Saturday 28th February ’09

we start off with a day of practical guitar design..

in this case a 10 string touch guitar for Archie..

in the end she turns into a headless instrument.. though we’re still not too sure about the body shape..?  in the classic ‘Stick’ position the smaller horn could get in the way of your hand.. on this we’ll be carving that away quite heavily to counteract that!

on to the blue pinstriped neck..

first off one side of the blank is planed flat

the whole thing is cut in half and bookmatched.. prettier and also stronger!

the middle maple veneer is stained and left to dry

while the glueing surfaces of the blank are carefully planed flat by hand…

she is then clamped up and left overnight to cure.

on to Stuarts guitar.. a custom 45rpm model.. destined to have a floyd rose trem installed..  the headstock dimensions and straight string pull are marked in place

..Bud, Jasper and Gypsy get bored quite easily..

after roughing the shape out on the bandsaw the headstock is shaped by hand with various rasps and files..

finally the 3mm headstock veneer is prepared.. and the truss rod cover cut out of the maple prior to glueing.. a recessed matching cover always looks better than the cheap plastic crap you get on every other guitar..

this is clamped in place with my remaining G clamps..

on to Archies Robert Fripp custom Hollow.. Robert has given us his permission to use his Iconic signature on these guitars.. first off I bring out the lightbox and transfer the signature to some mother of pearl

then, very very carefully I cut the pieces out

eventually the recess is cut into the headstock.. not a very easy job with this piece of Elm as it is very soft inbetween the grains and this tends to send the tool veering off course!

the mother of pearl is installed and glued in place

and the end result is rather attractive, if I do say so myself!! ..if any of you have a Robert Fripp model on order and would like the signature please get in contact..

the headstock veneer on Stuarts guitar is now in place and the excess maple is carefully rasped away

and finally the tuner position holes are drilled.. we now are ready for the multi-ply binding!!

though I felt like a more civilised job.. David’s blue plagiarist model is in need of some guts!

but firstly I remove the pickups and cover the cavities in copper foil.. I think it is probably overkill on the shielding front..

but you can never say no to a better quality end result!

everything on this bespoke left-handed guitar is re-installed

and she is wired for sound.. our version of the lightning that struck Frankenstein in the brain!!

now all I need to do is make and install the figured maple control knobs and switch tip… oh, by the way she sounds amazing!!!

Have a great weekend!  Ben.

Crimson Bespoke Guitars UK