Scratch build 335 in a garden shed

Over the last 2 weeks, while recovering from Covid 19 I have been planning and starting a scratch build 335.
My other thread is the build of the ES-1GT and I have always loved the shape. The kit, however, falls a bit short on what I really want. Not in any way a negative comment on the kit - it really is first class and the fit and finish is better than I could reasonably expect.

The shortfall is with regards to the detail construction and neck.

As I understand it, the central solid timber of the body of the original was mahogany, the top and bottom were attached to the sides with mahogany kerfing and the neck was available as special order in laminated form (mahog, walnut, maple, walnut, mahog).

This will be the basis of my build.
The top is maple veneer with a mixture of quilting and spalting.

I should start of by saying I have never built a guitar from scratch before so this should be interesting.

So, progress so far....
2 body blanks made from 18mm mdf drilled for dowels for securing the laminated sides
various templates of the archback profile made
Neck template made
All required timbers bought mostly finished to thickness.

Sides laminated from 0.6mm maple veneer (6 layers)
Copious amounts of mahogany kerfing made
Top and bottom cut from marine grade 3.6mm mahogany faced plywood.
Maple veneer glued to the top. (first attempt was a failure but luckily I had 4 sheets so I can use the failed one as a practice top for fitting switches, knobs f holes etc. and for stains and sanding sealer).

Centre timbers cut from mahogany and compound curved with a hand plane and sanding block
End block for the timbers made (this is used at the rear of the body to take the neckstrap screw rather than screwing into endgrain).

Next job is to glue the 2 timbers together and start fitting the sides. The sides are critical as where they fade into the neck it needs to be an almost invisible join.

Question for you gurus out there .
Should I cut the 'F' holes before or after I glue the top and bottom on? I am asking this as I wonder what will happen tension wise as the curvature involves a fair bit of clamping pressure and I do not want edges of the 'F' holes to pop up as the tension is released.

Attaching a few pics...

I'm not clear on how you've shaped the top and bottom. I don't think I could take on that three dimensional shape.

I took the profile from my ES-1GT kit using a form gauge (one of those tools with lots of sliding plastic sticks that follow a profile).
Used it length ways and then multiple cross ways. Modified the actual thickness by checking specs for the Gibson online.
A lot of careful hand planing to get the end to end profile and then hand sanded the profile constantly checking the templates.
About a day and a half but it is pretty close now.

I have not done anything this critical before but it was not too difficult - just take your time.
The actual top and bottom surfaces are plywood sheet so will bend to their own profile - the trick is to not introduce too much stress into the plywood or it will pop the glue joints.

As you can see in one of the pics, I have plenty of clamps available and I think about 20 will be used to clamp it all together!
Early days though....

Ricky

I shall watch. This one greatly interests me:-)

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Originally Posted by Ricky

I took the profile from my ES-1GT kit using a form gauge (one of those tools with lots of sliding plastic sticks that follow a profile).
Used it length ways and then multiple cross ways. Modified the actual thickness by checking specs for the Gibson online.
A lot of careful hand planing to get the end to end profile and then hand sanded the profile constantly checking the templates.
About a day and a half but it is pretty close now.

I have not done anything this critical before but it was not too difficult - just take your time.
The actual top and bottom surfaces are plywood sheet so will bend to their own profile - the trick is to not introduce too much stress into the plywood or it will pop the glue joints.

As you can see in one of the pics, I have plenty of clamps available and I think about 20 will be used to clamp it all together!
Early days though....

Ricky

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I devoured this YT series a year or so back, it provides a lot of great detail, though TBF, this bloke has a ripping workshop!

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...itEaGnWq5BTfWa

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Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

I devoured this YT series a year or so back, it provides a lot of great detail, though TBF, this bloke has a ripping workshop!

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...itEaGnWq5BTfWa

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Yup! I quite agree FrankenWashie
Exactly the series I watched over the last couple of weeks.
I watched the first couple of episodes and thought 'here we go. Another rich bloke showing off all his expensive gear that most people can only dream of'.
Then it slowly dawned on me that in fact he is a very genuine, humble but talented woodworker that is as proud to share his mistakes and his triumphs. Added to which most of the series is manual woodwork.
50 episodes of fun and knowledge.

His techniques will become mine! (I hope)

Ricky

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricky

Yup! I quite agree FrankenWashie
Exactly the series I watched over the last couple of weeks.
I watched the first couple of episodes and thought 'here we go. Another rich bloke showing off all his expensive gear that most people can only dream of'.
Then it slowly dawned on me that in fact he is a very genuine, humble but talented woodworker that is as proud to share his mistakes and his triumphs. Added to which most of the series is manual woodwork.
50 episodes of fun and knowledge.

His techniques will become mine! (I hope)

Ricky

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Igor and I both salute you Sir, (apologies, Igor’s salute is a little lopsided). You are operating in the true questing sprit of the FrankenLab, and furthering the proud English tradition of the Gentleman Tinkering in a Shed!
Excelsior!

Time for a quick update.
I have glued the 2 center blocks together and glued the rear block in place. the sides have been glued to the center block and the kerfing fitted and sanded to profile.
I had cut the bottom plywood skin but on doing a test clamp of the top and bottom I found a mistake. The bottom was a fraction too small. It would probably have been OK as I will need to rout it anyway for the binding but I decided to cut a new one.
I have now done the test clamp and it all meets where it should.
It needed a lot more sanding to get a good mating surface with the kerfing though.

No photos today but I will take a few tomorrow as I glue the bottom on,
Just the bottom gets glued as this then gives me the chance of cleaning up any glue mess that could be visible through the F holes.

This might also be useful - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi3-D7N31eo

Thanks for the link, Woltz.
12 minutes to build a 335! Think it has taken me a bit longer.
Very useful though. Some of their techniques I have also used and others I will use as the build progresses.
I want that pneumatic press for the sides and tops!

Todays progress.
I have glued the bottom on!
Not sure that gluing one side at a time was a good idea though.
When I take the clamps off, the back may try to revert to its original shape ..... FLAT!
We will see.

Glue line looks good but there will be a fair amount of cleanup required although the joint line itself gets routed for the binding.

Here are the photos.

Well, today I decided to take the clamps off and see if the glue joints held.
They did!
Used my trimmer for the first time. A great tool - should have bought one years ago. So much easier than a full size router.

I then spend a couple of hours sanding but not too much. I still have to trim and fit the binding and I am sure to get more glue where I don't want it.
If I sand too much now and then sand again later I am bound to go through the veneer.

So, all good today.
Clean the workshop tomorrow and watch the Grand Prix.
Happy days!

Congratulations. I had grave doubts whether you'd be able to get that much 3D bend into the ply, especially with the veneer added when flat, but obviously I was wrong. I'll keep it in mind for projects of my own.

Great work!

Top job mate!

Thanks Guys!

Jim, I had the same worries. Just on the dry fit it took a lot of pressure to close the gap by hand. I spent a fair amount of time ensuring that the top and bottom fit to the kerfing was good. It needs to be angled but at different rates around the perimeter.
It did not spring loose overnight either so I am happy.

I have started cutting the laminations for the neck this morning but I am taking a couple of hours off the watch the Grand Prix.

Cheers
Ricky

Yesterday i laminated the neck parts up and clamped them overnight.

Today I spent some time planing and spokeshaving the neck. It is only the first day but the results are looking promising.
The laminations are mahogany, maple veneer, walnut, maple, walnut, maple veneer, mahogany. The joint lines look good with no glue visible between laminations.

The white wood in the photos is the fretboard (when it is prepared!).

I have started shaping the neck. I know a lot of people on here use a rasp but I prefer to take it slow with the spokeshave so I spent a fair amount of time today sharpening the blades for all my hand tools.

The plan was to put a burr walnut veneer on the headstock but now I am not so sure.
What do you guys think?

Cheers
Ricky

I have been working on the neck and fretboard for the last 2 days.

Made myself a notched fretboard level from an aluminium rule and marked it for exact Gibson 24 3/4" scale length.
Marked the fretboard and then cut the slots.
I do not have a pull saw and none of my local suppliers had one in stock.
With that in mind I cobbled a 'dado saw' by using 2 circular saw blades for my Minicraft drill (like a dremel). Exactly the right width! Used a jig to run the saw against.
Overall, I am pretty happy with the result. I tested it with an offcut of fret wire and maple and it worked well.
Sanding the 10 inch radius curve is hard work - sanding with the grain on hard maple!

Binding is attached with 'No Nonsense Mitre Adhesive' from Screwfix - Much cheaper than buying cyano and activator elsewhere.

Heel and tongue still needs work.
The neck fits the body but it is still sitting too high at the moment. This is intentional as it is easier and better to take wood off rather than try to add some back in!
Lots of sanding and finishing to do to the neck.

I will leave the neck for now though and concentrate on the binding for the body. As you can see from one of the photos, I have started routing for the bottom binding.

Cheers
Ricky

Good stuff.

In your place think I'd hold off on the headstock veneer for a while until you are ready to do a trial assembly. Not sure how it would work with the maple body. Also the stripes are cool too.

I had a nasty surprise with my lockdown mandolin when I splashed some white spirit on the instrument and discovered that my neck wood and body wood were going to look bloody awful together unless I dyed one or t'other. So my feeling now is I should delay cosmetic decisions until I can see as much as possible of the whole thing together. But so much depends on what your plans are for finishing the rest of the instrument.

Thanks Jim. Sage advice indeed!
I will do exactly as you suggest. There is no hurry on this build and I want it to be the best it can be.
Your mandolin turned out beautifully.

I have a similar decision to yours regarding the sides, back and front of mine. The front will be stained emerald green. The back is mahogany but will also have some airbrush artwork on it. That leaves the sides which are maple. 3 different colours to a body is probably a bit much. So I will leave that decision for later .... unless you have a suggestion??

Cheers
Ricky

I have been busy for the last 2 weeks or so in the shed!

I finished the neck.
It took a LOT of careful chisel work, very slowly lowering the fit and trying to watch a hundred different angles at the same time.
End result was a neck that fitted snugly with just a tiny piece of veneer added to one end of the tongue.
Next was cutting the fretboard for the letters.
It was my wife that suggested I try to build the guitar so I thought it fitting that her name should be on it.
The fact that her name contains just the right number of letters as the required inlays was just a happy accident!

The letters were first drawn with pencil then cut carefully with a sharp scalpel 'lightly'.
Repeated cut strokes to increase the depth and then back-cut to open the trough.
Once cleaned out they were painted with aluminium airbrush paint. This seals the wood and prevents any bleed of the stain later.
Next, paint in the green mix of Stunning Stains green and AutoAir Candy Emerald.
Next day I filled the trough with Ripmax SP coating epoxy.
Cut back and now ready for polishing.

Now glued in and clamps off after 48 hours.

Binding was finished on the body. Not easy as the body has an arch which varies around the circumference so the trimmer tries to cut inwards at an angle.
"F" holes cut and routing for PU's done.
Bridge post inserts drilled and trial fitted.
Trapeze trial fitted so that I could check the required neck angle. All done now and bridge posts sit with about 3/16ths of thread showing. Reasonable???
Bone nut fitted with double sided tape for now and still a bit high.
Frets leveled and half polished. A little bit of fine tuning still needed.

Body stained with a mixture of Stunning Stains green and AutoAir Emerald candy.
Back has been Rustins grain filled.

I still have to do some fine chisel work at the join of the body to neck.

Also, as you can see in the photos, I have built the wiring harness for both this guitar and my other one, the ES-1GT.
Both have coil splitting series/parallel switches.
I trial fitted them through the F holes and they do fit - albeit awkwardly!

Tomorrow, I will be applying the first coats of clear. Scary!!!

Photos split across 2 posts due to limit.

Cheers
Ricky

A few more photos.

Cheers
Ricky

Lovely handiwork. Looking forward to the next update.

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Well, the shed project is finished!

Polished, strung and intonated. (now all I have to do is learn to play it)

The neck is a "D" shape so slightly thicker than the norm. I also made it 2mm wider all the way down as there are some bits of music I play where my fingers struggle with the Gibson sized neck. It is only an experiment but so far I have found that I can control the faster runs and riffs a bit better - my fingers do not slide off the edge of the neck.

Tone is fantastic! I think this is mainly due to the solid mahogany centre beam. It is 4 inches wide and runs full length of the body. Possibly also due to the Warman Tennessee pu's.
Bridge is at a bit more of an angle. I was trying to avoid running out of intonation space as it is a home build and measurements could be a bit off. As it turned out it intonates well.
She is heavy but no tendancy to nose dive that I can see although I tend to play seated anyway.

Finish is Omi-Cron 2k automotive lacquer - you definitely need good masks for that stuff.
Probably about 24 coats - 4 at a session/day.
Lots of wet sanding and then many hours of hand polishing with T-Cut etc.

Great project and I loved every minute of it.
If you have not built a guitar from scratch I can recommend it. Take each task as a separate project and take your time.

Photo time.
Cheers
Ricky

A couple more pics.

Cheers
Ricky

Good job mate. Very tidy on the volute as well.

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That is lovely. I'd kill for the skillz.

Do you mean the original Gibson 335? The centre blocks in the original was maple. They had two routes near the neck pocket and near the bridge for wiring. I had a 335 Fatneck Dot reissue at one point. The body on the real first ones was 5-ply front and back but for years Gibson has used 3-ply and maple-poplar-maple. I think the top end Historics are maple-maple-maple but still 3-ply. I think the f-holes today are routed once the body's glued.

Thanks mojo and woltz!
I think it is more dogged determination than skill really but I love working with wood.

Dacious, you are right. The original (and current, I believe) centre block is maple with a mahogany end cap.
I looked at using maple but the price was ridiculous so I opted for mahogany. It is made from 2 laminations of mahogany 'plank' glued together and then the end cap glued to that.
I thought that using a softer wood would be pointless in achieving what I was looking for (but it would have been much cheaper).

I think Gibson create their ply during the construction process rather than using a sheet of pre-made ply. Again, this was a process that was not available to me so I used marine grade 3-ply mahogany faced and then glued a maple veneer on top.
And, yes, I routed the F holes after the body was assembled - less chance of any splitting when the bend was clamped in.

Cheers
Ricky

Well done, Ricky. Something you can be proud of. Doing a semi-hollow body as your first full scratch build takes a lot of guts but you did it.

So what's the next one going to be?

I love the guitar. Really love the neck - the colours go together so well.

Thanks, Trevor and Simon!

I wand to build another 335 style (355 maybe or a Gretsch) but make it accurate in materials and construction to the original (hardware, finish, inlays etc).
This last one was, as you say, my first scratch build so an experiment and serious learning curve.
However, my next scratch build will be a solid own design - maybe along the Jaguar style???
Chrome, bulges, still a laminate Gibson sized neck and a bunch of experimental materials (carbon fibre, aluminium ribbing, casting resin etc.).
The design is not fully formed yet but is close. More on this later........

In the meantime I will probably get another PBG kit and modify that. (I have been saving brownie points at home and the wife confirms that she owes me 4 guitars!

Cheers
Ricky

You do know that kit guitars only count as 1/2 a bought one? ;)