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Archive for March, 2011
Preston Reed’s Custom Bailey Baritone- update
Mar 31st
Preston playing his Bailey custom baritone
Preston writes about his new guitar
I’m lost for words…Thanks Preston!
It was a real thrill to make an instrument for such an outstanding player. It was an adventure learning about his style of playing and how that translated into a guitar built to his specific needs. I’ll writing more about this process and how I made the guitar in the coming weeks.
Thanks Preston for such a great write up!
More info on Preston’s new guitar
Build your own acoustic- 25-28 March 2011
Mar 31st
Highlights from the course
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- L-R: Doreen, David, Nick and Duncan
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- Nick glues in his rosewood rosette
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- Moyra tapes the binding into place
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- ….takes a while…
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- David trims his top to size
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- Marking out the bracing
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- Stevie (front) is making a 5 string archtop bass
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- Planing the back of the blanks flat
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- Ciaren joined us to continue his build
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- Doreen trims her tailpiece endgraft to size with a flush cutting saw
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- Ciaren using a scraper to clean up the sides
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- Nick finishing his bracing
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- Me (left) keeping watch while Nick glues his sides on
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- Looking gorgeous! Moyra and her cocobolo parlour are dappled in sunlight
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- Work harder!!
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- Sanding the body
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- We always write something inside the guitar- it’s the LAW!
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- Ready to glue the back on…gulp.
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- Doreen did really well to get all her binding glued on in record time
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- There’s the back roped in place while the glue dries…more next time.
So much happens during a course it is hard to know where to begin…everyone has made great progress over the four days. They have all been before except Stevie who just started his 5 string archtop bass. His family have all chipped in towards the cost of the course for his 60th birthday. Ciaren is his son and also on the course making a dreadnought style.
Moyra’s ‘parlour’ is looking incredible and Doreens rosewood classy. Duncan got his binding glued on as did David. In fact everyone seemed to be binding except Steve carving his top and back plates and Nick who managed to get his ‘box’ together. Great Job Folks!
Find out more about the course
Bailey custom one string bass- 4/7- making the neck
Mar 24th
A tip for inlaying into maple
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- Drilling the holes for the abalone dots
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- Left: no sealer, furry edges. Right: the wood is sealed first, crisp edges.
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- The hole is filled with super glue
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- The abalone dots are pressed in with a piece of scrap hardwood
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- Tools for installing the abalone dots
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- After the dot has been sanded
Sometimes when drilling into softer woods the edges of the hole can look a little rough. The wood can be torn by the drill as it enters, leaving a furry edge like in the second picture above.
To avoid this a coat of sealer is applied first and allowed to dry fully before drilling, resulting in a much crisper/cleaner hole. This would be true whatever style or technique was used to inlay the piece- it doesn’t need to be a round hole.
In this case 6mm abalone round dots were used and the same size drill to make the holes. The hole is filled with super glue and each dot gently pressed in with a scrap of hardwood. The inlay should stand just proud of the fretboard surface, so it can be sanded flush after the glue has dried.
When all the abalone dots had been glued in the fretboard was sprayed with matt lacquer. This must be fully dry before I can install the frets so that will be next week…Part 5
New Bailey Website
Mar 21st
The new Bailey website is now LIVE!!
Screenshots from the new website
I hope you agree that the overall effect is stunning and enjoy browsing the new site.
BIG THANKS!
MASSIVE THANKS to Oguz – our webmaster – and the Greatest Guy on the Web! He has gone way beyond what we ever thought was possible and we are over-joyed with the results.
Also to Steve Best and all at Acutec for assistance along the way. This is now our third website and they have hosted them all from the start.
BIG HUGS to Carol my long suffering partner who’s support has got me through many a ‘bad moment’ when things went wrong.
And Billy and Fiona for keeping things going while I was busy writing and taking photo’s.
Not to forget you guy’s…our avid blog readers and customers who have supported us along the way.
Your turn…
Now it’s up to you guys to test it for us. Please let us know if you have any problems and tell us what you think by leaving a comment here. If you have any ideas for improvement let us know, we may include them in future updates. 
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Update: 22/03/2011
Thanks again to Oguz- He added a link to main site in the tabs at the top of the page. Thanks for the suggestion Paul. (he also tidied them u a bit while he was at it)
I have been working on a new custom guitar gallery which should be online soon. Any other suggestions how we can improve the site would be greatly appreciated.
Bailey baritone custom acoustic
Mar 20th
Preston Reed gets a new Bailey Guitar
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- Cedar soundboard
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- Pinless ebony bridge
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- Close up of the ebony pinless bridge
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- 3-source onboard blender
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- koa dot markers
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- ebony fretboard
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- Rosewood binding
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- Bailey tuners with ebony buttons
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- 3 a side headstock
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- Bailey headstock logo
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- Rosewood rosette
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- Reclaimed mahogany body and neck
Way Down Deep
Preston Reed called and asked me to make a new guitar to replace his old one that he’d used for about the last 13 years. With the environment in mind, he wanted to support a local builder and liked the idea of a guitar made with renewable energy.
He pretty much knew exactly what he wanted which is always a big help and visited the workshop to go through the spec and do a drawing.
All I knew before hand was that it was long scale. Preston had sent me the dimensions of his old neck to copy… The Bailey Baritone was built using traditional methods and reclaimed wood wherever possible.
The guitar is now being used in his one man show travelling with him around the world – Big THANKS to Preston for choosing us to make it for him.
Preston has pioneered his own unique musical style, and if you haven’t seen him play yet, you are missing an extraordinary experience.Preston’s tour dates
And if you can’t get to see him live soon, you can get hold of his music direct from his website.
UPDATE: 31st March 2011
Preston wrote a blog about his guitar!
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