I've long admired the Gibson hollow-body and semi-hollow-body line of guitars like the ES 330. They just look like a proper blues rig.

Since I was between builds and had tuners, pickups, frets, etc sitting around I figured "Why not build a 3-string Gibson tribute guitar". So I found a nice image of a Gibson and resized it to use as a pattern.

Since I don't want to be accused of being a "Chit head" by Uncle John, I've attached a few build photos for reference.

The sides were jig-sawed from 3/4" Poplar. Two courses glued up to create a body that was 1 1/2" deep.

The top and bottom were cut from 1/4" Poplar boards that were thinned to 3/16". The top is glued in place while the bottom attaches with screws. The F-holes were cut with a little hand held hobby saw. Not my favorite part of the job.

The neck is tapered from 1 1/2" where it enters the body to 1 1/8" at the nut. The fret board is screwed in place so it can be removed if necessary. A length of piano wire is used as a zero fret.

The sunburst finish was done with an airbrush. First, a bright yellow stain was applied to the entire body. This is what causes the finish to have warm depth. Minwax Sedona Red stain was airbrushed to create the orange/red fade. Common black latex from Home Depot was thinned and airbrushed to create the black fade. Finally, Orange shellac was airbrushed over the finish to stabilize the finish before several coats of shellac were hand rubbed to create some depth and protection for the finish.

The guitar has a 24" scale and uses a single wound, four-pole bass pickup that I picked up as a two pickup set wired to act as humbucker. Used as a single wound, I was worried about possible hum, but here is absolutely no hum from the pickup. I have a one-meg tone control with a 0.047mf cap.

Still sorting out preferred string diameters, but so far, it is a good player and my tribute to a Gibson blues classic.

Views: 1029

Attachments:

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Very nice! "Great craftsmanship"!

Really like the Lil" Gib.

Thanks Paul & J D.

It has a 24: scale so fretting is a little easier than the 25" scale I normally play. That makes it a fun kick-back guitar.

RSS

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Forum

crossover guitar.

Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 21. 11 Replies

Tune up songs

Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies

Duel output jacks

Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies

How to Get Your Own Music on Spotify

Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 21. 2 Replies

CB Bass Guitar

Started by Mi Rankin in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Justin Stanchfield Jan 27. 5 Replies

Events

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->