aristocrat question

grayghost53

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i'm curious if there would be a way to access thru bridge pick-up hole and insert and glue a block between back and top to allow for a stoptail on a current production Aristocrat?
 

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I had one and there is not a big pup routing in the top. I don't think you could insert a block big enough to anchor a stop tailpiece and there is not a lot of access. In my estimation, you would have to cut the back or top to get the working room.
 

grayghost53

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well that's pretty much what i figured, but it was worth a shot. thanks for the input.
 

Nuuska

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hello

Some old Gretsch guitars had that big round leather thingy in the back - to protect against buckle rush ? - so if you make a "hatch" in the back of the guitar to insert the block and then cover everything with a "buckle-rush-protector"

Step-by-step-instructions - use at your own risk.
Cut the hole for the hatch - big enough is better than slightly too small. Use a router with template. Naturally protect rest of surface
Make one piece that aligns with top and has flat underside.
Make one piece that aligns with back and has flat topside.
Make third piece that fills the gap between the first two.
After the first two are in place - carefully "jack" the top from bottom enough to slide the third piece with glue in between.
Remove "jack" - maybe even add some compression from outside.

Install stop tailpiece.

The biggest problem I see with this approach is that it would be very time consuming to make the curves match with top and bottom.
Surely it can be done - they even built Kheops . . .
 
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DThomasC

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Well, I think you could go through the pickup route if you cut the block in half. That, in itself, isn't much of a compromise. As far as fitting the block goes, the back of the guitar is completely flat, so that makes things easier, but the top has two parallel braces which are pretty much exactly where you'd want to put the studs for the tailpiece. Not a showstopper, but the braces complicate what might be a simpler job on some other guitars.

BTW: I hope you're talking about a NS Aristocrat and not a vintage one. Of course in 40 years someone will look at a NS Aristocrat with stop tailpiece and shriek "My eyes! Why would anyone do something so horrible?" (Go ahead and do it to a new instrument. They'll just have to deal with it after we're gone.)
 

sailingshoes72

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Butchered is the right word for that hack job! It looks like someone carved the parallel braces with a pocket knife. This old "saw bones" surgery does do a good job of illustrating the problems that the parallel (or A-frame) braces present for the reconfiguration of the pickup routings or the change to a stoptail bridge. Kinda like a cadaver in a med school anatomy lab.

By the way, I like the script Guild logo on the headstock!
 

matsickma

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My brother picked up a late 50's M65 Freshman that someone made into a hybrid Aristocrat/Les Paul. A previous owner added a vintage Gibson bridge pickup, varitone switch, bridge volume control, tuneamatic and Hard Stop.
Multiple pieces of wood were carefully glued in over a region spanning the bridge and hard stop. So it can be done. You just have to fit the blocks in place. Will need to take your time and work the wood.

By the way...that guitar sounds fantastic!

M
 

grayghost53

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since the bridge is "pinned" on the current models and the Newark Bluesbird has a stoptail and appears to share the same body (except for the tops) does anyone know if there's a reason why a stoptail can't just be added to the Aristocrat?
 

grayghost53

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Nuuska

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since the bridge is "pinned" on the current models and the Newark Bluesbird has a stoptail and appears to share the same body (except for the tops) does anyone know if there's a reason why a stoptail can't just be added to the Aristocrat?


According to Guild webpage the bodes are not quite same size - so if the outline is cut differently, then the inside routing may wary as well.
 

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since the bridge is "pinned" on the current models and the Newark Bluesbird has a stoptail and appears to share the same body (except for the tops) does anyone know if there's a reason why a stoptail can't just be added to the Aristocrat?



It's a plywood top. The studs will pull right out.
 
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