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Question on building a Gretsch style guitar - Bigsby and neck joins


Ratae Corieltauvorum

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I've had no luck with my attempts to buy a Duo Jet, so I thought I'd build one...why not I've done a few LPs so this should be fine.

 

I have some lovely Spanish cedar boards that will do a nice one piece chambered body, I'll put a walnut top on and a Honduran mahogany neck, ebony board and thumbnail inlays.

 

I managed to find a set of the Seymour Duncan Dynasonic types at a very very good price, and I'll use a Schaller roller bridge as this will be a DJ interpretation.

 

The two things I'm unsure of is:

 

1 Bigsby - The B7 has the follower bar that increases the angle of the break over the bridge, where the B3 allows a stratigh flow over the bridge.

 

Does anybody know what the theoretical differences there should be between these two type?

 

2 Gretsch neck joints have the feature where the end of the neck is raised off the body....what is the reason behind this design. Is it to accomodate the high bridges with the rosewood feet, and if so, if I go down the Schaller route I can use a LP style tenon joint straight into the neck pup cavity

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OK, posted there now too, I had posted on Gretsch talk, but don't think th etech knowledge is too high there, it's mainly the neck thing that intrigues me, why that stand off feature?

 

Just a guess, but I think it's a vestige from their hollow bodies, which proceeded the Duo Jet. You have to raise the neck to gain clearance from the pickups they used at the time...Dynasonics. Plus, it gives the Duo Jet much the same feel as a 6120 or whatever. My Astro Jet has the same feature...it's kinda nice, IMHO.

 

Or...maybe it's just the way they did things....:idk:

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Just a guess, but I think it's a vestige from their hollow bodies, which proceeded the Duo Jet. You have to raise the neck to gain clearance from the pickups they used at the time...Dynasonics. Plus, it gives the Duo Jet much the same feel as a 6120 or whatever. My Astro Jet has the same feature...it's kinda nice, IMHO.


Or...maybe it's just the way they did things....
:idk:

 

When I bough the Powerjet it ws the first thing I noticed and thought it was a great feature, I'd like to include it and yes, it was most likely to get the neck to clear the high surface mount pickups.

 

I just have to figure out how to execute it:confused:

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It's just a standard fingerboard extension. You could still do a mortise and tenon instead of the dovetail, with the fingerboard extension done either as added-on blocks or simply machined out of the tenon end of the neck.

 

Or, you could go the simpler way by making the tenon the full width of the fingerboard, similar to a bolt on neck. The tenon would then, in effect, be the fingerboard extension as well.

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About the B3 vs B7 design. the tension bar is there in order to put some extra break angle over the bridge.

 

I myself (having tried both the "normal" B7 and the same Bigsby on the same guitar with the tension bar removed) much prefer the B3 way, it increases tuning stability, makes the instrument more resonant, and the vibrato action is much smoother.

 

The guitar sustains just as nicely as before.

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About the B3 vs B7 design. the tension bar is there in order to put some extra break angle over the bridge.


I myself (having tried both the "normal" B7 and the same Bigsby on the same guitar with the tension bar removed) much prefer the B3 way, it increases tuning stability, makes the instrument more resonant, and the vibrato action is much smoother.


The guitar sustains just as nicely as before.

 

 

Yep. The ones with a tension bar just aren't nearly as cool. They just don't wiggle as nicely, or as well as the non-roller types.

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