Golpeador

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Golpeador

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frhout

Posts: 453
Joined: Apr. 28 2005
From: France

Golpeador

On good guitars, how thick should be the golpeador for it to protect the fragile surface of the wood? It seems that V. Amigo's guitar has quite a thick one while others have a thinner one. I just wonder if there are different grades for the plastic used?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 13 2006 17:01:20

Gecko

Posts: 218
Joined: Jan. 2 2006
From: New Mexico

RE: Golpeador (in reply to frhout)

Assuming that you're going for the clear ones, not the white, then there are two thicknesses available that are self adhesive, .005 and .011. I believe the .011 is the most often used.

Golpeadors

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 13 2006 20:36:21

frhout

Posts: 453
Joined: Apr. 28 2005
From: France

RE: Golpeador (in reply to Gecko)

Assuming that they are all of good quality, do you think the 0.011 protects better the guitar surface?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 16 2006 11:59:17

Gecko

Posts: 218
Joined: Jan. 2 2006
From: New Mexico

RE: Golpeador (in reply to frhout)

One would have to make the assumption that the 0.011 protects better than the .005 as it is a little over twice as thick. I have not seen anything thicker, unless you go to regular acoustic guitar pickguard material. Of course a piece of 1/4" (7mm) steel plate would provide the best protection!

In other words there is probably a "point of diminishing returns" on the thickness of a glopeador.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 16 2006 12:53:22

aarongreen

Posts: 367
Joined: Jan. 16 2004

RE: Golpeador (in reply to frhout)

If you can avoid using the self adhesive plates, I would recommend that you do so. On a beater guitar they are fine but if it's a real nice guitar I would have a luthier who knows that they are doing to apply your golpe plate using real glue that dries. The problem with the self adhesive plates is the glue never dries, it's a gummy mess and I have reservations about what that can do to the sound (if it's a real sensitive instrument) and what the structural issues may be in the long run. They also become damn near impossible to remove once they are real old and beat up. You can use solvents to disolve the glue but if someone has almost worn through the plate from heavy golpes then things get ugly fast.

Most of us are using around .10 thick plastic for our plates. I wouldn't go much thicker or thinner for that matter.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 16 2006 13:01:55

Gecko

Posts: 218
Joined: Jan. 2 2006
From: New Mexico

RE: Golpeador (in reply to aarongreen)

quote:

ORIGINAL: aarongreen
Most of us are using around .10 thick plastic for our plates. I wouldn't go much thicker or thinner for that matter.

Arron:

Obviously, I will defer to your vastly superior knowledge. However, do you really mean 0.10? That's just a little shy(0.025) of 1/8" thick.

What is your source for this material and what glues do you recommend?

Thanks

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 16 2006 14:33:44

aarongreen

Posts: 367
Joined: Jan. 16 2004

RE: Golpeador (in reply to frhout)

Whoops your right. It should be .010 sorry about that.

I have tried in the past to use elmers white glue which is what Lester DeVoe does. I assume he still does it that way although I could be wrong. Now I am using 24 hour epoxy, the West System to be exact. I learned this technique from Richard Brune and it is what Robert Ruck does as well. This method gives you the best looking tap plate you can get, in that you can barely see it, it is almost totally invisible. There is barely any epoxy in there if you do it right, that particular brand dries very hard and you can remove the plate if you need to. The epoxy sits on the surface of the shellac like a film and can be peeled off too, although the one time I did that i had to use a very sharp and very carefully manipulated chisel to get it going.

I can't imagine attaching golpe plates any other way.

Oh yes, I get my plastic from art supply stores. Just be sure not to get it rolled up, you want flat sheets.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 16 2006 14:42:34