GS Mini mods

[fleetwing]

Thought I would share some mods to my GS Mini.  Removed the pick guard, bone saddle and pins from Colosi, ("antiqued" in very strong coffee!), arm rest is a shameless copy of the Pearse style made with cypress, tuners are Hipshot classic open gear w/ amber buttons, and the headstock overlay is also made from cypress.  FYI, the headstock overlay came about because the original was pealing off.  Taylor was quite happy to replace the neck, but after considering the expense of taking the guitar to a repair center (and then again when the repairs were done), 2+ hours away, I decided to make my own.  Actually a fun project.

[TaylorGirl]

Wowsers...you did an awesome job. That looks great...everything looks well together.

[fleetwing]

Thank you.  It's been a fun project!

[guitarsrsoawesome]

That is so completely awesome! Love how the headstock overlay actually pops with the top...that's such a great idea which I don't feel I've seen done very much.  Love the arm rest, too.  Great!

[fleetwing]

Thanks, glad you like it.  The arm rest does seem to make a difference as I tend to allow my arm to have to much contact with the soundboard, especially on a small body guitar.  This keeps my arm clear and I noticed an improvement in sound.

[Guzzijeff]

Great job!  The whole thing looks beautiful... and I love the headstock. How did you do that? I would love to do something... anything!.. to the headstock on my GS minis.  I feel it's the only thing that makes these great guitars look cheap.

[Fire]

Awesome job on the headstock overlay. I've always thought the original plastic headstock overlay was the "cheesiest" part of the GS Mini. I've been meaning to find a mod for it. Thanks for the idea.

[Fire]

Great job!  The whole thing looks beautiful... and I love the headstock. How did you do that? I would love to do something... anything!.. to the headstock on my GS minis.  I feel it's the only thing that makes these great guitars look cheap.

+1 to this. Same sentiment

[fleetwing]

Headstock overlay wasn't to difficult.  Prepped HS by finishing pealing off the old overlay (removed tuners first!), scraping the old glue off down to bare wood.  Scraping better than sanding for keeping the wood flat.  Sliced a thin piece of cypress on the table saw, approximately 3/16th, a little larger than I needed.  Traced the outline of the headstock and then cut out on the bandsaw, leaving a bit all around (edge against the nut was square and smooth from the table saw).  Glued it to the headstock with Titebond III wood glue.  Drilled holes in new overlay for the tuners. Did final shaping to the headstock with sandpaper.  This took the finish off the edge of the headstock as well.  After all final sanding, finished all exposed wood with Minwax rub on poly, satin, 3 or 4 coats.  Matches the original finish perfectly!  When done the overlay is probably about 1/8th in thick or a bit less.

[fleetwing]

Thanks for the compliments! .  Correction on dimensions:  overlay started out at a bit under 1/8th in and final sanding left it at 1/16th.  Thickness was dictated by the capacity of the Hipshot tuners.  Finished headstock is about 9/16th in thick.  Sorry about that....at my age I shouldn't trust my memory . Also, I beveled the bottom edge of the overlay to match the angle of the headstock in reference to the back face of the nut.

[azslacker]

Great looking GSM. Now that's a custom! Headstock is a 1000% improvement over black plastic.

[fleetwing]

I had put a cypress TRC on first, and that was an improvement, but....

[Cindy]

This looks terrific! Thanks for sharing.

[fleetwing]

My pleasure.  One more picture, the rest of the Hipshot tuners in case anyone is interested.

[guitarsrsoawesome]

I wish I could see this thing in person!