Gibson '57 Futura Build

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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ForcedFire
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by ForcedFire » Wed Aug 03, 2011 6:43 am

Yeah, like in my first reply above :whistle: ;D

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Grey
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by Grey » Wed Aug 03, 2011 7:56 am

newdawnfades wrote: i dub the, Gumby Headstock :D
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The old Ricks have the true Gumby headstock.

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tavishcrowe
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by tavishcrowe » Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:07 am

im just about finished a similar build :)
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Perry
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by Perry » Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:28 pm

Thanks for all the comments and headstock/guitar photos. I did more work on the body and prepared the neck blank. First, the neck blank. It's hard maple, and I plan to use a rosewood fretboard that will have 22 frets with a 25 inch scale length. I want it to have dots and side dots. The neck width at the nut will be about 1 11/16 inches, and at the other end of the fretboard the final width will be about 2 3/16 inches.

This photo shows the neck blank roughly squared on all four sides.

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Yesterday I worked on the body. I got it down to about its final depth--a little less than 1 1/2 inches, and I put about a 1/4 inch roundover on the front and back. The finished shape is just about where it needs to be, with just a little more work needed.

Here are several shots.

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And the extreme "flat" shot.

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I also wanted to see how the body looked with a neck I've already been working on for another guitar. This neck has the explorer style headstock that I posted earlier in this build.

Somewhat of a side shot.

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And the long shot.

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I'll try to add an update on the weekend.

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Veitchy
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by Veitchy » Fri Aug 05, 2011 4:04 am

I really like the proportions of this body v the regular explorer. You giving it a similar amber coat?

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Perry
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by Perry » Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:06 pm

Veitchy wrote:I really like the proportions of this body v the regular explorer. You giving it a similar amber coat?
I agree that the shape of the Futura is sleeker than the Explorer. I also liked how easily the shape was achieved--for the most part--with just a bandsaw and belt sander.

I think an amber tint would be ideal. However, with this wood I'm not so sure how it would look. I plan to do some test finishing on scrap wood soon.

Today, I worked on routing the slot for the truss rod. Since I had another neck blank to do, I also worked on that one. The blank for the Futura is on the right. Still haven't decided on the headstock, although I leaning towards an Explorer style headstock.

Here's a shot of the two neck blanks. The one for the Futura is on the right. The one on the left is for another guitar and might have a split headstock.

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Perry
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by Perry » Sun Aug 07, 2011 9:14 pm

The fretboard was glued on this Monday.

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ForcedFire
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by ForcedFire » Sun Aug 14, 2011 6:06 am

Any updates Perry?

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Perry
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by Perry » Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:20 pm

ForcedFire wrote:Any updates Perry?
I've done a little work on the neck. I need to order parts from Mr. Stew and Mr. Mac before I can do much more. The top of the headstock angle and the sides of the neck have been roughly cut. Today I glued sides to the headstock. I will probably need to glue more if I want to use a split headstock. At this time, the width is about five inches.

Here are a few photos. First, the length of the neck. I have the center line marked so I can drill the holes for face dots. Those are one of the items I need to order.

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This is a close-up of the headstock.

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I've also been thinking about the headstock shape. I would like to do a 3 + 3 split headstock but want to avoid the strings fouling one another. This is what I came up with today, although I'm not totally satisfied with it. I believe it needs to be wider. That means I need to add much more wood to the upper sides of the headstock.

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You can see how the strings would run into each other without the use of string trees. My thinking is to use something similar to what is on the Moderne headstock on the fifth through second strings. I don't think the outside strings would need guides.

Oddly enough, the headstock design as it is now looks like an inverted flying v body.
Last edited by Perry on Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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ForcedFire
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by ForcedFire » Mon Aug 15, 2011 6:22 am

Have you played with the asymmetric V? That looks a little like a peace sign or a dean dimebag darrell headstock :k .

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Perry
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by Perry » Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:13 pm

ForcedFire wrote:Have you played with the asymmetric V? That looks a little like a peace sign or a dean dimebag darrell headstock :k .
I thought the same thing about the peace sign. Many people in Taiwan and probably other parts of Asia give the peace sign when posing for photographs. I think to them it means hello. I agree an asymmetric design would be better.

This is what I came up with today. It's basically going back to the Robin design.

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It still needs some adjustment, especially where the tuners go and how to avoid the strings running into one another. In order to have a large enough headstock for a split design I needed to add more wood.

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ForcedFire
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by ForcedFire » Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:18 am

That's much better, IMO.

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Perry
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by Perry » Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:55 pm

I've been thinking a lot about the split headstock I want to use on the Futura. Part of me has wanted to just go with a six-in-line headstock to make things easier. However, I believe that any version of a Futura deserves at least a try at a split headstock.

I've modified the template I posted a few days ago. The "forks" are spaced a little further apart. This is the template I have now, and I am fairly satisfied with it. The drawing on stiff paper is better, but I plan to do a mock-up and I need wood for that.

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One of the ideas I've wanted to try to use is "reverse" stringing. You can see how it might work in the photo above. I only did the treble side, but it should work on the bass side. Of course, it may not. That's why I need to make a working template. One consideration is that the first string doesn't hang in the air. It almost does this on the template. One way to resolve this is to decrease the curve from the first and sixth tuners to the nut.

In the photo above, you can see a (string) line going from the first, second, and third string slots in the nut to the tuner posts. There are two lines: the one that goes to the right is directly to the center of the post, the one on the left of that is to the side of the post where a string would normally be. The tuners are spaced 1 5/16 inches apart.

Another consideration I've had to think about is weight. Although large, the body is extremely light due to the wood I'm using. I want to use the lightest tuners I can get easily. That's why I've been thinking using keystone tuners with plastic keys. These are the tuners I'm thinking about using.

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I could get these tuners from Guitarfetish for about $12 less but they have green keys. I think the keys in the photo above look better.

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ForcedFire
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by ForcedFire » Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:56 am

Have you seen this shot (probably have...)

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It has similar tuners to what you want to use and it looks like if you just slightly closed the angle of the V a little (maybe widen the whole thing to make up for it?) you'd have a straight line to all the tuning posts...

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ForcedFire
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Re: Gibson '57 Futura Build

Post by ForcedFire » Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:50 am

I tried to draw something up quickly. It kind of loses the "V" look though...

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