(Be warned.....post is highly pic intensive.....)
I decided to finally construct a guitar for myself that I've always wanted(especially since I sold off most of my musical gear recently including my '67 Tele)..... an early 50's Esquire replica with Bigsby. I thought it'd be nice to share it with everyone.
Specs of the guitar are as follows:
-Full thickness 2 piece white pine body, no wire route(as per pine prototypes), router hump in cutaway, blunted control cavity, offset ferrule holes. Body weight by itself is 4 lbs. 3 oz. Really a beautiful piece!(from private maker)
- Warmoth total vintage construction one-piece maple neck. Boatneck profile, 7.25" radius, 6230 frets. VERY comfy.
-Handwound Vintage Vibe bridge pickup by Pete Biltoft/Vintage Vibe Guitars. Wound to 10K Ohms, flush Alnico 2 magnets(might be Alnico 3 but I'd have to check), cloth covered wire leads. I modified the pickup by adding the slightly oval hole in the center of the pickup and laquered the top of the pickup as well.
-Bigsby B5, which I modified to 50's specs. This piece is very special because it was generously donated to me by my friend Eric Bergman who runs the Telemodders board. I certainly didn't expect such a present and it makes the finished guitar that much more special.
Other parts include:
-Fender 3-saddle Pat Pend reissue bridge, currently equipped with brass non compensated saddles. I might eventually swap them out for steel ones.
-Black Bakelite pickguard, laquered and sprayed complete with 5" "halo" on back.
-Kluson reissue no-line tuners, nickel plated
-Fender AV52RI dome knurled knobs. Nice knurling, good heft.
-CTS 250K pots, RI CRL 1452 3 way switch, NOS carbon comp 3.3K resistor, NOS .033 molded paper in oil capacitors. Cloth covered pushback wire hookup.
- Brian Poe/Hi Tech Tool milled jack cup
-Genuine 50's Pat Pend Dakaware switchtip
-Entire guitar fitted with nickel plated oval slotted screws and round steel screws
Body is finished in light coat of nitro, then light passes of Guitar ReRanch Butterscotch Blonde Nitro to opaque the grain a little more than 50 percent. Light coats of clear nitro on top.
Neck is finished in light passes of Guitar ReRanch Fender neck amber and then light coats of clear nitro. Esquire decal appears to be flat grey in pics, but it's really nice and metallic silver.
I could not have imagined that when all done, it would have come out as nicely and play as well as it does. Even unplugged the guitar is LOUD and resonant! Nice clear tone, smooth roll-off (someone suggested that since I had some NOS molded paper-in-oil .033s to try them as I might get a little more evenness in the tone adjustment). The boatneck is extremely comfortable and the thin finish overall is really curing well and adding a lot to the sound. The finished guitar weighs in about 6-6.5 lbs. total(I had to weigh it with a bathroom scale) and sits really comfortable and balanced.
Sorry for the mass amount of pics, but I thought there might be a few that would want to see it in all it's glory, hehe. Hope you all enjoy.
-Jeff
I decided to finally construct a guitar for myself that I've always wanted(especially since I sold off most of my musical gear recently including my '67 Tele)..... an early 50's Esquire replica with Bigsby. I thought it'd be nice to share it with everyone.
Specs of the guitar are as follows:
-Full thickness 2 piece white pine body, no wire route(as per pine prototypes), router hump in cutaway, blunted control cavity, offset ferrule holes. Body weight by itself is 4 lbs. 3 oz. Really a beautiful piece!(from private maker)
- Warmoth total vintage construction one-piece maple neck. Boatneck profile, 7.25" radius, 6230 frets. VERY comfy.
-Handwound Vintage Vibe bridge pickup by Pete Biltoft/Vintage Vibe Guitars. Wound to 10K Ohms, flush Alnico 2 magnets(might be Alnico 3 but I'd have to check), cloth covered wire leads. I modified the pickup by adding the slightly oval hole in the center of the pickup and laquered the top of the pickup as well.
-Bigsby B5, which I modified to 50's specs. This piece is very special because it was generously donated to me by my friend Eric Bergman who runs the Telemodders board. I certainly didn't expect such a present and it makes the finished guitar that much more special.
Other parts include:
-Fender 3-saddle Pat Pend reissue bridge, currently equipped with brass non compensated saddles. I might eventually swap them out for steel ones.
-Black Bakelite pickguard, laquered and sprayed complete with 5" "halo" on back.
-Kluson reissue no-line tuners, nickel plated
-Fender AV52RI dome knurled knobs. Nice knurling, good heft.
-CTS 250K pots, RI CRL 1452 3 way switch, NOS carbon comp 3.3K resistor, NOS .033 molded paper in oil capacitors. Cloth covered pushback wire hookup.
- Brian Poe/Hi Tech Tool milled jack cup
-Genuine 50's Pat Pend Dakaware switchtip
-Entire guitar fitted with nickel plated oval slotted screws and round steel screws
Body is finished in light coat of nitro, then light passes of Guitar ReRanch Butterscotch Blonde Nitro to opaque the grain a little more than 50 percent. Light coats of clear nitro on top.
Neck is finished in light passes of Guitar ReRanch Fender neck amber and then light coats of clear nitro. Esquire decal appears to be flat grey in pics, but it's really nice and metallic silver.
I could not have imagined that when all done, it would have come out as nicely and play as well as it does. Even unplugged the guitar is LOUD and resonant! Nice clear tone, smooth roll-off (someone suggested that since I had some NOS molded paper-in-oil .033s to try them as I might get a little more evenness in the tone adjustment). The boatneck is extremely comfortable and the thin finish overall is really curing well and adding a lot to the sound. The finished guitar weighs in about 6-6.5 lbs. total(I had to weigh it with a bathroom scale) and sits really comfortable and balanced.
Sorry for the mass amount of pics, but I thought there might be a few that would want to see it in all it's glory, hehe. Hope you all enjoy.
-Jeff
