Tony Iommi Old Boy Replica build

[SG Lou]

Originally Posted by EtriX

SGLou: Didn't you have a build thread on that old boy on another forum? I think I remember seeing it. You wouldn't mind posting that again would ya?
Love your work. Big SG and Iommi fan here.

I cut and pasted this thread from the Reranch Forum.
Here ya go:

Follow along as I make a replica of the Original Old Boy. I'm going to try to replicate this as close as possible.



I had a Burny SG body lying around so that didn't have to be made. The neck on the other hand will be scratch built.

The neck is the first thing I started on.

Here we go!

Scratch Built Neck

I made this neck blank several years ago for a LP shaped body I had lying around but I never got to it. So I decided to add a 2” piece of mahogany to the heel end and use for an SG body I have as this will become a replica of Tony Iommi’s worn Old Boy.
The fingerboard will be a 24 fret and it will have the Zero Nut and the neck will join the body at the 22nd fret.



After all the measurements were laid out the Truss Rod slot was routed out.
The T/R being used is a Hot Rod from Stew-Mac.





The headstock and neck taper templates were made of ¾” MDF.

[SG Lou]

The neck tenon was made and cut the same way that Gibson does it.
The tenon is machined at a 3-degree angle using a Drill Press, Machinist Protractor
And a flush cutting routing bit.
The neck is placed in a vise and the Protractor is set at 3 degrees. I than angle the neck back until the bubble is centered and lock the neck into place.









Neck profile and headstock shape are routed out.




Neck Profile being shaped.




A replacement SG neck from Gibson is used as a Guide for shaping.

[SG Lou]

I love the neck profile on my 61 RI SG so I got this idea on how I can duplicate it.
I will use a 2-part Casting Resin to make sanding blocks.

After wrapping a piece of plastic around the neck of the 61 RI, I built a clay damn around the area I wanted to copy.




Pam Cooking spray was sprayed inside the area to act as a release agent.

Than I mixed up 16 oz’s, 8 oz’s of both Part A & B and poured it into the clay enclosure.





After 20 minutes the liquid hardened into a solid plastic chunk.




Than I cut the block apart to use as a sanding caul.
It worked perfectly.

[SG Lou]

Being this neck tenon was a bit smaller than the pocket that was already cut into the body I had to shim each side approx. .020 “ with a Mahogany Veneer.




Fine tuning the fit if the heel to the body.









All that’s left to do now is inlay the fingerboard and I can glue it to the neck.
I won’t glue the neck to the body until I have it fretted, bound and the tuner holes drilled.


NOTE ADDED: NOT LIKING THE IDEA OF SHIMMING THE POCKET I FILLED BOTH SIDE OF THE NECK POCKET AND RECUT THE POCKET SO THE NECK NOW FITS SNUGLY WITHOUT THE NEED FOR SHIMS

[SG Lou]

had some spare time so I worked a little on this Project this past weekend.

Filled original control cavity and reshaped it to resemble the original Old Boy cavity. Repositioned the pots and switch layout as well by using photo's and enlarging them untl I had it to proper scale.






NOTE ADDED: NOT LIKING THE IDEA OF SHIMMING THE POCKET I FILLED BOTH SIDE OF THE NECK POCKET AND RECUT THE POCKET AS SEEN IN THE PICTURE ABOVE. SO THE NECK NOW FITS SNUGLY WITHOUT THE NEED FOR SHIMS



I built this jig for the fingerboard to help steady the Dremel Router Base
while I route the FB for inlays.




I had a piece of oak lying around that I used for the base. Ran a piece of 1/4" Oak through the planer until I got it's thickness to match the thickest
part of the FB and I screwed on side of it down to the Oak board.

The opposite side I slotted so any sized/ tapered fingerboard can be used on this jig.




Now the Dremel Base has a nice flat surface to glide on and I don't have to worry about trying to keep it flat on the radiused FB.

[SG Lou]

Inlay are cut. They still need to be cleaned up a bit along the edges.

[SG Lou]

OK, So I have been putzing around in the shop and managed to get the F/B inlayed. I got the heater fired up in the shop as we speak and the snow falls ( 3" to 6" of snow predicted today ) I'll probably do the frets today along with gluing up the binding.







Oh, and BTW, I did use the F/B dye that Stew-Mac sells. I gotta say I'm pretty impressed !

[JMV]

Man...cool ideas with the molded sanding blocks!

[SG Lou]

*** The Neck is FINISHED ****.....Well almost ! ;D

Spent the last 2 days in the shop. Had the heat cranked up and it was nice and toasty inside there.

Glued up the fingerboard to the neck after i pressed in the frets.




Neck ready for binding.



Binding glued and taped up.



Binding leveled and shaped to the fret ends just like the way Gibson dose it.



Headstock veneer glued on.



All that's left to do now is drill out the tuner holes and the neck can be glued up to the body.





ADDED POST 01-26


Well the neck and body are "Offically" one !

I still have to tweek the neck a little. I think its still a bit too thick for my taste. Awaiting the bridge so I can drill out and press in the anchors.

[SG Lou]

Bridge bushing pressed in and I started the finishing process.
I mixed a couple drops of Cherry dye along with a few drops of
Med. Brown dye into some alcohol and stained everything to a uniform color.
It looks red in the pics but trust me, its a nice shade of Mahogany.






I also reduced the size of the "overhang" if you wanna call it that where the neck joins the body.

[SG Lou]

Originally Posted by ThinLazy

I hope this isn't a dumb question, because I'm not familiar with the guitar you're replicating Joe, but...why haven't you shaped the "open book" on the headstock? It seems like something you would have done already. :?

No such thing as a dumb question.

I am not replicating a Gibson SG. I'm making a copy of Tony Iommi's main guitar which is named "Old Boy". It was made in 1975 by John Diggins of Jaydee Guitars in the UK.

This is the guitars I'm replicating:





Chris, I'm still throwing around ideas in my numbskull on the finish !

[SG Lou]

While awaiting closeup pictures of Old Boy from Jaydee to start the "Aging Process" I decided to tackle replicating that small odd ball knob thats on the original.

I think I got it.

Lemme know what you think !







I have Jazz Bass knobs on there now but to me it looks like the original knobs are much larger.
Rickenbacker knobs maybe ?


Antique radio knobs like the ones pictured below?

[SG Lou]

Replicating SRV's #1 was a walk in the park compared to this........

Some parts look good, other parts look like Sh*t !
I may have to strip the lower portion just above the knobs to the midway point of the bridge and do something else.


here it is:

[SG Lou]

Well as far as I'm concerned, for the most part the "finish" is done.
I may airbrush some shading in a few more places and the face of the headstock still needs to be clear coated.

Now I know I'm gonna get comments about this and that, not dark enough, too light here, etc, etc.
Lemme tell ya, this wasn't easy. Everytime I'd look at a different picture i'd see something that i didn't see before. I think I captured for the most part, the look of Old Boy.

I did say I was gonna try and replicate it.
I never said I was gonna make an exact duplicate. :wink:

Lemme hear it, good bad or indifferent !

[SG Lou]

Well, It's 99% done. I strung it up Sunday, set it all up , tweeked the neck
and wired it. It's got a nice ring to it and the neck feels great !
Awaiting arrival of the pickups from the UK and an Allparts delivery of the strap locks and pickguard material for the back.












This is pretty much the state it's in today with the bridge pickup already wired in. I'm still awaiting for the new neck pickup to arrive from the UK so I can call this job DONE !

[GreaseBox]

Just plain freakin' awesome Lou!!!!

[EtriX]

Thank you very much SGLou.
This build is awesome, craziest finishing job ever.
How does she play? Showed it to Iommi?
Great job!

[SG Lou]

Originally Posted by EtriX

Thank you very much SGLou.
This build is awesome, craziest finishing job ever.
How does she play? Showed it to Iommi?
Great job!

The finish on this one has to be by far the HARDEST one I have done to date. I never though making something look like
crap took so much work ! LOL Hell, the SRV#1 Strat replica I did was a piece of cake compared to this.
It plays great. The neck pickup is nice and sweet sounding,simular to a stock P-90 sound. I don't know how it will sound with the bridge pickup in as it's not here yet.

What i can tell you is I had a John Birch Hyperflux pickup rewound by John Diggins over at Jaydee Guitars in the UK to 24k ohm and it FREAKIN SCREAMS ! That pickup resides in the "Monkey SG"



I had several guys play that SG and everyone one of them gets this huge smile on their face after hearing that pickup.

If all goes well, there is a good chance i'll be back stage when H&H plays at WaMu Theater at MSG in NYC, Aug.25th and i'll get a chance for Tony to see it and i'll have it autographed. KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED

[captain tightpants]

Very cool build, man!!

[EtriX]

Originally Posted by SG Lou

The finish on this one has to be by far the HARDEST one I have done to date. I never though making something look like
crap took so much work ! LOL Hell, the SRV#1 Strat replica I did was a piece of cake compared to this.
It plays great. The neck pickup is nice and sweet sounding,simular to a stock P-90 sound. I don't know how it will sound with the bridge pickup in as it's not here yet.

What i can tell you is I had a John Birch Hyperflux pickup rewound by John Diggins over at Jaydee Guitars in the UK to 24k ohm and it FREAKIN SCREAMS ! That pickup resides in the "Monkey SG"



I had several guys play that SG and everyone one of them gets this huge smile on their face after hearing that pickup.

If all goes well, there is a good chance i'll be back stage when H&H plays at WaMu Theater at MSG in NYC, Aug.25th and i'll get a chance for Tony to see it and i'll have it autographed. KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED

It would be cool to repeat the success with the Monkey, didn't he enjoy that one quite a bit, even tough it was the wrong way?
I'm really GASing for the JayDee Iommi SG after reading this

[SG Lou]

I got an email from Mike Clement, Tonys guitar tech today !


From: Mike Clement (email address edited )
Sent: Tue 8/11/09 1:20 PM
To: Lou Moritz (stmoritzguitars@hotmail.com)

Hey Lou,
Sorry I've not been in touch, things have been really hectic the last
few months. Let me check with Tony about the visit when we do the NYC show,obviously shows there are pretty high pressure but I will let you
know. In a rush here, we have an LA show tonight, another highpressure one!

More soon, Mike

keeping my fingers crossed !

[whiteee]

love it - great build and i agree its mad how hard it is to make something look old/worn/battered/beaten/burnt without it looking fake.

When you stick pick ups on will you be ageing the pickguard or just leave it to happen over time?

have you seen the original guitar in the flesh(wood) to me the finish looks like varnish/lacquer thats been affected by heat?

[nuance97]

REALLY COOL!

[SG Lou]

Originally Posted by whiteee

love it - great build and i agree its mad how hard it is to make something look old/worn/battered/beaten/burnt without it looking fake.

When you stick pick ups on will you be ageing the pickguard or just leave it to happen over time?

have you seen the original guitar in the flesh(wood) to me the finish looks like varnish/lacquer thats been affected by heat?

The pickguard is clear lexan as on the original and I did dull it down with some steel wool. I haven't decided as to what to do with the pickups. I may age them a little somewhere down the road.
yes i have seen the original in the flesh and yes the original finish wasn't totally cured when it was taken on tour and the story goes that it was left in a hot car / trailer and the finish bubbled off.

[nicolasrivera]

This is a great build, thanks for shari g.

It looks great, the hardest part most have been trying to duplicate the aged finish.

[whiteee]

Originally Posted by SG Lou

The pickguard is clear lexan as on the original and I did dull it down with some steel wool. I haven't decided as to what to do with the pickups. I may age them a little somewhere down the road.
yes i have seen the original in the flesh and yes the original finish wasn't totally cured when it was taken on tour and the story goes that it was left in a hot car / trailer and the finish bubbled off.

Great work... like you said you are replicating and not duplicating! At the end of the day, if people know the guitar they will know the guitar - even if the finish is like you say maybe a bit dark here or bit light there... but unless the photos are all taken in same conditions you wouldnt really know and i bet it would look bad ass up on stage!

To get lexan to fade/cloud over, does acetone not work? Is it available/legal where you are?

[mattfeltham]

very awesome!
a great tribute.

just one comment, not a criticism...
i find it somewhat suprising for the amount of time and effort that youve put into the guitar, that you didnt go all out with the finish.
though it looks along the same lines, and equally as cool (in its crappy-ness), it is not anywhere near the same as the original.
i just thought maybe youd have looking into the different textures and colours, and tried to replicate it a little closer with the help and advise you can get from some of the guys here on the forum...
just my thoughts.

aside from those comment, its amazing! would love to hear it and see how it plays.
great effort!

[ptgold]

this is one of the coolest builds ive ever seen......excellent work!!

[SG Lou]

Originally Posted by mattfeltham

very awesome!
a great tribute.

just one comment, not a criticism...
i find it somewhat suprising for the amount of time and effort that youve put into the guitar, that you didnt go all out with the finish.
though it looks along the same lines, and equally as cool (in its crappy-ness), it is not anywhere near the same as the original.
i just thought maybe youd have looking into the different textures and colours, and tried to replicate it a little closer with the help and advise you can get from some of the guys here on the forum...
just my thoughts.

aside from those comment, its amazing! would love to hear it and see how it plays.
great effort!

I can take criticism so don't worry about how you thought it may have come off !
Comment and criticism is what gets you to sit back and think "Ya know, maybe they are right and I should have done it that way "

Like I stated above. I have several different pictures to work off of. Some I took, other i found on the net, still others were sent to me from the guy who built Old Boy.

Every single shot I looked at showed something totally different, even though i was looking at the same area.
It got to be so confusing that i decided on using the pictures Jaydee sent me and went off of those. I know it's not 100% dead nuts on accurate but as what was stated above. " if people know the guitar they will know the guitar - even if the finish is like you say maybe a bit dark here or bit light there..."

No harm done Matt !

[Jason]

Wow! Amazing work there. I think you really did capture the vibe of the original... The only thing that strikes me as off is that your bare wood still looks too new and clean. The original is definitely more distressed and has an uneven almost rusty discoloration. Great work nonetheless. And thanks so much for sharing your whole process!