Thread: Yet another Les Paul build

Originally Posted by LennyThompson

I cut out the necks on the LPs without a band saw, and it was not fun, so will avoid that like the plague in future. Fortunately a friend has access to a very well equipped workshop, with a couple of bandsaws and 600mm thicknesser (comes in handy for furniture!), and all getting regular maintenance.

Even if I could afford a bandsaw I wouldnt have anywhere to put it (which is reason I dont have a table saw either), so having someone else look after one for me works fine.

For slotting the boards I have a Japanese pull saw with a .4mm kerf, and simply mark the fret locations and use the fretboard sanding block as a guide, works pretty well for me. Also have a small putty knife thing with the tang depth marked on it, and run that through the slot to check the depth.

Should have 2 necks ready for shaping this weekend, with others to follow shortly once I get some truss rods. If I remember Ill take some pictures...

your lucky to hav access to all that gear.... bet that makes life easier lol...

i am yet to cut a neck with a bandsaw so i only know the hard way hahaha
you better take some pics, or else



you reminded me i need some truss rods too!

I have had pretty much the whole day today devoted to guitar building (well apart from the domestics), and have 2 necks glued up ready for shaping, tenons cut, fingerboards on, and head stock face plates done. Will try and do the outline shaping tomorrow and also route the binding channels.

Also managed to route out the guts of a chambered LP, didnt do this on the first 2 (as described above), but I am using 190x45 Vic Ash this time, so I have to gut the bodies with a router. I used a 7 1/4 circular saw to chop out most of the guts and then routed what was left. Also did the routing freehand and it worked pretty well. Have been fairly aggressive with the chamber, to try an reduce the weight, so will be interesting how it stands up to the rest of the work that need to be done. Will also chamber the top as well, maybe even get some acoustics out of it.

Took a couple of shots for posterity, but looks like some clumsy fool put their grubby fingers all over the lens (bugger). Listened to the Cats beating the Doggies in between routing, go catters!.

Originally Posted by LennyThompson

Listened to the Cats beating the Doggies in between routing, go catters!.

Don't you mean Go the Wallabies!!!

Well the Wallabies did go, looks like they need Barnes (the player) toi stay on the field for the whole time.

Had a bit of a disaster from Saturdays efforts. The Gotoh style truss rods on the 2 necks I glued up both slid down toward the headstocks which stuffed the necks completely. So had to remove the fretboards and truss rods yesterday morning (happy father day!), but was surprised to discover how easy this was (workshop tools have been joined by a steam iron!). Both are now reglued and ready to shape.

Moral of this story, make sure a truss rod without an anchor is firmly wedged into its slot!. I used a couple of toothpick stops on the second attempt, just to be sure.

Of course the good part of this story is that I now have the tools to think about an accoustic. Along with the iron, I have also inherited a hair straightening thing which my wife says burned her every time she used it, but looks like it will make a very good body shaper, with a little modification.

On the accoustic topic, has anyone used NZ Kahikatea (also known as white pine) as sound board material?, it seems to have as lot in common with spruce, but probably without the pronounced close grain. Im thinking of trying to get some.

Hi my name is Stuart Shrum, and i was wondering if anyone could explain carving the top of an LP any better? also could you explain the spacing of the steps if using a router and how far they are around the top, because I don't think that they go completely around the top?
Thanks,
Stuart

This video should answer your Les Paul body carve question - its by a guy who posts over on the MyLesPaul forum ( great builder )

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax0ZFIl_o2w&feature=related"]YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.[/ame]

Originally Posted by fletch123

This video should answer your Les Paul body carve question - its by a guy who posts over on the MyLesPaul forum ( great builder )

YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.

...nice vid!

Thanks for the great video!

Stuart

Having been through the carved top build process a few times now, I can recommend something along these lines, and remember the router is only getting rid of the timber you dont want quickly, its not doing any real carving.

Route the binding channel first, while the top is still square.
Take your shape pattern and use it to make a slightly smaller one - I come in 20mm or so - it doesnt really matter.
Route around this pattern about 1-2 mm above the top of your binding - depending on how small you have made the pattern.
Make another pattern a bit smaller than the first, and repeat the process with the router a little shallower.
Plane the 2 angles onto the body, firstly a shallow one starting just behind the bridge and then at the neck angle starting around the mid point between the pick ups, to finish at about the top of the binding where the tenon will go.
Go mad with a jack plane, spoke shave and chisel, finish with an orbital sander and french curve scraper.
The whole process shouldnt take any longer than 2 hours.

If you havent done it before get some pine and learn on it, but remember whatever you make the real top out of will be an awful lot harder to work with.

Youll find its not that hard to do and unless you really bugger it up, you can get away with the odd mistake. The other thing is reading stuff on the internet might give you some ideas, but youll learn a lot more from just doing it.

Cheers
Lenny

Ok so here is a few pictures of my build and now I have a question. Should I Chamber my guitar body to make it lighter?

Hey Stuart, welcome to the forum. Perhaps it might be best if you start a new thread with your build so we can decipher between your project and Lenny's?

Whether or not to chamber really is a personal preference thing. Many of us have built heavy guitars only to move to chambering down the track. Original Les Pauls as I understand it though were and are not chambered so this is likely to affect your tone. Depends on what you are trying to achieve. Chambering can significantly reduce weight and I am a fan of it on certain build plans.

Cheers,
Jon

PS.....Lenny, I like your approach to timber, hunt around and you never know what might turn up, good stuff and good luck with the new builds.