GR-1SF Rocker-Billy

[kells80aus]

Hi Scott,
I suggest you runa measure over your headstock. On mine the whole headstock has been machined 1mm to the left
I measured and marked a centreline down the headstock and the line comes in 1mm over from the centre of the truss rod route. the truss rod route is pretty much in the centre of the neck. It looks like a template was used to route the headstock, that has not been sitting in the right place. It looks to me like I need to do some remedial sanding to bring the headstock back into symetry. As well as redrilling at least three tuner holes.


Cheers PK

[Scott J.]

Yep, I'll get onto that and see what it brings up but from eyeballing it in light of your description I think I might be in the same boat (although with old eyes like mine it wouldn't be the first time I was "seeing things"! )

[ozzbike]

Wow guys how beautiful are these guitars going to be when finished. Awesome.....crap bass guitarist drooling here over a Rocker Billy.

[Scott J.]

thanks Ozzbike ... if she turns out as nice "in the flesh" as she is "in my dreams", I'll be very happy

When it comes to playing ... in my imagination I'm fretboard-shredding, stage-burning cross between Stevie-Ray/Rory/Eddie/Jimmy ... in reality its more like Elmer Fudd on ukulele that's missing a string or two! ... (probably why I've yet to build up the courage to do some sound-clips) ... so I'm sure I'd give you more than a run for your money in the "crap" department!

... but no matter how bad we might think we are - as they say in the classics, "Music self-played is enjoyment self-made"

[Scott J.]

Note - this post was originally lodged in Kells80aus's build diary "White GR-1SF Build" but I moved it here as I felt guilty about hijacking his diary .. sorry Kels

Reading about Patto's observations (21-12-14 in "White GR-1SF Build" by Kells80aus) sent me scrambling to check out my GR-SF1 to see what was happening (especially the location of the bridge postholes with respect to the correct "intonation position" of the bridge)

1. I can confirm that the postholes on mine have also been drilled at angle to wards the rear (away from the neck) but the angles between the two are not even ... taking a nominal "flat" as being from the front of the bridge posthole to the front of the cut-out for the rear pick-up, I found that the upper bridge posthole (bass-string side) was approximately 2.25 degrees past square ... but yet the lower bridge post hole was 4.5 degrees past square (for a total difference between the angles of 2.25 degrees - where would normally expect them to be equal!)

... not an issue for me as I'll be using a floating bridge, but which brings me to your second point of bridge posthole location (which WAS the big concern for me as I'm using a Dingotone orange which might well show them through the varnish is not covered) ...

2. Checking the necessary "nut-to-12th fret-to-bridge" distances, I found that you are right again, the bridge postholes don't sit exactly "on the spot" of the distance from 12th fret as the 12th fret is from the nut ... but on mine it is damn close - only a max of 10 mm beyond the "exact point" (on the far edge of the furthest hole - top, bass side) with the other hole being less

... again I don't think this'll be problem for me when I consider the width the base of the floating bridge that I'm using (not super wide but enough to allow for a bit of coverage)

Also something to note (and this could generate a flurry of opinions) ... on the other guitars I've built I've found that the intonation position of the bridge saddles is always just that little bit further from the 12th fret than the 12th fret is from the nut (I know it's said that the "nut-to-12th" is supposed to be exactly the same as the "12th-to-bridge" but in practice I've found it isn't quite so ... and a pro-guitar-tech mate (Clyde Watkins - ex-INXS, Tatts, Ian Moss, etc. ...) who I get to check final set-up on my axes has always found them to be spot on.

Still, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that my calculations are correct ... the proof will be in the final assembly which is, unfortunately, some ways off (a particularly nasty subject in my Uni studies is getting in the way! )

[Nickosaurus]

Indepth observations Scott!

What are you studying at uni?

[Scott J.]

In depth? ... yeah it was wasn't it! (which is probably a bi-product of my studies!) ... I'm doing my Bach of Engineering (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering

... and the current "nasty subject" that's got me "up against the wall" and taking all my time away from useful, rewarding things (like building more guitars! ) is Engineering Modelling ... a fancy term for the hard-core maths that's required for analysing the models of systems (and not, unfortunately, the physical building of models - which I'd really be enjoying! ) ... I'm sure this subject is actually mis-named and should be called "Maths To Screw-Up Your Head"

Thank god for Adam and Pit Bull Guitars! ... the only therapeutic relief that's keeping me out of a straight-jacket is getting stuck into building an axe (when I can scrounge the time!)

[Scott J.]

Well, its surprising how events turn out ...

I had been planning to spend most of this season getting my head 'round my current Uni subject (re: previous post) ... but with an unexpected crash of the HDD in my PC there was just no choice but to spend some quality time on the GR-1SF ("oh, what a shame" he says ... but knowing that I'll pay for it later come exam-time!) ... and with the missus away with her parents for a few days I had the bonus of no interruptions! (woo hoo!)

Anyway, here's the run down so far ...

1. Got the body "plugged" ... seeing as though I'm using a floating bridge the post-holes were redundant (actually counterproductive is probably more accurate) ... and using only two "master" pots, a 3-pos selector (on the lower horn) switch and two 3-way micro-switches (on the upper bout) the big hole on the up side had to go (to be drilled out later for the smaller diameter micro-switch) ... got the plugs trimmed and first round of sanding completed



2. Got the Head "plugged"... suffering the fate as Kells with his GR (and as noticed by Patto) the headstock was asymmetrical and the tuner machines' holes were all out of alignment (Ok, one of them was in alignment, but I couldn't decide which one! ) ... so I plugged 'em all and got them trimmed



3. Squared up the symmetry of the headstock and refined the shape (which just consisted of getting rid of the centre "curve" in the top of the headstock and cutting for the correct "straight vee" for a Gretsch) ... only rough-shaped in this pic and still needs a good sanding



... and bonus of bonuses ... the Aussie Post Santa must have been working over time 'ços the gold-plated Bigsby B6 I'd ordered from the US only 3 weeks ago was sitting on the doorstep this morning ... very "bling" and I've been drooling over it for last couple of hours ... and a must have, considering I've replaced all the other hardware with gold-plated goodness (I'm not usually a g-p hardware person, but this kit just seemed to scream for it to go with the DT Orange that DB's mixing for me ... that's a hint DB, I think I wont be far off being ready for it!)



... anyway, after finishing sanding the body, head and neck to ready-to-varnish stage, the next step before varnishing will be to install some White/Black/White binding 'round the headstock. It's a bit of nervous decision as hand cutting the channel (with the proper tool of course) and gluing the binding will be a first for me ... but this axe just seems to be asking for this too (and what's the worst that can happen - a complete and utter failure! )

[stan]

some nice progress, headstocks are a pain

[Nickosaurus]

Drool. Best of luck with the honours too mate.