CS-336 Single Cut, Scratch Build.

[johnP-90]

Thanks Bend'n'Slide, been away for a few days as been getting knackered and over doing it a bit lately. I hope to get the Limba one polished next week as been 2 week then since the last coats got sprayed and all cured nice! Best not burn thro' on the polish... The other one is on "hold" until I get this one finished, and do a bit of fishing as not been for 10 years, building these ever since, hmmm.

Thanks, John

 

[Daddy Dom]

Hi from Auckland, JohnP90. Having finally made it so far in your thread (it's winter here!) all I can say is, carry on! It will be so worth any and all the hassle.

This baby was made for me and incorporates the things I loved most about Les Pauls, ES295s, Gretsches and Neil Young!

It could be a time-capsule for you - it's now 18 years old and the bloom as each note grows is amazing. Notes honestly seem to get louder before they die away. I'll try and walk the line between hijacking your thread and satisfying your curiosity.
So, the nitty gritty (from memory): the body was a single piece of mahogany, split, bookmatched, glued then routed, leaving the centre slightly higher for the single piece maple top. Ebony fingerboard on a laminated mahogany neck, profiled after my '89 LP Junior.

The finish mirrors my personality: showman upfront but with serious retro sensibilities, so an antique 'burst round the back. Celluloid binding.

Hand-wound, alnico-slug P90s, the rotary controls are (from the bottom): 6-way vari-tone selector, master tone and master volume. Standard p/u switch with p/u blend control on the horn. Pulls up for out-of-phase. Hand-turned knobs with cut-garnet inlays.
The fingerboard inlays were inspired by something I saw in a 1920s catalogue. Ibanez tremolo, Schaller roller bridge, bone nut, Grover Imperials but these really were too big on the slimmer Gretsch-y headstock. I have since replaced the buttons for something smaller. The 'S' is for Bob Scott, the luthier.

The scratchplate, trussrod cover and tremolo insert are all white leather, the cheap plastic 'gemstone' guitar sticker on the trem was my final act of customization.

The best thing about a guitar like this is that no-one else has to like it My only regret is that in those days, we didn't think to photograph everything along the way so your energy in putting this thread together for posterity is even more praiseworthy.
So, thanks, and (like everyone else) I can't wait to see the finished guitar.
Best, DD.

 

[johnP-90]

Thanks Daddy Dom, I did post a previous reply to say "wow", lovely build and guitar man. Then got into chambered nonsence and deleted it as banging on a bit. I will get the SC polished up soon, have had some health and the usual bollox "life" issues recently preventing motivation. In this frame of mind I will screw it up no doubt, but feeling a lot better after some fresh air and fishing, so next on the list... Have to change the tone pots to Log mind as not happy with the taper, then "ship in a bottle time" wiring her up.

Probably why I have put it on hold until in the right frame of mind, as can be a freaking nightmare! I use ES-335 type wiring harness that goes in through the pickup cavity and should be ok on this one, fingers xxx.

I have not been in a good place the last few weeks health wise, so probably for the best I put on hold until back in "the zone" and feel up to it for the required attention, hmmm. Not been much of that last few weeks as hayfever and dust allergy sinus problems have been rediculous affecting my vision and balance. Never had it so bad exept on my mahogany/maple LP build 10 years ago and had exactly the same, working in a small shop with just a window open, hmmm.

More soonish in a week or so.

Thanks, John

 

[Daddy Dom]

Hi JohnP90,
I'm glad you enjoyed reading about my "Son of a Gib-tsch" as these things are very personal. if I upload a soundfile I'll be sure to link you to it as - of course - the P90 is God's pickup The extra string-length I get from the Ib-sby adds lots of deliciousness to the sound.
Yes please, definitely stay away from the paint inhalers for a while! Or use one of those gas masky-things from the hardware shop? Hope you feel better soon We care!
DD

 

[johnP-90]

Thanks Daddy Dom, I have the worlds supply of dust masks, a single canister "hazerdous waste" cartidge for dust and a proper double canister solvent Gerson mask fer spraying the Nitro. You still inhale some mixing up etc. in between but this constant hayfever sh*t is geting me down as now lost all sense of smell, even fishy fish bait mate! Talking of which I have been out into the great wide open to get some Mojo back n get motivated again. My local park lake, full of all veriaties of Fish....




A mere tiddler at 8Lbs but the lake is full of em' and zoo creatures, also a nature reserve and loads of mad hungry veriaties of, ducks Geese and swans that need feeding! The lacquer on the Limba has shrunk back into the grain very nicely in the past month, so should be worth the wait and get her polished and set up nice next week.

I have been indoors rifflin' the past 6 months so be nice to see how she turns out...

Thanks, John

Posterity picture, to remind me to get on with it now after some nature fix.

 

[gtr-tek]

That is a beauty! Very good work there.

 

[Flyin Z]

JohnP, you said that you are building the body deeper. What is the height of your center block going to be?

 

[Flyin Z]

JohnP, how tall is the center block in your build? You said it was deeper.

 

[johnP-90]

Thanks gtr-tek, Flying Z. The P-90 Blueshawk was my first set neck build years ago, thro'body stringing with strat hardtail type bridge and has great tone. The theme continues with the 336 take which is chambered hardwood canoe carved like a "U" shape behind the bridge instead of a center block.
The center blocks were to support the laminate top and back plates was how the original jazzers were built, but not these.

These are all carved inside and out from solid hardwood instead with shallow top n back carve. It has a central solid spine ending behind the tailstop but still weighs in at 6.5Lbs!

Got the wiring harness finally sorted out today, Mojotone CTS 500K pots with 30% taper. The are audio taper or Log pots but with a much better even roll off without any abrupt change like most log pots on volume. They work great on tone as well as tested it out on the amp after re-soldering the tone pots. Now the same 30% CTS pots on volume and tone. Basically inspired by the RS Guitar works 335 wiring harness... This has to push thro' the bridge pickup cavity and not a lot of room at 1.25" headroom or rim thickness. Ship in a bottle job!




I put some extra shrink wrap round the WD .022 paper oil caps as insurance as wiring the harness in is a lot tighter than a 335! I have the wet sanding papers soaking overnight in water and start the final rub and polish as soon as this virus I've had for the last month quits. sense of smell slowly retuning now.

Lets see how the rub n polish comes out as waited long enough now and health improving after a soddin month! More soonish...

Thanks John

 

[johnP-90]

The wet sanding is done from P-800 thro' to P2000 and ready to polish after a month of poor health due to dust and no extract yet in ze shop! I now have a bad sinus infection since I fired up the copy carver for the next build! (It's going in the shed).

I hoped the wiring would be helpful as had a ton of finding the right roll off and taper. These mojotone CTS 30% tapers are spot on. I have discovered they are Audio Taper (Log) but with a smoother vintage taper so you can play the amp, man. Some other Log pots are very abrupt but these vintage pots (as always) are spot on if using vintage wiring me thinks. Back to satin and polish pending...




Of to see the doctor tomorrow but will get this done and set up if it kills me! (Only joking but had bad sinus infection fer months me thinks)

Cheers, John

 

[johnP-90]

Hi Folks, sorry this is taking so long as not felt well the last 2 months since I finished spraying and had to see the Doctor when blood and nasty stuff started appearing a week ago. I have been resting up trying to beat this infection the last week or more but managed to get some progress polishing and wiring.

I had some problems with the jack lead fouling round the main harness when pulling thro' the tubes with wire, so built a "Jack Stick" that slides under the tubes and avoids snags.




I forgot to shrink wrap the braid and realised it could loop round and short the live tag on the jack, and tone pot lugg'sso with the stick was able to remove it thro' the F hole and re-do it with about 3" of shrink wrap to avoid any drama's! Believe me braid being the earth will catch on anything it can!..


Pickup's joined leaving the "hot" wire longer than the braid so the braid takes the strain, and the hot wire has a shrink wrap sleeve slide over it.


Then folded round the braid and a small piece of copper foil taped over both to shield the join and slid down into the access cavity.


Job done.



This is why it is taking so long...

The antibiotics are strong and no beer for a week! They are working well though and the infection (I suspect I have had for months) is clearing up and sense of smell returning. I still cannot do a full day in the shop yet, just as well I saw the Doc as a rotting smell and blood had started and started running a fever again. I will get this finished and set up over the weekend now the wiring is good, hopefull post some finished picture in a couple of days

I have had dust allergy problems before with other builds using old mahogany, but nothing this bad before, and I thought it was Hay Fever caused by tree pollen! Bloody thing has half killed me, hence it taking so long. More when it is all sorted out and finished, and some sunshine would be nice.

Cheers, John

 

[johnP-90]

At last, some finished pictures having set the girl up proper last night and let the truss rod settle in. I posted the wiring seperate as a bit of a nightmare on these without lots of forthought hence it going on a bit. Weather is back to autumn but managed to get some pics early afternoon, before the rain set in aqain....


#







Best start a new post to compare with the double cut cs-336, as a bit picture heavy, I have waited long enough!

 

[johnP-90]

Here the both of them for comparison, the thinline cs-336 weights 6.25Lbs and the SC-336 7.5Lbs as 1/4" thicker and semi-solid.




Cheers, John

 

[Bend'n'Slide]

Stunning! Just beautiful...!!




Fine, fine work and I'm deeply impressed (and not a little jealous!).

Awesome work John!

 

[johnP-90]

Thanks man, of course the lack of a fake serial number on the headstock greatly diminishes the Tone..... Lol.

Tah, John

 

[Bend'n'Slide]

Ha. Obviously (!).

In just the same way that my first Strat being Candy Apple Red clearly improves its overall tone and general sex appeal...

She doesn't need a serial number — she has her own individual name on the headstock. How much more mojo do you need?

 

[Daniels Guitars]

Yeah but imagine the tone of a serial number and name combination lol

Fantastic work John as usual, can't wait to see her

 

[lowatter]

Wonderful John! It turned out to be one of the finer pieces to grace this forum. I'm looking forward to hearing it. Carry-on!

 

[fatdaddypreacher]

what can i say. absolutely stunning. great color. excellant workmanship. hat's off to ya, mate

 

[johnP-90]

Thanks VTman, Lowatter n fatdaddypreacher for the kind words. It's my first full on "dark burst" and worked really nice with the light colour Limba for the contrast, well happy. She plays pretty nice as well, like the DC 336 on steroids and sustains for ever! The Mojo Alnico 4 pickups are spot on and a bit brighter than the alnico 3 set in the DC version, almost like playing a lightweight LP! I like the 7.5Lbs as my Lester weighs 9.25Lbs 'n getting old....Grin.

Thanks, John