Yet another `Studio L` to go under the knife

[pete1951]

Front of bridge bust off, bridge lifting, neck still OK,(the guitar on the right) I think we know what happens next....

[Pickers Ditch]

Please keep me informed, young man, I may well be interested.

[pete1951]

I may post photos of this to show how I do conversions to resonator, I have lots of other things on the go, so it may take a while to finish.
PT
Might do the top in flamed maple

[Pickers Ditch]

Wot? You're gonna roast it on a BBQ?
Looking forward to seeing that.

[pete1951]

So what will be my first step? I want to know where to make a hole. First I put on a top and bottom string of the size I want to use and tune to pitch (I`ve left the other 4 old strings on , but the top and bottom are new). Then (using the harmonic on the 12th fret) I find where the saddle is going to sit and draw a line from side to side (most of the line will be cut off , so it goes across the whole body)

Then I mark the centre line (from the middle of the nut to middle of the bridge) and a line at 90 degrees to it that goes through the centre point of the bridge saddle. With a pair of dividers I scribe a 9 9/16" circle.
I`m ready to cut a hole now, but with all the other stuff I want to do who knows when that will be...... watch this space if your interested.
PT

[Deleted]

Interesting projects Pete. Does the zero fret and implicit low action cause any buzzing issues when using as resonator?

[pete1951]

To get the open strings to ring true most (Eko, Hofner, Burns) `60s zero-fret guitars use a size up fret wire for the z/fret. This guitar is like that, so the action at the first fret is a little higher than it needs to be. I like very low action (for a slide player) so if it had needed a refret I would have used the same size throughout. I guess with a v.low set-up the cutting action of the string when tuning might saw into the z/fret and cause a buzz on the 1st. I have refreted several however and 10-20-30 years on none have been returned.
PT

[pete1951]

The `rim` of the well is being tried in . This well will be in 2 parts, sometimes I make a block, and router out the `shelf` that the cone sits on, on this one it will be in 2 bits, so there will be a circle of 1/4 ply glued to this ring to form the well.


To get the well in I will have to cut a little more out of the top (the area covered in tape and crossed out). The well will then be glued and screwed to the under side of the top . Then some sort of hardwood will be glued over the whole thing to make it stiffer (and hopefully look better)
The `ladder` braces can be seen in the body, they were not glued in very well!
PT

[pete1951]

Found some off-cuts of maple , just managed to cover the top (I have plans to put something over the middle bit)

PT
The neck-stick has a different function in my conversion , cutting a hole in the top removes stiffness, so the stick keeps the body stable.

[pete1951]

Well its done, not sure about the extra frets, but I had to cover the gap with something (the top was an off-cut from another guitar, so not big enough to cover the whole top)


PT
Sounds good, will try out the `Hot Plate` at a local jam on Tuesday

[Big John Levee]

very cool, I like flamed maple