Official Luthiers Forum!

I have heard that Robert Johnson's L-00 had a sunbust top. True?

How do you do a sunburst?

If your referring to the guitar pictured on most of the recorded volumes of Robert Johnsons work, it is a Gibson L-1. Sunbursts can be rubbed on with stains (hard to get consistent results though) or sprayed directly on the wood (the way I do it) or shaded in the finish (the way most do it).

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

Thank you John,
How about air brush?
Do you know if there is a step by step set of instructions with pictures?

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Bob,

If you can find a copy of Roger Siminoff's book Building a Bluegrass Mandolin, it has a good demonstration of the hand application of a sunburst on bare wood. He uses alcohol-based dyes, which can be blended on the wood better than could water-based, but that eliminates the possibility of using shellac as a sealer or finish.

As for spray application, I'm sure Stew-Mac has an appropriate book and/or video explaining the process.

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