Tailpiece Grand Concert

[Joe Sustaire]

Just finished build #7. Lutz top, sapele back and sides, 25" scale, 14 5/8'' lower bout. Permalyn rubbed oil varnish, gunstock finish. The top is tinted with 3 colors of trans-tint water thinned dyes for a vintage look.

This is basically ladder braced with lengthwise bracing to counter the potato chip curl that sometimes happens with ladder bracing on too thin a top. This top is .112 to .118", I had that problem on a prior build and hope this takes care of the problem.


This is what's under the hood.

And here is how she looks...









I went with a slightly rusty vintage tailpiece I had on hand when it dawned on me this lightly braced top would be a perfect candidate. And it seems to have been a good decision. Very loud and responsive, and even across the strings and a really nice tonality. I had built a traditional ladder braced before that tonewise didn't compare well with an x brace. This one more than holds its own.

I'm a happy backwoods hillbilly!

Joe

[Kim]

Hey Joe, gonna kill my ol'lady don't ya know..Sorry bout that just stuck in my head.. Hail the mighty Hendrix.

As I said at the OLF I love this guitar, especially the tint you have achieved on the top, the amber is so rich and beautiful. All in all I just want to run away with it and give it a good hard play. Any chance of a more detailed description of your tinting process, maybe even a tute???

P.S. No doubt that's one of Decosta's master grade wonderspikeironloepardgoldbearkamodwhitecurllutzirama tops from the second generation of the famous and rare tree 2228765432 huh

Cheers

Kim

[Dave Anderson]

Yeah I wanted that wonderspikeironloepardgoldbearkamodwhitecurllutzirama top from
the second generation of the famous and rare tree 2228765432 but Joe beat me to it!

Really nice guitar Joe !

[John Steele]

Really nice Joe. When Kim's done playing I want some time with it! That top color looks great. Just a great overall look.
Couple questions;
What is the body depth? and did you notch the ladder braces or the long braces? Looks like you notched the ladder braces where they cross the long braces.
thx
John

[Allen]

Thanks for posting that beauty Joe. It's just a stunner. Looks to be at least 50 years old already. I second the request for a bit of a how to on your tinting process.

[Bob Connor]

Great work Joe. You've really caught the vintage vibe on this one.

[Joe Sustaire]

Thanks guys!
Yeah, this guitar does feel like an old friend.

Kim what an astute eye, you nailed that top! I had to work like hell to beat Dave out on it.

Hey Dave, I may have a sister or two on hand. You know you just can't get these anywhere!

John, it's 3 3/8" at the neck and 3 7/8" at the tail. And yes the ladder braces are notched over the lengthwise ones.

I'll get over to the shop later and see what colors I used and try to wake up the old grey matter and remember what I did.

Thanks for the comments everyone,
Joe

[Joe Sustaire]

First off take a look at John How's website to see his vintage finished guitars, they we're the inspiration. I contacted him and his were done with a water based gel dye, which he found very easy to work with but has been discontinued, so he was exploring alternatives for when his supply of dye runs out.

I've only done the one top like this so I think I need a little more practice at it before I do a tute on the process. But jogging the old grey cells, this is what I remember.

I used the TransTint dyes, honey amber, golden brown, and reddish brown. I made a mix of each in a small baby food bottle, it dilutes at the ratio of 1 oz to 1 qt. so a little goes a long way. They say to dilute with alcohol or water, I diluted mine with water.

Now you want to sand the top to the level you want first, probably should wet to raise the grain and then re-sand. Now to dye, I wet the surface so it wouldn't absorb the dye too quickly or too strong. Then used a small rag to rub in the honey amber all over, and then working wet on wet went to the golden brown, and then the reddish brown, dedicating a small rag to each color, just like doing a burst, blending the colors in, with the lightest in the center, darker to the edges.

This one came out real subtle, you don't really see a burst effect, but the mix of color did add a richness to the color that the amber alone didn't have.

So you can rub with a wet rag to soften the colors, and of course do more layers to increase the saturation. You can also sand areas you're not pleased with after it dries and rework.

It's something you just have to jump into and play with until something starts to happen that pleases you. But it's a pretty forgiving process and since aged and vintage patina is what you're after a little working and re-working doesn't seem to hurt. It seems to lighten up as it dries, and when your pleased with it just seal it with a rub-on shellac coat.

Hope this helps,
Joe

[Kim]

Thanks Joe,

I also found this link very informative for use with TransTint.

http://www.joewoodworker.com/transtints.htm

Joe Woodworker AKA Veneer Supplies have a good site, if they stock an item, they will generally have some info about how to use it. Also if anyone is interested and intends placing an order with Stewmac, their liquid dyes are just relabeled TransTint, exact same product made by Target finishes relabeled with different names for the colours.

http://www.targetcoatings.com/forum/vie ... 87445e4e79

Oh, and don't go giving us any BS about having to work like hell to beat Dave to that top. We all know that if he had come to the point and just bid what he wanted to pay instead of wasting time typing "Yeah Mario, I wanted that wonderspikeironloepardgoldbearkamodwhitecurllutzirama top from the second generation of the famous and rare tree 2228765432 and I'll bid X$" You would not have stood a chance Joe.



Cheers

Kim

[Dave Anderson]

[quote="Joe Sustaire"]Thanks guys!
Yeah, this guitar does feel like an old friend.

Kim what an astute eye, you nailed that top! I had to work like hell to beat Dave out on it.

Hey Dave, I may have a sister or two on hand. You know you just can't get these anywhere!

Hey Joe! Are you sure it's wonderspikeironloepardgoldbearkamodwhitecurllutzirama from the second generation of the famous and rare tree 2228765432 or the counterfit wonderspikeironloepardgoldbearkamodwhitecurllutzirama tops from the second generation of the famous and rare tree 222876543-3.
It's really hard to tell them apart!!

[Clancy]

Lovely looking instrument. Top work.
Would love to have it as one of the guitars in my rack.
But I've always had trouble understanding the concept of a floating bridge/tailpiece on a flat top instrument.
The physics just seems all wrong.
I would have thought it would sound thin unless it was heavily arched, yet it doesn't appear to be.