£30 Guitar With Homemade Bigsby

[Ben]

Got started today.

My HUGE summer holiday is on the horizon... just 3 exams left and they're all nice easy ones.

The body shape has changed to a LPDC, but HERE is a mock up of roughly what it might end up looking like.

My first 2 attempts at carving:

#1 on left, #2 on the right.

#1 is the back of the guitar, #2 is the top.

Note the bit of wood glued on #1 Router template slipped again. For #2 I nailed it down so no slippage there .

The fix looks really obvious in the photo, but the dark colour of the wood is due to the finish that I didnt bother to remove from the surfaces that werent being glued.

Anyway, I think they look pretty good. All the discolouration is temporary and they're just rough at the moment, but I'm pleased with the shape.

The carve isnt exactly the same as a gibson or anything, its rounded at the edges because I'm not binding it. I just did it by eye- its all convex and a lot more rounded sort of. I ran a roundover bit round the edge before I started.

No fancy-pants recurve for me

More photos:

The layer of pine I intend to put between the two.

I'll have fun clearing that up...

I know keeping it under £30 is a bit ambitious- but I have all the scrap wood I need, some tuners, wire and magnets for pickups, finishing supplies...etc. The only real expenses will be bearings etc for the bigsby.

Edited June 19, 2006 by Ben

[custom22]

I did my first carved top with pine as well. looks like its goin good so far, but you may wanna cut the neck pocket soon, before there is no longer any flat surface.

[Ben]

Its oak

The pine is a thin layer to separate top and back.

but you may wanna cut the neck pocket soon, before there is no longer any flat surface.

I'm working on that. I'm also going to route for the pickup while its still flat.

I have a couple more photos to post, but for some reason my computer crashes if I plug the camera in while its still turned on, so I have to restart it.

I'll do it in a few minutes.

[Ben]

A few minutes and a computer crash later... heres more photos as promised;

I've done some more carving:

It might not look all that different to you... but the previously clean floor proves otherwise

Its just a bit deeper and more pronounced really.

Oh, and if you read this, I took your advice Mattia:

Before .......

Edited June 22, 2006 by Ben

[Jalien21]

keep the big pics! i just got a computer with a nice resolution screen (1680x1050) and i'm loving seeing all these pig pics on the screen at once!

[Ben]

Next time I'll put the camera on 3600 x 4800 just for you then

I dont understand who designed my camera.. it can take crazy high resolutions, but unless the lighting is perfect the photos always look crap.

Plus on close up mode the focus is non adjustable... you have to just try to hold it at exactly 40cm

[Mickguard]

Before .......

Ha! That's nothing compared to my place...

Okay, okay, I ought to clean up too...

[Ben]

I've done some more

Practically made the entire neck in 1 day!

No photos yet because I forgot to take them, and I cant really be bothered to do it now. I'll do it tomorrow.

Total money spent on this guitar so far is £1.78

I have a question; where can I buy needle bearings?

Ideally I'd rather get them offline, but I couldnt find them in B&Q.

Thanks

[Ben]

As promised... pictures!

This was meant to be the insanely hi-res pic I promised to someone... but Photobucket shrunk it because it was larger than 1 meg, so its now turned out to be the smallest!

I was a bit disappointed when I took the router template off the headstock and saw how large those holes had turned out, but it (surprisingly!) still seems more than strong enough structurally. (I came to that conclusion by giving it one hell of a whack on the edge of that kitchen counter in the photo. It survived it fine)

The sides of the headstock are staggered so that the tuner posts are staggered and give a straight(ish) string pull on every string.

I dunno why I did such a wierd headstock really... just felt like experimenting.

The fretboard is pine... I know its maybe not ideal for the job but its there to stay

I used it because the dimensions of the piece were just perfect for a fretboard, it was free, it fits in with the whole oak/pine theme I've got going, and because I am stealing borrowing this idea for the frets which should give it a sort of scalloped effect and keep my fingers at a safe distance from the board where they wont scratch it to bits. I'm hoping a coat of CA will make the surface a bit tougher.

I originally just stuck it on there as an experiment (figuring that since its glued with epoxy it would be relitively easy to remove if it failed) but in a strength-comparison test with another neck ( the test was seeing how easy it was to bend it), this one bizarrely seems a fair bit more rigid. It also has 2 aluminium box section things in it for extra reinforcement.

I seem to be working really fast... I made that neck in about 3 hours. Its not finished but its the best part of the way there.

Anyway... more pics:

My nice tight neck joint- with the customary shot of me holding it up by the neck to prove it.

(It's going to be bolt on BTW)

That pine looks almost like binding in the left pic.

The heel-less neck carve and another random shot

[WezV]

Looks like your starting to get some skill at this Ben The shape of the whole thing looks pretty cool, i like the carving, should look good when it smoothed out.

However:

Pine for a fretboard!!???!!! I dont reckon its gonna last very long or sound to great but if you want to improve its chances you could start soaking it with water thin CA to harden it off, or at least giveit a good coat of epoxy. Dont skimp dude, sometimes its worth paying the £6 a fretboard blank is gonna cost you from craft supplies.

The headstock does look awfully fragile.... I dont think hitting it on the worktop will help its chances

but i suppose its all good practice and as long as you make the neck bolt-on it can always be replaced when you have a bit more money for materials.

Have you considered putting an acoustic pickup/bridge on this and stringing it with nylons. At least that way the fretboard would stand a better chance of survival, still might not sound great though!!

[SawDust_Junkie]

ben, the progress pics look good so far, but you had better read the forum rules about posting pics in threads. Just a friendly reminder before one of the mods gets here and reminds you. Only one pic per thread and the size is also stated in the forum rules. Post a link to the site where you are hosting the pics and we can browse through them there.

Now that that is out of the way. I will go back to checking out the pics.

[Mickguard]

ben, the progress pics look good so far, but you had better read the forum rules about posting pics in threads.

They're clickable thumbnails, not full-sized pictures, so it's okay. Much friendlier to have thumbnails to look at --you only have to click on the one that interests you. With links, you end up having to click on every single one, even if you only want to see one detail. Which is actually worse for people on dialup. And the thumbnails don't take up much more bandwidth than the links, if any at all.

Maybe they ought to update the picture posting rules.

On the other hand, Ben, some photos in the daylight would be nice!

[Ben]

but i suppose its all good practice and as long as you make the neck bolt-on it can always be replaced when you have a bit more money for materials.

Exactly. Its cost me nothing so I dont really care if it fails and needs replacing. I'll have only lost a few hours of my time and gained a bit more experience.

Thats why I went with a bolt-on joint. (BTW it was you who inspired that huge tenon thing )

If it breaks or sounds crappy I'll just make another. Who knows.. maybe the brightness of the huge stainless steel frets will be cancelled out by the soft pine...

Oh and the neck wood was perfectly quatersawn which should add to the strength.

CA to harden it off, or at least giveit a good coat of epoxy.

I have an abundance of thin CA, so I'll coat it plenty. (I discovered that they sell it in packs of 3x20ml bottles at the poundshop!- might not be the best quality stuff, but for non critical stuff it seems to work just as well as any other CA)

Which would be best- CA or epoxy? (I have both)

The fretboard is pretty thin and the neck is chunky, so it's mainly the oak thats taking all the stress from the strings.

Have you considered putting an acoustic pickup/bridge on this and stringing it with nylons. At least that way the fretboard would stand a better chance of survival, still might not sound great though!!

Cool idea

Do nylons use the same tuners as normal strings or would I need some different ones?

It'd screw with the bigsby design too... I'd need a weaker spring.

I might try it with normal strings first then convert it... who knows

Just a friendly reminder before one of the mods gets here and reminds you

I appreciate the thought

I use the thumbnails because I prefer them for the reason mickguard describes- when I'm viewing a thread I like thumbnails cos you can just click on the ones that look interesting.

On the other hand, Ben, some photos in the daylight would be nice!

Its been a crappy dull day here today anyway- but next time I'll get some outdoors.

Overall its generally shaping up to be better than I expected actually. I'm just doing this for the hell of it. Its fun.

Thanks for the comments

Edited June 26, 2006 by Ben

[Ben]

2 more things to add;

-I planed the neck angle onto the bottom of the bit of the neck that bolts on. Worked well.

-Sanding sponges made for paint stripping rock! they're so abraisive that you could probably carve the whole top or shape a neck with one

Edited June 28, 2006 by Ben

[Ben]

Ok Mr Mickguard- I got some more photos of the headstock.

It still needs tidying up but I just feel remarkably lazy tonight and I cant be bothered working on the guitar.

I got them in sunlight too.

I'm pretty sure now that I'll be replacing this neck some time later. Its just the 'prototype'. The second one will have a maple fretboard I think and a refined version of the headstock idea, but for now this neck is here to stay.

As I said somewhere before; plugging my camera in whilstr the computer is turned on screws it up, so when this thing I'm downloading finishes (its on 94% now, but its a HUGE file), I'll restart my PC and post them.

[Ben]

Pics!

Thats 9 clickable thumbnails BTW, not just 1 big pic.

In order they show

1. Random shot of neck/headstock bit
   
2. The pine I carefully inlayed into the neck for decoration
   
3. more of the above
   
4. Headstock
   
5. Random body shot. Note tenon is now flush with body.
   
6. Headstock...again
   
7. Heel-less neck joint. This is pretty neat IMHO
   
8. whole guitar
   
9. whole guitar from slightly different angle.
   

If anyone at this point believes that I put the pine in the neck as an inlay... then you're gullible . It was to fill the screw holes that were in the bit of wood I used since it came from an old table.

As you can see; its all still very rough and needs lots of smoothing out, sanding, and filing to get it to shape.

Money spent is still £1.78

I broke my favourite router bit and I bought a new one (the day after wesV/ mattia suggested I should!).

I did spend more and I can notice a difference. Cuts smoother and makes less dust.

I'm going to replace another too, because its got so blunt that it burns the wood!

I have a question; where can I buy needle bearings?

Ideally I'd rather get them offline, but I couldnt find them in B&Q.

Thanks

I thought I'd bring that question forward to this post, since I still havent found anywhere too.

Thanks

[thegarehanman]

Don't know about offline, but online you can get them here: http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/CTGY/NEEDEL_ROLLER

[Ben]

Thanks,

Thats pretty cheap too...

They might be too specialist to find offline.

I'd check the yellow pages, but I dont even know what to look for. I doubt the yellow pages have a needle bearings section

EDIT: BTW; in the photos in my last post, the two holes in the front of the headstock are from where I used nails to hold my template in place. I was pi$$ed off with my templates always slipping.

Edited June 29, 2006 by Ben

[PunkRockerLuke]

hey ben you gonna make a tutorial on how to make a bigsby???

Edited June 29, 2006 by PunkRockerLuke

[Mickguard]

This guitar is shaping up to be a compendium of cool ideas....that headstock is pretty close to the idea I had (but I didn't have the balls to go for it). Now that I see how you've done it, it seems a lot easier than I thought it would be.

Maybe you can see add some kind of cover plate to the top, with holes/channels for the strings to pass through --that would add a little more strength, and give more of a classic headstock look? Just an idea...

[Ben]

hey ben you gonna make a tutorial on how to make a bigsby???

Yeah, I said I would so I will.

I need to actually find and buy all the parts first though!

I think what I'll probably do is just make the thing and take loads and loads of photos (and I'll post the progress in this thread)

Then when Its finished I'll compile it all into a proper tutorial that I'll post in the tutorial section.

This guitar is shaping up to be a compendium of cool ideas....that headstock is pretty close to the idea I had (but I didn't have the balls to go for it). Now that I see how you've done it, it seems a lot easier than I thought it would be.

Thanks

I think its the fact that this guitar is so cheap that makes me more willing to try new stuff and experiment more.

If you do make a similar headstock, my advice is make the holes smaller

I forgot to take a photo with the tuners in place

I was going to illustrate that because of the staggered sides it actually achieves a pretty nice straight string pull too.

Maybe you can see add some kind of cover plate to the top, with holes/channels for the strings to pass through --that would add a little more strength, and give more of a classic headstock look? Just an idea...

I like the idea...

I'd considered something sort-of similar, but with a plate on the bottom. A plate on the top would look better though. The plain headstock with just a few holes for the strings could look pretty cool actually.

Edited June 30, 2006 by Ben

[PunkRockerLuke]

Must have missed that

[j. pierce]

This is looking great. Love the headstock. Body carve is a little odd looking for my tastes, but again, that's just a personal preference thing, and it looks great so far, and I'm sure it will look killer when it's sanded out a little more.

Do you have astroturf, or did you photoshop the green more vibrant? Your lawn looks impeccable in some of those pictures.

[Ben]

This is looking great. Love the headstock. Body carve is a little odd looking for my tastes, but again, that's just a personal preference thing, and it looks great so far, and I'm sure it will look killer when it's sanded out a little more.

Do you have astroturf, or did you photoshop the green more vibrant? Your lawn looks impeccable in some of those pictures.

Thanks

The lawn is just an ordinary lawn... I didnt edit any of the photos or anything, just uploaded them straight off the camera and onto photobucket. It does look a very vibrant green in those photos... not sure why really