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Spruce & Myrtle Concert Classical - Toscano Guitars

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 3:32 pm
by Steve.Toscano
Thought I'd show off one of my more recent builds - another concert classical.

Top: Spruce
B&S: Tassie Myrtle
Neck: QLD Maple
Fretboard: Padauk
Bindings: Tassie Blackwood
Bracing: Traditional Fan braced, with my mods.
Finish: Full body french polish

Recording of this guitar here:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/SRLak_dP5zg[/youtube]

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Toscano Guitars Concert Classical Gutiar
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Back
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Tail
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Recording of this guitar here:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/SRLak_dP5zg[/youtube]

Re: Spruce & Myrtle Concert Classical - Toscano Guitars

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:40 am
by Hank
Steve Nice work! the blackwood plays nicely with the very wild looking myrtle, the tail graft is very pretty too

Re: Spruce & Myrtle Concert Classical - Toscano Guitars

Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 3:09 pm
by Steve.Toscano
Thanks Hank :)

Re: Spruce & Myrtle Concert Classical - Toscano Guitars

Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:57 pm
by kiwigeo
A nice looking classical Steve.....alot of warmth in the colours of those woods. Nice job on the French Polishing too....you used a conventional shellac mix?

Re: Spruce & Myrtle Concert Classical - Toscano Guitars

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 3:40 pm
by Steve.Toscano
kiwigeo wrote:
Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:57 pm
A nice looking classical Steve.....alot of warmth in the colours of those woods. Nice job on the French Polishing too....you used a conventional shellac mix?
Thanks Martin.
This was my first attempt at a french polish finish. I put way more hours in that finish then i did in the rest of the build :oops: :oops: .
The shellac is Ubeaut hard shellac diluted down, as far as 8:1 for the sealing and finishing sessions, 4:1 for the bodying.
I didn't go the oil method, as in practice i found that too difficult and wasnt as happy with the results. Instead as soon as the pad started to stick i stopped and went again the next day.

I got a reasonably good finish off the pad, and then hit it with abrasives (Micro mesh), which i found left fine scratches even after a good hour of the 12000 pad.
I was able to eventually get these out by applying more bodying and waiting to really harden up then hitting it with the liquid micro mesh polishing stuff - in hindsight a good automotive polish probably would have done the same job at a quarter of the price.

This guitar was 10 months from start to finish, 1 month of build, 9 months of finishing, waiting to harden etc. :(

Re: Spruce & Myrtle Concert Classical - Toscano Guitars

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 7:26 pm
by ozziebluesman
Hi Steve,
Lovely guitar mate.
The Myrtle is very special and looks a treat.
I could never get Ubeaut hard shellac to work for me.
I use the shellac flakes and like a satin finish on my instruments.
A good French Polish finish is an art form in itself.
Thanks for posting your guitar.
Cheers
Alan