#76
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Hi MM, I don't know what the angle of the neck is, but thankfully it's fine and doesn't need a reset. Matthew wasn't able to fit me in this week, but I'm hoping to be able to go and see him next week to do the fret crowning and final set up.
Fliss |
#77
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Now that's a nice, old timey lookin' parlor!
Please cut the strings before you poke an eye out! |
#78
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Quote:
Yesterday, I took the guitar to Matthew's workshop and Matthew crowned and polished the frets for me, cut the nut slots and finished the set up (I did some of the final nut shaping!) and fitted the Thomastik Infield John Pearse Folk strings, so it's now a proper guitar! I've still got the Frensh Polishing to do, but I'm going to live with it for a few weeks and let it settle in before taking the hardware off to do that. Here are a few pics: Fliss |
#79
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Going to strip the finish and try French Polishing?
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#80
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Be careful French Polishing old wood. Cracks happen. I did a bad one on my old Parlor restoration.
Hey! I just scored a solid Mahogany, Spruce topped Bruno'ish Parlor Guitar for $X! All it needs is; Fix 3 top cracks, pull it apart reattach or make new bracing, fix the crack on the head neck joint, make a new nut and saddle, get the trapeze re-nickled, refret, new tuners are needed, reset the neck..... Easy-peezee A past owner turned it into a 5 string guitar. They rebuilt the inline tuners. Easy return to 6 string, just interesting. Its had some restoration attempts in the past. I'll post some pictures. I love finding this stuff. By the way, boy does it tap nice. It'll sound great when done. Last edited by Fliss; 06-07-2010 at 10:53 AM. Reason: AGF rule 2 :) |
#81
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Thanks for the tip re French Polishing. I'm not planning to take off the existing finish, I'll just clean it with meths and put a couple of coats of shellac over it, and the same on the top.
Fliss |
#82
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Exactly, no need to strip.
Shellac, with some meth, has the ability to fuse or melt into the older top finish... Good stuff Fliss! Thomastik Infield John Pearse Folk strings? I'll have to google that... I'll be posting some pics soon... MM |
#83
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Quote:
I look forward to seeing pics of your project Fliss |
#84
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Thats a lovely little parlour, in fact it's exactly the type of thing I'm looking for too!
If it's as light as you say it is then that is going to be one noisy, bluesy, twangy little guitar...just as it should be.. Ha.."One Dime Blues" by Blind Lemmon Jefferson would kill on that thing. Good luck |
#85
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I'm reviving this old thread as it's now around nine months since I completed this project - so far as it is complete - but I still haven't done the French polishing, and now I'm wondering whether to do so or just to leave it as it is.
Basically, since stringing it up I've just been playing around with it, enjoying it, lending it to a friend who wanted to have a play on it, and generally giving it time to settle in. I'm now thinking of taking off the strings and hardware, giving it a clean up (NOT stripping off the finish that's there) and doing the French polishing. However... I kind of like it as it is, warts and all. It's never going to look perfect or like a brand new guitar. I'm concerned that if I polish it, I'll somehow lose the character that it has. I'd like to ask for your opinions please. What do you think, should I French polish it, or just keep it as is? Fliss |
#86
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Hey Fliss! I'd clean it up and spot shellac any open damage and play her. Sanding down and French Polish is a TON of work. As I said before, the pressure I use on a new guitar cracked a nice old one. Likely the result will look nice but not much different. Take those 40 hours of shoulder/chest/hand pain and write a song about it
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#87
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sweet little parlor
I'm far from an expert, and know very little about German guitars, but I'd be surprised if that weren't a lot older than 1950. What makes you think 1950? Are there any labels or makers marks on it?
Last edited by Corky Long; 03-28-2011 at 03:52 PM. |
#88
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Thanks guys Corky, the date estimate came from the seller originally, but a couple of other people have backed it up based on the type of finish.
Fliss |