I've built five solid body electrics and two archtop acoustics but this is my first flat top. I followed Robbie O'brien's online course and I found that it did an excellent job of giving me analogs for difficult things like how you know when the top is the correct thickness and how to know when to stop removing wood from the braces. Tough concepts when you have no experience.
It is an OM in East Indian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce with maple bindings. Nothing fancy but it turned out very well and even though when I first strung it up the sound was kind of choked and not impressive, after three days it sounds like a different guitar and I'm liking it a lot. In parallel I'm building a Gibson L00 size guitar with the same materials. Should finish it after Christmas.
The build actually went quite fast but I had a lot of trouble with the finish. FIrst, I live in the DC area where it is humid and I don't have a spray booth so I spray outside. That meant I only had a few random days when it was dry enough and warm enough to spray outside. I ended up spraying in my garage and opening the doors after each spraying session to air it out. It worked OK but I'll be needing to build a spray booth soon. My other problem was with the Cardinal lacquer. When I level sanded between each three or four coats I could see witness lines where I sanded through one coat into another. Looked like a shimmering contour map. I ended up making sure my last three coats were sprayed only an hour apart so they melded into one. It worked. I had some issues with pin size bubbles in the finish too. I think I'll go back to Behlen or McFadden or try something new next time.
Thanks for looking,
Jeff
First flat top
-
Jeff Chumley
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2012 6:05 pm
-
Patrick DeGreve
- Posts: 308
- Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2012 2:19 pm
Re: First flat top
Very nice job, Jeff. The finish looks great from the photos! I like the maple binding on the fretboard, and the pyramid bridge. The OM is one of my favorite guitars, and yours is very classy. The tone will continue to improve as you play it in. Enjoy it.
-
Michael Lewis
- Posts: 1475
- Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:22 am
- Location: Northern California USA
- Contact:
Re: First flat top
Jeff, I also had an issue with tiny bubbles in the Cardinal lacquer. I was rather unhappy with it until I had a good long talk with the Cardinal folks and an education on how to use it. The tiny bubbles are most probably a result of spraying too close to the surface and /or applying the lacquer too thick. Your spraying conditions are not the best I know but with a bit of practice on scrap you should be able to get a good result.
Regarding comparing Cardinal with the other common lacquers for instruments, I have used the Seagraves / McFadden stuff and have had issues with it. It sprays well and works well but if is is a little bit old it may not harden completely, ever. I used McFadden for a few years only to find some of my instruments were imprinting from the case lining material. You either live with it or strip and refinish, and I have done both. In the conversation with the chemist from Cardinal I mentioned this issue and he told me that it would not happen with Cardinal. It should be good as long as you can spray it.
I stepped up the material delivery adjustment and hold my gun farther away from the surface, and so far I am getting much better results. Keep your gun about 9 or 10 inches from the surface. I hope this helps, and if you need more technical information contact the Cardinal folks, they are very sharp and helpful.
Regarding comparing Cardinal with the other common lacquers for instruments, I have used the Seagraves / McFadden stuff and have had issues with it. It sprays well and works well but if is is a little bit old it may not harden completely, ever. I used McFadden for a few years only to find some of my instruments were imprinting from the case lining material. You either live with it or strip and refinish, and I have done both. In the conversation with the chemist from Cardinal I mentioned this issue and he told me that it would not happen with Cardinal. It should be good as long as you can spray it.
I stepped up the material delivery adjustment and hold my gun farther away from the surface, and so far I am getting much better results. Keep your gun about 9 or 10 inches from the surface. I hope this helps, and if you need more technical information contact the Cardinal folks, they are very sharp and helpful.
-
Jeff Chumley
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2012 6:05 pm
Re: First flat top
Thanks Michael,
Oddly enough, I just came in from spraying a coat on the L00 I'm working on and I noticed that I was spraying pretty close to the surface. I think I've done that because someone else told me to back off on the material flow and in order to get a good coat I've unconsciously moved closer. I was spraying at around 5" from the surface when I typically try to keep it around 8" or so. I'll increase the flow and back off on the next coat and see how that works. I can say that the Cardinal lacquer is hard and it polishes very nicely. They say seven to ten days to cure. I can't confirm that because I had to leave it two weeks due to my work schedule but it was definitely good and hard when I level sanded it and it buffed out like a mirror.
I want to like it. I'll keep working on the technique. I have enough for another guitar so I might as well keep at it.
Jeff
Oddly enough, I just came in from spraying a coat on the L00 I'm working on and I noticed that I was spraying pretty close to the surface. I think I've done that because someone else told me to back off on the material flow and in order to get a good coat I've unconsciously moved closer. I was spraying at around 5" from the surface when I typically try to keep it around 8" or so. I'll increase the flow and back off on the next coat and see how that works. I can say that the Cardinal lacquer is hard and it polishes very nicely. They say seven to ten days to cure. I can't confirm that because I had to leave it two weeks due to my work schedule but it was definitely good and hard when I level sanded it and it buffed out like a mirror.
I want to like it. I'll keep working on the technique. I have enough for another guitar so I might as well keep at it.
Jeff
Re: First flat top
Looks nice Jeff. I'm working on my second flat top and have used curly maple to bind the fretboard. Just getting ready to bind the body with curly maple. I hope if come out looking as good as your OM.