Shell Perfling

[Duff Beer Man]

I searched and got nothing, has anyone on here used shell as a perfling around there guitar? If so what kind? how easy was it, and how much do u need? I want to do this on a furture project and just trying to research ahead.

[thegarehanman]

I'm in the process of purfling a guitar. You normally see people purf the top of the guitar with shell, but I'm doing the sides. I'll tell you how much of a hastle it is when I'm done.

[Duff Beer Man]

cool what kinda of shell? and post some pics, i dont get what u mean by sides, caues all the perfling ive seen is done on the outter edge of the guitar, followed by binding wrapped around it.

[thegarehanman]

I'm using black MOP. You've never seen perfling around the side of the guitar? Imagine if you put a layer of shell or wood around the guitar under the binding. It's just like what you'd do on top, but on the side of the guitar.

[Mattia]

I'm in the process of purfling a guitar. You normally see people purf the top of the guitar with shell, but I'm doing the sides. I'll tell you how much of a hastle it is when I'm done.

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Interesting...one thing you're probably doing anyway, but I'll mention for others reading who might be tempted: DO NOT install shell on-edge, so that the 'show' side is the edge of the blank. This looks dull, unreflective, and nothing like that lovely shell colour you're shooting for.

[thegarehanman]

Yeah, there's really no way around laying it sideways in this instance. I picked the blanks I cut the perfling from very carefully though, so it's solid shell throughout(as opposed to, say, having some of the crust of the shell on one side). Anyhow, it's only black mop, which is never as iridescent as paua, so I didn't expect much glow from it. I'll have to do a little polishing today, see if I can't get the look I'm shooting for. Oh the perils of doing new things.

[Setch]

I think you'll find that the 'flash' simply won't appear, no matter how much you polish it. The structure of the shell is lots of thin layers - If you show the side of the shell, you're seeing endgrain, which looks boring and un-flashy, whatever you do to it.

[SwedishLuthier]

I haven’t done a regular purfling with shells, but I have made a wine with MOP laid into a channel I cut in the fretboard. I used ready cut MOP strips that I broke into pieces and glued into the channel. Pretty much the same thing as inlaying MOP in a purfling channel. It is much work, especially to get the joints to look nice. But I can tell you, it is very rewarding.

My advice is to work slowly, and to pay a lot of attention on the joints between the strips. I rushed things at one part and it shows.

[Duff Beer Man]

what kind of glue are u using to glue it in and how are u gluing it in so it shows now seem lines? Are u working off of lots of little pieces or did u buy a sheet? If sheet how thick is it? Lots of questions.... lol

[Mattia]

For purfling strips around the guitar, if you get standard sizes, you can get teflon to put between the binding and the purfling scheme, glue it up, remove teflon, start fitting pearl. Check StewMac's website, they've got a couple of pictures.

I use CA (superglue) for all my shell gluing, works well. Currently ordering a batch of strips pre-cut, and the idea is to mitre the pieces and break them so the break lines look 'natural', like the variations in the shell itself. This works well with abalone, and is pretty much impossible with Mother of Pearl.

[Duff Beer Man]

Is doing a headstock harder then just a normal body? Also anyone have any decent pictures of how to do this stuff on a solid body, searched internet and just found how to on acoutic stuff.

[Mattia]

Is doing a headstock harder then just a normal body? Also anyone have any decent pictures of how to do this stuff on a solid body, searched internet and just found how to on acoutic stuff.

Depends on the headstock, really. It's 'harder' because you've got more corners to mitre/join, and if you've got funny curves, it's more difficult still.

Honestly, when it comes to binding, there's little to no difference between electrics and acoustics. The technique's the same, if anything flat-topped electrics are easier because they don't require weird jigs to account for the arch in the top and back. Arched tops are a bit more complex because of the geometry.

[jer7440]

Check out Thorn Guitars. This guy does a ton of shell purfling. Just look through his galleries. I've seen examples with shell on the top and on the sides.