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Build your own Guitar – ‘Secret’ Date – Mon 16 April
Apr 19th
Extra day for local builders…and Kevin
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- Kevin
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- Stevie
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- Ian
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- Moyra
‘Secret’ Dates
Most people on the course have to come and finish in one go – we get them from all over Europe and beyond so it is not possible to ‘pop’ back for workshop days here and there. We do however put on extra days for local builders as they are more flexible. Local builders have the option of coming one day a month and can choose from available ‘secret’ dates to complete their build. Contact us if you are interested whether you are local or not – Carol will be able to tell you which course will suit you, when these days are, or you can check availability of non ‘secret’ dates here.
Moyra
Moyra is making a cocobolo version of the Bailey Sweet P and came for a couple of hours to glue on her neck and bridge. You can see a photo gallery of her guitar being made here. Next time she will finish her guitar with a fret dress and set up – can’t wait! Got the next one planned yet Moyra?
Kevin
This was day four for Kevin who stayed on after the 3 days to get a bit further on his version of the Bailey Bootlegger. He has now finished bracing his soundboard and back plates and now only has to carve the braces and they are finished. Next time he comes he will bend the sides, then start assembling his body. If there is enough time he will also start work on the neck.
Ian
Ian already made his neck last time he came so this time it was to work on his body. The body has chambers and we will eventually cut an f-hole into the birds eye maple top. Apart from the f-hole he managed to get his body routed and cut out so one more day of woodwork and it should be ready for spraying.
Stevie
Stevie carved the heel on his neck and rough sanded the neck and body. His bass is now ready for us to spray. We still have to work out some kind of pickup system soon as he is nearly finished. This may not be straight forward as it is a 5 string archtop and there are few ‘off the shelf’ solutions out there. We will probably go for a custom job made by Kent Armstrong for the neck position but Stevie also would like a piezo bridge so I will see what is available and come up with some options for him.
More courses | Check dates and availability | The Bailey Collection
BUILD YOUR OWN GUITAR Part 1- continues in June
Apr 18th
Location: Bailey workshop
Fri April 13 2012 - 10:00 AM
Sun April 15 2012 - 5:00 PM
Kevin, Martin, Graham and Jon
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- Jon is making a 4 string thru neck bass
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- Graham is making a bolt on 6 string
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- Martin is making a single cut set neck with chambered body
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- Kevin is making a Bootlegger acoustic
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- End of Day 1
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- Installing the abalone rosette
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- Checking the fretboard shape
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- Carving the neck
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- Marking out the body
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- End of day 3
Build Your Own Guitar/Bass course
This is a split, two weekend course, for people who are unable to come for a whole week and want to make something with more options than the Build your First Guitar Course. It also enables acoustic makers who need more time to pick and mix weekend dates over a longer period. Carol is a logistical genius and somehow manages to keep us all on track – contact her here for available dates.
Kevin
Kevin is starting his fourth guitar on the course – I don’t seem to have a photo of his first one (Send me one if you can Kevin!) but previously he made a single cut with an f-hole, and then this particularly attractive Bass. This time he is making an acoustic based on the original Bailey Bootlegger.
Martin
Martin is making a set neck, single cut, 6 string guitar with chambered body. He chose a Flamed Maple cap with a mahogany back. The neck is also Mahogany with a Rosewood fretboard.
Graham
Graham is building a bolt on style guitar with a drop top and has chosen a beautiful piece of Australian Blackwood for the front which contrasts beautifully with the Ash back. His neck is Birds Eye Maple with an Ebony fretboard.
Jon
Jon is making a thru neck 4 string fretless bass. The five piece neck is made from three Flamed Maple and two Walnut laminates glued together. His body wings are Basswood and he chose some Maple for the cap.
Three days later…
After three days a lot of progress has been made. Martin, Graham and Jon have all but completed their necks and have all made a start on the bodies.
Kevin was booked onto one of our extra ‘secret’ dates, normally reserved for our local builders, so he stayed an extra day – see next post…
This course will continue in June.
More Courses | Check Prices and Availability
Bailey Guitars Featured Artists – Mark Wynn – Guitar Man Improvistion
Apr 9th
“Mark Bailey- He’s a Guitar Man” – Improvisation by Mark Wynn
Mark came and played at Acoustic Bliss, our open mike night in Ayr. We put him up for the night in Bailey World and in the morning I fixed the dodgy jack socket on his guitar- No not one of mine, if you are wondering…
I asked him to play a few tunes on my guitar and recorded him with my camera, but I have to say that I never expected this!
I am just glad the record button was pressed in to capture this fantastic piece of improvisation and thumb picking at the same time.
The song is about me which is pretty weird I know but I love it!
I’ll be uploading some more original tunes from the amazing Mark Wynn as soon as I am able, meanwhile if you think this is good head over to his website to hear more.
If you are interested in the guitars please visit the Bailey Website.
Enjoy!! (I did!)
New ‘Little Eye’ video with Euan Malloch playing his Bailey Acoustic
Mar 21st
Euan is playing his Bailey Bootlegger with his band ‘Little Eye‘.
I love these guys! They make it look easy don’t they…
From a guitarmakers point of view this is what is all about at the end of the day – my guitars are not the finished product, it’s the music.
Watch out for the close up of the headstock at the end – my favourite part:)
It’s a buzz to see one of my guitars in such a brilliant video – Thanks guys!
If you would like a Bailey Guitar of your very own contact us and we’ll build it for you.
The SpaceShip – First Docking Procedure
Mar 5th
Fitting the neck to the body with a dovetail joint
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- Archtop guitar dovetail jig
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- The dovetail slot in the body
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- Archtop guitar dovetail front view
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- Neck dovetail ‘test piece’
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- The neck dovetail jig
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- The ‘neck test piece’ is dovetailed
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- The actual neck is machined
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- A perfect fit
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- Gluing the neck extension
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- Close up of neck extension
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- Ready to fit the truss rod
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- Installing the truss rod
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- Aligning the fretboard
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- Rear view
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- Ready to glue the fretboard
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- Clamping the archtop guitar fretboard
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- Gluing the ‘wings’ on the side of the headstock
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- Custom headstock designed by Steve
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- Rough carving the neck
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- The neck is now roughly carved
Captains Log
Stardate : 05312.5
Today we passed a milestone in our continuing journey to go where no Jazz Archtop has gone before. It was my duty as captain to single handedly complete the first docking procedure with the new jazz class spaceship. It is necessary to ensure this runs smoothly as we do not want any issues to arise when the time comes to permanently attach the neck to the body.
The neck cannot be glued on until the guitar is just about finished during the final ‘docking procedure’, but the dovetail must be made before the fretboard is glued on or the neck would not fit into the jig.
Completing the neck joint is one of the major jobs when making an Archtop style guitar. It has to be a dovetail as there is no way to get hands inside the body to tighten any bolts.
This is also how the neck angle is set so that the strings will arrive at the right height for the bridge, and also the alignment- the centre of the neck must align with the centreline on the body.
The body mortice is cut first then the fitted neck to it, using a piece of ‘scrap’ to practice on until the angle and alignment is correct, then swapping it for the real neck to complete the dovetail joint.
After this I can glue the neck extension, install the truss rod and glue on the fretboard.
This headstock is going to be quite large so I added some ‘wings’ to each side to increase the width so the shape will fit on.
Steve designed his own headstock which I traced and marked out onto the wood before drilling the tuner holes and cutting out the shape.
Finally I rough carved the neck. I left it slightly oversized for now and will refine it after the frets are fitted. I may have to work on the fretboard first so it is good to leave a little leeway for this. Now I will let it settle for a while…
Contact us if you would like to commission your own epic custom build, or visit our online shop to see some ready made examples.
