Basic Design and Layout Options
The photo below shows Res-O-Glas Guitar Bodies as they are shipped prior to assembly. Notice on the bodies how there is no routing for pickups, pots or switches. The pickups may be located anywhere on the body surface between the neck and bridge. This design aspect allows the body to be a "blank slate" for you wildest guitar design. No painting is required, allowing our customers to be totally creative, yet end up with a product that has the potential of looking pro-built.
Modifications to your Res-O-Glas Guitar
Res-O-Glas Guitar bodies yearn to be modified. This section demonstrates just how many looks and sounds are achievable if you purchase a Res-O-Glas Guitar body. Below are some examples of guitars built by our customers from our Res-O-Glas body kits. Notice how different they vary in terms of the locations of the knobs, types of pickguards used and the number and positioning of the pickups. For more examples of guitars designed and built by our customers, visit our Gallery
The photo below left shows how high a neck sits on a Res-O-Glas Guitar. This height clearance over the body, coupled with surface-mounted pickups that are not recessed in a pickup cavity are unique to Res-O-Glas Guitars. Our design allows for soapbar style pickups that look similar to the one in the middle and have a height clearance of 5/8" and Humbuckers using one of our universal pickup rings to be mounted directly on top of the guitar. Our pickup rings are available in .480" (neck position) and .675 (bridge position) thicknesses automatically covert standard Humbuckers so they have a similar height and profile. Res-O-Glas Guitars require a floating style bridge that can expand at least to height of 0.90" in order to clear the surface mounted pickups you select to use on your guitar.
Selecting a Neck
Pick a neck - any neck from the group shown below and it will work with one of our Res-O-Glas bodies WL bodies. From left to right, a Danelectro baritone neck, a 1970's Epiphone 12 string neck, an Eastwood Airline neck and a Telecaster style neck would all fit our WLT bodies we offer. The Warmoth 24" short scale Strat neck with rounded heel would fit our WLS Res-O-Glas style bodies. Since these necks are used in conjunction with a floating bridge, any standard scale length is possible - just slide the bridge into the correct location for ideal intonation.
Necks for use with our WL pocket bodies
The "R" style guitar body accepts standard 3 bolt in-line vintage guitar necks that originally appeared on Airline, Supro and National necks. The narrower Greco neck (below left), Silvertone neck (installed below center) and vintage Supro neck (below right) all would work with the R style body with modification. Due to their limited production quantities, we do not post "R" style guitar bodies in our store. But we do have them available. If you have a vintage neck or a narrow neck that you would like to use in your build, contact us for availability of "R" style bodies at: info@guitarkitsusa.com
Necks for use with our R pocket bodies
A profile for an example of this type of vintage neck is below. All Res-O-Glas R bodies include instructions on how to modify a neck measuring at the heel that is less than 2-3/16" wide using 80 grit sandpaper on a sanding block.
Selecting Your Pickups
Our pickup rings accept a variety of pickups - both new and vintage allowing countless combinations. A chrome covered humbucker is shown installed in our pickup ring, a Dimarzio on the upper left, a Seymour Duncan on the upper right, a Epiphone in the lower left and an empty ring on the lower right. All three pickups fit in our pickup ring. The tabs that hold the spring adjustment on the chrome Humbucker (left) were removed or bent to fit into the pickup ring. The extra long replacement pole pieces we include with our pickup rings allow you to secure the pickup into the pickup ring. The pickup can now be surface mounted to your guitar.
Selecting a Bridge
Since there is no routing on the Res-O-Glas body, the pickups you selected for your build will be surface mounted on top of the guitar. This is the same type of configuration that was utilized with vintage Res-O-Glas Guitars. In order to clear the pickup heights, you will need to use a floating bridge that extends at least 0.90" inches high. Many stock bridges will extend to this height, others may be modified very easily. A traditional floating bridge with tune-o-matic is below on the left. Most of these bridges are designed for arch-top guitars and might need to be slightly sanded in order to have a flat bottom for the Res-O-Glas Guitar. A highly modified bridge is below in the middle in order to fit the narrow "wing" style pickguards we offer (styles 2-5). A reproduction of the original rosewood Valco bridge is available via two reputable eBay vendors, both whose products we approve of: lawman-mike and red-stains-5.
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