1 (edited by zguitar 2011-01-16 03:29:40)

Topic: My project

Hey all!! I've been wanting to share my refinishing project so I finally took some pics of it.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5084/5307975129_96a513c0eb.jpg
So this is my Art & Lutherie Wild Cherry. I love this guitar. If plays so easy!! But I hated the satin black finish and painted on rosette.
I decided to start tinkering with stripping the finish. Boy was it messy.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5163/5358347425_cd6eec7882.jpg
Here is the back all stripped and cleaned. I like the cherry grain.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5206/5358349607_fd6ec90683.jpg
Here is the front as of right now. I haven't gotten around to it yet. I want to do it when I have time to finish the whole project so it's un-strung for as short as possible. I'm gonna lose the black pic guard and go with a clear static cling one like I put on my Yamaha A/E.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5123/5358967442_5c6ee37e78.jpg
Something I found tho. There are a few spots on the front that show sandthru of the top veneer layer. I don't know if it's been refinished before. Also the back and sides were the same color under the black as the neck is. A sort of reddish brown.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5358354237_bff224fbc7.jpg
Pix inspired me to tackle a soundport. It wasn't all that hard to do. I still need to fiberglass the inside of the port, which I should have done before cutting it out, but oh well. I had a hard time deciding on a shape. I liked the guitar pic shape but wanted something different. So I went with the cross. It was alot more intricate so I made the cross fit into the guitar pic shape. That way if I messed up the cross I could just cut it out into the pic shape. I hit the side of the neck while rubbing with acetone and stripped a little off the heel. Notice the filler between the port and the neck. Some idiot drilled a hole for a strap pin there and just below the heel on the back. That's one reason I got it so cheap I think.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5358524945_75ea972e75.jpg
Another cool thing about A&L. This leaf on the inside of the guitar on the bottom of the neck block. Dare I say it's a leaf from a cherry tree?

Couple of questions, Would sandthru occur at the factory knowing it would be covered up? Why the brown under the black? And only on the sides and back?

I will finish it in the spring when the weather is a little nicer. I'm gonna go with a black to natural burst on the top because of the sandthru. The back and sides will be natural. All satin clear. I'm not doing the neck or headstock. So that's where it's at to date. I will post more when I get more done.

Keep Rockin!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: My project

Wow, awesome work on that soundport!
Nice find inside the soundhole too!

Dm

"Talent instantly recognizes genius,
but mediocrity knows nothing more than itself."

-Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle

Re: My project

Beautiful work on the back and sides.  Love the sound port.. How's it coming with the top?

Now available in 5G !

Re: My project

No more progress as of yet. In maybe another month I'll get back on it. I'm dying to do it. Hope it turns out nice;)

Keep Rockin!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: My project

Like the sound port very nice!

Re: My project

That's starting to look good. I too like the soundport. Just one question will the soundport affect the projection of the guitar?

Jerry

Live the life you love, love the life you live

Re: My project

Here's some info on soundport sound. I found no diff in the outward projection. I really can't even hear the diff overall unless I cover the port then uncover it while hitting the strings.

http://www.mcknightguitars.com/soundports.html

Keep Rockin!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: My project

Thats really starting to look good,soundports are supernice looking!

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman

9 (edited by naolslager 2011-03-02 20:59:46)

Re: My project

Art & Lutheries are fantastic guitars. I have the "Wild Cherry" variant of this same guitar. What attracted me to it was it's satin "almond" finish. Absolutely beautiful and sounds good also. In fact I own two A&L "Wild Cherry" guitars: one dreadnought and one Ami (0-size body). Both sound in well above their weight class.

No leaves in any of mine. At least none that I've found.

Okay, I'll come clean I also own a natural color Norman (same Godin lineage) 12-string. They could be triplets, two identical and one fraternal.

What is goal for this guitar? Finish, etc?

Re: My project

Looks great Z!   I could have swore I'd replied to this thread a long time ago........   

I'd say the sandthru on the top is from the factory. Could the reddish brown layer on the back and sides have been the natural or red finish of a different model? It's possible that it was painted black because of the sandthru.....   Is it just the light in the pic or is the top veneer of the top mahogany? I know they use a mahogany/wild cherry/mahogany laminate on the back and sides of some models but most wild cherry models have a WC top veneer like these
http://www.artandlutherieguitars.com/wildcherrytgreen.jpg
Doesn't really matter, it just caught my eye....

Love the soundport! No need to support the inside of the port with that design and it being a laminate sided guitar... If you want to support the center t section of the port, I'd get a piece of an ice cream stick smile, trim it thinner than your vertical line in the port but about 2 inches longer so it extends past the port 1inch on top and bottom, bend it to match the curve of the shoulder and glue it in place. But as long as your careful not to hit it too hard it'll be fine as is.

[b][color=#FF0000]If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something.
[/color][/b]         [b]Peace of mind. That's my piece of mind...[/b]

Re: My project

The finish is gonna be a black to natural burst in satin on the front. The sides and back will be natural in satin.  I was going to do it all natural but since I found the sandthru I opted for the black burst. Similar to the green one is Pix's post but with more black.

Pix, thanks for the info on the soundport. I still might reinforce it just to make me feel better. I am not sure about the mahogany. The back has similar grain to the ones in your pic. I'll post more when I get the front stripped. The tag inside doesn't say anything about mahogany tho. The red/brown that was on there kinda looks like the antique burst models. It was almost the same color as the neck.

I'm itching to work on it, just don't have the time.

Keep Rockin!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: My project

Hey zguitar,

Just tagging along, so far your refinishing looks really well-done.  I also own an Art and Lutherie cedar black dreadnaught guitar. Over the years the finish has really dulled out. I don't want to sand out the black finish, but would like to re-coat it with some sort of linseed oil or Tru-Oil. Are you familiar with what sort of semi-gloss finish these guitars are made with?

Re: My project

The company doesn't disclose the exact kind of polish. They just say custom polish but it's very similar ,if not the same, as French polish. It's a hand rubbed finish...


It's not a hard finish to apply but dries real quick and takes some practice to get it just right... I'd recommed gettin a few pieces of scrap wood about the same size as a guitar top and play with doing areas about that size before doing the guitar itself... As I said before it dries fast so you'll want pay attention and work it around the body from one upper bout to another keeping it overlapped for a even finish.

Welcome to Chordie!!

[b][color=#FF0000]If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something.
[/color][/b]         [b]Peace of mind. That's my piece of mind...[/b]

Re: My project

Thanks for the reply, I've tried contacting the company directly but haven't heard back yet. I don't want to do any strenuous refinishing job, just want to restore some of the semi-gloss luster and texture it use to have. You think linseed or Tru-Oil will stick to the old finish? Sorry for hijacking this thread...

Re: My project

You use linseed oil as a lubricant to help when applying french polish so the two are compatible. I don't foresee any problems if you go that route. I'd try contacting them directly again though to be sure.

I have a contact that works for Godin guitars but it's been awhile since I've talked to him... I'll see if I can dig up his email for you.

[b][color=#FF0000]If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something.
[/color][/b]         [b]Peace of mind. That's my piece of mind...[/b]

Re: My project

I've had good luck contacting the company via email. Try using the "godin" email address. I suspect they all feed to this anyway. I usually receive a response within 2-3 days but they are always terse. Maybe they are busy with other email or , God forbid, building nice guitars.

Re: My project

Looks like you are going too have a good looking guitar when you are done,good work!!

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman

Re: My project

Resurrecting this thread. Wow it's been 2 1/2 years.

So my project is complete. Here are some in process pics.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7295/12263033866_8619cc4911_n.jpg
Nasty sand thru. Couldn't get the front clean like the back and sides. I did like the look of the black grain. Was going to do a burst but...

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3822/12262608173_d0eb763cbf_n.jpg
Neck stripped. I had to do a little sanding to get the red/brown out.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3731/12263029236_1312e2c087_n.jpg
I was actually able to fix some of the sand thru. I used a razor blade to cut "grain" into the wood, hit it with some black stain, and sanded it back down. There were two really bad spots that wouldn't turn out. So, a different burst pattern was in mind....

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3709/12262602563_3ac4948600_n.jpg
Neck all taped up ready for clear.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7459/12262879474_4bdf23f852_n.jpg
Here is the burst I settled on. I really didn't like it so I decided to just paint the top all black. I really liked how the grain stood out thru the paint.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3822/12262436285_deea50952a.jpg
Here is the paint and clear I used. I picked this paint because I had already planned on using a polyurethane clear. I had heard that the base coat should be the same type as the top coat.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7429/12396667024_444d8d7a2d.jpg
Here she is all done. You can barely see the clear pickguard in this pic.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2835/12396674654_2b2c0a40f5.jpg
A hint of grain still shows thru. The more paint and clear I added the more it hid the grain. I should have done a couple less coats of each.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3763/12396220065_63ba639517_n.jpg
Little piece of Rosewood? on the heel. It was covered up with black when I got it.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3827/12396773325_cd293c98f9_n.jpg
The neck came out nice and smooth.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7365/12397228424_8c684ded66.jpg
I changed the shape of the soundport and this is a pic of inside thru the port. The small hole there is from someone who tried to mount a strap button. Notice the black that bled thru to the inside. I am thinking this guitar was refinished at some point after the hole was made. Anyhow, it looks better now than it did when I got it. When I had it all apart I did look closer at the leaf inside. Turns out to be just a sticker.

So all in all I like how it turned out. Not how I originally planned but still nice.

Keep Rockin!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: My project

That is one fine looking guitar you have now. All the work has been worth it, you must be very pleased.

Roger

"Do, or do not; there is no try"

Re: My project

What`s great is that when it is finished, it will be a one of a kind. No others like it. Something you won`t find in a store or catalogue.

Enjoy Every Sandwich
Nothing In Moderation  -- Live Fast. Love Hard. Die Young And Leave A Beautiful Corpse. -- Buy It Today. Cry About It Tomorrow.