Based on a post in the Acoustic Guitars thread, I emailed Willi and asked him about the finish on my 000-42 (which, as I thought, is not varnish) and about their finishes in general. As usual, he replied with much information and said it was fine for me to post everything here.

So I have ...

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Hi Mike,
Things are fine and rather busy since at this point were are finishing a new
batch of guitars.

We are using clear nitro cellulose lacquer as finish basically since ever.
What we use is a one-component old fashioned nitro lacquer without any
primer or sealing coat underneath (nearly every modern maker is using a
plastic coat or layer and apply only a thin nitro coat in the end). The
lacquer we used for years was a so-called "polish" lacquer (a special
top-quality nitro lacquer) made by ICI but they stopped producing it some
years ago. Your guitar has this lacquer. We searched for a good substitution
and found an even more old fashioned nitro lacquer made by Rosner, a small
German company, that we use since some years now. We like this nitro lacquer
a lot. It's still the same kind of nitro lacquer we used before but it is
even closer to what they used prior to the war until the '50s.

"Varnish" possibly is a misleading term as it is used usually for low
quality shellac or oil finishes. I don't know what sort of finish Collings
is using they also call "varnish". But usually it's based on spirit as
dissolvent and contains natural resins. Such a natural resin finish can
be cheap and rather simple or it can be very expensive and high quality. These finishes could be applied in several techniques.

We offer such a natural resin/spirit finish as an option as well but it is
expensive. So it is not a time saving or cheaper option. It's more like what
people name "French Polish". The finish we offer contains shellac and copal resins dissolved in spirit. Some top-of-the-line guitars we made had this finish but there were very few andall custom guitars.

I hope this helps.

BTW, I just talked to Jim Baggett who is going to sell our OM-45 to France
at this point. I've read that some people might be interested to know what
guitars built from us are available currently in the US. Except the cutaway
jumbo Larson style Jim that has on his site there's also a very nice and
excellent sounding OM-42 at his shop. It has broad Larson style pearl
borders and Larson style engraved fret board inlays. But everything else
including the bracing is Martin OM style. I think he doesn't has this one on
his site but it is for sale and people interested can look at our site at

http://www.antique-acoustics.de/Vintage-New/242/d.htm

It's almost new (pre-owned for a few days but still unplayed) and the price
is rather low I guess (at least much cheaper than it would cost today). This
one was the same level as the OM-45 with very old stock quarter sawn BR. I
liked this one particularly and was very sorry to hear that the owner had to
part with it. He's a friend but he had a hard time that caused him to part
with this guitar.

Best,
Willi

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Beautiful.

NICE! I may have to check into that one.

Mike: that's much the same as the description he sent me when I first bought the OM28, though your version is more detailed. It is NOT anything like any lacquer finish on any other guitar I've ever owned. Come to think of it, the guitar itself is unlike anything else in most respects.

Sonoman, after hearing about the Alien, I've been reading the thread on B&H on the UNMF. Man I've got to try one of these out some time. Sounds right up my alley with that vintage vibe goin on plus their own mojo.

The thing that amazes me about B&H guitars is that, although they definitely are "vintage build" instruments, they sound fantastic in non-vintage playing styles. With my 000-42, for example, I prefer its tone in DADGAD / DAEDAD / open tunings to its tone in standard tunings. Don't get me wrong ... it's great with more "traditional" types of playing as well. But the tone is a bit richer than the guitars upon which it is modeled and as a result it can wear more hats.

I'm on Willi's build list for another in 2010, by the way. I'll post details when we get them all together.

In the meantime, there are a couple of B&H guitars at Mass Street (the non-cutaway can be found at Willi's link above and is not listed as "for sale" at Jim's site) for anyone who might be interested in playing one. I've been thinking about the cutaway but am still on the fence.

Michael: amen on DADGAD, or open G, or anything Joni Mitchell came up with that the rest of us won't understand in this lifetime. the guitar can do anything an acoustic guitar can do, only better. When my was newborn, Jim had it in his office with some cherry picked best ever early thirties Martins, and he said he couldn't tell the difference if he closed his eyes. Three years of playing have not hurt. I will never, in all likelihood bordering on certainty, own another Blazer, but I don't need to. No more OMs for me. Stick a fork in it. I'm hoping the CJ varnish will do the same for larger bodied guitars, and then I can just alternate between practicing and philosophizing. Or Martinizing, my incipient retirement career. That, or Safeway bag boy. Again. tom

I just spent the evening here in St. Louis with Jim Baggett and my pre-war collector friend. Jim brought three B&H Dread s for us to play, and compare to our best recent instruments and the pre-wars.

I wound up buying a "D-28" Brazilian B&H, natural top, over a similar guitar with a SB, which I ordinarily prefer. The B&H D-18 was great, but not enough better than my D1A Varn to warrant buying another mahogany guitar. My friend felt it wasn'rt as good as the D1A Varn, and it cost more.

Between the D1A, The Franklin OM, the B&H D-28 braz, and my '37 Martin D-18, I feel my collection is complete, and I need to start selling off some stuff I'll not play.

Thanks Willi and Jim for making this magnificent guitar available to me.

Bill,

Welcome to the B&H club!

Like you, I've begun trimming some of the fat from my collection. Choosing the ones to go is not easy at all, given that those that have survived my prior culls are all outstanding. But I'm hoping the guitar gods will at least bless my playing if I redistribute some of these fine instruments ...

Best,

Bill,

I would LOVE to see pictures of that new B&H D-28. I have to admit that those B&H's sound intriguing.

Alan

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Bill Miller, St. Louis:

Between the D1A, The Franklin OM, the B&H D-28 braz, and my '37 Martin D-18, I feel my collection is complete, [snipped]

I can well imagine so, and what a collection it must be !! Congrats

Just received the OM 28 Brazilian B&H from Jim Baggett. I'm at work so there won't be sufficient playing time to give an adequate description. It is gorgeous. The finest instrument I have ever held. Just out of the case it is resonant and responsive beyond what I had imagined. Tom is just up the road, so we may have to get these siblings together for a play date. More to follow.

Alan