Thread: Les Paul

This link may be of help to you

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L3J0DHZO

Originally Posted by dayvo

This link may be of help to you

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L3J0DHZO

Thanks mate that helped alot

Im thinking of getting one of these books:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_p...struction.html

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_p...ic_Guitar.html

what do you guys think is the best?

Originally Posted by lliw

Im thinking of getting one of these books:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_p...struction.html

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_p...ic_Guitar.html

what do you guys think is the best?

i have the second one (melvyn hiscock) and it seems good but doesnt seem to go into much depth. keep in mind i did get my books after finishing my first guitar (so i could use it as a reference for my second one, dont know if i need it but i would enjoy reading the books) and reading alot on the internet (didnt make the neck though). so it didnt bring up amny new ideas. it did however seem to be well written and easy to follow.

i also got one by martin koch which goes also covers things like making your own pickups, non-standard wiring and other details not covered in the melvyn hiscock book. it is however not as easy to follow. bit of a tradeoff. deciding which to get really depends on how well you can visualise each of the steps at the moment. if you have it mostly planned out and have some woodwork or design experience, something like martin koch's book might be better, otherwise something like melvyn hiscock's wuld probably suit you better. dont know much about the other book though.

I have the Hiscock book and also the Koch book the same as Black labb. I have also found a few e books around.

I like to get as many different perspectives as possible and this includes reading forums and searching the net. That way you are more likely to find techniques that suit your skills and tools.
I would go for the Hiscock book if it is your first. I agree it does not go into great depth but it takes you through each step. If you break it all down into tasks and approach each job (such as scarf joints and fretting etc etc) carefully and spend time looking for techniques on the net you will be able to make a good first guitar.
Dom

Righto, I have put aside the building guitar thing for a while now, so I decided to buy one.

I got a cheapish Les Paul copy off ebay for $230, Mahogony body and neck, set neck.

Apparentley it has no maple top, will this affect the sound much? do all LP's have maple tops?

The guy has all positive feedback and he only sells guitars.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....5750&rd=1&rd=1

What do you guys think?

What do I think? Anyone can buy a guitar on ebay.....slightly more adventurous people build themselves a guitar.

Just my opinion of course...hope the purchase is what youre after. If it isnt then get building!!

Originally Posted by kiwigeo

What do I think? Anyone can buy a guitar on ebay.....slightly more adventurous people build themselves a guitar.

Just my opinion of course...hope the purchase is what youre after. If it isnt then get building!!

Yer i know, but I dont have the time or money to build at the moment, It will happen down the track.

yeah, it looks nice, once you build something you suddenly have no intrest in buying something of the same type. i just love making things. the only guitar i would coniseder buying would be a travis bean as making a aluminium neck would be hard, fortunately im at uni doing engineering so it affords me opportunities to get onto a milling machine if it can somehow be linked to uni work, i have had plans to make an aluminium necked guitar for so long... just waiting for a subject where i can include it into the asessment or something similar, damn insurance making students not be able to wander down and use a machine without a acedemic reason.

and that guitar looks nice, how it plays is anyones guess,hopefully it plays well for your sake.

Originally Posted by black_labb

yeah, it looks nice, once you build something you suddenly have no intrest in buying something of the same type. i just love making things. the only guitar i would coniseder buying would be a travis bean as making a aluminium neck would be hard, fortunately im at uni doing engineering so it affords me opportunities to get onto a milling machine if it can somehow be linked to uni work, i have had plans to make an aluminium necked guitar for so long... just waiting for a subject where i can include it into the asessment or something similar, damn insurance making students not be able to wander down and use a machine without a acedemic reason.

and that guitar looks nice, how it plays is anyones guess,hopefully it plays well for your sake.

Engineering student hay? me too, Im 3rd year Mech. I haven't done any subjects that would allow me to use a milling machine, Maybe if you did a dynamics/vibrations cource you could make up a story about how you have to make this guitar neck and then test the amplitude of vibration or some crap...lol probaly wouldent work.

Some say that a maple top brightens up the top end of a Mahogany body a little. Unless you've spent alot of years around guitars and have an ear for tone, as in ultra-nitpicky.. I'd just plug in and enjoy.

I have the Martin Koch ebook and Melvyn Hiscock's book in softcover, both are good. I found Hiscock doesn't go into so much detail, but he gives a good start to finish account. Koch has a few more advanced topics, but the book's a little all over the place at times. It just depends on how interested you are in reading. When I was reading them I'd already read a heap of sites on full guitar builds, so everything was familiar.

Dayvo, thanks a million for that link, I owe you a beer. Top notch.

Originally Posted by lliw

Engineering student hay? me too, Im 3rd year Mech. I haven't done any subjects that would allow me to use a milling machine, Maybe if you did a dynamics/vibrations cource you could make up a story about how you have to make this guitar neck and then test the amplitude of vibration or some crap...lol probaly wouldent work.

i should have a advanced manufacturing engineering subject at some stage (i just finished manufacturing engineering last semester, and they mentioned that in advanced you have a project where you make something, how long it is before i do that i dont know) i love learning how to make things, especially when i could do it myself.

I got the Les Paul that I orderd of ebay.

Looks good, sounds good, Its real heavy but there is fret buzz...

I dont want to lift the action up to much, is there any other way to get rid of it? can it be done via truss rod? thanks.

Maybe try this link and work through it...
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luth...startbuzz.html
it might give you an idea where to look for the problem and how to fix it