Heres a few pictures of a recently completed koa guitar ive neen working on,  its all solid koa with curly maple binding, ebony board with abalone inlay, scheerhorn cone, Beard adjustable spider and grover mini tuners with custom ebony buttons. Hand rubbed Oil finish.

koa reso

wow that is very pretty, great workmanship

Edited by - doug662 on 07/02/2012 16:27:45

Very nice. Wish I could do that.

Love that Koa. Tastey!!!!!!!!!   How about a sound bite?  

Koa is my favorite, I agree with Grizz, sound?

Man, that turned out great! Impressive craftsmanship to be sure. Did you finish the rosewood/Carpathian as well?

Gorgeous!

Beeeeoooooteeeeful!

I have a hand rubbed oil finish on my koa and I love it.  No fingerprintsBeautiful guitar, should be very proud of your craftsmanship.

The rosewood/carpathian is about done, just assemble and set-up.  Heres a pic of a curly maple/koa bound im finishing now with oil.

Very nice!

Beautiful work, how does the oil rubbed finish compared to a lacquer finish affect the sound ?

Im no expert, but an oil finish is thin (even though I apply up to 30 coats),  thinner is always better.  It allows the wood to vibrate more freely and makes for a more responsive instrument.  I believe this also applies to an instrument finished in nitro cellulose lacquer as well.  I kind of like the oil finish more though,  also, instruments finished in oil just look  better to me. Warmer? More touchable? I love high gloss lacquer finishes as well.  Of course, this is just my opinion, so please folks,   keep the artillery volleys to a minimum!

I would believe that given this instrument (Reso) and its construction that finish has little or nothing to do with it. The resonance comes from the cone. Basically you have a speaker cabinet. Just my opinion. As you said Bob keep the volleys to a minimum. This is my opinion, however it is shared by many others. Now if this finish is the same as was on my Lazy River Weissenborn, I didn't like it at all. When I bought it, it was less than a year old and not played that much, evidentially the previous owner was anchoring his pinky. Where he was doing that it got shiny. I called Lance and he told me there was nothing I could do about it. Being anal like I am it was unacceptable. Personally i will stick with the tried and true nitro finish. Just wipe it with a micro fiber cloth and all fingerprint's etc are gone. Again for me I feel that it is the most durable of all finishes. YMMV

Bob, I would agree with your observations, and your opinion on finishes. To quote something which has been often quoted on this subject on Reso H:

"The body of resonators actually play a much smaller role in the overall sound of these instrument compared to a regular acoustic guitar.  On a regular acoustic, the top wood of the guitar is the predominant sound generator.  The better the wood and the more time spent on optimizing the tap tone, the better the sound.  On a resonator, the cone generates the vast majority of the sound.  You could say that 80% of the tone's in the cone.  In fact, the stiffer the body of a resonator the better.   This is why resonator builders who make wood body models typically use thick laminates instead of solid wood.   Many builders and retailers will tell you there is no strong tonal benefit to justify the extra expense of solid wood.  The only significant justification for the expense of solid wood on a resonator is its inherent beauty."

Doing the math, that remaining 20 percent must be found somewhere, and the wood used and the finish applied must play some  part.  If not, everything with a Scheerhorn cone should sound like a Scheerhorn. Wouldn't that be nice!

​My OPINION only, of course!!!

Yeah and every one with a Quarterman cone sounds like a Quarterman Reso.  You got to be kidding me. Here from one of the premier luthiers in the business, J.D. Meyers, who know's what the hell he is talking about. Some people don't read or comprehend so good, i clearly stated that it was my opinion. So looking for another dust up are we?  Any way here is why resos from different builders sound different. 

There are over 50 different points in building a reso that determine what sound you’re going to get . Do it long enough and screw up often in your discoveries ,..and you'll unlock the mystery . Wood choice, cone , spider , neck angle , bracing material , tone ring material , brace placement , finish , string tension , tailpiece angle , bridge angles , nut angles , headstock angle , neck materials , critical setup prep , spider prep , cone prep ,...etc..and the list goes on .
Align the stars and BAM ! Reso Heaven !

Edited by - Grizz on 07/04/2012 11:22:06

Another dust up???  Should I cringe in fear?  Don't get your bowels in an uproar, Fuzzy, I was just stating My opinion as My opinion, which when last I checked was perfectly OK on the forum.  

Or has there been a rules change???

Shot of back and neck heel

Bob,

The koa heel is a very classy touch.

Dean

Off the hook It's sometimes what are considered minor things that separate the good builders from the great builders. Nice work.

Hello,

They sure do look nice from these pictures. Thank you for sharing you craftsmanship.

John
Aradoreso

Thanks for all the compliments folks.

Looks like this one might have a new home.