I hand letter gold leaf (both patent gold and glass gild) for over 35 years. Size is more like a varnish (it’s not an oil at all) and you get better looking gold (or copper) finish if you use a slower drying size. I would have used a wider brush (a flat [a type of brush used in the sign industry] or wider) on a surface that large. Didn’t your copper come on rouge paper? Use the leaf on the rouge without taking it off so it stays cleaner, straighter (unwrinkled) etc. If you don‘t protect the leaf with a clear it’ll wear off. For wood, make sure you are using a patent leaf and not a leaf used on glass. Patent leaf is slightly thicker and it lays flatter (it’s still not thick but better to use on wood than glass leaf). Hope this helps.
If you are going to gold leaf your next guitar or GILD it then you will have to finish the areas to a high gloss finish first. If you are using 1 hour size then size your edges only. After 50 minutes or so you should size HALF of the top only, check the time you sized this and write down. After you have sized HALF the top it is now time to go back and gild the edges, this is with 23 and a half k gold. Do not use loose leaf but use TRANSFER LEAF, it is approx half the size of the loose copper you have used, it is leaves of gold that have been beaten onto a tissue back. When your edges have achieved a WHISTLING TACK, you can tell by running your knuckle or bend in your finger across the size, NOT THE TIP OF YOUR FINGER, then you can begin to gild. Pick up the leaf of gold on the tissue, hold the edge of the tissue, USING ONLY YOUR THUMB, rub the back of the tissue onto the area with the same amount of force you would rub an itch, rub the complete tissue until all the gold grabs onto the size. Repeat this process to cover HALF of the sized edge, any parts the gold misses are called HOLIDAYS and can been seen through the tissue. After you have completed half of the edge go back and size the other half of the top, now gild the rest of the edge. When that is done, have a cup of coffee for 10 mins then gild the first half of the top, when you have gilded the first half the second half should be ready to gild. When the body has been gilded, take a clean leaf and check for holidays which you should be able to rub gold into before it goes off. Gilding is a one go process, when you cover the size in pure gold you are in effect cutting off the oxygen supply to it and so it stops drying, you NEVER re-size and gild over gold. You do not wait until the next day for the size to settle, once gilded you polish with a soft sponge and soapy warm water, rince with clear cold water. For a guitar i would advise varnishing afterwards. The burnishing method you touched on is done by covering your subject with a spanish clay, when dry it is sanded to a super fine polished finished, then it is flooded with water based size and while soaking wet it is covered in loose gold leaf using a gilders tip to pick up the loose leaf, this is allowed to dry, re-soaked and gilded 2 or 3 times. When completely dry and hard it is burnished to a high polish using a hooked AGATE burnisher. That is a completely different animal for another day. Cheers John.
dsfadsfgafgf I was thinking of doing a mahogany body covered in gold and then (when) I f*ck it up the gold and mahogany will look like chocolate out of it's wrapper! :o)
Hi, Ben. My experience with leafing is mostly in calligraphy - on paper and vellum, so what I know may not exactly apply to your application. First, let me say that you've done nothing 'wrong'. It works, so it cannot be wrong. But there may be ways to make it work better. You should be able to get a solid first coat of leaf and not need a second (or touch-up). I am unfamiliar with oil-based size, however (and perhaps your comment that you tried to spread too large an area at first is correct). Water based sizes (Mona Lisa brand is a respected name) are used when they are tacky, are burnished right away with waxed paper (household waxed paper is perfect), and appear to be a bit more forgiving than oil based. BUT - water based sizes are meant to be used over cured lacquer (which would solve your end grain issue). The only time I've seen an agate burnisher used is when the size is gesso (powdered clay mixed with gum arabic and a drying agent) and I would imagine that using one over any other kind of size would be a true nightmare. A final tip for a future project - gold & copper are metallic expressions of the colour red, and silver is the expression of blue. Calligraphers sometimes paint the area under the gesso (which is the normal size used for leafing vellum) red or blue, depending. If there are any tiny holidays (skips) in the gesso, then the associated skips in the leaf become invisible to the eye. If you had lacquered this guitar body with the correct shade of red, then even you might not have known about some of the tiniest holidays. I'm really looking forward to the next episode!
I absolutely love this.. Copper leafing a guitar is something so unique for the guitar world. It adds more character and art to the already complex art of luthiery. I love this Ben!
The only comment I would share is one I got from a pro pinstriper/ gold leafer , and that is that you should always wear gloves when silver or copper and artificial gold leafing and never touch the leaf , because the moisture , oils and salt from your fingers will cause the leaf to oxidize , even if you clear coat over it , the moisture from your fingers has already contaminated the leaf . This doesn't happen with real gold leaf . Hope this tip helps . 😎👍
That gold size looked beautiful on its own on that wood. Maybe on another guitar you could apply lacquer after the size for a good-looking finish in its own right. So far as the process goes, it looks like you'd do well to follow John Anderson's advice for the next one.
I was just watching Roger Scott’s CZcams video: Applying Copper Leaf to a Wood Vase Turned on a Lath. After he applied the copper leaves, he rubbed the vase with regular wax paper. Then he selectively brushed it places to get rid of, I forget the technical term, the clumping of the copper that had occurred. The last thing I remember is the vase had to cure 2 days. Best wishes on your projects!
I’m half way through my similar guitar project (copper&gold leaf). I was getting frustrated but you really gave me confidence in that it all just an experiment. I’ll send a picture if I don’t throw it out the window first! Lol
its your style of doing it. if aomeone does not like it then they should f.... off. if someone does not like a video well then dont watch it! disliking something is.....so ...why??? ppl are getting anti social more and more. keep up building your art Ben! dont listen to them haters. you sell stuff they dont ;) so be proud and have a nice coffee mate
This video answers "How do you personally do the copper leaf thing Ben?" Not "Teach us how to do it like a pro". 2 people so far have made positive contributions to "Educating Ben" (new series?). And it was entertaining. Win-win all round. As for the comments by some, you can't cure stupid.
I never can thank you enough for your video my bike is turning out beautiful with your tutorial. I found taking your time enjoy doing and layers give the best results.
I enjoyed watching this so much. I 2 questions: 1. What kind of finish could be used? Nitro? Acrylic?....Oil? 2. With the Gold...do you think it's possible to use "fake" gold? ....
please stop talking shit about ben!he love what he do!it is art and fun ..and he have say ..forgive me when i do it wrong ..i dont can understand people who talk shit !ben is an artist respekt it and when you know how to do it right help him let him test whats working for him ..thanks for listen ..sorry for my bad english i am from germany and i love to watch crimson 😊greets timi
Using a small tee shirt material with some small clumped bits a fabric very similar to your example in staining, if you press this and spin the copper leaf ( it's called turning the leaf) you will get some good adherence tot he size. This is how it is done on motorcycle pinstriping and gold, silver and copper leafing. Another interesting idea would be to mix in gold and silver as if youre intending to use other things such as salt or other materials will propagate various chemical reactions creating green, blue (cobalt) and black effects through out your leafing.
I think this is a bit like laying down flooring. Mud a small patch and work with it, then move on. I think you may have had more success working on 1/4's of the guitar and then moving along to the next quadrant;-)
Thanks Ben. It's been a joy watching your progress from the backyard shed to where you are now. I love your willingness to try new approaches to your builds. Most have turned out great in my opinion. I would like to see a follow up video on the completion of this or similar guitar. It appears that your patina process has progressed from the first video of ammonia in the sealed box. Also more on your top coating process. I know at first you used oil then tried lacquer and at one point spoke of needing to try a varnish. My biggest concern is long term durability. Thanks again and keep up your experimenting and unique approach.
Fascinating. So is it road rash/ buckle-rash ready at this point? Looks like one good scratch would drag half the foil off. Can't tell how resilient it is without feeling it. Do people put a protective coating over this?
Do you think the size could be used as a high gloss oil finish? It struck me as remarkably high gloss after just one coat and in the video it looked surprisingly smooth.
I've been eyeing an Ibanez EHB1005MS, and while the sea foam green is gorgeous, the black is more my speed. To make it less boring though, I was thinking of giving it haphazard gold accents, with the black underneath coming through at the many seams. What would the technique be? Lots of irregular tears in the leaf? Letting the size set too long before applying? Would there be a way to deliberately & organically remove leaf without doing too much damage to the underlying black?
I love this! I'm about to start a build and I really want to try copper flake stripes. Is that possible? My thought we're to just tape of the area I didn't want leaf. Also, what do you put on the guitar afterwards to protect the leaf?
Great Stuff! Thanks for the demonstration. I’m going to incorporate some of those methods with my latest projects... 108 pattern - Orgonite boards. I’m glad you pointed out that one can apply the leaf in random amorphous shapes for a more organic “feminine” leaf joints..... and it looks quite different from putting down perfectly straight squares for a different more linear “masculine” look. My education on how to apply the size was with a cotton bob... cotton wrapped in a panty hose. (To keep from varying the thickness of the size thereby creating equal drying times... and eliminating application marks.) I was told to check tack of size with a knuckle tap. To avoid fingerprints and oil off my skin. I was taught to use a burnishing brush to burnish without waiting a day. However... I sincerely believe your methods are just as valid. It looks cool. I’m sure it will look wonderful after the patina is added. Keep up the good work. Tah. - The yank in Idaho. :)
I've never tried this but I bet the advice you'll get is the same as you'd give to a beginner oiling a guitar - you're probably trying to do too much area at one time.
Loved the video, great to share a joke now and again, good presentation. Oh yes, Dosen't the leaf have one side which you should stick too, excuse the pun.
I'm just rather worried about how long a such thinner leaf will hold in place before turning into pieces because of scratches. I mean, a simple belt ring would pierce it. Do you lacquer it or is it supposed to look like a 10 years "Roadworn" in about half a week? (or any other trick to make it more sustainable)
That's the thing I have against thin coatings on any guitar. Or anything that isn't intended to deteriorate. Oil alone has never struck me as practical over time. Even my workbench has a coat of poly on it.
The oiled wood looked beautiful. I like the idea of this but this cant be in any way at all durable can it? Have you ever wanted to try your hand at bronzing? A la the Robbie Robertson strat? Wont be cheap...probably dangerous
Copper tape is less expensive for this purpose and you should get it with conductive adhesive to avoid having to solder each piece for proper conductance. I don't know how you would achieve conductance using copper leaf.
I have known for a while he has been leading up to it. :D It's the obvious progression. The copper guitars are not really to my taste. I prefer a mirror gloss painted/stained finish, but I for one can't wait to see a gold leaf guitar. Buzzing for it :P
I'm not convinced this is worth the hassle. There are metallic paints. I don't know, is the expectation that it'll oxidize like the statue of liberty before it all gets rubbed off due to the wear of the guitar being used? Horses for courses I guess.
Blundering Tusk I have worked with both for furniture and it’s amazing the difference. Also, paint won’t patina the same way. A good leaf has a look that cannot be replicated with paint.
If you love tats enough to cover your scalp with geometric designs of some sort, why not also do your face and more ‘visible’ areas? Please, I am not being snide, I am trying to learn... if its ok to ink up some parts, why not other parts? Just trying to understand the motivations, not passing judgement. It is alien to me... Personally I would never get any tats, but as so many do, I wish to understand more about it, and why some things are fine, and others are not. Back to guitars... nice technique. Beautiful squeek on the ‘size’.. Gee, the results are beautiful! Would love to see a blend of gold and copper leaf with irregular patch edges.
I don't think (and you can see from the comments) that ending a video with a half finished instrument is a good idea. There is no final "Wow!"-effect and the image you leave the viewer with is of a guitar in a fairly messy state, indistinguishable from the one most amateurs could have produced. This is an unfair representation of your skills. (Also, I don't get the fascination with shiny copper, once you get past the coolness factor that it is a metal. Imagine it as a solid finish colour and it would be a pale yellowish sort of pink that nobody would really like in any normal finish.)
This video looks like it has been recorded at 30 frames per second, which is why Ben's movement looks a bit odd unnatural. Please record at 24fps, or correct me if I'm wrong! :)
That's true, 24fps does look more cinematic, and has always been used in film, which is exactly why 24 frames looks more natural to our eye, 30frames and higher is handy when you need to do some slow motion and need the extra frames but other than that it can cause things to look as though their moving too quickly!
Those were mini-torials. This is more of a tutorial in length. Tho it is more him showing how he does it than an actual tutorial. Ben built his subscriber base with long videos and just being himself. Rambling on and digressing. That's why a lot of us are here.
Awful in what way? Because its not bare or finished wood? How many guitars has Ben made that have been exactly that?! I get you don't like it and that is fine, but to say its awful is ridiculous. Different yes. Not to everyone's taste yes. Awful no. :)
I hand letter gold leaf (both patent gold and glass gild) for over 35 years. Size is more like a varnish (it’s not an oil at all) and you get better looking gold (or copper) finish if you use a slower drying size. I would have used a wider brush (a flat [a type of brush used in the sign industry] or wider) on a surface that large. Didn’t your copper come on rouge paper? Use the leaf on the rouge without taking it off so it stays cleaner, straighter (unwrinkled) etc. If you don‘t protect the leaf with a clear it’ll wear off. For wood, make sure you are using a patent leaf and not a leaf used on glass. Patent leaf is slightly thicker and it lays flatter (it’s still not thick but better to use on wood than glass leaf). Hope this helps.
Yea thats kind of what i told him 4 days ago if you read the older comments. I was a signwriter for 25 years.
pin this guy!
Sounds good to me! Thanks
If you are going to gold leaf your next guitar or GILD it then you will have to finish the areas to a high gloss finish first. If you are using 1 hour size then size your edges only. After 50 minutes or so you should size HALF of the top only, check the time you sized this and write down. After you have sized HALF the top it is now time to go back and gild the edges, this is with 23 and a half k gold. Do not use loose leaf but use TRANSFER LEAF, it is approx half the size of the loose copper you have used, it is leaves of gold that have been beaten onto a tissue back. When your edges have achieved a WHISTLING TACK, you can tell by running your knuckle or bend in your finger across the size, NOT THE TIP OF YOUR FINGER, then you can begin to gild.
Pick up the leaf of gold on the tissue, hold the edge of the tissue, USING ONLY YOUR THUMB, rub the back of the tissue onto the area with the same amount of force you would rub an itch, rub the complete tissue until all the gold grabs onto the size.
Repeat this process to cover HALF of the sized edge, any parts the gold misses are called HOLIDAYS and can been seen through the tissue. After you have completed half of the edge go back and size the other half of the top, now gild the rest of the edge. When that is done, have a cup of coffee for 10 mins then gild the first half of the top, when you have gilded the first half the second half should be ready to gild. When the body has been gilded, take a clean leaf and check for holidays which you should be able to rub gold into before it goes off. Gilding is a one go process, when you cover the size in pure gold you are in effect cutting off the oxygen supply to it and so it stops drying, you NEVER re-size and gild over gold. You do not wait until the next day for the size to settle, once gilded you polish with a soft sponge and soapy warm water, rince with clear cold water. For a guitar i would advise varnishing afterwards.
The burnishing method you touched on is done by covering your subject with a spanish clay, when dry it is sanded to a super fine polished finished, then it is flooded with water based size and while soaking wet it is covered in loose gold leaf using a gilders tip to pick up the loose leaf, this is allowed to dry, re-soaked and gilded 2 or 3 times. When completely dry and hard it is burnished to a high polish using a hooked AGATE burnisher. That is a completely different animal for another day.
Cheers John.
dsfadsfgafgf I was thinking of doing a mahogany body covered in gold and then (when) I f*ck it up the gold and mahogany will look like chocolate out of it's wrapper! :o)
Hi, Ben. My experience with leafing is mostly in calligraphy - on paper and vellum, so what I know may not exactly apply to your application. First, let me say that you've done nothing 'wrong'. It works, so it cannot be wrong. But there may be ways to make it work better.
You should be able to get a solid first coat of leaf and not need a second (or touch-up). I am unfamiliar with oil-based size, however (and perhaps your comment that you tried to spread too large an area at first is correct).
Water based sizes (Mona Lisa brand is a respected name) are used when they are tacky, are burnished right away with waxed paper (household waxed paper is perfect), and appear to be a bit more forgiving than oil based. BUT - water based sizes are meant to be used over cured lacquer (which would solve your end grain issue).
The only time I've seen an agate burnisher used is when the size is gesso (powdered clay mixed with gum arabic and a drying agent) and I would imagine that using one over any other kind of size would be a true nightmare.
A final tip for a future project - gold & copper are metallic expressions of the colour red, and silver is the expression of blue. Calligraphers sometimes paint the area under the gesso (which is the normal size used for leafing vellum) red or blue, depending. If there are any tiny holidays (skips) in the gesso, then the associated skips in the leaf become invisible to the eye. If you had lacquered this guitar body with the correct shade of red, then even you might not have known about some of the tiniest holidays. I'm really looking forward to the next episode!
"i am still by no means an expert in this process"
he said this first, for a reason.
At least he was on the square
I absolutely love this.. Copper leafing a guitar is something so unique for the guitar world. It adds more character and art to the already complex art of luthiery. I love this Ben!
once you put on the size.. I was actually thinking.. damn that's some pretty looking wood, why would you want to copperleaf that... xD
The only comment I would share is one I got from a pro pinstriper/ gold leafer , and that is that you should always wear gloves when silver or copper and artificial gold leafing and never touch the leaf , because the moisture , oils and salt from your fingers will cause the leaf to oxidize , even if you clear coat over it , the moisture from your fingers has already contaminated the leaf . This doesn't happen with real gold leaf . Hope this tip helps . 😎👍
Thank you. Very good advice
That gold size looked beautiful on its own on that wood. Maybe on another guitar you could apply lacquer after the size for a good-looking finish in its own right.
So far as the process goes, it looks like you'd do well to follow John Anderson's advice for the next one.
Keith Wallis that was my thought. Even thoug the back is not a book matched pair it looks great with just the size.
Keith Wallis I thought the same thing. I really liked the way it brought out the grain.
FullBlownRedneck
Yes! It turned out really nice, but it was kind of a shame to metal over the grain.
that back looked gorgeous sized but the leafing is different and different is good ..and we all have different tastes ...🤘
I was just watching Roger Scott’s CZcams video: Applying Copper Leaf to a Wood Vase Turned on a Lath. After he applied the copper leaves, he rubbed the vase with regular wax paper. Then he selectively brushed it places to get rid of, I forget the technical term, the clumping of the copper that had occurred. The last thing I remember is the vase had to cure 2 days.
Best wishes on your projects!
I’m half way through my similar guitar project (copper&gold leaf). I was getting frustrated but you really gave me confidence in that it all just an experiment. I’ll send a picture if I don’t throw it out the window first! Lol
its your style of doing it. if aomeone does not like it then they should f.... off. if someone does not like a video well then dont watch it! disliking something is.....so ...why??? ppl are getting anti social more and more. keep up building your art Ben! dont listen to them haters. you sell stuff they dont ;) so be proud and have a nice coffee mate
This video answers "How do you personally do the copper leaf thing Ben?" Not "Teach us how to do it like a pro".
2 people so far have made positive contributions to "Educating Ben" (new series?).
And it was entertaining.
Win-win all round.
As for the comments by some, you can't cure stupid.
I never can thank you enough for your video my bike is turning out beautiful with your tutorial. I found taking your time enjoy doing and layers give the best results.
I enjoyed watching this so much. I 2 questions:
1. What kind of finish could be used? Nitro? Acrylic?....Oil?
2. With the Gold...do you think it's possible to use "fake" gold? ....
please stop talking shit about ben!he love what he do!it is art and fun ..and he have say ..forgive me when i do it wrong ..i dont can understand people who talk shit !ben is an artist respekt it and when you know how to do it right help him let him test whats working for him ..thanks for listen ..sorry for my bad english i am from germany and i love to watch crimson 😊greets timi
Using a small tee shirt material with some small clumped bits a fabric very similar to your example in staining, if you press this and spin the copper leaf ( it's called turning the leaf) you will get some good adherence tot he size. This is how it is done on motorcycle pinstriping and gold, silver and copper leafing. Another interesting idea would be to mix in gold and silver as if youre intending to use other things such as salt or other materials will propagate various chemical reactions creating green, blue (cobalt) and black effects through out your leafing.
I love it. Could you explain a little bit more about applying leaf to a finished guitar and also any suggestions on the f hole. Thanks in advance!!
Thanks for this, I've been considering making a frankenstrat using gold, rose gold and copper leaf. Might just give it a go now.
You MAKE guitars?! How extraordinary!!! Beautiful
Love the Tribble - What do they taste like....
I think this is a bit like laying down flooring. Mud a small patch and work with it, then move on. I think you may have had more success working on 1/4's of the guitar and then moving along to the next quadrant;-)
How many leafs would you think would give two good layers for a guitar?
Certainly produces an interesting piece, and at the end of the day, isn't that what it's all about? Nice
Copper-head here too 🙌
If you desire to learn leafing, I recommend the excellent DVD by Gary Jenson.
Thanks Ben. It's been a joy watching your progress from the backyard shed to where you are now. I love your willingness to try new approaches to your builds. Most have turned out great in my opinion.
I would like to see a follow up video on the completion of this or similar guitar. It appears that your patina process has progressed from the first video of ammonia in the sealed box. Also more on your top coating process. I know at first you used oil then tried lacquer and at one point spoke of needing to try a varnish. My biggest concern is long term durability.
Thanks again and keep up your experimenting and unique approach.
Its looking fantastic now Ben! Cant wait to get them both home!!!!
He has been mildly obsessed you say.. :P
Very understandable though. It looks very nice and like a lot of fun!
Can you do that over PU finish guitar? Can you put metallic paint over metallic leaf like yours?
When relicing the cooper i am surprised you don't use more green to match the actual colour of oxidized copper.
Now I want to see the goldleaf paf!
Fascinating. So is it road rash/ buckle-rash ready at this point? Looks like one good scratch would drag half the foil off. Can't tell how resilient it is without feeling it. Do people put a protective coating over this?
Do you think the size could be used as a high gloss oil finish? It struck me as remarkably high gloss after just one coat and in the video it looked surprisingly smooth.
Beautiful work!
Any idea the name of the track playing in the background. Fabulous job Ben as always on your work
I like to take copper paint and then coat it with clear spray-paint.
If you know how to clear coat over PlastiKoat then do let me know!
I've been eyeing an Ibanez EHB1005MS, and while the sea foam green is gorgeous, the black is more my speed. To make it less boring though, I was thinking of giving it haphazard gold accents, with the black underneath coming through at the many seams.
What would the technique be? Lots of irregular tears in the leaf? Letting the size set too long before applying? Would there be a way to deliberately & organically remove leaf without doing too much damage to the underlying black?
These guitars you guys make and finish are amazing! I subscribed. So beautiful
Loved watching I will be back ❤
That size looks like it would make a nice finish on its own.
well it is basically mostly tung oil and linseed oil
That shirt is awesome
I think that looks great Ben! Love your copper period. How do you finish it now? Just oil? Thanks again for all the videos!
does this mean no weekend workshop!?
Doesn't the squeakiness also depend on the moisture on your skin?
Hi. After the leaves have cured, what do you apply on the guitar to finish it? You say "oiled"? Will regular finishing oil do it?
I love this! I'm about to start a build and I really want to try copper flake stripes. Is that possible? My thought we're to just tape of the area I didn't want leaf. Also, what do you put on the guitar afterwards to protect the leaf?
Great Stuff!
Thanks for the demonstration. I’m going to incorporate some of those methods with my latest projects... 108 pattern - Orgonite boards.
I’m glad you pointed out that one can apply the leaf in random amorphous shapes for a more organic “feminine” leaf joints..... and it looks quite different from putting down perfectly straight squares for a different more linear “masculine” look. My education on how to apply the size was with a cotton bob... cotton wrapped in a panty hose. (To keep from varying the thickness of the size thereby creating equal drying times... and eliminating application marks.) I was told to check tack of size with a knuckle tap. To avoid fingerprints and oil off my skin. I was taught to use a burnishing brush to burnish without waiting a day. However... I sincerely believe your methods are just as valid. It looks cool. I’m sure it will look wonderful after the patina is added.
Keep up the good work.
Tah.
- The yank in Idaho. :)
i need to get new glasses, i thought you were ssat there stroking a cat.. ha ha
man i would trade all the wood stock i have for that piece and you cover it with copper! now, i love copper, but that's a damn shame.
I know this is over a year old but anyone know a good way to strip copper leaf off of an original nitro finish or is it a case of back to bare wood?
Any particular advantage to this, over some of the conductive paints?
I've never tried this but I bet the advice you'll get is the same as you'd give to a beginner oiling a guitar - you're probably trying to do too much area at one time.
What is Crimson Guitar's upcharge for the copper leaf finish?
Hello, can apply gold leaf on original Gloss Polyurethane Body Finish?
The size may not adhere adequately so much better to sand the body down before applying the leaves.
Thinking of doind a black gloss Strat body but just the top and sides and blend to the back. Anyone ever partial leaf a gloss body? Thanks in advance
I have seen it done and it can look incredible! B
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars picked up a cheap squire to practice. Ill keep ya posted
great video, but how do you apply the copper leaf on rough surfaces like the copper rodded guitar?
Im fairly certain its the same way, the copper would form around the surface
Figure out how to stencil, that would be cool. gold flake stripes, or any shapes for that matter.
Size pens allow you to do one-of-a-kind patterns.
Loved the video, great to share a joke now and again, good presentation.
Oh yes, Dosen't the leaf have one side which you should stick too, excuse the pun.
I'm just rather worried about how long a such thinner leaf will hold in place before turning into pieces because of scratches. I mean, a simple belt ring would pierce it. Do you lacquer it or is it supposed to look like a 10 years "Roadworn" in about half a week? (or any other trick to make it more sustainable)
That's the thing I have against thin coatings on any guitar. Or anything that isn't intended to deteriorate. Oil alone has never struck me as practical over time. Even my workbench has a coat of poly on it.
The oiled wood looked beautiful. I like the idea of this but this cant be in any way at all durable can it? Have you ever wanted to try your hand at bronzing? A la the Robbie Robertson strat? Wont be cheap...probably dangerous
Do you sell that Davinci tee shirt in your online store?
That fretboard is lovely, does anyone know what wood is it?
emptyMan0 Looks like cocobolo
Thanks
The word you want is distressed, in lieu of relicing.
so guys are these leafs contuctive ? so i can shield my bass cavities ?
Copper tape is less expensive for this purpose and you should get it with conductive adhesive to avoid having to solder each piece for proper conductance. I don't know how you would achieve conductance using copper leaf.
It looked like a lovely piece of wood. Now it looks like C3PO
All of this practice is leading to a gold-leafed guitar. I see it coming.
I have known for a while he has been leading up to it. :D It's the obvious progression. The copper guitars are not really to my taste. I prefer a mirror gloss painted/stained finish, but I for one can't wait to see a gold leaf guitar. Buzzing for it :P
thank you . question please how durable is it i mean belt buckles would give it heck ?
That wood was too nice for copper. ^_^
Oh you evil man. I just watched all your copper-bottomed videos, and now our barn stinks of ammonia.
Leaflet. I think the word you're looking for is leaflet
shame to cover up that wood
21:07
I'm not convinced this is worth the hassle. There are metallic paints. I don't know, is the expectation that it'll oxidize like the statue of liberty before it all gets rubbed off due to the wear of the guitar being used?
Horses for courses I guess.
Blundering Tusk I have worked with both for furniture and it’s amazing the difference. Also, paint won’t patina the same way. A good leaf has a look that cannot be replicated with paint.
Think the ink went to his head
Lol. B
If you love tats enough to cover your scalp with geometric designs of some sort, why not also do your face and more ‘visible’ areas? Please, I am not being snide, I am trying to learn... if its ok to ink up some parts, why not other parts? Just trying to understand the motivations, not passing judgement. It is alien to me... Personally I would never get any tats, but as so many do, I wish to understand more about it, and why some things are fine, and others are not.
Back to guitars... nice technique. Beautiful squeek on the ‘size’.. Gee, the results are beautiful! Would love to see a blend of gold and copper leaf with irregular patch edges.
Love working with wood, i'm Orange too (dutch) But for my feeling this is wood raping? then again, it's all about thast isn't itt?
'' can't even get the mistake wrong now'' you were even further off than you thought Ben.
As someone with exactly 0 hours of experience in leaf of any kind, you're doing it wrong. :D
oh no!
It seems a shame to cover that lovely figured wood.
I HAVE THE SAME SHIRT!!! ...VIRTUAL HIGH FIVE XD
I don't think (and you can see from the comments) that ending a video with a half finished instrument is a good idea. There is no final "Wow!"-effect and the image you leave the viewer with is of a guitar in a fairly messy state, indistinguishable from the one most amateurs could have produced. This is an unfair representation of your skills.
(Also, I don't get the fascination with shiny copper, once you get past the coolness factor that it is a metal. Imagine it as a solid finish colour and it would be a pale yellowish sort of pink that nobody would really like in any normal finish.)
Ever heard of air conditioning?
😬
Not a fan of this technique. I would just spray copper paint on it.
No metallic paint I have ever found matches actual metal for shine etc.. it always just looks like paint. B
This video looks like it has been recorded at 30 frames per second, which is why Ben's movement looks a bit odd unnatural. Please record at 24fps, or correct me if I'm wrong! :)
filming at 24fps is more cinematic which would make his movements even weirder. for natural movement you would want a faster frame rate
That's true, 24fps does look more cinematic, and has always been used in film, which is exactly why 24 frames looks more natural to our eye, 30frames and higher is handy when you need to do some slow motion and need the extra frames but other than that it can cause things to look as though their moving too quickly!
To were that it were so . Twer thad it be so .
You sound like you have a small amount of a zimbs accent
Also, nobody in the history of the freaking earth has ever called it "squeaking size", you're killin me dude.
Frist
You're wrong.
I just couldn't resist, Ben.
I don't understand why these videos are so long now when almost all your videos used to be under 10 minutes and to the point?
Those were mini-torials. This is more of a tutorial in length. Tho it is more him showing how he does it than an actual tutorial.
Ben built his subscriber base with long videos and just being himself. Rambling on and digressing. That's why a lot of us are here.
Bats iiii
Sorry, but, thumb down. All this "new wave" of guitar builders: a quest for aesthetics often ending up with pretty bad sounding instruments. IMHO.
you're doing it wrong. i dunno how but you are ;)
Yo
Awful
Agreed. Started out with such nice-looking wood, too.
Seth Tyrssen I was thinking the same, such a shame to cover up such a nice grain
If you think you can do better, how about you post a vid of yourself doing it, genius?
INF1D3L010 it's not about doing it, I love Bens vids. Just my opinion relax
Awful in what way? Because its not bare or finished wood? How many guitars has Ben made that have been exactly that?! I get you don't like it and that is fine, but to say its awful is ridiculous. Different yes. Not to everyone's taste yes. Awful no. :)
People pay for those?
Straight up nauseating
Gold Size is NOT an oil. Also, you don't let it completely dry before applying the leaf. Where do you come up with this crap?
howlingmine yes, clearly he has never done this before, and it has never worked when he's done it...
How about you tell him how it's actually done so he can do it right? You contribute nothing by just telling him he's doing it wrong.
there is indeed oil based size. Google it.
He specifically says DO NOT let it completely dry. 4:36
Nice constructive criticism there bud
This guy is obviously stoned..he talking to much..get to it..i have my own problems jeez..