Red Special build

Talk about musical instrument construction, setup and repair.

Moderators: kiwigeo, Jeremy D

Post Reply
Online
Mr K
Sassafras
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:35 pm
Location: melbourne

Red Special build

Post by Mr K » Mon Oct 17, 2016 9:55 pm

The RS is a guitar that was built by Brian and his father with no previous experience of how a guitar should be built . It was also built with what ever could be scrounged to do the job . The materials used may not have been ideal or well suited to the job but what was clear is that they took a skilled and meticulous approach to the build.

This is my second RS build and I've tried to get as close as I can to the original in materials and all the little details so often missed when a luthier decides they can build it better , I did this the first time.

I'll start with the X-rays of the original
Image
There is so much information here.
It is well known that the original body was built from what is termed "blockboard" which is basically scraps of pine sandwiched between to layers of thin ply with a total thickness of 3/4" . The body is made of two layers of this hollowed and joined , and a thin veneer of mahogany glued over the top.
However , the x-rays to me didn't show the type of board that is used today. It has fine contrasting lines that are consistent in width and parrallel.
I interpreted this as perhaps ply on edge as seen in this type of blockboard
Image
I have since changed my mind a little and it is possibly 2-3mm wide stripes glued together .

As I couldn't buy any I decided to make my own which lead to a slightly different approach but one that will end in the same final product.
I cut up a lot of ply and glued it together to form the body material
Image
Image
Here I've added one layer of ply , and to the other layer of ply I added a thin layer of mahogany that will become the top and back faces
Image


With routing templates made the top and bottom layers were shaped .
Image

Image
Image
You can see the Oak insert that runs down the majority of the bottom layer , the neck will sit on top of this .
the top layer has a small oak block which houses the retaining block for the tremelo
Image
Image

and the trem in place , this is permanently glued in.
Image

And the trem unit itself
Image

I'll stop there and continue later for should there be any questions so far .

Cheers Mark

User avatar
lamanoditrento
Blackwood
Posts: 585
Joined: Thu May 05, 2016 9:50 am

Re: Red Special build

Post by lamanoditrento » Tue Oct 18, 2016 8:55 am

This is fantastic thread! Can't wait for the rest :cl
Trent

User avatar
DarwinStrings
Blackwood
Posts: 1877
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:27 pm
Location: Darwin

Re: Red Special build

Post by DarwinStrings » Wed Oct 19, 2016 3:33 pm

Certainly a bit of a challenge in this one Mark, love the trem but had to phone a friend to get a grip on how it worked, think I have it now.
Life is good when you are amongst the wood.
Jim Schofield

Online
Mr K
Sassafras
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:35 pm
Location: melbourne

Re: Red Special build

Post by Mr K » Wed Oct 19, 2016 5:35 pm

DarwinStrings wrote:Certainly a bit of a challenge in this one Mark, love the trem but had to phone a friend to get a grip on how it worked, think I have it now.
Yer it does look a bit daunting at first but if you think of it as a normal trem and then take the springs that are normally in tension, and put them on the other side in compression you have it .
The tapped threaded block in the body is for tensioning the springs or should I say compressing. The holes through the trem block are large an allow movement without hitting the bolts . There is a "v" machined into the trem block to take the sharpened blade , which is hardened steel.
Hope that explains it .

Cheers Mark

Online
Mr K
Sassafras
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:35 pm
Location: melbourne

Re: Red Special build

Post by Mr K » Wed Oct 19, 2016 5:49 pm

A bit more of the build, With the top oak block in place it sits proud of the other layers , this is because the pivot point has to sit just under the top veneer layer to be in the correct spot . The layer of ply was routed away from the area and only leaves the veneer
Image
Image

The top was then glued on
Image
So we now have the very same layers as on the original but done in a more controlled process.
Cheers Mark

Online
Mr K
Sassafras
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:35 pm
Location: melbourne

Re: Red Special build

Post by Mr K » Wed Oct 19, 2016 6:14 pm

The fret board and neck were also being done .
Fret board is made from Oak
Image

This was shaped and radiused in the usual manner and the painted black
Image

Carefully relevelled and the slots cut and inlays added
Image

Neck blank started, The RS has a very shallow headstock angle of only 4 degrees.
A more normal truss rod was used along with carbon rods
Image

The head stock being shaped
Image
Image

Board on and the rest of the neck shaped
Image
Image
Image

Cheer Mark

Online
Mr K
Sassafras
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:35 pm
Location: melbourne

Re: Red Special build

Post by Mr K » Fri Oct 21, 2016 10:30 pm

So the body top was trimmed, A veneer was added to the sides with the grain in the vertical direction .
The white binding done and the neck pocket routed.
Image

Image

Neck fitted with a 2 degree angle cut into the back of the neck.
Image

The sides of the fretboard were re painted black and the side markers added
Image

The neck bolt was added by tapping a piece of threaded rod into the neck and adding a nut for securing
Image

Cavities for Pickups routed
Image

With just a sand all timber work is done and ready for the spraying.

Cheers Mark

User avatar
slowlearner
Blackwood
Posts: 386
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:43 pm
Location: Western Sydney
Contact:

Re: Red Special build

Post by slowlearner » Wed Nov 02, 2016 10:29 am

This build is amazing! :cl
Pete

Online
Mr K
Sassafras
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:35 pm
Location: melbourne

Re: Red Special build

Post by Mr K » Tue Nov 08, 2016 9:50 pm

Thanks Pete ,

Been away on holidays . Time for the continuation .
This is a close copy of the original bridge . six aluminium blocks machined at different heights to cater for the 7.25" radius , and the slots for the intonation.
Image

Image

And the pick ups. These are made by Adeson in England who carries out the repair work on the original RS pickups and are as close a copy as possible

Image
Note that the backing plate is removed from the neck pick up as was a modification that Brian carried out.
Image

With the paint work finished it was time for the fret work, I made a well fitting bed for the neck to press the frets in
Image
I taped up the board as I didn't want to scratch the finish at all

Frets cut and ready for pressing
Image

and pressed
Image

Tape removed and ends leveled
Image

Body also painted
Image

And the assembly started
Image
Pickguard done also
Image

Wiring done
Image

And that raps it up , the final pic are in the gallery .

Cheers Mark

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Mr K and 103 guests