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This is a "newbie" design question, and I am seeking opinions from those with a "good eye" for style and/or sense of tradition.

Background:

• I am building a Jumbo 12 String.
  Back and sides are rosewood. Top is spruce.
  Fretboard and peghead are rosewood, bound in rosewood, with a thin wb purfling
  On the top, I plan to use zipflex purfling between two thin bwb purfling strips.
  I want to use rosewood binding and tail piece.
  I have purchased rosewood binding with wbw purfling already attached
  I would "box in" my tail piece with the same purfling as my binding.

Questions:

Is it OK to commingle wbw purfling on the dark coloured sides with bwb purfling on the light coloured top?

If I need to choose one, which would it be? bwb or wbw?

Thx for all opinions.

it is your guitar so design it the way you like. I do have a rule of thumb is that you don't want to make the purfling wider than your kerfing.

John.

That makes amazing sense, and I had not thought of it. I'll measure the overall top purfling "stack" to make sure it is inside the kerfing.

I put white/bloodwood/white/bloodwood on the top of my 2nd. And white/bloodwood/white on the back.
I just put contrasting colors next to each other. My binding was bloodwood as well. Against rosewood and engelmann spruce.
Bob

I say go for it, Bruce. I too put colors to contrast, whether they stick with a uniform apearance between top and back is irrelevant to me. It is very difficult to see the top and back at the same time, and most won't even notice the purfling color sequence so much as the fact that you have purfling. Do what feels right.

Cool.

thanks.

I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to violate some secret Luthier's code or something that would have had me forever banished from the brotherhood. (grin)

Bruce, have you looked at any of the guitars on the Acoustic Guitar Forum?
There are some there that seem to "violate" any number of things. But of those, the vast majority look cool to me.
I don't think it's like plaids and stripes. Heck, somebody could even make that look good.

Bruce,

I try to keep the same purfling line against each side of the binding. So if I am running a dark body and light bindings, I'll do something like WB purflings with the dark line against the binding and the light against the body. I'd do the same on the back. But on the top, I'd run BWB. This would give me the dark line against the binding as on the sides and back, but an extra black pin against the light top.

I think in your case, I would use wbwb purflings on the top, this way you can keep the same look while adding the extra pin for contrast.

Ken

No matter what my color choices for purfs and bindings -- I "always" have a fine black line against the bindings, soundboard, and back. The "eye' is quick to catch a glue line that is just fraction off (wide) when a light color is next to another light color. On the other hand, if there is a continuous black line those tiny inconsistancies in "dark line width" are almost impossible for the "eye" to detect.

Bruce,

I didn't have pictures available to post when I responded earlier, but below are some pix of what I was talking about. Note the rims use WBW, then on the top, I ran WBWB. I have done this a number of times and think the light against the dark provides great contrast. I also just bound a walnut with maple bindings and used BW purflings, running the white against the walnut and the black against the maple. Simple purflings, but turned our very sharp. I probably would have run BWB on that top but decided to use a herringbone inlay instead. Pix of that body is in my other thread here.

Ken