Let's See Those Firestripes

[zombywoof]

Yeah, I am bored.  We are self-quarantined because one of the kiddos was exposed at school last week.  All of us are thus far fine but the situation is pushing my already hermit-like existence  into "The Shining" territory. 

I do not own that many instruments sporting firestripe  scratchplates.  I only have four and as this is a Gibsons only need apply two do not count.   Of the two Gibsons, my favorite is this one which adorns my 1935 Recording King mandolin.  You can really see where the firestripe moniker comes from.  

The second is on my 1932 L1.

And before I forget - happy, happy holidays to all and please stay safe.  Since we cannot gather we are doing a movable feast dropping food off at the houses of others.  I have already received a photo of a challah bread somebody baked for me.  Yummy. 

     

[Dave F]

Happy Holiday Woof!

If you have your family around you, you're a rich man!

No vintage ones with tiger stripes currently in the house

J-45 Legend

 

Banner '42 SJ

 

Nick Lucas

 

'32 L00 RI

 

Stage Deluxe

 

Century of Progress LC

 

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Dave F

[tpbiii]

The mandolin is a 35 Kalamazoo -- so basically the same as yours.

Merry Christmas

-Tom

[BoSoxBiker]

Gents, those are all quite nice.

 

[62burst]

2 hours ago, PatriotsBiker said:

Gents, those are all quite nice.

 

Absolutely enjoyable. All of those closeups really show the variety of different guitar personalities across the years. Thanks for sharing. 

[E-minor7]

Have an F-bird but no f-stripes around. Like the vintage ones a good deal - but they have to glide toward the bridge. 

Happy holidays back to you - that Monkees a cappella tune was major. Didn't see it come. . 

[62burst]

2 hours ago, E-minor7 said:

 - but they have to glide toward the bridge. 

The direction of the Fire aligning with playwear on the guitar's top always seemed more natural to me.

tpbiii's accidental art. . . how Warhol might've seen old guitars. Allows us to study what's beautiful about old bursts and bridges, but also how each fireguard is unique. . . a couple of the ones on the right side of Tom's post really can't make up their mind which way they're flowing. And that's ok, too.

Merry1.2.All     🎄

Edited December 25, 2020 by 62burst

[zombywoof]

2 hours ago, E-minor7 said:

Have an F-bird but no f-stripes around. Like the vintage ones a good deal - but they have to glide toward the bridge. 

Happy holidays back to you - that Monkees a cappella tune was major. Didn't see it come. . 

 

The Monkees  X'mas episode also featured the kid who played Eddie Munster.  We got our white Christmas.  About 6 inches on the ground and it is still coming down. 

[fortyearspickn]

62B -  good insight. TPbill's  contribution would give Warhol a run for his money.  More interesting that a Campbells Soup Can.  Would make a great poster.  Someone at Gibson should contract with TPb to produce some screen savers, etc.   

[j45nick]

All those vintage firestripes look great to me. The modern ones, not so much. (I have two of the modern ones.)

[62burst]

51 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said:

. . .   More interesting that a Campbells Soup Can.  Would make a great poster.  Someone at Gibson should contract with TPb to produce some screen savers, etc.   

Yes, That would make some great wall art.

[E-minor7]

11 hours ago, 62burst said:

The direction of the Fire aligning with playwear on the guitar's top always seemed more natural to me.

Yesyes, , , of course what I meant too . . 

[BluesKing777]

 

37 L-0:

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

[zombywoof]

On 12/25/2020 at 10:24 AM, j45nick said:

All those vintage firestripes look great to me. The modern ones, not so much. (I have two of the modern ones.)

 

My Fairbanks Smeck has a modern version.  Some of the modern takes I have run across are better than others but at its worst what is called firestripe looks like somebody drizzled caramel over the pickguard.  I do not know whether it is a lost art or the pigments added to modern materials do not produce the same effect as it did with celluloid.  

Gibson though must have gotten a hold of some flippin' nice batches of Italian celluloid in the 1930s before they started going more with tortoise shell.   With celluloid today only being produced in Italy and illegal to import the only time you can get it here is if you have a luthier who has a  stash of NOS.  

[j45nick]

3 hours ago, zombywoof said:

 

My Fairbanks Smeck has a modern version.  Some of the modern takes I have run across are better than others but at its worst what is called firestripe looks like somebody drizzled caramel over the pickguard.  I do not know whether it is a lost art or the pigments added to modern materials do not produce the same effect as it did with celluloid.  

Gibson though must have gotten a hold of some flippin' nice batches of Italian celluloid in the 1930s before they started going more with tortoise shell.   With celluloid today only being produced in Italy and illegal to import the only time you can get it here is if you have a luthier who has a  stash of NOS.  

I don't know what the material is that Gibson uses for these, but if the pattern is silkscreened or photoprinted,  at least the pattern is not as pixilated as the material Martin is using.

You can still get celluloid, but I have not been able to find it anywhere in a firestripe pattern. The luthier who made a new pickguard for my re-topped 1950 J-45 had some really nice NOS stuff that closely matched the original pickguard on my other 1950 J-45, that's not a firestripe pattern.

Stewmac sells tortoloid material in a firestripe pattern that looks like it might be a reasonable alternative. It is a cast resin product, so there is no printed pattern. I have not seen it in person--only on the website. Dan has a nice little video about using it on stewmac.com.

There is nothing like the real thing, however.

[zombywoof]

15 hours ago, j45nick said:

I don't know what the material is that Gibson uses for these, but if the pattern is silkscreened or photoprinted,  at least the pattern is not as pixilated as the material Martin is using.

You can still get celluloid, but I have not been able to find it anywhere in a firestripe pattern. The luthier who made a new pickguard for my re-topped 1950 J-45 had some really nice NOS stuff that closely matched the original pickguard on my other 1950 J-45, that's not a firestripe pattern.

Stewmac sells tortoloid material in a firestripe pattern that looks like it might be a reasonable alternative. It is a cast resin product, so there is no printed pattern. I have not seen it in person--only on the website. Dan has a nice little video about using it on stewmac.com.

There is nothing like the real thing, however.

 

I thought celluloid was illegal to bring in because it is so flammable.  I loved the way you could scratch it and smell the camphor.  The guy who replaced the pickguard on my '42 J50 also cut it from a block of N0S celluloid.  It is a lot more subtle looking than what I have seen on old Gibsons though.   

[j45nick]

1 hour ago, zombywoof said:

 

I thought celluloid was illegal to bring in because it is so flammable.  I loved the way you could scratch it and smell the camphor.  The guy who replaced the pickguard on my '42 J50 also cut it from a block of N0S celluloid.  It is a lot more subtle looking than what I have seen on old Gibsons though.   

 

I believe it has to be treated as hazardous cargo, which complicates shipping. I did buy a replacement celluloid finger rest for my 1947 L-7 maybe eight years ago. It just came through the mail from a US company.

Check out this link (no firestripe, however):

celluloid

This is described as genuine  Incudo cellulose nitrate. I think this is a UK company, but they advertise prices in USD and say they ship worldwide. It may be that sheet material is available because of its relatively low mass, but block material is more problematic. N

Not sure if historically Gibson/Martin sliced their own blocks of material, or bought sheets. Cutting very thin sheets from thicker blocks of material must be a tricky process for several reasons, including the heat generated by the cutting process.

[j45nick]

ZW really sent me down a rabbit hole on this one.

I found a Chinese company on alibaba that manufactures celluloid products, including sheets. This from their website caught my eye:

"Our company has the unique state-of-the-art wet block technology and equipment imported from Italy, specializing in the production of fancy cellulose acetate plates and celluloid sheets, with an annual production capacity of more than 1,000 tons. Jiujiang Celluloid Industrial Co., Ltd is one of the biggest Celluloid and Cellulose acetate sheets manufacturer in China,"

Cellulose acetate material is still used for a number of things, including high-end writing instruments and eyeglass frames. The needs of the guitar manufacturing industry are probably well down on the list.

[AnneS]

My “new”  30s-style L-00 (2015 5-Star dealer limited edition) did a nice job with the firestripe, methinks.

And the ‘32 Kalamazoo Senior was pretty nifty, too.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k5h8v858qrrz0bu/AADUkTPVIjbduq2zqmRaloXHa?dl=0

(hope the link works...)
 

 

 

[E-minor7]

26 minutes ago, AnneS said:

My “new”  30s-style L-00 (2015 5-Star dealer limited edition) did a nice job with the firestripe, methinks.

And the ‘32 Kalamazoo Senior was pretty nifty, too.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k5h8v858qrrz0bu/AADUkTPVIjbduq2zqmRaloXHa?dl=0

(hope the link works...)
 

Yeps ^ you got the tiger-fire-stripes there.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                My eyes hear that guard roar. . 

[Dave F]

I’m planning on making a pick guard for this custom L00. I’m leaning toward the lighter color. 

 

 

[62burst]

7 hours ago, AnneS said:

. . . And the ‘32 Kalamazoo Senior was pretty nifty, too.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k5h8v858qrrz0bu/AADUkTPVIjbduq2zqmRaloXHa?dl=0

V. cool, Anne.  The lower edge of the 'guard on the old Kalamazoo, showing it's thickness,  almost allows for a little cross sectional view.

 

6 hours ago, Dave F said:

I’m planning on making a pick guard for this custom L00. I’m leaning toward the lighter color. 

The lighter colored one might be a better match, but the darker on has an interesting, almost wood-like pattern.

Make sure you get the direction of the fire flow right : 0 !

[jt]

A pair of 1936 firestripes. OK, you can only see the one pickguard, but I like the photo. 🙂

[scriv58]

1936 RSSD

 

[Dave F]

8 hours ago, 62burst said:

Make sure you get the direction of the fire flow right : 0 !

I see them going both ways