Archtop & Solidbody. Languedoc inspired

WezV

Current weight



Thats less than 4 1/2lb.... should be close to 5 3/4lb when done.. with tuners, wiring and finish to be added

WezV

Phil dropped the luminlay round the other day so its now inlaid and fretted with some 6105 dunlop wire.

Roland

That’s beautiful.

Jalapeno

Cor !!!!!

PhilKing

That was really fast Wez!   It looks great.  The snakewood really looks amazing, I'm so glad that it worked out for the fingerboard.

WezV

Red coats on, part way through cleaning up the binding



Parts are badly placed there, but you get the idea

davros

That's cool, I really like that.

PhilKing

The red really brings out the top nicely

PeteC

Thats just great Wez.  That Old Black has been keeping you from finishing this i guess but its looking great now.  Love that red colour and contrast between the back and the neck. 

WezV

I always try to work on a few things at once, but am trying to limit it from too many.   

The self builds just take longer to get between stages  especially stuff with thin plates, it needs a long time to settle between each stage.  Its been strung up with a test fit of parts and a few things tweaked along the way

Neilybob

Wow this is turning out to be an amazing build ! 

grappagreen

You always amaze me with your builds.. that is a wonderful thing..

WezV

Assembly begins.

PhilKing

It is looking great Wez.  I love the label in the top F-hole.  The pickups really do work with the overall look.  How did you figure out which tuner went in which position?  I didn't see any markings on them to tell you!   I'll be interested to know how you find them when you come to string it up.

tanihhiavlt

Keen to know how this sounds, with the tailpiece it's gonna be quite different to a 335

WezV

Good point.  They are numbered 1-6 on the thumbwheel.... but i think I've put them the wrong way round as thet are subtley staggered.   They certainly felt smooth.

I've just tuned it up for the first time and am really happy with the way it sounds acoustically... can't wait to see how it settles in and get it wired up.   Usually they sound boxy at this stage, but this already has a nice amount of acoustic volume and natural reverb

Still a few bits to do yet.

The tailpiece is currently shimmed to align properly, but my shim wasnt quite right so i need to make another.  This is due to it being a right angle bracket on an offset body.   I also need to add some string grounding to it, likely with a brass plate inlaid underneath.  

I have a bit of snakewood left that i am hoping can be used for a couple of small details, truss rod cover and things like that.

The back plate is held on by a couple of magnets, but i think it needs a couple more to make it more secure

The finish is thin, but glossy.  I didn't grainfill much so it's now starting to sink in nicely on the cherry and walnut grainlines.

WezV

tanihhiavlt said:

Keen to know how this sounds, with the tailpiece it's gonna be quite different to a 335

It's very different to a 335 inside. 

This is fully hollow solid wood, carved inside and out.  No laminates or solid centre block, just 2 big spruce braces running from neck to tailblock.

The body will resonate a lot more than the average 335.  It probably wont cope with as much gain as they do, but it's not really built for that.

tanihhiavlt

Noice, more like a jazz box then?

WezV

Yeah, but smaller.

WezV

Just put it on the kitchen scales.   Should be less than 5 1/2lb once done.

The relatively heavy neck and locking tuners are throwing balance off a bit, but should be fine if i put the strap on the upper horn.