple of three reasons.

1st. Is it is a forgiving media. any error can simply be repaired.

2nd. Because it is time consuming but not time critical and nearly impossible to rush (if traditional techniques are employed) it teaches patients.

3rd. There are relatively little fumes to worry with.

[QUOTE=MichaelP]
2nd. Because it is time consuming but not time critical and nearly impossible to rush (if traditional techniques are employed) it teaches patients[/QUOTE] Or, you could go over to my "French Polish with the Brune's" thread and realize that this is the fastest finish in the world to apply - 1 day to pore fill, apply, and buff. (this is to "old world" standards, it's not going to look like sprayed polyester, which is a good thing in my book).

Thanks for all your help
Where is the "French Polish with the Brune's" thread

Andy

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

[QUOTE=azimmer1] Thanks for all your help
Where is the "French Polish with the Brune's" thread

Andy[/QUOTE] Here.

Of course, the "catch" is that it'll take you awhile to buid the proficiency to actually achieve a fast finish.

It seems that both John and Lance send your guitars to Tony. He said that
Lance masks off his soundboard under the fretboard but John does not.
Don't you glue your fretboard down to your soundboard

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

I don't glue my fretboard down. I bolt it down with a tenon under the
fretboard and 4 small allen key bolts. It is Dana Bourgeois neck joint
design and it works great. So I don't have to worry about masking off or
gluing don the fingerboard, and it looks like it is, but I can take it apart in
about 2 minutes.

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

John
do you have a picture of your neck joint and the bolts for your fretboard.
You could email them to me.
azimmer1@san.rr.com
Andy

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

This is not mine, but I use the same joint. Taken from the Bourgeois/
pantheon site:

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

John,
Looks like the tenon is bolted to the fretboard -- is that so you can shim there? And between the heel and the fretboard there is a triangular piece. Is that a pivot?

the tenon is screwed and glued down. 6 screws and 4 bolts. And it is not
a triangular thing.. It is just some area was masked and some was not. It
is a great neck joint and Dana is a great Luthier. Props to him.

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

John,
Where is Tony located? I'm going to start farming this part out, and the only finisher I know is in California. That's a fur piece to ship for me.
Will he do the body w/out neck... for a discount?

Thanks, Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

john-- who came up with this configuration first, taylor or bourgeois? or some unknown third party?

Tony is in Michigan, and his prices are lower than Adam Stark, and his
work is great. And yes he charges per body, or per neck, so I'm sure one
without the other would get a discount, but check with him...and do tell
him I sent ya...he is a great guy.


And As far as I know Dana came up with this neck joint. I'm pretty dang
sure of that. Taylor seemed to (they might have directly but I'm not sure)
base their neck design off it, but take it a step further, that can only be
done with CNC. Anyone can do this joint.

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Steve, I spoke to Tony a while back. He will gladly do the neck and body separate. I asked because I have a process that works pretty well for mecks and just wanted him to do the body.

There was a pretty good markdown for doing the body only. Can't remember exactly how much, but you can give him a call and he can fill you in on pricing and stuff.

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

john

would be interesting to see how you make the joint. do you have photos?crazymanmichael38518.409849537

Doesn't LMI sell a french polish out of the bottle. Comments on it please.
Thanks,

[QUOTE=bob J] Doesn't LMI sell a french polish out of the bottle. Comments on it please.
Thanks,[/QUOTE]

Not that I am aware of. I just went to their site and they only list flake and supplies under Shellac and French polish supplies. StewMac carries the Zinner's French polish in a bottel

John
Thanks for the pict. Why do you use the 6 screw to place the tenon on the
fretboard. I would think because of how thin the fretboard is, there would
be a risk of splitting the ebony. Is there a disadvantage to just gluing the
tenon on the fretboard and then bolting the body to that tenon with the 4
allen bolts.

By the way do you have details on how to do this tenon/neck block joint.

Thanks again for all your advice
Andy

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

Andy,

Dana, and the crew use the 6 screws. I'm not sure the reasoning behind
it, but it is how they did it while I was there and so I just did it how they
told me to. That's what employees do!

However since I've been gone I've used both the screws and some with no
screws and I've not seen any difference, but then again they did it for a
reason and they've done a heck of a lot more than I have. I know the
Ebony never split on any of the ones I saw, and that was a lot. They have
a great system, and it's one of those "If it ain't broke..." situations.

You should be able to figure out the how to just by the pic. Pretty self
explanatory. Rout the tenon for the neck and fingerboard the same way,
rout a trus rod channel, make and install the tenon on the fingerboard,
and then bolt the thing together. I don't want to give out a lot of
information on it as it is not my neck joint, and so I don't feel like it is my
place to explain someone else hard work and innovation. But the picture
should explain it all and that is on their website so it is fair game!

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

When I visited John's shop he showed me the neck joint. It took him about 2 minutes to disassemble the neck from the body. It really is a kewl joint!

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars