Shiny objects #500, #501

[oldwave maker]

Spruce's redwood and Mussers koa C#, french polish tru-oil over varnish, Old Standard's red spruce and red maple, nitro over shellac, still got all my fingers and literally hundreds of brain cells!

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

both are astonishingly great looking. Good work Bill. The stripes on the redwood is most mesmerizing.

[Markus]

That two point is incredible, unbelievable.

And I'm not even hearing it. Wow.

[Skip Kelley]

Bill, those are the nicest shiney objects I have ever seen! Especially like the F5 shiny object!!

[pjlama]

Congratulations Bill! Great work as always, I'll be looking for #1000 in 20 or 30 years ;)

[Kip Carter]

Beautiful!
Kip...

[TheMandoKit]

Holy cats, those are amazing looking!

Two more beauties, Bill. Looking forward to mine...

[Paul Busman]

Gorgeous stuff! Must go along with your name...:))

[Don Grieser]

Beautiful work, Bill. Love how everything works together, design-wise. Even the pickguard/finger-rests are stellar.

[Randi Gormley]

They kind of glow. Amazing work.

[F-2 Dave]

They're both beautiful, but I'm especially taken with the C#. That Koa is gorgeous. I'd love to hear it.

[SternART]

Congrats on 500 instruments built! You're in rare company there.

[Jeffff]

The C# has stolen my heart.

[John McCoy]

Lovely, Lovely, Lovely!

== John ==

[Ivan Kelsall]

Very beautiful mandolins Bill & amazing colour on the F-5,although i especially like both of them !,;)
Ivan~:>

[Tavy]

Beautiful, love that curly top!!

[P.D. Kirby]

They are both beautiful but that two pointer has caused a major flair up of my MAS, that baby is gorgeous. Congratulations on making the 500 milestone.

[Jake Wildwood]

What's the scale on the C#?

Oh, and yes, very cool. :)

[JEStanek]

I'm always so impressed with the work coming out of your lab, Bill.

Jamie

[Ed Goist]

Absolutely striking!
Magnificent work, and Congratulations!

[Pete Jenner]

That's certainly something for beginners like me to aspire to.


Peter Jenner

[Jeffff]

I keep looking at this. I even stole the pictures..:)

[Barry Wilson]

That's just plain sexy. I love the 2 point. my gawd that is hot.

[Gregg Henry]

Extraordinary work Bill. The C# body style is just about the prettiest thing out there. My '00 #239 - only half way there - continues to come alive. You are the master not only of style but also of getting the tone from the wood.

81202

[oldwave maker]

PJ- only getting to 1000 if you send all your kids along in a couple of years to work in the oldwave sweatshop!
Jake- the C# has a 13.875 scale rosewood board.
John- should have your F4 pics here next week when I get her strung up in the white!

Full disclosure:
1. Couldn't have made the last 100 without Scott's magic cup and the black stuff in it.
2. Luthier and instruments look better in dim light of campfire......
3. Not all 500 have been 8 string mandothings, fer instance, #499 only had 4, tho they're really, really fat:

[Ed Goist]

Bill, you are a craftsman and an artist!
Oh, what kind of amp does that bass get played through? :grin:

[Pete Jenner]

french polish tru-oil

Not certain what you mean here Bill.

Cheers

Peter

[Grommet]

I am lovin' that 2 pointer's top. Beautiful work all around Bill.

Scott Crownover

[DerTiefster]

Not certain what you mean here Bill.I'd guess he means he finished the raw wood surface with tru-oil (q.v.) and then French polished it for shine, durability, and overall loveliness. But I could be wrong.

[amowry]

Wow, nice work as usual, Bill, and congratulations on a major milestone.

That redwood is pretty sweet!

[Pete Jenner]

I'd guess he means he finished the raw wood surface with tru-oil (q.v.) and then French polished it for shine, durability, and overall loveliness. But I could be wrong.

So he varnished it, tru oiled it, then French Polished on top of that?

[Bill Snyder]

French polish is not a product although it frequently is done with shellac (and additives). It is a process. My take is he applied the Tru-oil using that process.

[Pete Jenner]

Yes Bill French Polishing IS a polishing technique using Shellac - I've done a lot of it. I just want to hear from the horses mouth, what technique he employed on the off chance I can learn something new.

[pjlama]

I love the bassman! I can send the kids by bus later today, they're driving my wife crazy (seriously) the baby is pretty young so you'll need to fashion a fake teet to feed him but the others are fine so long as there's wifi and satellite.

[oldwave maker]

PJ- will a fresh goat work?
Peter- howdy, yes, I was using tru-oil as a french polish medium over a couple of coats of spar varnish that had been sanded out with 220 paper, maybe 15 TO applications with old cotton sheet ball before rubbing with padded micromesh 2400 grit and the buffing wheel with the white mezerna stick.
Steve Smith played his original tune Crocker Street yesterday on 501:
JSIYVcgpeok

[Pete Jenner]

Thanks for the clarification Bill. #501 sounding sweet.

[maj34]

The sunburst and finish on that F5 are just beautiful. I REALLY love your f-holes and the flowerpot.

[Jim Garber]

Bill: What does that all-koa C# sound like? I love koa! A koa top on a mandolin is pretty unusual.

[Bill Snyder]

Jim, I am not the Bill you were asking but I will point out that the C# is not all koa. The top is curly redwood.

[Jim Garber]

Thanks, Bill S for the clarification. I bet that sounds real fine.