Is this a finish flaw or just the color variation of Honduran mahogany?

[parlorpower82]

New guitar (to me). I’ve verified this is Honduran mahogany but when it’s held in the light there are patches that look really light. I can’t tell if it’s a finish issue or if that’s the color of the Honduran? I always thought Honduran was more evenly colored. It’s a poly finish, not nitro.Anyway opinions are welcome. Thanks!

[robj144]

Appears, to me, to be a variation.

[Tony Burns]

Many guitar brands stain their wood to keep the colors simalar -
may just be a poor job of doing that .
Wood can have variaitons threw out that are different -
not knowing the specifics about your instrument - thats about my best
sumation

[Tube Sound]

The way the lines between the dark and light run, the straightness on some and running drip appearance on others, makes me think something in the finishing process. Maybe a stain run, like Tony mentioned. Either way, something don't look right. What is the guitar make and model?

[Wade Hampton]

Between the reflections of you in the high gloss finish and the bands of light from the window, it's kind of hard to tell what you're asking about. But in this top photo if you look past those distractions there is some variation in the color of the wood itself when you look at the top of the frame, where you can see the heel of the neck. Immediately to the left of the heel you can see what I mean, where the pores of the wood are more densely packed together contrasted to where they aren't.

Is that what you're asking about?

If so, that's simply the natural color variation within the wood. There's no misapplied finish or anything like that.

˙˙˙

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[zmf]

Do you have a shot of the entire back? Might make it easier to judge.

[ataylor]

Looks good to me. What is the make and model?

[3notes]

I'm surprised Wade had a tough time seeing the "imperfection." I see it in each and every picture. I'm going to stick around to see what the heck that's all about. I'd be very surprised if that's part of the wood, naturally speaking.

My Larrivee has "natural occurring silica." On the entire back side of the body. Looks like heck but has great tone. Took me a while but I'm over it. Kind of. This might go the same way for the OP.... ??

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by 3notes

I'm surprised Wade had a tough time seeing the "imperfection." I see it in each and every picture. I'm going to stick around to see what the heck that's all about. I'd be very surprised if that's part of the wood, naturally speaking.

My Larrivee has "natural occurring silica." On the entire back side of the body. Looks like heck but has great tone. Took me a while but I'm over it. Kind of. This might go the same way for the OP.... ??

Most of the color variation that I can see in the photos is where there’s a reflection of some sort. The variation in the color of the wood itself seems to be between where there are a lot of pores and where there are not.

The photos are difficult to read because of all the reflections and glare from the light source, but I don’t believe that there’s any misapplication of stain or finish involved.

If we can get some better photos taken under a more even light source, perhaps we can get a better idea of what the wood actually looks like.


whm

[parlorpower82]

I’ll try to get some better photos tomorrow in natural light.

It’s an older master class level Breedlove. Not a factory 2nd.

I thought the photos I chose made it pretty obvious. There’s a salmon/pinkish color variation that is different than the darker orange.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by parlorpower82

I thought the photos I chose made it pretty obvious. There’s a salmon/pinkish color variation that is different than the darker orange.

If we go back to the first photo, there’s a big block of a darker color in a ways from the heel of the neck that I had assumed was a reflection. Is that what you’re talking about?

So if that’s the actual color, then yes, there’s something odd there. As for the light, it doesn’t matter whether it’s natural, what matters is that it’s even and that there aren’t any shadows or patches of glare like you have on these first photos.


whm

[parlorpower82]

You can see there’s a pinkish/salmon color and then the normal looking orange Honduran color.

[Wade Hampton]

If stain was applied - and I’m still not certain that it was - it appears to have been taken by the areas of the wood with many pores differently than the areas where pores are less frequent.

But to me it still appears to be the natural color variation in the wood.

It would be helpful at this point to hear from some folks who either build guitars or else work with mahogany in some other capacity. All I have to offer is speculation and my own hunches. But to my eyes it doesn’t appear to be any sort of mistake or botched stain application. I think that’s just how that particular set of wood looks.


whm

[AndrewG]

That diagonal 'line' in the fourth picture from the top looks like sun bleaching. A friend had a guitar left on a Quiklok stand (the one with the support that curves over the top of the guitar), which left a perfect shadow in the finish after a few weeks near a sunlit window.

[parlorpower82]

Sometimes it just looks like different colored mahogany. I don’t think a stain was used.