I'm planning on adding some knobs and switches to my Electromatic Pro Jet. I'm looking for some rear body cavity covers. Just black plastic. I think for what I want I can get away with buying just the one triangle shaped one. I've looked in eBay, Angela Instruments, and Stew Mac, but have yet to find the ones I'm looking for. Any ideas of where one might find a source of these parts?

Whew...I had no idea what you meant by body cavity panels....

Cut your own dude. Best bet is to get a piece of pickguard material from Stew Mac and cut it.

Whew...I had no idea what you meant by body cavity panels....

Funny JB. I like that. I never quite knew the proper term lol.

Cut your own dude. Best bet is to get a piece of pickguard material from Stew Mac and cut it.

Brickwall, i didn't think of that, thanks. Any idea on templates? I suppose i could trace my circle one three times and make the triangle.

Brickwall, i didn't think of that, thanks. Any idea on templates? I suppose i could trace my circle one three times and make the triangle.

Depends, are you routing your own cavities? If so, use whatever guide you are using for that to make the panels. I've made pickguard templates from cardboard before, or illustration board.

Yes, I'm fairly certain I will be routing my own cavities. The cardboard idea is not too shabby. This is all kind of touch and go at the moment, but once I get going, it will be a great project. I want to kind of cross the aesthetics of a Black Penguin with the three pickup/switch design of Jack White's copper top Triple Jet. I'm very excited about it.

This project is still in research phase, but will be underway soon. I'm trying to get a hold of an Electromatic Double Jet as the base, then do things as I can afford.

Double Jet in black or gold with imperial tuners, floating space control bridge, and Gretsch-branded B3 Bigsby. Three Filtertron (maybe Dynas) pickups, three on-off switches on the lower horn, three volumes on the lower bottom, and a tone switch on the upper horn. I may go as far as the MXR Micro amp built in and 1912 Gretsch headstock inlay, but I'm really digging in and doing a ton of research before I commit. Even a Black/White Penguin pickguard.

I was going to do it to my Pro Jet, but I like it too much just stock, plus I need a Gretsch to play while the project is underway.

Yes, I'm fairly certain I will be routing my own cavities. The cardboard idea is not too shabby. This is all kind of touch and go at the moment, but once I get going, it will be a great project. I want to kind of cross the aesthetics of a Black Penguin with the three pickup/switch design of Jack White's copper top Triple Jet. I'm very excited about it.

This project is still in research phase, but will be underway soon. I'm trying to get a hold of an Electromatic Double Jet as the base, then do things as I can afford.

Double Jet in black or gold with imperial tuners, floating space control bridge, and Gretsch-branded B3 Bigsby. Three Filtertron (maybe Dynas) pickups, three on-off switches on the lower horn, three volumes on the lower bottom, and a tone switch on the upper horn. I may go as far as the MXR Micro amp built in and 1912 Gretsch headstock inlay, but I'm really digging in and doing a ton of research before I commit. Even a Black/White Penguin pickguard.

I was going to do it to my Pro Jet, but I like it too much just stock, plus I need a Gretsch to play while the project is underway.

Sounds cool, dude! Keep us posted!! ;)

Sounds cool, dude! Keep us posted!! ;)

I certainly will. I may not be able to do a floating bridge because I have been told the action will be way too high because the neck angle is different on the Electromatics. Wonder if I could sand the base down enough to make it work?

I certainly will. I may not be able to do a floating bridge because I have been told the action will be way too high because the neck angle is different on the Electromatics. Wonder if I could sand the base down enough to make it work?

I've done that. I had a 6131 TDS, and I swapped the Melita bridge out for a bar bridge. I had to sand a good deal of material off of the bridge base to make it work but it definitely did the trick.

I also had to take a file to the bottom of a Melita one time. I completely reworked a Malcolm Young model into a reissue of a 62 Jet Firebird. I bought the Melita for that guitar so that I could position it over the holes left by the Badass bridge, and then set the intonation using the movable saddles on the Melita. Worked great except for one thing: I couldn't get the Melita low enough to make the action playable.

I very carefully took the bridge and filed it down on the underside where it sits on the adjustment wheels (didn't want to sand material off the feet with them being plastic and all). Took about 2/64" off each side and that brought it down right where it needed to be. That guitar is the BEST playing guitar I've ever owned. It got me started on my love affair with Gretsch.

If you have questions or need some help, PM me and I'd be glad to help you out.

Yes, I'm fairly certain I will be routing my own cavities. The cardboard idea is not too shabby. This is all kind of touch and go at the moment, but once I get going, it will be a great project. I want to kind of cross the aesthetics of a Black Penguin with the three pickup/switch design of Jack White's copper top Triple Jet. I'm very excited about it.

This project is still in research phase, but will be underway soon. I'm trying to get a hold of an Electromatic Double Jet as the base, then do things as I can afford.

Double Jet in black or gold with imperial tuners, floating space control bridge, and Gretsch-branded B3 Bigsby. Three Filtertron (maybe Dynas) pickups, three on-off switches on the lower horn, three volumes on the lower bottom, and a tone switch on the upper horn. I may go as far as the MXR Micro amp built in and 1912 Gretsch headstock inlay, but I'm really digging in and doing a ton of research before I commit. Even a Black/White Penguin pickguard.

I was going to do it to my Pro Jet, but I like it too much just stock, plus I need a Gretsch to play while the project is underway.

if ur going along the jack white route you will be needing a b7 bigsby instead of the b3 thats his weapon of choice

if ur going along the jack white route you will be needing a b7 bigsby instead of the b3 thats his weapon of choice

I was looking into the B7 for a while, mainly because it would cover the footprint of the B50 that's on there (plus Jack White uses it :D. I also entertained the notion of recreating the Triple Jet, copper top and all, but I didn't want people to think I was trying to rip him off. Even though I would only have been recreating it because it's a beautiful guitar. I thought I'd put the B3 on there to have someoriginality, haha.

I guess I'm waiting for someone other than my wife to tell me it's not a ripoff, so I can do it, haha.

I'm not generally concerned with what other people think of my gear, but with my Twin Reverb, Silvertone 1485, Whammy pedal, and Big Muff, I don't want to overstep my bounds, haha.

Just do it, G-Whiz. Who gives a flying pig what other people think? life's too short! :D

GET THEE TO A TRIPLE-JETTERY! :D

Just do it, G-Whiz. Who gives a flying pig what other people think? life's too short! :D

GET THEE TO A TRIPLE-JETTERY! :D

You are correct, ma'am. I don't think anyone would even know or notice anyway at a typical show, aside from hardcore JW fans, and they would drool over it, probably. Even JW's Airline is another artist's signature model: J.B. Hutto. So if I got an Airline, would I be ripping off JW ripping off JB, or ripping off just JW. I guess it depends on who is more popular. Of course, the Airline reference is just hypothetical, but I think you know where I'm going with it.

just create the guitar you want stuff anyone else they aint gotta play it, i was originally gonna make the triple jet as my build but the cost of the copper and added difficulty in gettin it to look right ruled it out (ive seen attempts and none of them looked good) but its gonna have the b7, i toyed with the idea of the three pickups as well but decided to stick with two, my builds jack white inspired but with my own spin on it, if ur gonna go the three pickup route ur either gonna have to have the fake pickup hiding the microamp or you will need a 5 way switch i look forward to seein it though, check out parsons guitars website theres a few of jacks guitars on there, alongside the triple jet theres the diablo complete with tarnished etched copper top, and the black and red vampires, black completely made from ebony and the red from blood wood they are awesome if u got between $9000 and $25000 spare u could just buy one from him

Beatnik, trust me, I have read a literal TON of crap about the Triple, haha. In fact, I have read so much, I'm getting tired of the project before it has even started. I'm gathering info on copper sheet as we speak. I saw a build on the other Gretsch forum and the guy hasn't posted since '09. I PM'ed him and he said it's still sitting around, he plans to finish it one day. I offered to buy body/copper, and neck from him for $250 and he said he couldn't ever let it go. Do you have links to any other builds?

Also, I noticed on Parson's website that the Black Vampire is all black and red and has the III logo as a side fret marker. Did he make these for JW, too? It also has three red stripes for the body binding. I wonder how much he'd charge me for empty copper-topped body + neck? What about a "normal" luthier?

I always understood that the middle pickup was wired to the Micro Amp, so when he turned it on, it was automatically on. I've heard both. You can't find much about it on Google.

Even if I did a separate on/off switch for each pickup (3 total), a volume for each pickup, and a master tone, do you think I would still need a 5-way?

Beatnik, trust me, I have read a literal TON of crap about the Triple, haha. In fact, I have read so much, I'm getting tired of the project before it has even started. I'm gathering info on copper sheet as we speak. I saw a build on the other Gretsch forum and the guy hasn't posted since '09. I PM'ed him and he said it's still sitting around, he plans to finish it one day. I offered to buy body/copper, and neck from him for $250 and he said he couldn't ever let it go. Do you have links to any other builds?

Also, I noticed on Parson's website that the Black Vampire is all black and red and has the III logo as a side fret marker. Did he make these for JW, too? It also has three red stripes for the body binding. I wonder how much he'd charge me for empty copper-topped body + neck? What about a "normal" luthier?

I always understood that the middle pickup was wired to the Micro Amp, so when he turned it on, it was automatically on. I've heard both. You can't find much about it on Google.

Even if I did a separate on/off switch for each pickup (3 total), a volume for each pickup, and a master tone, do you think I would still need a 5-way?

the black vampire is obviously a JW guitar but it was built for microsoft co-founder paul allen, i would imagine it still wouldnt be cheap even just for the copper body and neck, even a standard luthier would charge alot i reckon i looked into loads of alternatives try finding someone who sells mirrored copper drum wrap i found a guy who had some cool stuff and was gonna give it to me for cost of shipping only as long as i gave him photos of the finished guitar then he found out i was in uk and the deal was off, the middle pickup is the microamp in the triple jet and even though he keeps it on all the time i think there are controls for it on the guitar, i suppose if u have an on off switch for each pickup u could get away without the 5 way but might be a bit tricky to get the combo u want while playing hit the wrong switch and it could ruin ur sound

That Black Vampire guitar is WEIRD!!! Scorpions in the headstock? Um...no thanks.

Ahh, the scorpions I think are kinda cool, but are they even visible? it says if you look under the truss rod cover, is it clear and does it cover the entire headstock?