Chocolate body, finish or wood?

[Edoardo]

Hi guys,

I would like the body of my guitar to be more or less of this colour
http://www.keymusic.com/gfx_productcode/XL/127440/4/Gibson-SG-61-Reissue-Satin-Worn-Brown.jpg

or see attatched file.


Alas, I see only a glossy brown in the finish options (I don't like glossy stuff).

Mohogany seems always too bright and looks too cheap with a satin finish.
Rosewood is just too dark
Koa is often too bright, unless you go "unique choice" I'm afraid.
Some koa unique choices I've seen were more than pleasant, but it's like 150$ more and it does not exactly nail it yet!

Suggestions?

thanks a lot

 

[bagman67]

Sounds like you may want a walnut-topped guitar body, my friend.

 

[Edoardo]

Thanks a lot man! The Warmoth rendering looks nothing like that. googling, most images make me feel happy. The unique choices double the koa in cost though. I mean, I don't feel I need a unique choice, if not for the color. I don't care about the woods flames, knots etc... just the color.

 

[Edoardo]

I mean... I don't care whether the wood has fancy flames or figures. I care about the color.

Those "non-unique" renderings look so pale, cheap, greenish, grayish... If I don't ask for a unique choice, will I get a non-figured wood that has more the colour of the actual pictures (rather than the one of the renderings) or something as awful as the colours of the renderings?

 

[Tonar8352]

That looks like walnut paste filler on mahogany then finished with satin lacquer.

 

[Edoardo]

That looks like walnut paste filler on mahogany then finished with satin lacquer.

Honestly, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have ANY "finishing" skills at all man, please I beg you not to propose any DIY stuff, just something I can get straight from the Warmoth store...  :icon_biggrin:

 

[DavyDave53]

The guys on this board are extremely knowledgeable and talented.  I bet if you told them what type of guitar body you wanted they would help you pick out the tree.

 

[Edoardo]

The guys on this board are extremely knowledgeable and talented.  I bet if you told them what type of guitar body you wanted they would help you pick out the tree.

Thanks, I forgot: it's going to be a Jazzmaster body. I think I'm going to get it chambered because I've read around they are quite heavy

 

[bagman67]

Walnut can sometimes tend toward a greenish or greyish tint, or can be striped with lighter wood, but if you order a walnut body or a body with a walnut laminate top, you can specify that you'd like a piece of wood with less color variation and you should do all right.  Also, the unique choice pieces are often shown wet to give you an idea how the wood will look with a clear finish, and the body builder renders as if it were dry wood.  Walnut darkens very nicely with a clear finish on it.


Also, the body builder render should not be relied on as a solid representation of the final product - just a general idea what you'll be getting.  If you search in the showcase for walnut, you should get a better idea what a production body will look like.


Body = walnut:
http://www.warmoth.com/Pages/ClassicShowcase.aspx?Body=2&Path=Body&core=9


Lam top = walnut:
http://www.warmoth.com/Pages/ClassicShowcase.aspx?Body=2&Path=Body&lamTop=9


Bagman

 

[Edoardo]

Thanks a lot.

Indian Rosewood seems to be the thing


http://www.warmoth.com/Pages/ClassicShowcase.aspx?Body=2&Path=Body&lamTop=34


But googling online I've found much darker stuff  :dontknow: :icon_biggrin:

 

[Edoardo]

One thing I would like to ask at this point:

What about an Indian Rosewood top on a Mohogany body, withOUT the binding?

 

[bagman67]

There are a lot of different timbers being marketed as "rosewood," and even within the same species you can get tremendous variation in color and figuring.  There are some that go to a deep, dark purple, and some that are a rosy pink, with all shades of brown in between, and with various degrees of dark or multicolored streaking.  Rosewood is some lovely stuff, and its relatives - cocobolo, tulipwood, kingwood, and so on - can also be quite striking.  But for your purpose, Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia) is probably going to supply the most desirable color.


Pau ferro is also a beautiful brown wood with dark streaks, and has many characteristics in common with Brazilian and East Indian rosewoods, despite not being a true rosewood of the Dalbergia genus itself.  Check it out.

 

[Edoardo]

There are a lot of different timbers being marketed as "rosewood," and even within the same species you can get tremendous variation in color and figuring.  There are some that go to a deep, dark purple, and some that are a rosy pink, with all shades of brown in between, and with various degrees of dark or multicolored streaking.  Rosewood is some lovely stuff, and its relatives - cocobolo, tulipwood, kingwood, and so on - can also be quite striking.  But for your purpose, Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia) is probably going to supply the most desirable color.


Pau ferro is also a beautiful brown wood with dark streaks, and has many characteristics in common with Brazilian and East Indian rosewoods, despite not being a true rosewood of the Dalbergia genus itself.  Check it out.

Thanks a lot. Damn that's how you explain wood tones!!!  :blob7: :toothy10: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2:

I like these chocolate indian rosewoods I've just linked. I like also some dark Koa tops I've seen that lean towards wine red or purple (but just a little). But I am afraid of getting a too dark (as dark as say, coffee) rosewood or a too bright piece of koa. 99% koa tops I've seen are too bright.


I may not remember well, but most cocobolo stuff I have seen seemed too bright, just like koa. the others I recall were too figured. I don't want an heavily figured top. I mean, not "solid", You have to see some wood, but I'd never get, say, something like a quilted maple top. I know it's kind of heresy from the (wonderful) pics I have seen here  :toothy11: but I'd like this guitar not to look too fancy