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I just strung up this Koa/Bear Claw sitka 00 12 fret short scale 00. It is a tradition build for me with a Martinish style X-Bracing, no carbon fiber or epoxy. The pore fill is System 3 Silvertip epoxy, I apply it and sand it back until I can level sand it with no sand throughs. I sealed it with Seal-Lac (shellac) and sprayed post-cat Royal Lac.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Looks great, John!

Sweet wood combo! How's it sound?

That's pretty. I really like the sap wood on the back.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That’s a real beauty, John. I too love the look of the back, really nice. How’s the sound? Looks like your cat approves.


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Gorgeous, John!

I'm in the middle of my first pore fill with Silvertip. I'm curious as to how many coats you had to do on this one before you could sand flat with no sand-throughs.

I was finding my "sea legs" on this one (several test scrap pieces preceded this, but this is the first guitar), and it took me more coats than I thought it would, but it is looking pretty sweet at this point. I really like this method of pore filling.

Also, can you offer some color commentary on the post-cat Royal Lac? I'm going to put Enduro Var over the Silvertip on this one, but I have used normal Royal Lac before, and I am thinking of trying the post-cat version on my next guitar. The short cure time is an attractive feature, along with the fact that it is a shellac product (I have mostly French polished guitars so far, before this current one).

Thanks for any additional info on the finishing. Any process that yields such a gorgeous guitar deserves attention!

That's a handsome beast John. Love everything about it!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

That's a handsome beast John. Love everything about it!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Two big thumbs up from me!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I don't post often but I think that's a magnificent job. What a beautiful guitar!

lovely guitar. Is that a curly mahogany neck?

Thanks all for the kind comments. I did play it and was happy with the way it sound. I look forward to this week as I tune in the setup and the guitar as time to settle into having strings.



It usually takes three applications of Silvertip for me. At least one application and possibly 2 of them is really showing my bad prep work, low or high spots. Basically I sand through chasing the shiny places or a sand through just happens.

My process for Royal-lac is to spray 4 coats and try to level the next day with 800p sandpaper (dry sanding) I will repeat this process one or two days. Usually by the second or third day it levels nicely. Then I spray 3 or 4 more coats and let cure for a week.

Thanks! yes it is mahogany.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

DANG! I’m in awe.

B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Nice work, John. That finish looks stellar.

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George :-)

That's a honey right there, a real keeper!

She's a beauty!

Man, those are some heavily scalloped braces...….

Thanks, they are a bit taller than they look at their lowest. I took them down close to my minimum as the top was still stiff. I am not used to working with Sitka, both top and braces. The bridge rotated more than 1 but less than two degrees under string tension.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Very nice! I've been using the older Royal-Lac via French polish and have been pleased with the results. Yours looks great. Koa is one of my favorites.

Dave

Thanks Dave,

Although I am somewhat embarrassed of my playing ability, this video clip allows one to hear the guitar in DADGAD and also standard tuning. The guitar has been strung less than a week.

https://youtu.be/9pP1Og_dljg

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

That guitar sounds absolutely wicked John!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.