GR-1SF Rocker-Billy

[djdubya]

This is coming along real nice Scott. That tool is at carbatec for over $80 so you got a good deal.

I'm working on an ES-1gt and have found the same problems you have with an asymmetric headstock, bridge post holes leaning back and pickup routes not quite the right size for the tonerider pups I'm using. Some plugging and redrilling taking place to be followed by some sanding, sanding, sanding and more sanding. The zen comment makes a lot of sense. I see these slow jobs as a chance to listen to some tunes when I'm not distracted by the cricket.

Looking forward to seeing this finished for sure!

Cheers,

Dennis.

[Scott J.]

@Gav, @Dr N, @Bargie, @Andrew, @djdubya, @Tony ...

Thanks for the kind words guys ... so far so good, I only hope she keeps shapin' up as well as she has so far.

[Scott J.]

@Gav, @Andrew ... @anyone else in the Sydney-or-surrounds area

Now that's she's done her first job and wont be needed again in the immediate future (at least not until I've completed this kit and got another one! ) ... anyone who's wanting to do some binding and interested in trying out the "binding-channel-cutter-thingamajiggy" before they buy one is more than welcome to borrow it and give it whirl.

[Scott J.]

Well the binding phase is complete … and if I’d thought cutting the trough was a worrisome a undertaking, then I had little idea of the problems that lay ahead in the bending and gluing of the binding (but it’s only banding and then gluing the bloody stuff on, right? … if only! )

… as rewarding as it is to gaze on the end result, the process itself ain’t for the faint of heart!

There’s many great instructional guitar binding videos on “YouBube” (the StewMac ones especially) and without going into the trials and tribulations of my experimentations, it’s probably easier to illustrate by what I learned from my first foray into this mysterious art.

- adding a single-layer binding to a guitar is MUCH easier than a compound (i.e. multi-layer) binding

- bend/shape each layer individually before gluing them together

- Use a form/jig to bend the binding strips rather than the actual guitar – it makes it a lot easier for cutting the mitres at the corners/angles

- Heat-guns make a far quicker job of bending the binding but are also easier to get away from you (picture a molten gob of ABS plastic! ) - the missus’ hairdryer is good alternative … and boiling works well too, just takes a bit longer

- Once the binding’s installed, forget sanding or filing to bring the height of the binding down to the face of the head (or body) – a sharp-edged cabinet scraper is by far the easiest and safest way to trim down the binding height and gives a damn nice finish (a fresh Stanley-knife blade works just as well)

Anyway, with the binding installed, trimmed and scraped down to height all that’s left now is a final sanding (primarily to finish off the timber on the face of the headstock) to bring her all up to ready-to-varnish.

[wokkaboy]

nice job on the binding on the headstock Scott, looks awsome. Really gives it a classy look. Is that one of 2 pieces of binding ?
So were your tuner holes not symmetrical ? Looks like you plugged the holes

[Scott J.]

Hey Wokks,

No, that was two pieces the join is in the valley of the "vee" ... couldn't figure out how to bend the binding around a sharp corner and maintain it's sharpness"! (I console myself with the thought that it can't be done! )

... yes, I thought the "un-bound" headstock just looked a little too plain and "out of step" in contrast to the bound body ... it would've been even nicer to find a way to bind the shoulders (that I've left plain) and have them meet in nicely with the binding of the fingerboard but the way the neck-to-head profile had been shaped it didn't permit it (not without creating an obvious "step" joint between the two bindings which would've looked ugly and given it a shitty "tacked on" appearance)

Yep, the tuner holes (and the original headstock shape) were all out of square (well, all but one of the holes was out of square but I couldn't decide which one! ... ba-doom-tish! ), so I plugged the lot of them to start with a "blank canvas"

[wokkaboy]

nice one Scott. Yeah I thought you would have to use 2 pieces of binding.
Should look great once the tuner holes are drilled and it gets a coat of paint.
Is this build going to be white paint ?

[Scott J.]

Nope, the thought of a solid white had crossed my mind but I just couldn't tear myself away from the look of the orange varnish on the original Gretsch 6120's

... so I've asked Dingobass to mix me up the identical colour in Dingotone ... (Gretsch orange - I guess you could call it "Grorange" )

... although the last I'd heard from DB about it was after I'd been mentioning nitro finishes in another thread and he'd threatened to mix up the colour so that it faded to a nice pink!

[wokkaboy]

yeah Scott I'd say DB is mixing a nice fluro pink for you after mentioning the N word !

[Scott J.]

... Ah, you're a cruel man, Woks! ... now I'll be having nightmares for the rest of my life (at least until it the varnish starts to fade) expecting to end up with a "lollipop"

Still if worse comes to worst, I guess I could consider getting a matching Cadillac to go with it ... (Pink Cadillac, of course! )