One day I'll own one...

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Jouni

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Ruokangas VSOP supreme.

I don't like strats, but hell, these things are ART!!
...ddrrooolll... arctic flamed birch....

one selling forc 3200at local market:
 

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Which is a plus for my point of view.:D

...butI wonder if they're any good at metal...?:confused:

...Look like country&western a bit....:o
 
The wood looks really nice, but gold hardware has always seemed extremely tacky to me. It just looks really cheap--chrome is definitely the way to go.
 
Nice guitar - I am not a fan of strats and body shapes that are similar (that thing has a wobblier shape than a strat), nor do I use a trem, but I do like wood pickgaurds... my archtop has one, and it just looks so much classier than any color of plastic (or whatever the actual material is).
 
That is nice. The pickguard looks like plastic w/ a veneer top, that's dissapointing..
 
Nice guitar - I am not a fan of strats and body shapes that are similar (that thing has a wobblier shape than a strat), nor do I use a trem, but I do like wood pickgaurds... my archtop has one, and it just looks so much classier than any color of plastic (or whatever the actual material is).
gvarko makes some cool wood pickguards.....anyway I think it is gvarko.
 
The wood looks really nice, but gold hardware has always seemed extremely tacky to me. It just looks really cheap--chrome is definitely the way to go.

Or if you're gonna get real fancy, nickel everything.
 
A little about the practicality of wood for pickgaurds/scratchplates.

The main problem with timber for pickgaurds is the tendency wood has to move when its cut very thin. Some timbers are better than others. Some will just fall apart along the grain. As a rule the wilder the grain the worse it's going to be stability wise. All that flame and figure is as a result of interlocking grain and that is going to pull in all sorts of directions. The way round this is to do what the veneer trade has been doing for centuries and laminate them with the grain running 90 degrees between laminations. If you have a highly figured piece of timber it's safe practice to put a lamination of similar grain and figure on the opposite side. Known in the trade as compensating. laminations of ply in the thickness we are talking here would nearly always be an odd number, 3, 5, etc. This helps with stability. I do quite a bit of laminated work for my scratch plates and cavity covers I now use a post forming plastic as the centre lamination Because its easier and more stable.

The only solid timber pickgaurds I use are on my archtops. These are of a thickness that is able to hold it's shape and only of timbers that are known to have little movement in service. Ebony and rosewoods typically and carefully selected figured timbers. If I have the slightest doubt I laminate them.

Gvarko is that you? The ebay trader that makes and supplies WoodGaurden PickGaurds? If you check out their stuff you'll see some are laminated and some are solid timber. All the solid timber ones are of a stable timber. I'd still laminate the Sapele ones myself but hey they/he stand by them so thats OK
 
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The arctic Birch looks nice in the pic. I've never used it because birch has always had a poor reputation in the cabinet trade and I haven't come across any that looks that nice. Strangely most birch goes into the veneer trade as a substrate for plywood manufacture. I'm going to have to try and hunt some out and give it a go. :)
 
Why is that? It's a very common veneer here in the states for cabinet-grade plywood.
Yeh its common her for plywood as well but as a substrate and backer but not face veneer. One reason is most of it gets rotary cut for veneer substrate and little gets graded and sold. Nearly all cabinet ply throughout the world is either birch or gaboon. Thats a lot of trees going to the veneer trade. Birch as a whole is not a particular striking of stable timber for cabinet work although I have seen some good quality stuff in the past. Just not pretty.

I'm going to do some research on Arctic birch and find out why in thirty years I haven't come across any of consequence. From a brief read of my Worldwide Hardwoods Book its not available in huge quantities but there must be some good stuff out there somewhere.

It has become more common as a face veneer in Europe but only on cheaper mass produced stuff.
 
Yeh its common her for plywood as well but as a substrate and backer but not face veneer.
I'm not really fond of the way is looks as a veneer when stained, because of that rotary cutting - it makes the graining sort of non-directional and featureless. It's good for paint, though. Very smooth and fairly closed-pored.
 
Thats the deal really it's not cut or laid to be a visible finish. Staining it will be blotchy because of the urea formaldehyde glue bleeding through and as you say the rotary cut means it's really just meant as a substrate onto which you place a decorative veneer or solid colour finish. The stuff is made almost literally at a mile a minute. I saw one of the big mills cut, glue and bond the ply ply once it was so fast it made me dizzy!!

Arctic birch is a slightly different beast I think. If and when I get some I'll post some pics if I remember.
 
Thats the deal really it's not cut or laid to be a visible finish. Staining it will be blotchy because of the urea formaldehyde glue bleeding through and as you say the rotary cut means it's really just meant as a substrate onto which you place a decorative veneer or solid colour finish. The stuff is made almost literally at a mile a minute. I saw one of the big mills cut, glue and bond the ply once it was so fast it made me dizzy!!

Arctic birch is a slightly different beast I think. If and when I get some I'll post some pics if I remember.
 
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