WezV - Gretsch inspired Baritone

bad_alice

I haven't been around much of late, and while I'm far for being any kind of forum regular, I do want to share that when I have time to stop by I head straight for your build posts @WezV ;
I was just explaining to my (enormously-patient-ever-understanding-of-his-wife-blathering-on-about-guitars) husband that your threads are so full of not only knowledge and downright cool guitars but also a demonstration of the patience, focus, skill and wisdom that are all central to awesome outcomes where guitar building is concerned. 

As someone who has realised that fannying around with more visual guitar mods - knobs, pickguards etc - due to a consummate lack of the qualities I mentioned above, please keep these threads coming.
<applauds>

davros

Wow, that's impressive. What are you using to pull a vacuum?

If this one were to be sacrificial, it would be interesting to see how well bonded the layers are, and if there are any air gaps, but by the contours in the top it looks like it formed really well.

WezV

Thanks @bad_alice, I'm glad some people get something from my stream of consciousness threads... there are very few styles I haven't attempted now so this at least adds something new for me.  It also opens up possibilities for some other interesting builds, either fully hollow, 335 style, or wood bodied resonator type stuff.


@davros ; these are hand pumped vacuum bags.  I got the bigger pump from the supplier. 

I will cut through this one at some point... I expect it will have voids where the ridge is, there shouldn't be any others.  for attempt 2 i didnt bother putting the sapele layers at 90 degrees, which means I don't need to join those layers, reducing the chance of voids or ridges.   It will be interesting to see if it comes out as stiff as the first attempt, but I think it will be fine.

WezV

2nd attempt didn't work,  Having no cross grain veneer weakened it a lot.  I also used a wetter glue mix that seems to have given more ripples.   i think this might have worked better if my mold had some small holes drilled in it for better airflow.

Anyway, I went back to the first attempt and sanded out the ridge.   I then added a Sapele veneer to the top.  Its now very strong and I think I will go with it for this build.

WezV

davros

Wow, that looks pretty voidless. And you did 4 layers at once then the sapele separately? I'd love to see if this technique could manage a Les Paul or Es-335 top with sharper contours.

WezV

5 layers first  then added the top layer of sapele.

I think it could work for more extreme carves, with a  bit of practice

Sporky

Could you make a Columbus-style LP copy like that?

But good? 

WezV

Yes.  That's how duo jets are made

Sporky

Ah!

Sorry.

WezV

That's okay, it's not something people highlight when talking about Gretsch guitars, but the pressed ply plate over a semi solid core is shared between them.... it's done better on the gretsch but very similar in principle

WezV

now I have a top, I need something to glue it to.  I'm going for some of the large stash of Meranti I was given recently.  It's super light and nicely resonant.  The mahogany type grain will tie in nicely with Sapele neck and top, although none of this will be left natural so that doesn't really matter anyway*



this oversized blank weighs 9lb.  I would expect the body to be about 4lb when cut out, then chambered  heavily.  Current estimate is for a 3lb body, but then just the tailpiece will add nearly 1lb back to that.  I'm also keeping the  whole thing thin to offset the large body size, it will be 45mm with thr arched top

This is the plan for chambering, inspired by the Gretsch style, but not a direct copy of it.  This guitar won't get F-holes, but may get a gut-cut.




*I'm still undecided on finish and will come up with some options further down the line.  Something a little Gretschy that matches well with a mix of Gold and Chrome hardware

WezV

i was bloody close on the weight - 2lb 14.2 oz

paulnb57

Superb work and another interesting build

Winny_Pooh

Fab

WezV

next job will be to add the top, just a couple of things to do first.

I need wiring channels adding for a tailpiece ground, and  wires to pickups and switches.  I'm currently thinking standard jet wiring with the master volume on the bottom horn.

I also need to cut the filler piece that sits between body core and ply top.  I think I'm going to use the laser for this and cut some 5mm thick braces that should closely match the carve, hopefully minimal final shaping will be needed.  We will see

I've roughly laid out parts on the body core as a reference for where to cut later once the top is on - everything seems nicely in proportion with the non-standard body size.  In my opinion, more so than the usual Gretsch baritone Jets.  Although they are 29 3/4" scale which is arguably short scale bass rather than baritone, so the bridge sits quite far back

WezV

I've laser cut some braces from the same wood as the body.  They are a bit scorched on the ends as they taper down to nothing, but should clean up well and fit really nicely





I've also added wiring channels to the body core and routed for backplates/access



I should be able to glue the top on soon

WezV

i've glued the laser cut braces to the body side for this - then shaped and feathered them out to match the top plate

WezV

I was able to laser cut the top.  It didn't work perfectly due to the depth of carve giving different focal lengths, so I had to slice through a few bits manually at the end.  I'm happy with the end result.

 I did the outline 2mm oversize, also added some locating pin holes that will help align it to the body later on.  I'm undecided on whether to clamp it with spool clamps, go-bar deck, or the vacuum bag.  I think all could work quite well.

paulnb57

Wow! That looks good