WezV - Gretsch inspired Baritone

WezV

I'm in the planning stages for a couple of builds at the moment.  I'm doing some DIY on the house, so build time is limited for another couple of weeks.

Anyway, I have some old and new Gretsch parts to use and want to do a Jet style Baritone.

It won't be a clone of anything Gretsch, but will be very reminiscent of them.

The basic design will be a tweaked jet body outline, increased in size by 10%. (based on the John Catto Duo Jet plans availble here https://www.electricherald.com/gretsch-duo-jet-templates/  ) This is how that looks with a 28" scale length.



That's 14.5" across the lower bout.  Roughly an inch bigger than a Jet, but a lot smaller than the biggest hollowbodies.   I'm going to make it as a "solidbody" similar to a Jet I think.

I've not decided on the top yet  but am going to have a play with vacuum pressing my own laminate top, maybe even with a drum wrap layer on top... if that doesn't go to plan  I will carve a top for it.


I've cut a body template.  Ignore pickup routes and plate though 





I'm gonna need a G model name to make these parts work

Jalapeno

Greg ?

or

Gorgonzola

Grifter

Gremola

Guillemot

HTH

WezV

I dunno, think it needs a bird name... might be a bit cheeky to go with penGuin

PhilKing

wGv?  with the G for Guitars.   Though I do like penGuin and it is symmetrical. 

Those parts cleaned up really nicely.

RocknRollDave

Goshawk

Roland

From the British Trust for Ornithology web site:

Green and Gold offer several choices, depending on your colour scheme.

Wikipedia’s list will take a while to read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_by_common_name

jca74

Greggs - with a blue and yellow paint job and miniature sausage roll shaped knobs

WezV

I will leave the decision on name for now - its not top of my list.

First is the laminate top idea.. I started a thread recently about drum wrap finishing.   It became apparent I would get better results if I could vacuum form it to carved tops so I started looking into that.

A while back I found a company that makes handpumped vacuum bags for skateboard construction.  They now do sizes suitable for guitars.  If it works its a low cost way into this process with many projects I could use it for.  I've ordered direct as the UK distributer was out of stock.  They do show some guitar projects on their socials
https://www.roarockit.eu/en/

I also have some old ply plates from the gretsch factory, but they are for a bigger body size... they will however be used as a reference for my experiments here.





This is what Gretsch traditionally refer to as a "soild body"


Note the filler piece of wood that sits between body and pressed ply top - it's not a million miles from those dodgy Les Paul copies

PhilKing

I guess nowadays it would be done by a CNC router from one piece, unless the filler is to save weight or to use a bit deeper piece of wood in the centre.

GoFish

Egret has most of Gretsch in it.

Grape Lover (Grey Plover) if it was  suitable hue.

piGeon doesn't really work.

Goose cos of the long neck?

You're right, the naming can wait.

WezV

PhilKing said:

I guess nowadays it would be done by a CNC router from one piece, unless the filler is to save weight or to use a bit deeper piece of wood in the centre.

That's a current pic from their website, it's very close to the old ones though.  It raises up the center section to hold the top plate, similar to the kerfed block used on a 335.

If I do go this way it will likely be european spruce for the filler piece.   It won't matter too much tonally, but will be easy to shape to fit.

SteveF

Loving the look of this. Will be following with interest. 

Gentoo? (A type of penguin) potential for a scratchplate engraving or inlay perhaps 

SteveRobinson

SteveF said:

Loving the look of this. Will be following with interest. 

Gentoo? (A type of penguin) potential for a scratchplate engraving or inlay perhaps 

Spelled Gen2?

WezV

You all get so focused on the oddest things

 I should have the vacuum bag tomorrow so will do some tests with laminating veneers and shaping it to curves, which is far more exciting to me

WezV

I made a mistake ordering the vacuum kit, and only ordered a replacement bag - this was due to flipping between the UK and EU sites to find the stuff I wanted.  Anyway, it didn't cost much more to order the bits missing from the kit, I just got stung by a second lot of postage charges so decided to go for the upgraded pump and extra seals at the same time

I now have everything needed

TheMarlin

Cool project!

WezV

I decided to do a quick test with the bag, not for this build, but just to get used to how it works.

I have 3 bits of non-flat veneer, constructional maple, dyed poplar, and poplar burl.  I'm going to laminate these next to a flat piece of cherry.



they go in the bag with some netting on top, this allows good air flow to the valve - then I start pumping


Lets see what comes out the bag tomorrow

Simo

I've been using the Roarockit bags for years for laminating and gluing tops on, they're excellent. Just keep the seal strip clean and replace it now and again, and you can't go wrong.

WezV

Simo said:

I've been using the Roarockit bags for years for laminating and gluing tops on, they're excellent. Just keep the seal strip clean and replace it now and again, and you can't go wrong.

Have you tried using it to mold to complex shapes like a carved top?  That is the next thing I want to try.  Thankfully Gretsch archtops have less complex contours than a LP carve

Simo

WezV said:

Simo said:

I've been using the Roarockit bags for years for laminating and gluing tops on, they're excellent. Just keep the seal strip clean and replace it now and again, and you can't go wrong.

Have you tried using it to mold to complex shapes like a carved top?  That is the next thing I want to try.  Thankfully Gretsch archtops have less complex contours than a LP carve

No, I've only ever used it for straight forward gluing jobs, flat tops etc. I have no doubt that it will work just fine for that though.

WezV

moderate success on the test piece.

a coupe of wrinkles in the burl layer, but a lot of it is still usable.




I've ordered some big sheets of veneer for full tops