Bizman62

Solid comments about profitable building, no arguing about those. For clarification, when I talk about a carved top in this very model, I don't mean an acoustically carved top like on arch top jazz guitars. I'm talking about a thick slab of wood that has been hollowed in the inside and carved on the outside. Making a hollowed body is common practice, so why can't you just make a similar top? I've done that on one of my builds. It was a through-neck but it could even more easily have been a set neck or bolt-on. Someone here experimented recently with a sunk-in top where the body was larger than the top. Couldn't they have made something similar in the 1960's, hiding the seam under the chrome band? Just guessing here, however that would be easy to do without a laminating press. The natural Saturn posted earlier has a 3 piece top which might be a bit difficult to laminate - or then not, I'm no expert. Anyhow, it's easy to find three suitable pieces of 5" planks in a pile of construction wood compared to dedicated single or two piece guitar tops. On the video it shows that there's a silvery band surrounding the body, another place where you could hide a seam.

Makes me think of a knitting hook with all that smoothness! Not a bad thing, on the contrary. The main thing with that is how it blends in with the rest of the top.

An auction site said that the body would be mahogany. Without having a real Hopf Saturn 63 to study everything is speculation. There seems to be no "how it's built" reviews that are very common with the major brands. We all know how a LP looks like when cut into half... Spruce is a common wood also in Germany especially in the mountainside so it's relatively cheap. Also the Hopf family has a long tradition in making handmade instruments. The current factory was founded in 1909 but the history goes down to 1669 so I guess "high end" and carving have been the norm similarly to Gibson. Again just speculation, they may have lowered their standards in the 1960's to supply the demand.

Well... There's always use for a metal tube. Fretboard markers was the first thought, then after remembering they're stainless steel I started thinking about tools like hole punches, plug drills etc. Those may require some heating and quenching but that shouldn't be too difficult with a blow torch. Hexagonal knobs seem to be hard to find, either it's those with more rounded caps or heptagonal like those on J-bass. Similarly the scales only seem to go from 0 to 100 instead of 10.

Most likely yes. I'm tempted to say it's a thick block carved hollow because the edges are so heavily rounded. That construction would make carving the bottom easy as well. As @Drak said, "Just make the call that is Best For You. Centerblock, great. Do it. " The Jazzgitarren link was an interesting read about German guitars of that era. It seems the German builders were co-operating more or less, using the same hardware and copying design ideas like the tear shaped sound hole from each other. Thus making your own decisions is true to the tradition!

I took a deeper look at what Google Image Search could reveal and I still have a feeling that the trem could be moveable! Here's why I think so: There's three decorative slots in the trapeze, on some models the middle one is located closer to the bottom than the two other ones. Why hide such a decorative thing? Or why make it decorative if it will be hidden? Germen are engineers by nature, functionality is their art form... Another thing I found when looking at the links behind the images was that there was several knob combinations, mostly about the center knob. As you said, there's O-I-II-III but there's also a similar to the volume pot version, from 1 to 10 so most likely a pot (and a switch between the pickups): https://reverb.com/item/14840462-hopf-saturn-63-e-guitar-germany-1963-star-club-show-gitarre-original-sunburst. Could the descriptions for the Roman numbers and B-T have changed? Also look at the difference in the location of the trem between the small link picture compared to the actual piece! Different models, obviously but the trapeze slots are similar, only the trem is at a different spot. And on this one the trem is way up: Here's the plastic strip, your car decoration dealer might have similar on the shelf: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chrome-Adhesive-Styling-Moulding-Exterior/dp/B00JWJ3994/ref=pd_sbs_1?pd_rd_w=lcCsJ&pf_rd_p=fbd048ad-ab90-4647-94dd-974b91bedef1&pf_rd_r=F7XT3R7XG2MKEP9WBAG6&pd_rd_r=69ef1bae-02ab-4c87-98df-78fd54d34158&pd_rd_wg=P5llW&pd_rd_i=B00JWJ3994&psc=1 This vid shows the two mysterious knobs in action: Oh, and I found the site I was talking about earlier! It tells a little more about the construction. So apparently the strange plate behind the bridge is a mute unit? Saturn 63 is about in the middle of the scroll: http://jazzgitarren.k-server.org/hopf.html This project sure is going to be a puzzle to solve! The details are hidden one by one on various auction descriptions, I just found one telling that it has a chambered mahogany body and a spruce top.

Wow! That sure is a challenge! I once found a site with all kind of German guitars, a very quick search for it gave me this: https://www.guitar-list.com/hopf/electric-guitars/hopf-saturn-63-archtop According to that, the answer to #1 is semi-hollow, then again https://www.gbase.com/gear/hopf-saturn-63-1960-sunburst says it's fully hollow. The latter has the answer for #3 about the B-TB-BT-T rotary - my guess is that it's B for "Bass" i.e, neck pickup and T for Treble i.e. bridge pickup, maybe with some electronics included, or in/out of phase wiring. Think of the "Rhythm-Lead" switch plate on LesPauls with a phase switch. As you can see the tailpiece on your picture is longer than on my links. Could it be slideable??? #4 Could those be plastic? I've seen similar looking chrome strips in automotive shops, self adhesive.

I must admit that I understood your meaning wrong: I thought you were going to make the patch out of that piece of veneer, thinking it was a thick block. Silly me. I'd leave that patch as is. The colour seems to be close enough although it's hard to tell before you've sanded it and at least wiped some naphta for a mockup finish. The neck will cast a shadow there so it will be easy enough to hide.

Duh! And I even checked it somewhere! Either the guy on that site mixed things up or I didn't understand right. So, one answer totally wrong, the other still unconfirmed and the third one left unanswered...

1) I guess you've already answered that: A linear pot instead of an audio taper. 2) A treble bleed circuit should keep the sound bright even when you lower the volume 3) I leave that to those who know about electronics All the above can be utterly wrong but that's how I understood your questions.

Oh boy! RSW would get a tough competitor should you ever start a video blogging repair shop!

I don't know about my sister to whom you may refer as "everyone" if she uses Imgur. Being her brother I may be the mandatory exception of the rule as I'm not an Imgur user.

One option might be a half ashtray combined with a separate pickup mount like below. The item in the picture has been sold out, don't know if it was self made or custom. Anyhow, cutting a full lengtht ashtray into two should be no big deal. Making the separate parts look good may be more challenging.

A shortie bridge was what I was thinking of as well. On the image above it shows that you could use 1/4" longer adjusting screws to make the string angle even shallower.

A well deserved win indeed, that build really is worth the title.

That's nice to read! Goes to show that "a little" love and affection can make a poor guitar good. It's definitely not for everyone, that's true, and if you count the hours it's most likely not worth it. Then again, if you count the hours as a payment for learning new skills the cost is not that big. Think of this as having participated on a correspondence course! A diploma can be made if you so wish! -Similarly you can consider this as a hobby experiment. A day at a ski resort including rental of equipment and participating a tutorial may cost more than what you've invested in tools you now own. As it's pretty and plays well, you've managed to get yourself a good guitar including full setup for a reasonable price!

So... Today I sanded the control edge of the lower bout again to get rid of the diagonal strokes and then I redyed it. And tried to dye the edges a tad darker. The other woodworkers in that relatively small room must have gotten drunk from the alcohol fumes! I also sanded the center a bit as the alcohol soaked rag spread some dye there when I tried to smoothen the burst. And finally, finally I screwed a hook at the bottom and climbed to the "painting room" - a small space hung up on the wall of a small industrial hall, meant to serve as a locker room, a pause space to eat your lunch box and a small separate office room. Large enough for a three man company but highly inadequate for painting! 2x3x2 metres filled with a couple of benches and a mini kitchen... And someone had left his cabinet doors and drawers there to dry. After asking one of the more regulars I reorganized some space and sprayed the body with a rattle can. Within an hour two guys asked if I had done some lacquering as the fumes had spread downstairs despite the closed door. Oh well... Next time I'll sand the first layer of lacquer, it's meant to be more as a pore filler at this stage. But it shines!

Hmm... Is the split coil louder as louder or louder as same volume but more noise? The reason I asked is that I remembered my ancient Cervin-Vega t-shirt saying "Loud is beautiful... If it's clean!"

Sanding the bumps off is the first step. If the paint layer is thick enough you may be able to flatten it to be able to sand up to 2000 and then polish it. If you sand through the paint, then you'll have to repaint it with better luck. In any case you'll have to sand it flat.

Comfort food makes you feel good with the cost of extra calories. Comfort builds like this make me feel good without having to worry about healthy nourishment. Me likey!

Actually I liked the long videos and all the digressing! As I was and still am a novice in woodworking I not only learned how to build a guitar, I've also learned some attitude and cross thinking. With the earphones on, viewing my 30" screen I consider the videos as my personal quality time inside a personal bubble. The experience can be compared to reading a book, a skill which according to studies has somewhat vanished during this SMS era. If it doesn't fit on one cell phone screen it's too long... The latest 'What's on the Bench' videos started to be too boring, though, with all the advertising talk. Even on those the student builds were inspirational and worth following.

It seems there's ES-339's with rectangular fret markers been recently made. The white edges of the f-holes weren't found in a quick google search.

Whoa! That's a lot of questions you got there! There usually is some advice on the paint can but if not, I'd recommend to wait overnight before sanding. Between coats some 400 wet should be good. Wipe the dust off! As you said there's a clear coat on top you'll have to enlarge the shallow bowl a bit so you'll apply clear on clear. The grey marks the new black, the blue is old clear and the lavender is the new clear: After you've got the patch level with the surrounding you can sand up to 2000 wet a bit past the patch as I instructed up there. The scratch removers are finer abrasives than any papers so they come last. The fine scratches don't necessarily require any sanding before using the paste but if you want to, you can try the two finest wet papers all over the area. Most likely it's not worth the effort, though...

Twoodfrd is on my occasional list, there's so much material on YouTube that I've had to limit whom I follow to the minimum to get anything else done. I like to watch them in chronological order to see if the information really is solid on a channel that looks good, especially when the performer tells that they has learned a better way to do something they've already shown in previous videos. Crimson was the first I've mostly seen, Rosa is now halfways. PaskMakes is always fun to watch.

It looks very neat looking from the opening, very much like a finished product.