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Build Your Own Custom Guitar – 27 Aug to 4 Sept – BYO-296
Marcel’s four string bolt on bass made here on the Bailey build your own custom guitar course
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- Marcel with his latest masterpiece
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- Marcel made this in 7 days
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- The magic number
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- Build your own…
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- The headstock
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- Such a gorgeous piece of wood…
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- Siberian poplar cap
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- Black hardware and pickups
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- Recessed neck anchor washers
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- Rear view
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- Side view
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- BYO-296
Marcel made this bass competely from scratch in seven days on a recent build your own custom guitar course at the Bailey workshop. Does that seem incredible? As far as I am aware there is nowhere else in the world you an do this…Design and build your own custom instrument in seven days- impossible? No…That is what we do here…Interested? Check prices and availability | more courses
Marcel is one of our regulars even though he has to come all the way from Holland. I have lost count of how many instruments he has made here now- I think he is going for a record- I’m sure he will chip in and remind me! What about a ‘build your own acoustic’ next Marcel?
Build Your Own Custom Guitar – 27 Aug to 4 Sept – BYO-295
Kevin pushes the boundaries with his first guitar made on our Build Your Own Custom Guitar Course.
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- Kevin made his own guitar
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- Close up of pearl inlay
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- Custom fretboard inlay
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- Custom inlay
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- 3 a side chrome tuners
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- Rear view of thru neck
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- Cream P90 in the neck position
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- Flame orange – custom colour
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- Chrome hardware
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- Carved top
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- neck thru body construction
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- BYO-295
Kevin made his first guitar on a recent build your own custom course here at the Bailey Workshop. It took seven days to create this instrument from raw blocks of wood which shows you just what is possible on our course. He wanted a neck thru, carved top, electric guitar with ‘flame orange’ maple cap and custom girl inlay on the headstock and custom lettering on the 12th fret, so his design really pushed the boundaries of what is possible, but he was a very fast worker!
He chose to have a humbucker (with a coil cut built into the tone control) at the bridge, and a P90 in the neck position. This gives a wide range of tones at the flick of a switch.
To save time the inlays were made by our good friends at Small Wonder, so all Kevin had to do was inlay the ready made ‘girl’ shape into the headstock and the letters into the fretboard. Incidentaly we asked for just mother of pearl but Mike at Small wonder couldn’t help himself from making the shoes red!
Thankfully Kevin liked it like that, and I had to agree Mike was right…
Build Your Own Custom Guitar – 27 Aug to 4 Sept – BYO-294
Jan’s first instrument made on our build your own custom guitar course
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- Jan with his self made guitar
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- headstock with custom logo
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- locking tuners with ebony buttons
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- I am drooling…
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- spalted maple cap
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- You can’t have this one
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- I know….
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- Look at it!
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- Chrome hardware and pickup covers
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- Another view…Look!
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- set neck construction
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- BYO-294
Jan made this on a recent build your own custom guitar course here at the Bailey workshop. It took him seven days (with a day off in the middle) to turn raw blocks of wood into the finished article you see here.
Apart from the stunning wood Jan chose for his custom build, this one was fairly straight forward. Carving spalted maple can be tricky but he was well up for the task. The ebony buttons on the tuners add a touch of class….
Build Your Own Custom Guitar – 27 Aug to 4 Sept – BYO-293
Peter’s neck thru body bass- made on our build your own custom guitar course
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- Peter with his BYO bass
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- custom logo on headstock
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- serial no: BYO 293
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- build your own custom bass
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- smooth transition from neck to body
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- emg pickups and black hardware
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- emg pickups and black hardware
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- 4-string fretless bass
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- neck thru construction
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- neck thru body construction
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- Body
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- BYO-293
Peter made this bass in 7 days on a recent course here at the Bailey workshop. He chose every aspect of the design- the style of construction, wood, and pickups etc – Nice work Peter!
How to design your own guitar by Mark Bailey
Little Eye video with Bailey Bootlegger Acoustic guitar
Euan Malloch plays his Bailey ‘Bootlegger‘ acoustic guitar in his band Little Eye
Great Job Euan! If you like this visit Little Eye on Facebook for more.
Build your own custom guitar – BYO 298 – Dave Fletcher
…Dave’s second guitar made on our course…
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- Custom headstock inlay
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- bound headstock
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- Compensated nut
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- ‘Throbak’ pickups
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- switch layout
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- custom electrics
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- Flame maple cap
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- Carved top
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- custom sunburst
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- mahogany back and neck
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- byo 298
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- Dave did it…
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- re-crowning the frets
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- Putting the strings on
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- Assembly
How to design your own guitar by Mark Bailey
Dave came on a recent build your own custom guitar course at the Bailey workshop and made this beauty, which he then left with us for spraying. This was just before we got our new UV lacquer system so we used traditional nitro-cellulose which takes 8-12 weeks to spray and polish. He is the last of the bunch to come and assemble his guitar after circumstances prevented him from finishing on the same day as Kevin.
The guitar has a stunning flamed maple cap with a custom colour that Dave chose for the sunburst.
The pickups are ‘Throbak’s‘ – handmade in the USA and sounded awesome. There is an extra switch which adds an out of phase option.
Crown inlays, a distinctive headstock inlay, and binding around the fretboard and headstock were all made here by Dave himself adding to the totally custom look.
This is the second guitar Dave has made on our course- his first was an Archtop with the same headstock inlay. Dave has made two of the most stunning instruments ever on our course.
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Jim Cairnes Colt Peacemaker guitar- finished at the Bailey workshop
Jim’s son Marvin came on our Build your Own course to finish his father’s ‘Colt Peacemaker’ Guitar.
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- Me, Marvin, and Peacemaker
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- It Lives!
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- Stick ’em up
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- Cairnes pickups
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- Hammer- pickup selector switch
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- Trigger – volume control
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- From the back
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- The Colt
How to design your own guitar by Mark Bailey
You may remember last month we finished Jim Cairnes last guitar after he became too ill and finally passed over to the great workshop in the sky. When the family were looking through Jim’s workshop they found the body for this ‘Colt Peacemaker’ Guitar started 35 years ago and a neck which was meant for another guitar.
The Colt Peacemaker guitar was Jim’s design and he made a few different models in the ’70’s and 80’s. There is one on display in the American Guitar Museum, and there have been rumours of well know players owning one, but in reality the Cairnes family have no idea how many were made or where they all are.
Marvin’s idea was to put the last remaining body (already sprayed by Jim) together with an almost complete neck to create a working guitar which was mostly done by his father. He must certainly be a chip off the old tree- he did a lot of the work beforehand so all we had to do here was finish the neck, spray it, assemble it, and then set it up.The brass parts were ‘cast’ and he had to spend hours polishing them to a high sheen. He made the bridge from scratch, and the pick ups he also hand wound himself from notes written by his father.
On plugging it in, it was impossible not to smile…this is a piece of history that rocks! It sounded great- Even just operating the switches and controls is great fun…playing it is really something unforgettable.
The experience has given me a great deal of respect, not only for Jim’s incredible attention to detail, but also Marvin’s determination to get it finished.
So, after 30 years the last Colt has finally come to life and will now be restored to the family for safe keeping. I would like to thank all the Cairnes family for allowing me play my part- It was both a privilege and a pleasure.
Build your own guitar – Sat 15th and Sun 16th October
Shona starts building a guitar for her son, Stevie continues with his 5-string fretless archtop bass, and Marvin finishes his fathers ‘Colt’ guitar started 30 years ago!
A busy weekend at the bailey workshop
Shona and her son Neil came for a visit during the last course to chose some wood and finalise design for a double birthday treat. She is doing the course as a present to herself but making the guitar for Neil who celebrates his 30th this year. Shona recently spent 9 months on a furniture making course in the States, and is using the course to ‘keep her hand in’ until she gets her own workshop space. By the end of the two days she had successfully turned her rough wooden blanks into something resembling a neck. Next time she will make the body and start putting it all together.
Stevie continued working on his masterpiece. He managed to cut out his f-holes and glued the bracing onto the top plate. He then spent the rest of the time he was with us carving out the inside of his back plate. We reckon he’s had about 10 days so far- it takes 20-30 days to make an archtop so he is doing very well. With a bit of luck he will start to glue the body together next time.
You may remember last month we finished Jim Cairnes last guitar after he became too ill and finally passed over to the great workshop in the sky. When the family were looking through Jim’s workshop they found the body for this ‘Colt’ Guitar started 35 years ago and a neck which was meant for another guitar. Marvin’s idea was to put the two together to complete the work his father had started-although they knew of several in existence none of them belonged to the family, so it it was both an honour and a pleasure to play my part in helping to make it happen.