2012 Plaintop Bavarian Makeover

[musicmaniac]

Coming along nicely.

 

[Fiftywattmafia]

Awesome. Great work. Amber Spirit of '59 pickups are amazing and would be a great choice.

 

[Limehouse Blues]

Quick bump. Florian has planed the maple filler and separated neck and body. Neck pocket full of very gunky looking stuff. I'm glad we're doing the reset. Pics to follow.

Btw, does anyone reading this thread know the difference between the Montreux 59 pickguard and their 2009 Historic one? The guard is the last bit of plastic I need and the Montreux bits I've gathered so far look great. Will the 59 guard not fit my Historic?

 

[Limehouse Blues]

Now it really starts to get interesting...

Maple filler planed

Neck removed from body

Neck pocket - yuck!

Neck tenon - more yuck!

Neck sanded

Headstock

Body liberated from thick Gibson gunk

And the top!

Really can't wait to see (and hear) the finished result...

 

[Limehouse Blues]

While Florian was working away last week in Bavaria I was enjoying some very different six strings in Seville, Spain. After a few days in Granada and Cordoba we arrived in Andalucia's largest city and heard some cracking flamenco. I bought a classical guitar during a month spent in Seville over a decade ago. Don't play it much sadly but I love the sound of flamenco guitar. So percussive and rhythmic. Soulful and complex music.

While away the postman also delivered some of the replacement parts I've begun to gather. All from the Montreux Time Machine range, apart from the faded gold grovers which are original 60s ones. For the other metal hardware we're going to stick with the Gibson bridge and tail which Florian is going to age. I've no means of comparing the Montreux parts against vintage originals but they look good to me and certainly more convincing than the stock historic parts.

 

[Sct13]

Very Cool

RE: Flamenco, My sister dances professionally and studies the art. 20yrs + She has been back and forth to Seville, Some of the teachers have stayed with her and her husband here in the states, they hold workshops about twice a year.

She brought me a Guitar from there one year.

Nice photo.

 

[Limehouse Blues]

Very Cool

RE: Flamenco, My sister dances professionally and studies the art. 20yrs + She has been back and forth to Seville, Some of the teachers have stayed with her and her husband here in the states, they hold workshops about twice a year.

She brought me a Guitar from there one year.

Nice photo.

That's really cool. The dancing is just incredible. The dancer we saw gave her all. The sheer energy was something else. Real passion and fire. Listening to flamenco I'm just struck by how rhythmically complex it is.

 

[Limehouse Blues]

Quick update. Neck and frets are done and reunited with the body!

Getting really exciting now. Can't wait to play this.

 

[doubletone]

Now it really starts to get interesting...

Maple filler planed

Neck removed from body

Neck pocket - yuck!

Neck tenon - more yuck!

Neck sanded

Headstock

Body liberated from thick Gibson gunk

And the top!

Really can't wait to see (and hear) the finished result...

I just threw up in my mouth looking at that neck joint. You are definitely doing the right thing here! And to think you were just doing this for esthetic reasons. Can't wait to see the end result.

 

[Limehouse Blues]

Cheers dt. Have more pix to post soon. Florian is doing amazing work. Even moving the tail piece to a slight angle.

Ordered aged pickups from amber. Will be fascinating to hear how my made over R0 sounds. An acquaintance of mine has a real burst and I'd like to hear how they will sound side by side.

 

[Limehouse Blues]

Look! No Glue!

 

[Limehouse Blues]

So we decided to move slightly the tailpiece and put in new bushings. Florian's attention to little details is impressive. Note the specially made plug before the new larger bushings are drilled in.

 

[Limehouse Blues]

Now the real fun starts

Red filler goes on

First clear coat on the top

Back in red!

And burst! I thought for a while about how I wanted to do this. Now my favourite all time burst is 9-1982 but that is a very flamed top. To my mind the colour of 9-1982 wouldn't suit this very plain top. I quite liked the original bourbon burst of this guitar but I really love the look of the CC18 Dutchburst and that is the look we are going for here. Getting seriously excited at the prospect of getting this thing back and playing it before too long. Parts shipped to Florian today and pickups should be ready soon.

 

[Boston Dan]

Hansel is so hot right now...

 

[Fiftywattmafia]

Hansel is so hot right now...

Great line.

 

[Cevo-MG]

I'm interested to know what your SN is. For the non-laminated board question. If you don't mind indulging me?

Sorry for late answer ... No. 30 of 2012 yr ...

 

[Limehouse Blues]

Sorry for late answer ... No. 30 of 2012 yr ...

My one piece board also in the 30s

 

[Limehouse Blues]

Been sitting on these last few pics. Florian's work is faster than my updates!

With the binding scraped clean the burst looks stunning. I asked Florian to take the famous Dutchburst as his inspiration and he's nailed it. The Montreux reflectors are going to look fabulous on this. One thing I asked Florian to pay attention to was the area around the pickup selector. On darker bursts one often sees the darker hues blocking up around this area. I expect on originals this was done deliberately to conceal top defects but it's something I wanted to avoid. I'm pleased to say Florian got exactly the look I was hoping for.

The back colour is also perfect

 

[Limehouse Blues]

Now the headstock!

And the logo ambered

 

[rich85]

Oh man that colour with the binding just amazing!