ShortScale.org

I keep trying to stop doing this shit. Honestly. How could I pass this up? It's got this freakish Elvis glam appeal. The only pictures I can dig up on this (4 switch stereo) model are of NY and the Edge.

My question is: do I paint it bright white, tinted, or jet black? I am going to have to reconstruct the neck, so it will never be the real deal. Then again, I'll have a rare vintage replica for a fraction of cost (even RI). I am not committed to any color scheme yet. I can get gold or silver parts. (I could also paint it Mustang orange or Les Paul gold). Black Phoenix is a nice though because it will rise out of the ashes of the fallen bird. But I already bought a Falcon scratch plate.

Black with white trim would be easier than trying to obtain and replicate orange spRakleZ over binding. I don't know if I could get it perfect. That said, I think I could fake it. I don't like gold parts, but that's missing the point. The WF is the epitome of gaudy American mid-century design. If white with sparkle orange, I can try to get some vinyl cut into the GRETSCH logo, which I have in an EPS file. If black, I get a simple white decal like I have done dozens of times.

Of course, the missing neck is the elephant in the livingroom. And there's zero documentation because Gretsch players don't get into this kind of repair work like Fender people do--same with Rickenbackers. People HAVE TO with Gibson because the heads fall off at will. I bought an unbound through-neck blank, so I would have to forego, rout around the frets, or re-fret it. To do it properly, I would have to cut it down the middle and slip a thin strip of carbon fiber into it! But fuck that. I can promise you I will lose interest before that will ever happen.

gretsch forums could probably lead you to finding the correct binding, i vote full out white falcon

dude, you could actually make money off of this one (if you wanted). what scale is the neck? if it's gibson 24.75" scale you just get a gibson neck of some sort and modify the headstock.

finboy wrote:gretsch forums could probably lead you to finding the correct binding, i vote full out white falcon

+1 on the full out White Falcon.

+2.
White Falcon

Looks like another big white guitar in my future! Even Fran says dew it. I may be a while on this one.

I am scouring the web right now in my research and parts finding phase. Luckily with RIs, there are more parts available. Now to find bargains. The main choices are between Gretsch brand, Dearmond, and TV Jones.

Here are the pup choices:
Hilotron: single coil in an HB housing
Dynasonic: P90 stylee
Filtertron: double coil

I was looking at the model Billy Duffy used in The Cult's heyday, its quite different

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DO THE FUCKING GREEN ONE.

wait.



PARPLE FALCON!!!!!??!?!!!

Sloan wrote:wait.



PARPLE FALCON!!!!!??!?!!!

I liek Billy Duffy. I had no idea he was from Manchester.

White Falcon for sure

Falcooooooon punch

DO IT

This isn't a Gretsch board and my projects are long and tedious. Still, you never know when you might have to improvise on a missing NECK. To date I have gotten almost all the parts. I found vintage gold tuners and Bigsby, a neck blank, and Filtertron. The only parts I still need are the glitter, and a neck pickup. WELL, AND THE GUITAR.

Fucking brown UPS let me down. They didn't accept my delivery signature, so the body is a ten mile drive, open during business hours during the week. So it sits all weekend, in the cold, out of my reach. They claimed to have made three attempts, even though I only found two notices. Sure enough, there was another in the yard. There is no direct and easy way to send feedback online, so I will try to fill something out at the warehouse. If I sign for it and tell them to leave it on the porch, they should just dew it.

I have sourced a few places on ebay that sell vinyl glitter in tape form or sheets. Most of my returns are in the UK for some reason. WTF? Are they making crowns over there? Is glitter toxic? I considered getting tangerine to match modern Falcons, but decided to get gold and spray it with amber, like they did in 1964. The neck blank is spectacular, heavy, and uses choice maple. Uh, but it's the wrong fucking scale. I could reuse it for something else, but instead I am going to pull the frets and replace them in the proper places. That way I can practice on a $100 no-name neck. Luckily I have a Gretsch Streamliner to look at to match the dimensions and inlays. Instead of buying expensive MOP squares and trying to get them round, I bought some MOP earring pieces at the crafts store for $5. I will have to cut them in half and make a few smaller.

OK. Here's the money shot. I don't have many photos and no schematic, but I found a drawing online for making miniature paper guitar models. Using several photos of various model years, I managed to use it piece together a scale drawing in Adobe Illustrator. All I really need from it is to get the headstock, but I like the idea of having a blueprint available.

A guy on the Gretsch board posted a pic he took of his computer, showing a page out of a book, of an experimental diagram that Fred Gretsch drew in 1957. It looks like it could almost work, but it only covers two of the four toggle switches in the upper horn. It shouldn't be too hard to guess at how one might duplicate the circuits for the extra switches. I didn't draw it to have two jacks (like a Rickenbacker). Whatever I end up with, I don't think I want two jacks. I read that the Edge's 64 is wired for mono. Does this look right? I may have misinterpreted it. It seems crazy to put caps on switches, but look at this TV Jones wiring harness. It seems to confirm they have them shoved in somehow. Between halves of the switch?

i got a major falcon boner here !!

if the white falcon was an offset too, im sure GOD would play it and endorse it for free at NAMM.

GO WHITE

This is awesome.

I might be a bit late to this one seeing how everyone but Sloan voted for White, but I love the look of Black Falcons!
Shiny black and gold - love them...

hell yea dude. black falcon. that's like hotter than a les paul custom.

Do it right, paint it white!