Sometimes the best laid plans aren't all that great really. I got plans for the Gibson ES335 via e bay and they seemed fine to the naked untrained eye (i.e.: me). On closer examination there were some big omissions. In particular the contours for the sound board were not recorded, so shaping the top of the guitar would be hard, if not impossible, unless I left it flat (not an option).Also the thing looked bloody huge on the plans. After some guidance from my tutor and getting a copy of a set of plans for a cs356 Gibson (above right, thanks Strato & James) I made some adjustments to the original outline.
The new more compact shape was cut out on a bandsaw and is shown above.
Next up was the task of planing the joined pieces of mahogany to get a level surface to shape into the cs356. Incidentally the wood is Malaysian in origin but the original genus is from Honduras. Most of the mahogany imported to the USA now is from Peru and up to 75% is illegally harvested. Brazil put an embargo on mahogany harvesting many years ago and the illegal harvesting is now mainly in Peru.
Planing has a kinda "zen-like" quality to it and is a guilty pleasure I would highly recommend to everyone .The red gold (i.e. Mahogany) is now flat(ish)and ready to shape.
I spent the rest of the day improving the action on my old guitar and restringing it. Plays as sweet as a bird now. This student is on leave for a month and I leave you with the video below. The drummer now lives in Redhead NSW. The group are essentially defunct but left a great legacy of which this is but one small piece. Enjoy!
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