Red Special Mk. II

Any more updates on this? I'm intrigued to see how far you've got

 

Be patient. I have to be as well, until the paint has cured.
I have already shot some coats of Rustin's plastic coating.

Regards,
Markus

 

Ok, here is the last update on the build process, since the RS is finished!

After some layers of Rustin's Plastic Coating, which was also used on the original, and some time latting it cure, I fine sanded and polished the neck and the body with Manzerna polishing compound.



The electronics cavity is shielded with copper foil.



Once the neck is screwed on, al electric components can be installed. On the RS, the electric components are not fixed to the pickguard. It can be removed with the strings on.



The pickguard itself is made from black Plexiglass (Perspex). I cut the shape with the lasercutter and made the bevel with a router bit and polished it. In the picture, the protective foil is still on the pickguard.



The backside was also covered with copper foil.



The Pickup sourrounds are also made from Plexi. I planed a piece of plexi from 3mm (which is the thinnest available sheet) to 2mm before cutting them on the lasercutter. After cutting them, I used a 2mm radiused router bit to round the edges. Afterwards, I polished them and glued them to the pickguard with a special adhesive for acryl.



Here you can see the tremolo in strung up situation.



And here is the first shot of the complete guitar:



Tuners are Gotoh Traditional Locking tuners with perloid buttons. The nut is made from blck tusq, but serves only as string guide, since the RS has a zero fret.

I will post more pictures, when I have some pictures taken in better lighting conditions.

So, after alot of work, the RS is done. It is a very special guitar, and now I really understand why exact replicas are so expensive. There are a lot of steps involved which are very unusual and take their time.

Thanks for your comments and your interest.

regards,
Markus

 

Looks amazing, great job.

 

Great job! looks brilliant, hopefully plays and sounds just as good

 

Got a vintage AC30 to try her out with? Seriously great work, precise and clean.

 

What is the name and purpose of that fret marker pattern? I have seen it on some acoustics, but never quite figures it out? is it based off of the harmonics?

 

That looks incredible! I never realized how unique the Red Special really is.

 

Thanks.
I don't have a vintage AC30, but I built one myself:
DIY AC30

I don't now if there is a special name to it. The 7th and 19th fret have two dots, the 12th and 24th have 3. So, yes, it is based on the harmonics.

Thank you. Yes it is really an unique guitar, and until you look at the construction, it is not that obvious.

Regards,
Markus

 

You sir are a master in what you do!

 

Fan-flippin-tastic! Thanks for the lesson.

 

7th and 19th are perfect 5ths from the open string and 12th fret octave.

5th and 17th are perfect 4ths from the open string and 12th fret octave.

Very important intervals for...just about everything to do with music theory.

 

Gotcha. Makes sense. I remember I was about to play some guy's acoustic. All I knew we're barre chords at the time so I tried to find the 7th fret and got all confused.

 

Hi Markus,
That Freebird looks like a very nice amp, if it sounds and responds anywhere close to the AC30HW that I tried, then you have something very special. Nice work!

Very Best regards,
Thos

 

Here, you'll want one of these too:

 

Great work. Love it!

 

Looks incredible mate, Great attention to detail and really clean work.

 

Thank you!

I will make a few pictures in the daylight once it gets warmer again. I promise ;-)

Markus

 

Amazing! This thread would not be complete without some commentary from the originator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ_OamX-PA8

 

Hi folks,

Here are the promised pictures. At last, I had some time and the opportunity to take pictures in sunlight.





















Thank you for watching.

Markus