WezV - Gretsch inspired Baritone

WezV

Started the neck.  This will be 3-piece reclaimed Sapele, it has a  nice amount of pomelle figuring in it too so should make a pretty neck.



I'm trying a few things out on the purpleheart board - still need tidying up.  I have cut thumbnail style inlays down the edge and filled with gold glitter and epoxy.  

 Purple heart is a weird wood, this bit will fade to pale brown within a few years, won't ever be deep purple like some can be, but it does take a stain well and makes a good alternative to ebony once stained and sealed. In fact it can be a bit more stable than most modern stocks of ebony. 

Winny_Pooh

Nice... gold glitter you say? What are you planning for body binding? 

WezV

not gold glitter, i'm not going full on Penguin/Falcon.   

I'm still not sure whether I will use this board or not, but the overall aesthetic will be a mix of gold and nickel for the plastics and metal parts so I'm trying something out here.   It's Gretschy, but not

WezV

after the veneer tests i noticed the constructional veneer was pulling the shape more than the others, so going for a traditionally  gretsch 3-ply plate may be a bit much for the press to handle without heat or steam to help

But a lot more standard veneer thickness has arrived, which should press into shape nicely, - just using more layers



this should be about 3mm thick.  Actual Gretsch plates are about 3.5mm.  If I add a  celluloid wrap or another veneer these will be a similar thickness.  Its Maple with Sapele cross grain, so should be very strong when done

paulnb57

A fella on YouTube did a similar Gretch inspired project using veneer and vacuum

Here it is..

https://youtu.be/WN9FDP12fCY?si=P43FC97M4M_M9u6i

paulnb57

There's a few episodes but its an interesting series

WezV

Looks good.  It confirms I should be good with 5 layers, especially since mine will be more supported as it won't be as hollow

WezV

I've drawn a contour map for the carve.  it's quite different to a LP as it does not need to match the neck angle  with the carve, and is a lot less dramatic at the waist 

i'm going to carve it in some pine to make a form for the  vacuum press

WezV

transferred to some pine

WezV

Hard to tell but the pine form is now about 90% carved.



I need to trum that bit by the horn, I didn't leave enough wood to support the router when doing the ledges. 

I might go over it with some filler and paint so I can see the carve better before finalising.

WezV

primed


carve tweaked


test fit in the vacuum bag



i shall try with glue later

PhilKing

Looks interesting.  Will you do all the layers at once?  Did I give you any machine heads?  If not, I have to have a look around, as I know I used to have a set of gold Grover Imperials.

WezV

Yeah, I will do all 5 layers at once.  I can add more later if needed, like if going for vinyl that would need to be done after the wooden core

I don't have any machine heads yet, but was thinking imperials would be good.  I know I have some in somewhere, but not sure if its a full set, and they may be black.  They were in a batch of random tuners I was given that were mainly gold or black - not colours i use very often

PhilKing

I'll take a look this weekend.

WezV

I've gone for the first glue up, but I think I hit a snag. 

Looks like one of the cross grain Sapele layers has shifted and caused a crease.  these layers are each made up of 2 pieces to get the dimensions

It's not the end of the world as I have plenty more veneer to get this right, and can use the flawed set to test strength and practice cutting

WezV

I've taken the top out the bag a little early so i can have another go, but this is yeterdays first attempt.

Note the ridge crossing the waist, that seems to be a slight overlap of veneer in one of the lower layers.  I also need to flatten off the horn section of my mold a bit as that clearly isn't flat, but the rest of the arch is about where I want it.

It's also very strong

 

paulnb57

Apart from the crease it looks like it worked well

WezV

yes, it's mostly successful so I think I can fix the issues on the next go.  I still have options with this plate too.  Either level off the crease and add another layer, or just cut it up to make handy templates that will fit the arch on the final thing 

merlin

Excellent, I'm looking forward to watching this grow.

I like Gannet for a name.....

or go the Roger Mellie route and call it "Gunt"... just kidding.....! 

WezV

I hope you are not body shaming it for it's larger  size and obvious pot belly!