Hollow-body ES-355 Replica

I thought it was about time to add a resonant-body guitar to my collection. Always loved the sound and looks of the Gibson ES355-style guitars, finally the plans came together.

A few things, however, I'd like to do a bit differently: a 25.5" scale and P90 pickups. Of course, the Bigsby B7 tremelo system

Humble beginnings

The neck in the picture came off a Strat. I filled in the peg holes, glued on extensions to the headstock and reshaped it for the 3 + 3 configuration and glued on Flame Maple finish veneers. I still have to do some fretwork, level and crown, but it looks like a nicely profiled feel and usable neck.

The wood used to make up the body is a piece of recycled veneered plywood. The outer skin has nice-looking grain. The final finish I have in mind will be a transparent two-tone nitrocellulose sunburst with cream bindings.

The top profile being shaped: weight and steam

It's OK and will work fine, but if done right, should have been done with molds in a steam press.

Assembly of the sides and covers

This is done inside a mold. Note the stiff wooden block that will hold the neck and provide material to mount pickups, the bridge and tremelo parts.

The rough body is now completed and awaiting the neck pocket and other cavities to be routed.

Here's what it looks like at this stage:

Incidentally, it weighs just over 4 lbs (1.871 Kg) and just tapping around the top sounds delightfully resonant.

The completed project

The photo was taken in natural light and appears pretty close to the real thing.

The guitar fitted with my custom-made flamed-maple neck

A test recording made with the guitar. Played on the neck pickup.

My rendition of "La Comparsa" with many liberties taken. Not quite a note-by-note copy of any work. The BT is from Goran's site.

Directly recorded with my Roland Cube 30X "recording" jack, A Quad GT for a bit of echo and Audacity software. Minimal editing was done on the sound ... no EQ except the tone control settings on the amp.

http://www.johanforrer.net/Guitars/LaComparsaES355.mp3