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Bit off more then I can chew Texas country gentleman


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Go big or go home they say.... 

I had a grand plan to build a gretsch country gentleman, and now I'm getting into it,  it's a big project.  This is only my second guitar so wish me luck.  

I realize this is mostly a solid body forum but I wanted to put it up in here so I could get some help and advise as I move along with it. 

 

Pictures,  at first I couldn't find a good PDF of the guitar so I blew up a large photo.  But when I got to measuring all the numbers were off.  The photo looked straight on,but it was at a slight angle and threw everything off. So here is where I am at. 

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4 hours ago, mjrbuzz said:

I realize this is mostly a solid body forum but I wanted to put it up in here so I could get some help and advise as I move along with it. 

This is "in progress and finished work" so no sweat. We've got acoustics, arch tops, semi-hollow bodies and even a couple of mandolins in here. If you're building it, it's fair game.

I'm looking forward to watching this one progress. Toss out any and all the questions you come up with and we'll try to answer them.

Are those more mesquite slabs you're starting with?

SR

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Thank you Scott, yes I got the slabs from down in Kingsville. also got some Texas ebony for the fret board and headstock. I did get some free pecan while I was down there to use for the sides, but upon milling it I'm not so sure its gonna be a fit. I'm gonna look through the shop and see if I can find enough mesquite to do the sides out of to even if its just a thin laminate on the outside. really need to learn how to draw it all up on the pc like some of you guys do. just flying by the seat of the pants right now.

I guess I should start coming up with hardware specs before long. the hardware I know I want on it :

Gretsch Bigsby b6 I think it is

T.V. Jones classic Filtrons

bridge ?

electronics?

tuners?

probably gonna make knobs either out of shotgun shell brass or the texas ebony

Trying to use native wood through out even inside.

25.5 scale

thanks if you have any suggestions please don't be timid I want all the info and others thoughts

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I used pass through Kingsville from time to time. Been a few years now though. And Texas ebony! I'm jealous. I've never run across a piece big enough for a fretboard. I actually have a Texas ebony tree growing in a pot as a kind of oversized bonsai, that's 18 years old.. If I'd have let that grow in the yard instead I could have pieces big enough for fretboards by now. 

Flying by the seat of my pants is kind of normal for me--but I agree you should probably work up some good drawings for a hollow body.

SR

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well the bending hasn't gone all that well with the homade bending iron. thinning the stock helped but i'm not sure that's the answer either. So we spent this morning making a steam box! We are gonna wait till the sun goes down and it is cooler before we fire this thing up and i'm gonna have some Mexican beers and watch a pot of water boil. wish me some luck I have no idea what I'm doing :)

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looking forward to this thread. If you haven't already, you may find some good information on a 355 build a member on here (Blackdog) did a few years back. (I think I inserted a link below- its displaying weird- hopefully you can click this to go to the build thread) There are a couple of Blackdog build threads that are exceptionally detailed with pics and steps/issues/good dialog -might be worth a looksey since many of the build steps would be similar (and realizing the 355 is NOT a hollow body like the country gentleman).And I learned something new on your thread- I had always had in my mind country gentleman were double cuts- looked up the gretsch website and I am now educated. I am sure you have seen- there is an interesting pic of the inside of the hollow body (the bracing) on that website. Pics for me are always worth a thousand words.Good luck with this- cant wait to see your progress

 

 

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Thank you for the link, I have some wood bending blues right now, I think the mesquite I ripped for the sides is just a little too far gone to bend the tight curves for the sides. so I'm gonna practice on some more maple to try to get the process better understood. I'm a little frustrated and may when it cools off outside see what other mesquite I have in the shop. I love the topic graphical templates in that thread and would kill to have something drawn up like that for this guitar but alas I cant find anything online. I definatly need to get a beter result on the sides before I move on.

I may try to rip even thinner sides right now they are about .08 - .09 in or 2.3 mm laminates. If I cant find a good piece of mesquite I also have some pecan to try but I was hoping to keep the body all one wood :(

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Bending always frustrates me too, though I have done very little of it. On the other hand carving those gorgeous pieces into arches is going to be a blast.

If your steam box doesn't work out it looks like it could be converted into a still. Probably thinning the stock a little more is what you need.

SR

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