Luthiers please don't cringe in horror but this is what I did.

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eg.czerny

Posts: 57
Joined: Jun. 30 2005

Luthiers please don't cringe in hor...

I bought my first flamenco as a two year old. A 1971 Cedar top, Cypress back and sides built by William Lewis (who also owned the most beautiful guitar store in Vancouver at that time). Very light weight, extremely brilliant very flamenco. Suffered repairs a couple of times to a damaged side and also to have a bowing top flattened. Was never the same after. Thin sounding with annoying "off frequencies" for lack of a better word. I no longer liked the sound and it just hung on the wall and was seldom played. Had nothing to lose. So...
Took off the strings, cleaned it and rubbed virgin coconut oil very thoroughly all over it with my bare hands. Very sensual!
The fret board looks like new, the finish no longer dull and some of the tiny fractures in the finish have disappeared.
The off frequencies are gone. The tone is solid and pure.
Two months later I did this again except using a high tension string as recommended by a professional player who tried and liked this guitar.
Now it's even better. Perhaps not the high stung thoroughbred it once was but I have a good sounding guitar again. Maybe not the first one to save from a burning building but not the last either.
This is not a recommendation but it worked well for me. Anyone have thoughts as to why? I am sure other products could produce similar results but this was very easy. I tried this on a heavy, slow guitar without any positive (or negative) results.
Btw. I sometimes rub coconut oil on the strings a few days before I change them. Gives a sound with a short sustain I find quite acceptable for some pallos and actually helpful when practicing rhythm.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 16 2014 16:27:29

Sr. Martins

Posts: 3079
Joined: Apr. 4 2011

RE: Luthiers please don't cringe in... (in reply to eg.czerny)

Why oil the whole guitar?

What's special about cocunut oil? Does it turn into polyurethane as it dries?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 16 2014 16:33:59

Tom Blackshear

Posts: 2304
Joined: Apr. 15 2008

RE: Luthiers please don't cringe in... (in reply to Sr. Martins)

I can say one thing about coconut oil, it sustains my health daily.

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Tom Blackshear Guitar maker

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 16 2014 20:35:23

Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3431
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: Luthiers please don't cringe in... (in reply to Tom Blackshear)

Coconut oil smells good, too.

When I first moved to the Marshall Islands I dated a nineteen-year old Marshallese/American girl who put on coconut oil whenever she wore her bikini to the beach--which was almost every day--and when we went sailing and diving on weekends.

She used coconut soap and shampoo made in her uncle's little factory in Majuro. There was always at least a faint aura of coconut around her.

Twenty years later, the scent of coconut still brings back fond memories.

It would be a distraction to put it on my guitar.

RNJ

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 16 2014 21:05:35

SephardRick

Posts: 358
Joined: Apr. 11 2014

RE: Luthiers please don't cringe in... (in reply to Richard Jernigan)

quote:

When I first moved to the Marshall Islands

Say RJ,

Just how long ago where you in the Marshall Islands?

The romantic smell of her uncles coconut soap and shampoo might have some...shall we say...luminous properties?

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Rick

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 16 2014 21:30:50

Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3431
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: Luthiers please don't cringe in... (in reply to SephardRick)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SephardRick

Say RJ,

Just how long ago where you in the Marshall Islands?

July 1991-December 2009.

RNJ

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 16 2014 23:01:27

estebanana

Posts: 9358
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Luthiers please don't cringe in... (in reply to eg.czerny)

I like lang-alang, but coconut is ok too.

Bill Lewis, if it it the same Bill Lewis that drew the Barbero Plan for LMI, the company which he founded ~ if it is that same Bill Lewis he used an oil finish in his guitars. Not sure if he id it that early, but he developed a method to use Tung oil as a finish.

If you have opan cracks of loose braces they might be difficult to glue in the future, but at least now they are well lubricated.

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https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 17 2014 0:45:17

eg.czerny

Posts: 57
Joined: Jun. 30 2005

[Deleted]

Post has been moved to the Recycle Bin at Oct. 17 2014 16:41:29

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 17 2014 16:34:38

eg.czerny

Posts: 57
Joined: Jun. 30 2005

RE: Luthiers please don't cringe in... (in reply to eg.czerny)

Coconut oil has many uses. Try this link.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/11/18/coconut-oil-uses.aspx

Good for your heart, good for your brain. I made my guitar sound better. I feel smarter already.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 17 2014 16:40:40

eg.czerny

Posts: 57
Joined: Jun. 30 2005

RE: Luthiers please don't cringe in... (in reply to estebanana)

Stephen I don't know if this is the same Bill Lewis but I know he had just come back from setting up a guitar factory in Spain. I asked him what he could possibly show Spaniards about guitar making. Quite a bit it seemed.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 17 2014 16:56:36

Tom Blackshear

Posts: 2304
Joined: Apr. 15 2008

RE: Luthiers please don't cringe in... (in reply to eg.czerny)

Years ago I built a copy of the Lewis/Barbero and it was a, what I would call, a nice guitar but not of the caliber of some the other Barbero designs I have built.

However the balance was good and the articulation nice. In other words a good instrument but not my cup of tea.

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Tom Blackshear Guitar maker

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 17 2014 17:27:49

Sr. Martins

Posts: 3079
Joined: Apr. 4 2011

RE: Luthiers please don't cringe in... (in reply to eg.czerny)

Coconut oil is part of factory assembly? I was pretty sure that was polyurethane..

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 17 2014 21:26:44

constructordeguitarras

Posts: 1677
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA

RE: Luthiers please don't cringe in... (in reply to Sr. Martins)

quote:

What's special about cocunut oil? Does it turn into polyurethane as it dries?

Coconut oil is a "saturated" oil, like animal fat, and does not polymerize (dry).

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Ethan Deutsch
www.edluthier.com
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 18 2014 14:41:57