I'm building my first guitar, a GR-1SF. I've always been interesting in having a Gretsch-style hollowbody, but balked at the price/my talent ratio. So I'm really excited to build this.
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I'm building my first guitar, a GR-1SF. I've always been interesting in having a Gretsch-style hollowbody, but balked at the price/my talent ratio. So I'm really excited to build this.
Here's the unboxing. I'm very pleased with the build quality. The neck needed a bit of adjustment, but a couple of slight turns with the truss rod made it nice and straight.
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Spent a nice sunny day sanding and taking burrs off of frets.
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Getting the electronics ready. I used some vellum and a HB graphite pencil to make a rubbing, then created a cardboard template to assemble the loom. I used the alternate tone wiring scheme found here. Although I was too lazy to do the ground jump on the third pin of the pots (we'll see if I live to regret that.) I've plugged it in to my amp, tapped the pickups with a file, and everything works! No hums or buzzes either. It's been a long time since if done any soldering, but it all came back to me. I used to solder my own MIDI cables because I liked to have custom lengths, so this was familiar to me. Next step is the finishing. I'm going for natural with Tru Oil. Depending on the drying time, I might be finished by the end of the week!
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Yes, I have found myself in the same conundrum re: the Cost/My Talent ratio, though I lack your self control. I did manage to compromise slightly and get a silky sounding Eastman at a more acceptable C/MT ratio than an actual Gretsch.Quote:
Originally Posted by jmax
so Simon wasn't joking, you really do have sunny days in the UK :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by jmax
sorry couldn't resist
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Nice thinking with doing the rubbing! I lived in the UK for a couple of years when I was 7 and thought going to churches and doing brass rubbings was the coolest thing.
After doing the rubbing with an HB graphite pencil, I went over the lines with charcoal - that way it was easy to transfer them to the cardboard simply by flipping it over and rubbing over the back of the vellum.
This site is a wonderful source of information - I learned why I should ground the third pin in this thread: http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...704#post146704Quote:
Originally Posted by jmax
In the final stages of finishing. I'm amazed and pleased at the results I'm getting from Tru Oil. The neck is finished in just three coats. I've done four on the body and will decide tomorrow after 24 hours of drying if I need any more.
Putting the 4th coat on the body:
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The finished neck - a really nice satin sheen in the light. It feels great too - can't wait to play it!
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Looking good.
You might want to put a few more coats on, though it partly depends on how shiny you want it to be. Each coat is very thin, so with 4 coats there isn't a very thick protective layer on the guitar. People here (I have no experience with TO yet but plan to later in the year) generally think that 20 coats is about right to be able to sand it down flat and then polish it for a really glassy finish. If you like a more satin finish without sanding, then maybe 10 would do. But it takes very little sanding with 1500 grit paper to get through 5 coats of finish.
So whilst it may look good now,the thinner the coating, the quicker it will rub away and parts will be back to bare wood. You can always re-apply the TO, especially if you leave it as a satin finish, but it's likely to start looking patchy if you do so as some dirt is bound to get rubbed into the wood once it becomes exposed unless you reapply some TO very quickly. Probably not a problem on the back of the neck, but less so on the body.
There's always a compromise on finish thickness between very little and letting the wood vibrate more, and a lot thicker protective finish that dampens some of those vibrations. It's your guitar, so the choice is up to you; but unless you just plan to play it a bit then hang it on the wall, I would keep going for a bit longer.
A flurry of activity today. I was happy with the results of four coats on the body, so I've assembled the whole thing.
Preparing the tube approach to installing the loom. A bit like building a ship in a bottle:
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Half of the loom in place:
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Nothing like pulling a loom through a small hole to show you your weak solder joints. Had to take time to re-solder four wires.
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And starting again -
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Success with the 2nd try on the loom, so on to attaching the hardware:
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Hardware attached and ready for the neck:
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Attaching the machine heads:
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Gluing the neck (I used the controversial "put glue on both pieces" approach:
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Glued, clamped, and if the fates are willing, I'll have a playable guitar in 24 hours:
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I'm very happy with the way the 4 coats have gone on. The thing about Tru Oil is that it is what is says on the tin, an "oil." In this case, linseed oil. As with wood furniture finished with an oil, you expect to touch it up every so often. Linseed oil dries pretty hard, and is very durable - think of linoleum floors - they're made of linseed and cotton.
The four coats have given it a nice satin shine, and you can still see the texture of the grain. And it's easy enough to touch up.
Wow, you are going as a rocket! Looking good!
Since I chose to go with a natural finish, it made the process much faster. I've taken a look at the ambitious approach you took to your finish - that's a lot of painstaking work! It looks great!
Thanks! ;)
And it's done! It was pretty easy to intonate, the neck and frets aren't too bad. The action is way too high - it plays more like an acoustic at the moment. I've "flossed" the slots in the nut a bit, but I'm not going to spend too much time on that because I plan to replace it with a bone nut. Does anyone have any recommendations for a source in the UK? Also what type of nut should I be looking for?
I was pleasantly surprised by the sound of the pickups - they're much better than I expected.
I'll post a video soundcheck soon - just have to figure out what I want to play.
Removing the clamps:
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It didn't fall apart!
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Stringing it:
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My logo decal
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The finished guitar:
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Well done man! I think you broke the record in building a guitar!
Great looking result. Looks so right.
nice looking build Max. Has it taken you 5 days to complete the build ? If so big slap on the wrist, the tru oil is probably still curing
Nice one Jmax! For bone nut maybe check out Northwest Guitars (UK based) They may have something pre-made that fits
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Worried about the finish curing, but it does look good.
I started the whole process on the 21st of July - I've only been posting over the past five days, so I guess it gives the impression that I've been going faster than I actually have been. I just haven't had enough time to post as I complete each step.
I used three coats on the neck, four on the body, with 24 hours between each coat. Then a couple days of curing. Just enough of a finish to give a bit of sheen, but the grain still shows through - I'm not going for glass, and I fully expect to keep touching it up over time.
Northwest guitars (a good store - great customer service) don't do a bone Gibson style nut (though they do a Graphtec one).
I bought my last Gibson style bone nuts from ebay here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/43MM-BONE-...kAAOSw-4BXZ93o
They cut well and file and polish up nicely. But the slots aren't deep so you'll really need some nut files to cut them to the correct depth.
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Looks great! I do love a TO finish
What is your guitar reading while it waits?Quote:
Originally Posted by jmax
A bit of Marx and Engels by the look of it.
Marx & Engels, actually.
Yes - good eye!
A video demo of the guitar in action: https://youtu.be/uNbQWUf2rkk
Nice demo, John. A nice guitar and a nice video too.
Sounds good, nice video, you got to be pleased with the outcome of the build
Thanks so much! I'm really pleased. And thanks again with the help on the wiring.
Thanks. Yes, very pleased. Just some living with it now - let it settle in and see what tweaks may be needed.
Great demo, I particularly like the sound of the neck pickup. Very nice build and excellent result.
I posted this as a separate thread, but posting it here too just to get coverage.
I'm now getting down to tweaking the setup on my GR-1SF, and I was wondering if anyone has a solution for the "tune-o-matic buzz" problem.
I've had this problem with my Epiphone Les Pauls, and pretty much live with it but the bridge supplied with this kit has significantly more buzz - it's really starting to annoy me.
I've found lots of references on the web, some simple, some extreme, but I haven't had too much luck solving it so far.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
I've now lived with it for a week and a half and let it settle in. I've done a bit of upgrading and I've also started to fix some of my build mistakes.
I've replaced the stock nut with a bone nut, and I'm pleased with that. I've installed a roller bridge and the infamous tune-o-matic buzzing is gone. It was a bit nerve wracking, because the post holes were a bit close together, and even the stock bridge barely fit. I managed to set them a bit deeper, which spaced them further apart because of the archtop. Nothing like banging on a hollowbody with a hammer to raise your anxiety level. I now understand why Gretsch use floating bridges on their hollowbodies - they may cause intonation problems, but they're easier to deal with.
I've fixed a few of the other problems with my original installation - the tremolo tailpiece ended up askew - I used the long string method, but I guess I was a bit sloppy. With six strings on, it was easy to get it in the right position.
The pickup holes were routed a bit off centre. It looks a bit off, but I don't notice any problems with the way they sound. I looked at the possibility of shaving a bit of space on one side to get the poles directly under each string, but that would have left an ugly gap next to the mounting plate. As the sound is fine, I figured I'd leave well enough alone.
I have to say, I'm really surprised at how good the pickups sound. I may change them at some point, but TV Jones are expensive, and there doesn't appear to be any mid-range Gretch style pickups on the market. I'm open to suggestions.
Nice that you are getting it set up even better. One problem with replacement pickups is that the real Gretsch pickups are slightly narrower that standard humbuckers, so you'd probably have to go for humbucker-sized replacements or get some pickup adapter rings for fitting a smaller pickup in a humbucker rout, otherwise you may end up with gaps showing.
I don't know of any low-budget Gretsch style pickups, though you may find some used ones taken from Gretsch Electromatics on eBay. A cheaper alternative to TV Jones pickups would be Mojo pickups, a UK brand. They do a range of Gretsch style pickups, including a humbucker-sized one that looks like a Gretsch. https://www.mojopickups.co.uk/produc...kups/mojotron/. It's still £160 for a set but that's cheaper than TV Jones' are in the UK (at least £120 each). Mojo pickups always get a good review in the guitar magazines. Unfortunately it's basically a one-man operation and he's so busy that he's not taking orders at the moment in order to catch up, but worth considering if you do plan an upgrade.