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#1
04-01-2021, 03:50 PM
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complexity and project completion
I didn't want to go off-message on Victory Pete's beautiful bridge attachment thread so....
When I started building I figured life was too short to worry about dovetail neck joints and gloss finishes. I've been well served by bolting on my guitars' necks (see Luthier's Cool Tools' neck attachment scheme) and ignoring gloss finishes (Z-poxy sealer, Minwax rattle-can satin lacquer). It's worked out well and I've been saved from chasing my elusive tail around the shop for questionable results. I've also gotten happy noises from observers of my six completed projects. I could concentrate on playability and precise (for me) neck and fret installations. I didn't want some outside value system interfering with getting projects finished neatly and playing well. Bling, maybe later. None of us amateurs are going to emulate a factory gloss finish without spending as much time finishing as building. And all that mad-scientist paraphernalia associated with dovetails...Good enough for Collings, Bourgeois, Huss & Dalton, good enough for me. 
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#2
04-01-2021, 07:06 PM
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Painters - professional complete a 3 yr apprenticeship, where they recieve 1 on 1 tutoring, a syllabus and spend thousands of hours in training before they are allowed to offer their services to paid clients directly.
We as luthiers expext to be able to paint guitars to showroom finish by clients as an addition to our build capabilities. I encourage everyone thats starting into the building game to forget about the finish, concentrate on the build and just go with rub on coatings etc, then you get to enjoy your guitar rather than get bogged down in sanding and buffing, sanding and buffing Steve
__________________
Cole Clark Fat Lady Gretsch Electromatic Martin CEO7 Maton Messiah Taylor 814CE
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#3
04-02-2021, 08:09 AM
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Quote:
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#4
04-02-2021, 08:19 AM
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Quote:
 Now I'm getting an idea for a large vat so you could simply dip 'em. ...or how about if you use an enrobing machine like they do to cover chocolates? 
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#5
04-02-2021, 08:50 AM
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A thought
Well, to post pictures I'd have to take pictures. And learn how to post them, too. I'm afraid today's not the day. And I'd have to learn to take pictures that offered the right information. Folks who post pictures have my admiration and respect for skills I don't have.
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#6
04-02-2021, 09:24 AM
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#7
04-02-2021, 09:34 AM
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Quote:
__________________
Fred
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#8
04-02-2021, 05:29 PM
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#9
04-02-2021, 07:45 PM
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__________________
Fred
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#10
04-03-2021, 10:08 AM
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That said I have just got into spraying waterborne lacquer and discovered that it’s a lot easier than I thought it would be. I had a few tips from Steve (Mirwa) and gave it a go. The results are amazing but ........ you have to love sanding wet and dry........... a very lot!!!!!! I’m pleased I did and started with my very first ever build which was French polished with Shellac. The build was memorable as it took me two months to pick up the courage to cut a dovetail joint!!!
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#11
04-03-2021, 10:42 AM
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A gentleman I knew, who passed away, and who's birthday it is today, used to tell me stories of how when he was a younger man one had to dress in a suit and tie and wear spats to go downtown to shop. That is how it was done and what was the expected norm. Things have changed. Like many fashions, what people will accept in guitar making has changed considerably in the last four decades. When I started, you pretty much couldn't give away a guitar that didn't have a gloss finish AND had filled pores. There were a few "outliers", but nearly all guitars had dovetailed neck joints: that's how it was done. Today, many buyers are willing to accept matte finishes - some even prefer them, until they gloss themselves - and finishes that have unfilled open pores. That makes available many different types of finishes that simply weren't acceptable to a buying public in earlier times. Some, like modern "hard wax" finishes, are very easy to apply even by a novice. Today, many buyers are willing to accept nearly any type of neck joint. That, too, opens up all sorts of possibilities that weren't acceptable previously. Sure, there were exceptions, but the mainstream was dovetails. Just like current acceptable fashions can make it much simpler and easier to get dressed in the morning, one can certainly argue that relaxing expectations - or expanding what is acceptable - has made things much, much easier for aspiring guitar makers - and has allowed large manufacturers to cut their costs. My point is simply that art is a reflection of its time, of the norms in behaviours, values and attitudes of that time. What artists (and craftspersons) produce changes with the times. That can be seen in guitar making as well.
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#12
04-03-2021, 11:05 AM
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I'm very grateful to Bob Taylor for pushing the envelope when it comes to bolt on necks. I started off doing Dovetails but soon moved over to the Taylor style bolt on. That was the 90's when the bolt on vs dovetail discussion could lead to fist fights. Now it's generally accepted except, even desired, for the hard core traditionalists.
I can get an FP finish pretty glossy right off the rag but if someone wanted a high gloss mirror modern finish then they would have to pay for someone else to do it. Try Tru-Oil some day, you probably sill like it. It's the easiest finish that has good results I've ever used.
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