Official Luthiers Forum!

What the difference between Rescue Pearls Green Ab. Rippled and there Green Ab. Heart besides $1.60

Also, How much should I order to do the rim and back strip of an Om sized guitar--

also - what do you all recommend for this kind of purfling? Is the abalam better? easer? Cheaper?


Thanks allLanceK38449.4949652778

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Abalam breaks in ragged edges, while solid abalone breaks in natural breaks, making it pretty well invisible as you go around the perimiter. Abalam is also more uniform in color and figure, which takes away from what you are trying to do with the purflings. True abalone plays with teh light as the guitar moves much mmore than abalam.

Abalam for inlay, solid abalone for rosettes and purflings, in my book.

Thanks Mario - how about amount? Im thinking 13 pieces? I think someone said that here, maybe John How?

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

That was using ablam. If you use abalone shell you'll need a lot more than 13 pieces. The real shell pieces are only about an inch long or so.

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Lance, the green ab rippled looks like curly maple, only rendered in shell. It's uniformly pale green, w/ flashes of pale blue and pearlescent white. As stated, it's "curly"--and really quite attractive. Done two guitars with the stuff and it's quite handsome on a darker top. The "heart" has the most intense color / pattern, as it is the area of the shell where the critter was attached. I think this would look better on a lighter top.
As for lengths, just calculate the running inches of your project. You said rims--are you thinking of a D45 type inlay? Thatsa buncha pearl!

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Thanks Steve, no, just the top and back strip in a Italian top, Ziricote back and sides, Im leaning heavy toward Red or Green abalone heart.

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Sounds good to me, Lance. The darker Heart ab. will compliment the dark sides / back nicely. You'll just have to dig a bit deeper into your wallet.

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Sorry, but I don't know how much it takes to go around a top or back. It's been a while since I did one, and even then, I just bought like 3-4 ounces of strips.

The folks selling it should be able to guide you as to how much you need. Get a little more, so yuo can have some extras to help match color/figure to yuor liking as you work your way around. Or yuo can let the invisible eyes guide yuor hand, and just reach down and randomly grab pieces, and use them. In fact, I bet this could lead to some neat 'accidents'....

You might also consider giving Andy DePaul a call. He is selling strips of solid shell now and what I got from him was very nice with very intense color. Andy will talk to you about how much you need.

I just talked to Andy DePaul yesterday. What a nice guy.

I haven't received anything from him yet (obviously), but if his products are anything like his service, I'm gonna enjoy doing business with him.

No hard sell from him either...

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

I agree, Andy's a great guy to deal with by phone, friendly, knowledgable, courteous, and the stuff I got arrived quickly and was top-notch quality (got black, gold, pink, white and ivory MOP, and some of the 'specials' packs of thin and small abalone blanks). I'll be going back when I get around to wanting to do abalone purfling all over, probably sooner for a few abalone rosette sets.

Lance, try Randy Allen at allenguitars.com and look at the green select abalone and abalam...he has the best prices I've found, quality stuff and is a great guy to deal with!

Larry

_________________
http://www.presnallguitars.com

I can tell Abalam on a guitar instantly. Like Mario says, to me it lacks the gem like depth you get from "real" abalone. On the plus side it is usually more colorfull, which is one of the giveaways.
       On the solid abalone I've found the "rippled" abalone to be easy to sand thru the "color" into the less colorfull stuff underneath so I had to be carefull to inlay close to the abs depth. I've also found Abalone core is the nicest looking part of the shell but found I had to be carefull about brittleness as it can break apart easily when sawing it out. I think the little extra waste from the core is worth the final look
you get though.