MIMF

Thanks, all! The puzzle pieces were cut by stacking a 3/4 sheet of maple on top of a 3/4 sheet of wenge, affixing a pattern, then cutting with a scroll saw. Each set of pieces was numbered and juxtaposed to create the checkerboard pattern. It took a lot of time, and there was significantly more gap ...

This is a bolt-on neck, with the neck tenon extending under the bridge pickup. The bolts are accessed through the pickup cavities so there are no bolts visible on the back of the guitar.

I started this guitar over four years ago. There were multiple times that I had to set it aside after encountering problems with the prep. Filling the gaps between the puzzle pieces turned out to be way more difficult than I thought, mostly because of the 3/4-inch thickness of the pieces. It plays r...

A quick internet search suggests that this is a Kawai S-70, circa 1963. Here is an image link: http://www.steinhauer-gitarren.de/gitarren.html

A friend turned me on to this really cool site that has weird pickups and guitars (mostly Japanese) cataloged ( http://drowninginguitars.com/2012/06/29/the-bizarre-guitar-pickup-encyclopedia/ . There is a Prestige and a Teisco pickup that look very similar to the ones in this guitar. Check out the &...

Nice guitar, and nice use of Pleistocene wood! I'm happy to see more lefty builds as well. The Explorer wiring is the same as a Flying V wiring, and you should be able to blend the volume of the individual pickups with the switch in the middle (My 81 Gibson V does this, as does the V I built several...

I'm a lefty, and I build mostly to support my own habit. The market for lefty parts has definitely improved, but it's still infuriatingly limited. What specifically are you looking to do?

Good, sharp chisels!

I like the guitar as well; very retro! The tail piece is really interesting; where did it come from?

I love flying Vs, and I love this build! The purpleheart compliments the maple very nicely. It doesn't look like there is a neck angle from the pictures. My 1981 Gibson doesn't have a neck angle, either, but the neck sits higher on the body to accommodate the bridge and pickup rings. If you find you...

I got the idea to install a right-handed Jazzmaster tailpiece instead of a left-handed one when I started looking at photos of vintage Fender Jazzmasters, and realized that Fender installed right-handed tailpieces on their first couple of runs of left-handed Jazzmasters. The right-handed tailpiece w...

And here is a view of the tail piece, the Buzz Stop, and the roller bridge before installation.

And a view of the back - no bolts or ferrules.

And here is a view of the body with the neck removed.

This guitar also has a bolt-on neck, but the bolts go through the tenon and into the body. The body is redwood with a canary wood cap. The redwood is pretty soft, so I epoxied nuts into the body for the bolts to screw into.

Hi All, Thank you very much for all of your input. It was great to read all of your comments and opinions about Bigsby B-5s and various other options. I finally settled on a Jazzmaster tailpiece simply because I could not find a left-handed B-5 anywhere (except on vendor who wanted over $225 US for ...

Are you using a connector (Like what EMG offers on their pickups) for the wiring? I've always thought it would be a good way to quickly switch out pickups without having to mess with the control cavity. I haven't found a connector that I like, though.

There is a pretty pronounced belly contour on the back, but no arm contour on the front. I've been considering getting an older non-reverse Firebird and flipping it to play left handed, so I've been looking at them for a while. They seem to be among the least desired vintage Gibson electrics, which ...

Hi All, I am planning to build a solid-body electric with a Gretsch Corvette vibe, and I was considering a vibrato tailpiece. I want to build it left handed and as light weight as I can. Gretsch uses a Bigsby B5, but these are heavy and very difficult (and expensive) to find left handed. I'm also co...

Bargainmusician.com also has some very inexpensive kits. I cannot speak to their quality, but dealing with the peculiarities of unfinished and/or lower-grade materials is part of the learning curve of a build. You would also have to shape the headstock, which can be done with hand tools and some pat...