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I'm looking at building a herringbone dread, and being mostly an OM guy, was thinking that this could be a great chance to try a Laskin arm bevel.

But it occurred to me that the herringbone purfling might not be the best choice in this situation.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Steve

If by "Laskin arm bevel" you mean the style that has miters in the purling at the start and end of the bevel than I would agree that using a herringbone pattern would add another degree of difficulty to get those miters looking nice. However, if you would consider doing the arm bevel that comes in gradually so that putting miters in the purfling isn't necessary than I don't see why a herringbone purfling would be a bad choice.

Pat

_________________
There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

I tend to agree with Pat....... unless by chance you can get some help from Mr Laskin himself. Isn't he in your part of the world. If you could pull it off it would look very cool.

Hey Steve just so you know .. I will be doing the demo for an armrest bevel at the get-together, but its not the mitred mustache ala Grit ... more like a Ryan smooth transition at each end style. I know how to do the Laskin style, but its too much of a pain, and I prefer the other look better ...

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

There's no reason you couldn't do it as long as you're willing to accept that you have to miter the armrest sections of the herringbone. I suggest that you plan your purfling as best you can so you're coming out of it in a convenient place. This might mean calculating the length of your armrest to the mitering points, and adusting its length accordingly, so that you can have a clean entrance and exit points for your miters, as well as how it fits at the butt. I'd install the armrest first, then fit the upper and lower sections.