Airline Res-O-Glas copy.

Given my avatar, I don't think it's a secret that I'm a huge fan of twangy budget guitars from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

I've always wanted an old Airline Res-o-Glas, but very much didn't have the cash to throw down for a vintage or Eastwood reissue. I recently stumbled across some reproduction bodies that have modern neck pockets so you can make your own reproduction.

http://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww12/Jerolin7/orangeairline.jpg
This is the body I plan on using. Funky right? It's a blank canvas waiting to be filled in.

The Victim:
http://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww12/Jerolin7/06-22-09_2146.jpg
This is a vintage "Orpheus" guitar from the 60s. I thought it had a classic Teisco-ish MIJ look to it, but some research I've done points to it being European. Possibly even a "commie" made guitar.

The neck on it is terrible, the action is ridiculous even when lowered all the way, and it's just not too fun play in general. The tragedy of it is that the pickups sound pretty freaking cool, and the tremolo is pretty solid as well.

So my plan is to take the pickups, phase switch, tremolo, bridge, and put them on the res-o-glas body. A vintage style body with truly vintage hardware.

http://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww12/Jerolin7/06-22-09_2148.jpg

http://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww12/Jerolin7/06-22-09_2149.jpg

I have a friend with a first-act "wal-mart special" guitar that I found out has a compatible neck, and he has no idea how to play anything, and wants to get rid of it. So for $25 I'm buying the complete guitar and robbing the neck off of it.

My biggest worry is of the tremolo ripping off the body when I use it, but seeing as how it's a hollow body that can be split in half with ease, I'll just put some nuts on the inside of all the screws with washers under that. I think that might make it a little more stable.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

What a great project!

Where did you find the BODY???

Good luck!

Fun project! I wonder if you could take advantage of the clamshell body design. By putting an neck width plank of maple inside. Starting behind the neck pocket and running to the end pin. Like resonator guitars have.

Fun project! I wonder if you could take advantage of the clamshell body design. By putting an neck width plank of maple inside. Starting behind the neck pocket and running to the end pin. Like resonator guitars have.

That's actually pretty much exactly what they have anyways. Clever thinking.:smile:

Here is a pic of the inside of a National Newport.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/attachments/bad-dog-cafe/6839d1196576596-hypothetical-aluminum-body-question-newport-inside-jpg

What a great project!

Where did you find the BODY???


There is a guy selling them on ebay.

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/GuitarKitsUSA__W0QQ_armrsZ1

Here is a pic of the inside of a National Newport.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/attachments/bad-dog-cafe/6839d1196576596-hypothetical-aluminum-body-question-newport-inside-jpg

I absolutely love that body style. How does it play?

The vintage ones had single coils in a humbucker style casing correct?

I have 2 of the resoglass guitars, a National Val Pro 84 that is larger and made from white fiberglass and a National Newport 88 that is smaller and made from black fiberglass. I also have the same body style made from wood that is called a National Westwood 88.

The body style that you have was mostly recognized as being used by JB Hutto and was often referred to as "the Jetzons model" due to the modern shape. More recently Jack White of the white Stripes played one and then every young player wanted one and the prices on that model went up, before that you could pick them up pretty inexpensively.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IWqfvyO_nw8/RlQU5Fhvo6I/AAAAAAAAA-M/Py8PSrGEP-E/s400/JBhutto.jpg


I don't have a good pic of the Newport 88.

Here is the Val Pro 84
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/ValPro84.jpg

Here is the Westwood 88, it is made of wood but the same shape as the Newport resoglass models.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/National1.jpg

Here is a stock ad photo of the Newport 88, I don't have a good pic of mine... sorry to hijack your build thread...

For those interested here is a pic of a disassembled Airline.

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/6475/dsc01509uzs.jpg

Here's a pic of and original pickup from and Airline as well. Single coil in a humbucker package.

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/882/dsc03246w.jpg

Jerolin,

Did you ever complete this project? Curious to know how this turned out!