The inlays and the finish are from Cliff Suttle. Here is his description;
This is a Koa wood top, alder back, walnut plates, and a Koa wood neck. It has over 200 pieces of shell inlay in the body, fret board, and headstock. If you have ever finished Koa, you know what a pain it can be. It is an extremely grainy wood. The job was made even harder due to the inlay which tends to create sink holes all on it's own as the wood settles. This guitar was quite difficult to fill and flatten, but that was to be expected.My clients are very picky about their guitars. You don't paid for all this inlay and expect a second rate guitar. It is very important to me that my finishes are first class. This guitar was especially important to me, because I was the client on this one. This one was for ME! Normally I use a spray gun. However, I'd heard some good things about Reranch products and wanted to try them. I figured if it didn't turn out right, I could always redo it later.
This was my first experience using Reranch products. I used the Reranch paste filler first. Then, I applied their spray filler. Finally I clear coated the guitar in a process I call "double finish". These products performed great. The first thing I noticed was the spray valves. They are SO MUCH BETTER than the ones on spray paint cans. You get two with each can. The white one is perfect for me. It produces a very controllable and fine mist. I only had one run in the entire finishing process and that was my fault. The entire finishing job went smoothly and quickly. First rate stuff all the way.
Now, I have to say that it is a little cheaper to use a spray gun, but if you factor in your time to prep the material and clean the gun, the Reranch way is actually more efficient. Plus, when I showed my guitar to a fellow luthier, his response was, "that is the best looking guitar I've ever seen." He had no idea I did it was finished with spray cans. Heck, why should I tell him :-)
If you want to see more of this
guitar (or some of my other work), check out my WEB SITE - http://members.aol.com/SharkInlay
Thanks Cliff. You do beautiful work.
