Crocodile Texture Guitar

[theodoropoulos]

i was amazed by this guitar

http://dbzguitars.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=988

any idea how the hell is made this texture?

[Samba Pa Ti]

i assume its like a leather guitar finish but they used crocodile skin instead, they sell snake skin guitars as well but i cant tell if its real snake skin or not

id expect it was real, its not like they are protected or anything.

[theodoropoulos]

by reading very carefully they refer something about ETCHING....

i have no idea how will this be achieved...anybody?

[WezV]

my guess for that - laser cutter, stain black and sand a burst in

i thought it was going to be this:

which is done with tolex

[Cali-Blues]

from the close up pics of where the side meets the top it looks like they carved it in the wood. If its not real skin it might be cnc engraved? Can't really tell, but it does look good, I expected something way cheesier.

[Tim37]

i am really liking the looks of those DBZ's i would ;love to get my hands on one to see how they feel. but theres no dealers near me.

[chops1983]

from the close up pics of where the side meets the top it looks like they carved it in the wood. If its not real skin it might be cnc engraved? Can't really tell, but it does look good, I expected something way cheesier.

On first glimpse i thought the same thing. Etched or cnc routed, its hard to say but they have done a really good job on it. I think Wez could be on the money to with the dye black sand back the high spots call.

[theodoropoulos]

from the close up pics of where the side meets the top it looks like they carved it in the wood. If its not real skin it might be cnc engraved? Can't really tell, but it does look good, I expected something way cheesier.

On first glimpse i thought the same thing. Etched or cnc routed, its hard to say but they have done a really good job on it. I think Wez could be on the money to with the dye black sand back the high spots call.

can anybody explain how can we make etching to make such a texture?

[WezV]

buy a laser.... take over the world!!!!

CNC does work well for carving too but since they mentioned etching i assume they are referring to a laser

you could always practice your hand carving skills

[verhoevenc]

Or hand carving with a NUMBER of different chisels :S

Chris

[chops1983]

buy a laser.... take over the world!!!!

CNC does work well for carving too but since they mentioned etching i assume they are referring to a laser

you could always practice your hand carving skills

Yeah, got a spare 2 maybe 3 days?

[jaycee]

I was wondering if there is some kind of cnc pyrography system available, it would take eons if done that way by hand.

[theodoropoulos]

do you guys think that the material painted is wood or is it wood covered by metal paintings in order to achieve

patina like (tan ) results??

[chops1983]

I think it is timber, stained black as Wez said to get in all the highs and lows and then sanded back, obviously it will only wear down the high spots. On another inspection the back is black so maybe the whole thing got painted black and then sanded back. What do you mean by metal paintings?

[theodoropoulos]

I think it is timber, stained black as Wez said to get in all the highs and lows and then sanded back, obviously it will only wear down the high spots. On another inspection the back is black so maybe the whole thing got painted black and then sanded back. What do you mean by metal paintings?

this piece of art is wood sprayed with metal painting(copper)

http://www.scottwalkerguitars.com/Fathmed.html

[WezV]

1. i dont think that bronze is painted on, but plated somehow

2. i dont see any of that in the dean

[Woodenspoke]

There is no way anyone would use metal that thick. Etching is a shallow process on metal or glass (not wood )so I have no idea why that was brought up.

If its laser cut which is most likely the fastest way to do it, it could be black from the laser. But I dont think they did use one. I would suspect it is just a CNC router period. Its not a fine cut by any measure. The body is cut on the CNC why would anyone bother moving it to a second machine like a laser. Most of these machines have tool changers so it can easly change to a different bit on the fly without missng a step. Sure it adds additiional time to the process but I am sure they charge more.

You could do it by hand as chris said but it will take awhile. But much cheaper than a CNC machine

[theodoropoulos]

There is no way anyone would use metal that thick. Etching is a shallow process on metal or glass (not wood )so I have no idea why that was brought up.

If its laser cut which is most likely the fastest way to do it, it could be black from the laser. But I dont think they did use one. I would suspect it is just a CNC router period. Its not a fine cut by any measure. The body is cut on the CNC why would anyone bother moving it to a second machine like a laser. Most of these machines have tool changers so it can easly change to a different bit on the fly without missng a step. Sure it adds additiional time to the process but I am sure they charge more.

You could do it by hand as chris said but it will take awhile. But much cheaper than a CNC machine

I agree ..but the details can not be achieved by hand..you know in this skin there is ...something random..in texture...difficult by hand...if not designed before..

[theodoropoulos]

at last i found this

Bolero USA

Crocodile

- Mahogany Body with Mah Set Neck

- Graded Carved Maple Top, lasered

Crocodile Top

- DBZ Exclusive Pick-Ups and Stop Tail

- Gold Hardware

List Price $6220.99 Our Price:$3999

Available Colors:

Crocodile

Optional : EMG pickups 81/85

in http://www.carlinoguitars.com/DBZguitars.html

so.....LASER!!!!!!!!!!!

[Drak]

I'm going to have to disagree on the Carved Maple.

I think what they're trying to say in the add is that you can order it in EITHER Carved maple OR Croc-skin.

Read it closely, in the ad, there's a Croc and a Carved Maple right under it.

I'd be willing to bet it's a vinyl type of product (Pleather as we used to say in the '70's) surface,

then airbrushed over top of it.

Like Waylon Jennings' leather covered Telecaster for example.

I used to recover amps all the time and used to find some crazy exotic tolex vinyls out there, and that looks like the same type of product basically.

I'll go out on a limb and say it's a vinyl type of covering just glued on and finish shot over it to give it character.

It makes sense, it's do-able (actually not even that hard), and I've seen tolex vinyls similar to it before.

I've done Snakeskin on a Fender Deluxe Reverb, and Sherry Iguana on a Fender Pro cabinet...it just looks like the same type of stuff to me.

[WezV]

I'm going to have to disagree on the Carved Maple.

I think what they're trying to say in the add is that you can order it in EITHER Carved maple OR Croc-skin.

Read it closely, in the ad, there's a Croc and a Carved Maple right under it.

I'd be willing to bet it's a vinyl type of product (Pleather as we used to say in the '70's) surface,

then airbrushed over top of it.

Like Waylon Jennings' leather covered Telecaster for example.

I used to recover amps all the time and used to find some crazy exotic tolex vinyls out there, and that looks like the same type of product basically.

I'll go out on a limb and say it's a vinyl type of covering just glued on and finish shot over it to give it character.

It makes sense, it's do-able (actually not even that hard), and I've seen tolex vinyls similar to it before.

I've done Snakeskin on a Fender Deluxe Reverb, and Sherry Iguana on a Fender Pro cabinet...it just looks like the same type of stuff to me.

the dean looks far too deep and ridged to be tolex to me, but it is a good way to get a similar look like on the duesenberg i posted earlier

i think you need to look at the ads and the original pic a bit closer drak :D

the bolero crocodile has the description

" Graded Carved Maple Top, lasered Crocodile Top"

the flamed maple one (bolero premium) underneath says:

"Flamed Carved Maple Top"

look at the egdes too. no binding on the croc skin bolero - th carving goes right up to the edge.... be very hard to do that in a consistent and structuraly sound way with tolex

[theodoropoulos]

i agree....why keepig as secret if it was vinyl.?.Besides it LOOKS CARVED on wood

Edited June 7, 2010 by theodoropoulos

[Drak]

OK, it was just an (un)educated guess to what looked similar to me and could be done.

It it were laser etched, than I would assume every one would have the exact same figuring to it, yes?

So if we saw two examples, the 'gatoring' texture would be identical on them then?

[theodoropoulos]

OK, it was just an (un)educated guess to what looked similar to me and could be done.

It it were laser etched, than I would assume every one would have the exact same figuring to it, yes?

So if we saw two examples, the 'gatoring' texture would be identical on them then?

i think you are particulary right.I am trying now to find some photos in internet and have found one fantastic.

But they could use the same texture for example and put the guitar in different zero point to start cutting.

So perhaps same texture ,different putted texture.But the factory is very difficult to have only one texture sample.Do

not know...Let see....

interesting point of view....