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Bailey Custom Bandsman Build – Norwegian Wood – Part 1
Feb 24th
Making the Neck – Stage 1
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- Fretboard and Neck Blanks
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- The blanks are prepared
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- The neck is marked out
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- Test fitting the trussrod
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- The neck is cut out
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- Installing the truss rod
This guitar is based on the Bailey Bandsman with a few extra custom options.
I usually start by making the fretboard, as it is very handy to have for marking out the neck. Instead of using a drawing and transferring measurements, I can use the real thing, so it is quicker and more accurate.
The trussrod slot is much easier to do while the neck is still a square block of wood, using a simple fence guide on the router. Then the headstock angle is rough cut on the bandsaw, before routing it perfectly flat using my jig.
Then the rest of the neck can be cut out. This is a two stage process:
1 – Roughly bandsaw the neck leaving 2-3mm outside the line.
2 – ‘Profile’ the neck using the router to copy a pattern into the wood.
After this, I route the back surface of the headstock until it is the correct thickness for the tuners, usually about 15-15.5mm.
Now the back of the headstock is nice and flat I am able to drill the tuner holes on the pedestal drill.
Having done all that it is time to install the truss rod. A small fillet of wood is glued over the rod to hold it in place. This avoids any problems caused by a loose fitting rod which may otherwise rattle or buzz while playing.
Next job is to glue the fretboard on. I also have to glue the cap to the body blank pretty soon so I can start work on the body…keep an eye on the blog to see how work is progressing
As you can see, all my guitars are individually handmade. I do not have a pile of necks and bodies to go through like in the old days at the factory, so I have the luxury of totally dedicating myself to each one. People often ask me which guitar I enjoy making the most – the truth is, it is always the one I am making right now!
Imagine watching your custom guitar take shape with regular updates and pics? If you are interested, have a look at some more of our guitars. Any of these can be customised to your own preferences, or if you have an idea for your own shape we can build it for you, Contact Us with your required spec for a quote.
Bailey Custom Bandsman- Norwegian Wood
Feb 20th
I once had some wood, or should I say, it once had me…
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- One I made earlier
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- Ebony fretboard and Mahogany Body Blank
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- Highly figured Cap
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- Mahogany Body Blank
Kristian ordered his custom Bandsman through our online shop from the comfort of his home in Norway. We have many guitars all over the world but this will be a one of a kind in the country where it is going. A search through the wood room turned up these particularly stunning pieces. You can watch this guitar being made as I will make regular progress updates here on the blog. I can’t wait to see it myself!
Body wood
The back of the body is a single piece of mahogany and will be capped with Flame Maple.
Neck wood
The neck is a perfectly quartersawn single piece of Mahogany with an Ebony fretboard, headstock veneer and truss rod cover.
Inlays
No front dots- Mother of Pearl side dots only
Mother of Pearl Bailey Logo on headstock
Hardware
Tuners and bridge will be Gotoh 510′s chrome finish.
Pickups
Bareknuckle P90′s – A ‘Blue Note’ in the neck position and a ‘Nantucket’ for the bridge pickup, with Ebony pick up covers.
Finish
Tobacco burst all over with satin lacquer
Custom Build – Set neck, Single cut, Flamed Cap- P16
Jan 6th
….All good things come to those who wait….
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- Tuners on…
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- Bridge posts tapped into place…
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- Volume and tone wiring…..
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- 3-way switch
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- The pickups are taped in place during wiring
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- A coat of lemon oil on the fretboard
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- Strings on…
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- Knobs on.
This is guitar is finished and was meant to be delivered for xmas, but unfortunately it was delayed by the severe weather when nothing was moving….We have arranged to deliver it personally next weekend…..Not long to wait now Steve!
I will post some more pics of the finished guitar in a couple of days……click to go back to part 1
Martin Taylor’s guitar -‘The Chet’ Part 5/10 – making the finger rest
Nov 9th
…..for the resting of the fingers on……or ‘Ebony and Irony’
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- Pieces of ebony for making the finger rest – the top piece will become the mounting block
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- I used the bandsaw to cut out the shape (bottom piece)
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- The finished finger rest will be glued to this block then screwed into place
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- After careful fitting the screw holes were marked out
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- During the process I noticed that the neck wood was split
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- The original mounting screws had split the wood
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- No problem – very thin superglue was run into the split – an easy fix
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- A small notch was made using a file for the pickup to fit into
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- Tools used to fit the pickup (top) to the finger rest (bottom)
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- Epoxy glue is mixed with a drop of black dye
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- A spring clip holds the parts together while the glue dries
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- I just couldn’t wait to see what it looked like in place
Jun 7, 2009 @ 11:39
Work continues on Martin Taylor’s guitar….The finger rest is made from two pieces of ebony – one for the mounting block and one for the finger rest itself. This guitar had an unusual recess on the neck, to house the mounting block, so extra care had to be taken to make sure it was a good fit. This makes the rest much more solid – I might try that myself in future.
Whilst working I noticed a small split in the neck where the old screws had separated the wood. Super glue comes in several different thicknesses – I used the runniest – it is great for this sort of thing as it penetrates deep into the crack for an instant fix.
After that it was fairly straight forward to fit the pickup. A small recess was cut into the rest before gluing it on with epoxy. The mounting block was also attached with the same glue.
To finish I sanded the whole thing to 1500g before polishing it on the buffer.
Martin Taylor’s guitar – ‘The Chet’ Part 4/10 – Making the new bridge
Nov 7th
Making an ebony bridge for Martin Taylor’s guitar
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- The larger piece is what I will use to make the new bridge
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- I cut out the shape roughly on the bandsaw
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- Using the old bridge to mark the new mounting holes
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- The bridge mounting holes have to be drilled very accurately
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- the new bridge piece is marked out for carving
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- the old bridge at the top has a plastic saddle – good riddance to that!
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- The bridge piece is finished by adding the string slots
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- The ebony is finally polished to a high sheen
Jul 6, 2009 @ 11:36
Back in my comfort zone after making the celtic knots in the last part – can’t wait to see what it looks and sounds like.
The old bridge had a pieze pickup under the saddle which Martin wanted to have removed and replaced with an all ebony one. I decided to keep the base of the old one as it was already made from ebony and there was nothing wrong with it. All I had to do was make a new saddle piece.
The blank was roughly cut to size and then I used the old bridge to mark the mounting holes. After that the bridge was shaped and sanded to 1500g before finally being polished….
