1958-59 flying v first build

[joekumpan3]

Hello all, the internet is an amazing place! I found tdpri about a year ago and was so inspired by preebs les paul build(and others) and everyone on here that I am going to give building a guitar a go. I have been ripping out pickups and doing slight modifications to my own guitars since I was 15 or 16 and tried to make a few bodies back then but had no guidance.I have high school woodshop experience and that is about it.Nonetheless I hope to do this project(s) justice.I have spent about four months pouring over photos and books for reference since I do not have a vintage v to use.I do have a custom shop flying v standard(les paul and v mix) that seemed close..... untill i started drawing plans.Most of my technique involved blowing up the most straight on photos and using a knob or pickup ring as a size reference and modifying the tracing of the custom shop guitar.here is my planing stage....and by the way I have never posted pictures so we will see....

[joekumpan3]

like I said I am Learning,hopefully you can see theese photos.

[Fred_Garvin]

Good luck, There are some plans out there, check the printable guitar templates thread. I can't verify accuracy since my '58 flying V is in the shop.

[Bentley]

They have some great printable plans. Go there.

[mgdesigns]

http://www.gitarrebassbau.de/viewtop...10&t=6&start=0

Flying-V '59 is there & here.

58GIBSONFLYINGV-3.pdf

[glen smith]

Ooops, too late!

[joekumpan3]

thank you for the replies, I have many pictures to post of the build i just wanted to make sure I was well underway and it wasn't going to be a pile of junk.My plan is super detailed including the strange holes in the rear pickup cavity and such. I also mainly wanted to do all the plans and jigs and parts myself as much as possible.

[joekumpan3]

here are som more pictures of the drawings.

[joekumpan3]

cutout.Attachment 138023 ready to be glued onto mdf.Attachment 138024 roughly cut outAttachment 138025shaped Attachment 138026sanding the inside of the control cavity with a drumstick and flat stickmore to come.

[joekumpan3]

something happend to the last pictures.here same order as above

[joekumpan3]

picture of one of the body templates being cut out

[joekumpan3]

part of the enjoyment of this project was the searching for correct parts and items to make it. many items are from non guitar making industries so thinking outside the box and searching the internet has been a blast.here is a hard to find #2 roman times 6 line number stamper.here it is with the boxand a quick test with sharpie to make sure it is the same as the tracingit is very very close.

[joekumpan3]

some of those oddball things that I hunted down were theese, 1/8 eyelet which are used instead of ferrulesI got theese from a place on the net that had a pink cupcake logo!Another is fine rib rubber corrugated floor matall standard stuff, just not for guitars.I imagine that the project in the gibson factory in the late fifties was a "go ahead and do it but don't spend a lot of time or money' kind of deal.The three modren guitars(v,explorer and modren) were so radical that I'm sure ther was a lot of skepticism and little support, not to mention suppliers.I imagine they grabbed what could from the shop and office and such(like the floor mat)and built it.The v seems to glean some stuff from the tele like color combo and through the body stringing something that to my knoledge gibson had never done.

[joekumpan3]

My first two templates together.

Oh what is this?It appears that I measured an inch too long. I must have measured from the thickness reference point at one inch(the other is at 11")because it line up perfectly there.

I went back and redrew it on my master plan, by the way I made five 1/1 copies at kinko's that I forgot to mention.One thing that I like about this whole process is it gives me a real feel for the design by drawing then making templates before any wood is cut.

[Mightyaxeman]

Originally Posted by joekumpan3

some of those oddball things that I hunted down were theese, 1/8 eyelet which are used instead of ferrulesI got theese from a place on the net that had a pink cupcake logo!Another is fine rib rubber corrugated floor matall standard stuff, just not for guitars.I imagine that the project in the gibson factory in the late fifties was a "go ahead and do it but don't spend a lot of time or money' kind of deal.The three modren guitars(v,explorer and modren) were so radical that I'm sure ther was a lot of skepticism and little support, not to mention suppliers.I imagine they grabbed what could from the shop and office and such(like the floor mat)and built it.The v seems to glean some stuff from the tele like color combo and through the body stringing something that to my knoledge gibson had never done.

I've always wondered why the rubber matt lines run the length of the body. Seems like they would work better running front to back. Not that I will help all that much. They only ways to play a v sitting are on a strap or with the lower bout between your legs. Still I think the mat lines should go front to back.

[joekumpan3]

New neck template angles checked.Zeroed.

neck angle, 3 degrees.

I was going to make the angle 2 degrees but I made a small mock up and found that the pickplate on the one side didn't let the thumb wheel go down low enough.The 3 degree angle is also built into the tennon and I will show later how that all comes together.
17 degree headstock angle.

[joekumpan3]

Fretboard template, notice how wide the markers are.The two E strings just touch the outside edge of the markers.

A shot of my home made router table with the neck template and FB template after trimming the neck to the FB.

fuzzy picture of both together.

anchor checked.

very good.
tennon cut and checked.

I take my time and trim it a little big then take it down to exactly 1 1/2 inches and make sure it is perfect.

[joekumpan3]

Thanks for your intrest mighty axe man, the ribs do go front to back like a tank tread.Regardless as you say it is pretty much useless nobody plays like that, the guitar sticks up kind of funny.I play mine between my legs.

[joekumpan3]

Body template # 2, holes drilled for mortise and I found that one of the template mounting holes on centerline would get routed away so I used the mystery holes location in the rear pickup cavity for template mounting.This may be what they were for originally.

roughly cut out.

Alittle off on the right sideI reallign the plexiglassstraight edge alittle and route it again.

Better the pocket is slightly small for a tight fit.

[joekumpan3]

The fit is so nice and tight.

I will leave it so I can shave it down at final fitting.I checked the centerline from the nut to the end of the body and all is straight.That is always a plus!I will try to learn to take more action photos too and measurements.I am just not in the habbit.
The extra hole that I have not found on other plans or templates and the input jack hole.

That extra hole works in conjunction with the control cavity route extending it about 3/8 of an inch from where the rout ends.It is a 1" forstner hole to the same depth as the cavity and makes a crecent hole.The 57 prototype did not have this and is probably a result of moving the knobs apart slightly because all of the 58-59's have them.Why they didn't modify the template? Who knows.