WezV Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 will be interested to see how the torty turns out... you might have to do us a tutorial Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneseeker Posted October 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 (edited) PROGRESS UPDATE...After MANY hours trying to make the epoxy pickguard turn out right, it's definately not not nitro-celluloid quality or durability so I decided to just order some 3 ply brown tortoise pickguard material from www.grizzly.com . Although the color and transparency was exactly what I was hoping for, it's hardness and the fact that the difference in swirls keeps raising a grain on the surface, I decided to cut-bait and abandon it. I looked EVERYWHERE for some real .090" single ply nitro-cellulose brown tort blanks but to no avail. Does anyone(please!) have a source on some that won't cost me more than $40? I only need a 8" X 8" piece. I posted more pics on my site of the pickguard and of how the 3 light uniform color spray coats came out. I now have 7 coats of finish on soo far including the initial vinyl sealer. I didn't use a grain sealer as it's not the look I was after. I want it to be a player's guitar without a mirror high gloss finish that I have to constantly worry about scratching or fussing with. I basically want it to look like dookie(finish wise) in a few years and just enough coating to protect the color but not take away much resonance. I'll be appying 3 or 4 more coats this weekend and waiting 2 weeks before I do my polish sanding schedule and buffing. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks guys-Lowatter http://www.flickr.com/photos/10000602@N04/ Edited October 26, 2008 by toneseeker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 to me the back has exaxtly what i would expect from a 55 jnr, maybe a little more red but certainly not bad. th front doesnt look like something i know - but it does look good... go with it and see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneseeker Posted October 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 (edited) I know that I'm probably deviating from the original design somewhat, but I was hoping not too far...I posted some pics of an aged original 1959 Junior double cut on my pic site for comparison. I hope that I haven't missed my mark by too much in my re-creation for a first-time builder. Am I missing something?...anyone?...anyone? http://www.flickr.com/photos/10000602@N04/ Edited October 26, 2008 by toneseeker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 to me the colour on that original 59 does not look authentic - i would guess it was a refin. doesnt look bad though, just not quite what i expect from a gibson junior from the 50's. i have seen ones that were not far off that look, but that one in particular looks too consistent to be an old faded finish yours looks really nice as it is. i dont think its an authentic colour but does that really matter to you? the colour you have is similar the back of a 55 sunburst junior.. i am trying to remember what colours they offered on the 59's... i know they offered a TV yellow and a cherry thats often faded to a ruddy brown and i think they did a natural one this is just slight colour variations we are talking about, everything else seem spot on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pukko Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 I looked EVERYWHERE for some real .090" single ply nitro-cellulose brown tort blanks but to no avail. Does anyone(please!) have a source on some that won't cost me more than $40? I only need a 8" X 8" piece. Great looking guitar! I don't know if this will be any help, but check this site out: http://www.grevenguitars.com/tortis.htm I have no idea if it's a good place to buy from, but there are a couple of different tortoise styles to choose from. They don't seem to have 8"x8" as a standard option, but maybe it's worth contacting them anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneseeker Posted October 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 (edited) Yeah WezV...the color indoors under incondescent light looks more like red chestnut. I probably applied too much color spray coating. It's fine though, I can live with it. I'm happy just to get it to this point. I assembled everything today and strung it. I have a couple of buzzing issues, but very minor(12th and 13th fret leveling will take care of it). The neck still came out a little thick, but that's fine too. She plays like a dream and very resonant. It's been a ton of work, but it's paying off. Hey pukko...thanks for the link to Greven guitars. I contacted him and he has what I'm looking for in brown tort. He'll get back with a price soon. I hope it's not too high. Greven guitars are INCREDIBLE ACOUSTICS!. John is a great luthier. I'll be borrowing a good digital camera in the next day or so and taking some money shots of my Junior. Best wishes and thanks again guys-Lowatter http://www.flickr.com/photos/10000602@N04/ Edited November 14, 2008 by toneseeker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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