I am a lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Nelson Mandela University, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, a musician and I have always loved woodwork. I was inspired by Ben's Youtube channel to build by first guitar 5 years ago, but I used a donor neck from an old guitar. During lockdown I built another 3 guitars with bought necks and started filming the process for my Youtube channel, "TJS Customs". My GGBO 2021 entry is my ultimate dream guitar, a Gretsch White Falcon hollow-body, and it will also be my first full neck build. Due to the cost of Bigsby vibratos, I have designed my own version and with the help of an engineering firm, am building it from aluminium and brass, incorporating my TJS logo into the design. I am including a number of unique design features to make it my own, including solid Mahogany sides for a contrasting colour scheme, thin body (40mm at the edges), a low profile bridge for more comfortable playing (I'm primarily an acoustic guitarist), and parallel arch-top guitar bracing to enhance the acoustic voice of the instrument (no centre block) as I'd like to be able to practice un-pugged. I've purchased blacktop filtertron pickups, as used in the Electromatic range, and will be fitting gold hardware. The neck is a 5 piece laminate maple/rosewood and I will use white stain on the body to allow the Maple grain to be partially visible(the Mahogany sides will not be stained). I'll be using a simplified electronic layout with a volume, tone and 3-way selector switch. At the date of registration I have completed the neck and am starting on the body.

 You can visit my YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIrvgdB25DgQSK5g8taphwQ

You can see the video of my final build here: https://youtu.be/PQfQYQSpc3c