BUILDING a PEARLVIBE
Our lumber is aged over many years, selected and matched, glued and rough routed.
The necks are made first. I use vintage specs, vintage C shape. Enough wood for good tone but not too fat - comfortable in your hands. Only well aged Canadian maple is used, FLAMED maple from AAA grade to AAAAA.
Roasted
Pearlvibe Headstocks on all guitars
This batch is Grade AAA. Very pretty flames
Grade AAAA -flames more pronounced
These are all Grade AAAA to grade AAAAA. The Pearlvibe headstock will be added.
Are you a Redneck?
Pearlvibe also offers roasted maple necks with the same radiant flames
Building steps of the "Sultans of Pearl" from start to finish:
Preliminary airbrushing after routing, shaping, sanding and nitro base
More airbrushing layers
This is the final product
Rough abalone has been fitted painstakingl It is still too thick and must be sanded extensively. Pickup cutouts were routed before hand.
More final fitting of abalone pieces, last sanding
Now the fun starts - Pups and electronics. Of course, one more coat of lacquer and polishing.
Vintage low out put pups 5,6 K alnico 2 and Fingertips switching for those extzra series power tones
Building the EMBER BLASTER: the critical steps
What?
Rough white abalone strips. Secret staining process follows after sanding down the top to a paper thin thickness
Airbrushing was done - a deep auburn burst
Final lacquer and polishing
Roasted maple neck, Kinman pickups, 12 way Fingertips switching
The Classic Series: Grain Enhancement! Great tonewood but the grain and color is lacking.
Great tonewood but the color and grain is lacking
First step. I want a warm red tone!
This was all done with airbrush
Classic Series with white abalone pickguard
REDWOOD ; grain enhancement
The start of a hand painted back.
Just about right.
Celebrate Color: Guitar Backs
Guitar Sides
Guitar tops
This is where it all starts.
What you should know about Pearlvibe
Sounds a bit provocative doesnt it?
In an age of deplorable „ugly“, a time of conforming debauchery and tastelessness – the attempt alone of capturing beauty will confound most people like a ground mole is blinded by looking at sunlight after years of darkness. Those who see it for the first time call it „BLING“, trying to downplay something completely foreign to their eyes.
The music we have all grown to love: Rock, blues, folk, country is quickly fading and becoming a thing of the past. Unfortuneately, it has become "past oriented" ; everyone is clamoring to grab an old tele or strat before they are all gone. Since they are so limited, NEW ones are being built that just look OLD and are being called VINTAGE. This is like Ferarri building a new Testarossa and then scratching it up, treating it with steel wool soaked in vinegar, cracking the finish with liquid nitrogen ......and so on and calling it a classic.
Or imagine Gibson in the 1950`s just copying Fenders Teles instead of creating the Les Paul with flamed maple top. I think you get the point. Quality, creativity and true art always pays in the end. If the music we love is to survive, new guitars - new approaches and designs (that are still vintage oriented) have to be built. I´m doing my part in taking guitarbuilding and design to the next level and "keeping the music alive": A VINTAGE guitar of the future, so to speak. What YOU should know about Pearlvibe (OR – who has no business being on this site) Sounds a bit provocative doesnt it? In an age of deplorable „ugly“, a time of conforming debauchery and tastelessness – the attempt alone of capturing beauty will confound most people and cause them to act like a ground mole blinded by looking at sunlight after years of darkness. Those who see it for the first time defensively call it „BLING“, trying to downplay something completely foreign to their eyes.
EYES
My guitars are dedicated to the search for beauty. Each and everyone is concieved and crafted with this in mind. If I achieve this quest then it is not my doing alone. The One that created such beautiful materials as Abalone, Pearl, precious woods, gems, crystals (the list goes on) is the true artist. I just put it all together. Call it art if you like – but I´m not the artist.
EARS
Then there is the tone and playability: Does anyone really want great tone today? Stupid question, you might say. Well then listen to the monotonous desensitizing Lemming jibberish being called music today and show me where great tone is even an issue. When was the last time you heard a fantastic tone that caught your ear and gave you goosebumps? When was the last time you heard a beautiful melody in the music of today? In an age of audial trash a beautiful tone is often overlooked and sometimes ridiculed.
PEARLVIBE
In a time of lies, truth is scoffed at as being naive. If good honest workmanship, critical thinking and dedication are to be ridiculed then the joke is on me. BUT I refuse to compromise to mindless trends and silly fads. In a time of consuming decadence and deception by ommission honest accountability and decent principles are like a breath of fresh air. So, if you have read this far you belong to a very small minority. Take a deep breath of fresh air! Enjoy discovering my creative process. I hope that some of the beauty I worked so very hard at achieving will touch something deep within you.