What's on your workbench right now?

[ThePearDream]

A couple of new pickguards for my strats. It's time to move those volume knobs for good.

I keep staring at this like a puzzle, 🤯 where are you moving them to?

I hope you didn't lose any sleep over this . They aren't going far. I'm just going to a single tone knob and a Nashville tele switch. I did the Nashville switch in a reissue Talman that I sold recently. I liked it so much better, that I'm converting both of my strats and figured it was a good opportunity to move the volume knob out of my way.

[Hellion]

Got the arm and the little end thingy done. The link will be tricky to cast as it will require a 2 part mold. Then Ill need to drill the holes for the bearings which might be tricky too.

This Bigsby build needs its own thread, IMO. I'd subscribe. I have made a basic study of Bigsby's early work, including steel guitar consoles. Dude was a polymath. I bet he built some sick motorcycles.

Paul Bigsby would be proud (so long as it wasn't Leo ganking his ideas). You must know that Semie Moseley borrowed this casting method from Bigsby for making Vibramute whammy bars. I love them both, of course, but Vibramute feels lighter and moves more smoothly for my style than anything else.
(Of course, I even like Bronco trems, so I may not be a reliable witness. Clearly Vibramute and Mustang are among the most stylish.)

Imagine those guys melting metal in corrugated steel shacks without AC.

[sal paradise]

A couple of new pickguards for my strats. It's time to move those volume knobs for good.

I keep staring at this like a puzzle, 🤯 where are you moving them to?

I hope you didn't lose any sleep over this . They aren't going far. I'm just going to a single tone knob and a Nashville tele switch. I did the Nashville switch in a reissue Talman that I sold recently. I liked it so much better, that I'm converting both of my strats and figured it was a good opportunity to move the volume knob out of my way.

Phew! The lack of holes in the other photo took me to some weird cavity work to house your controls

Sounds like a cool thing to do on a strat. If I ever find a strat I can keep hold of, I’ll consider this for sure.

[2groggy]

One of a batch of laminated archtop panels... I can get one a day though the vacuum bag.

Whoa! I thought of doing this to fix an old Gretsch with a missing side panel (portion). I recognized the Roarocket name and then saw the plastic. Does it work? Must see more pics, plz!

I've been working on a few laminating concepts:
Most of these panels are in partially built bodies right now. The birds eye maple ones at the bottom of the picture are available.


Here are a few previous archtop builds:

[Hellion]

I've been working on a few laminating concepts:
Most of these panels are in partially built bodies right now. The birds eye maple ones at the bottom of the picture are available.


Here are a few previous archtop builds:





[/quote]

Outstanding work. That Birdseye grain slightly resembles an Escher, as do some of the designs. Do you stack and glue thin sheets for that sort of thing? If it's strong enough for skateboards, it's got to be adequate for this purpose. The dice board could co with WRHB for a similar dice pattern. I really like the use of color too. Reminds me of wildwood, which weren't nearly as vivid.

[Dr Tony Balls]

Turbulence! Pretty much a straight Univibe-y circuit with a couple updates. Reworked the power supply to support a standard 9V pedal power input. Replaced all the electrolytics in the signal path with film caps for improved fidelity.

[sal paradise]

Turbulence! Pretty much a straight Univibe-y circuit with a couple updates. Reworked the power supply to support a standard 9V pedal power input. Replaced all the electrolytics in the signal path with film caps for improved fidelity.

You should produce prints with these images. I’m in love

[repoman]

One of a batch of laminated archtop panels... I can get one a day though the vacuum bag.

Whoa! I thought of doing this to fix an old Gretsch with a missing side panel (portion). I recognized the Roarocket name and then saw the plastic. Does it work? Must see more pics, plz!

I've been working on a few laminating concepts:
Most of these panels are in partially built bodies right now. The birds eye maple ones at the bottom of the picture are available.


Here are a few previous archtop builds:

Wow! These are awesome!!
Does the top on that archtop have texture to it or is it smooth? I'm just thinking it would be awesome if the little eyes had divots and gave the top texture.

[repoman]

Whoa! I thought of doing this to fix an old Gretsch with a missing side panel (portion). I recognized the Roarocket name and then saw the plastic. Does it work? Must see more pics, plz!

I've been working on a few laminating concepts:
Most of these panels are in partially built bodies right now. The birds eye maple ones at the bottom of the picture are available.


Here are a few previous archtop builds:

Wow! These are awesome!!
Does the top on that archtop have texture to it or is it smooth? I'm just thinking it would be awesome if the little eyes and wrinkles had divots and gave the top texture.

[repoman]

Turbulence! Pretty much a straight Univibe-y circuit with a couple updates. Reworked the power supply to support a standard 9V pedal power input. Replaced all the electrolytics in the signal path with film caps for improved fidelity.

You should produce prints with these images. I’m in love

Gorgeous work. Is that black bulb thing a place to hold photoresistors?

[hulakatt]

Here are a few previous archtop builds:

Hot dang, do I dig these two! I love the harlequin bass and that cutout takes it over the top! And that 6 string is classy AF.

[repoman]

Got the arm and the little end thingy done. The link will be tricky to cast as it will require a 2 part mold. Then Ill need to drill the holes for the bearings which might be tricky too.

This Bigsby build needs its own thread, IMO. I'd subscribe. I have made a basic study of Bigsby's early work, including steel guitar consoles. Dude was a polymath. I bet he built some sick motorcycles.

Paul Bigsby would be proud (so long as it wasn't Leo ganking his ideas). You must know that Semie Moseley borrowed this casting method from Bigsby for making Vibramute whammy bars. I love them both, of course, but Vibramute feels lighter and moves more smoothly for my style than anything else.
(Of course, I even like Bronco trems, so I may not be a reliable witness. Clearly Vibramute and Mustang are among the most stylish.)

Imagine those guys melting metal in corrugated steel shacks without AC.

The Bigsby Book has some funny stuff about Semie Moseley. Bigsby knew Ray Boatright (the "Rite" in MosRite) who told him there was a guy living in a shed behind his house that wanted to learn how to build guitars. Bigsby hired him and taught him how to do a lot of the stuff and Moseley claims he built quite a lot of the necks on the Bigsby guitars and did things like inlay work. Then (allegedly) Moseley started stealing casting patterns from Bigsby, Bigsby found out and picked him up by his belt and kicked him in the ass out of his house.

I've never really looked at the Vibramute and how it works but it seems like a straight up copy of how a Bigsby functions, I wonder what makes it smoother?

Springs have a massive influence on how Bigsby's feel, they always come with really stiff ones that have a crappy feel...there are some aftermarket ones you can stick in to improve them a lot...the best one I ever had was a Bigsby on a MIJ Gretsch and the stock spring in those must be different than the ones you get in offself trems here because it felt as smooth and floaty as an offset tremolo.

[Dr Tony Balls]

Gorgeous work. Is that black bulb thing a place to hold photoresistors?

Its a light shield because it operates on a pulsing bulb and a series of photoresistors. Its probably not fully needed in this modern adaptation as its pretty sealed, but it helps with calibration while the back is open and its kinda traditional to the type of unit.

[hulakatt]

Springs have a massive influence on how Bigsby's feel, they always come with really stiff ones that have a crappy feel...there are some aftermarket ones you can stick in to improve them a lot...the best one I ever had was a Bigsby on a MIJ Gretsch and the stock spring in those must be different than the ones you get in offself trems here because it felt as smooth and floaty as an offset tremolo.

I've long been very curious about the upgrade Bigsby parts that Callaham offers. I've been very impressed with any of the other hardware I've ordered from them.

[2groggy]

Whoa! I thought of doing this to fix an old Gretsch with a missing side panel (portion). I recognized the Roarocket name and then saw the plastic. Does it work? Must see more pics, plz!

I've been working on a few laminating concepts:
Most of these panels are in partially built bodies right now. The birds eye maple ones at the bottom of the picture are available.


Here are a few previous archtop builds:

Wow! These are awesome!!
Does the top on that archtop have texture to it or is it smooth? I'm just thinking it would be awesome if the little eyes had divots and gave the top texture.

The bottom two are both birds eye maple with different levels of sanding and finish. On the first one, I was too chicken to sand away the texture for fear of sanding through the veneer. On the Starcaster, went for it.