Official Luthiers Forum!

It's been over 3 weeks since I rushed the HVLP spray finish on my first guitar the night before I took it up to the GAL Convention. I wasn't proud to show off such a lousy looking finish, I can tell you - it was orange peel o'rama!

Anyway, I decided to spend a few hours this past weekend sorting it out since the waterbourne acrylic finish should be well cured by now. I took off the neck (it's a bolt on job, so that's easy!), then wet sanded ("spit") everything first at 600, then 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 2500 grits. It took a LOT of work (and sandpaper!) to get it level at 600 grit, but by the time I got to 2500 grit, it was starting to look like the hours of hand sanding were going to be worth it.

The previous weekend, I had rigged up one of those Shop Fox buffing wheel arbours with an old 1/3HP motor that I had lying around. I changed the 27" belt (that Shop Fox supplied with the arbour) to the longest one I could find at Kragen Auto Parts and made a kind of buffing "tower" with lots of clearance around the buffing wheels. I'll post some photos of this later.

Since I was already at 2500 grit, I skipped the "fine" buffing compound and just hit the guitar with the "very fine" and "finest" compounds. Wow, was I gobsmacked!? The guitar positively SHONE now. It had been transfomed from an "also ran" to something that people did a double take on when they saw it! I can't believe the difference.....see what you think:























Click on the pictures to see them in full resolution. I learned a few things about taking photos of guitars tonight too:

1. Iron your backdrop!
2. Set your camera to its maximum possible resolution!
3. More light!

I'll get better at this stuff, promise! Does anyone have any tips for how to show off the mirror-finish shine on a guitar in photos? Mine show the reflection of my umbrella light reflectors quite nicely, but the photos don't look right to me.....

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Looks great. if I may suggest one, maybe make the final s of guitars look plain on your future labels. at first i read Guitary

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Build log

Looks great Dave!

Hi Dave,

Guitar looks good, Much better cosmetically than at Tacoma.

Just throw your backdrop in the dryer for a while on cool with a damp towel and those wrinkles will soften. Also, get your subject(guitar) away from the backdrop ie. more distance between the backdrop and guitar, this will put the backdrop out of focus and bring the instrument into sharp focus( more of a 3D look). Move the lights more to the sides and higher and you should eliminate the umbrella reflections, this has to do with light and camera position so you just have to work with the position until the reflections disappear.

If I can find the time I'll post a few pics so you can get a better idea of what I'm trying to say.

Cal

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Remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!

Alex - that's exactly what my wife said! I guess I should fix it.....

Flori - Thanks! I'll get to your PM later today.

Cal - I was hoping someone who saw it at the GAL Convention would be able to compare. The polished version is miles better. It even sounds better IMO (I took off quite a lot of finish at 600 grit!).

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

How about this for my logo?

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Mucho better logo, Dave.
Like Alex, at my first reading, it looked like "Guitary".
(Which I thought was sort of clever, by the way.)
Anyway, since you'd rather say guitars, then the new logo is great.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Wow, looks great! One site that has great studio shots showing the high gloss finish is greenfieldguitars.com. To get reflections like those on the site you would have to use a large softbox or two instead of the umbrella and some white reflectors (maybe some of that corrugated white plastic?) and move them around until you get the reflections you like. The black background really makes the guitars stand out I think.
Warren.