The Red Special

My next project is a copy of Brian May's Red Special. Well, not exactly a copy. The overall shape will be the same, but I'm planning on giving this one some of my special touches - f-holes and output jack on the back. Still haven't decided about pickup configuration or bridge choice.

Here is the basic sketch, that I found online, of the Red Special body with my wood choices in the background. I'll be using padouk for the top and maple for the back. The center piece is a laminate of the two woods.


Here, I've routed out internal chambers on the maple before gluing the padouk top to the wings. This really won't give the guitar any acoustic qualities but it will lighten the weight some. It will also help with the f-holes that I am considering for the top.

Here, the padouk has been cut to a rough shape. I won't glue the top to the wings until I decide I've decided on the f-holes and the configuration of volume and tone pots as well as the pick up selector.