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Incredible Homemade Les Pauls


GuitarNoobie

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Quote Originally Posted by GuitarNoobie

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$90, but $104 including shipping... enough for two necks thumb.gif


are you gonna tell me know you could've got it for $80 mad.gif


just jokin....


wave.gif

 

more like $20.... but who cares.i guess the stew mac one was too short for 2 necks. bit silly. 3 more inches on the block and it would have been fine.


what are using for the practice neck? id make at least 2 out of the fir for carving practice i think.


oh, and that jig kicks ass.

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Quote Originally Posted by ihavenofish

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more like $20.... but who cares.i guess the stew mac one was too short for 2 necks. bit silly. 3 more inches on the block and it would have been fine.


what are using for the practice neck? id make at least 2 out of the fir for carving practice i think.


oh, and that jig kicks ass.

 

stewmac blank was not big enough for two necks, correct. warmoth only sold blanks that would be used as bolt ons... and i am just starting to establish some relationships with a local wood supplier. in the future i can probably beat that price...


i did not consider making a neck out of any practice wood, but now that you mention it, it probably wouldn't hurt...


i am still waiting on my plans before i can start on the neck as i have no dimensions for the neck... the catto drawing does not include that.


thanks on the jig comment... i am good at replicating what someone else has built icon_lol.gif


for now about all i can do before the plans come in is finish sanding the carved top until it's ready. i can route the pickup cavities and neck mortise, but i am going to have to find out depth information on those also...


i am pretty sure the neck tenon is 1.5" x 1.5", so the mortise should not be too hard, but i have no idea on the pickup cavities. i guess i could de-string a les paul, remove pickups and measure, but i could probably find the answer online easier... wink.gif


oh and i can route for the binding... my binding should come in tomorrow.

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here's the final pics for the evening...


i bought a digital caliper earlier today and i am really glad i did. with my crude sliding square ruler that only goes down to 1/16 of an inch i thought i had my mortise template at 1.5" across.


what i found with the digital caliper is that the neck template i created was 1.5" at the point of the pickup, but only 1 and 29/64" at the open end. i would have never found this out until the neck tenon would not fit and had to be sanded. anyway, great little tool... fixed my problem with the Rigid Sander...


dcam4773.jpg


with the template corrected, i attached it with tape and even nailed it down with some small finish nails (per recommendation from the earlier video). then i used a forstner bit to get most of the wood before finish with the route...


dcam4774.jpg

dcam4776.jpg


you can also see black paint on the part of the top of the guitar. that was to identify dips and bumps on the carve more easily... that will all be removed soon...


so feeling cocky, i moved onto the binding.. first i adjusted for the highest part of the carved top and took a strip off. 5/16" at the deepest part. you can see the router jig in the background...


dcam4778.jpg


i then re-adjusted the router depth for the remainder of the guitar and finished the binding route...


dcam4783.jpg


and finally i went to work on the horn area, where a little razor blade hand work was in order to create the 5/16" inch cut all the way around.


dcam4786.jpg


i got about half of that done, will finish the rest tomorrow. wink.gif


my binding should be here tomorrow afternoon, so i think a little binding attachment is in order.


which brings up an interesting question... Over @ MLP, the member who created the video's I posted applies his binding with acetone and binding bits that are melted into the acetone. so essentially when the glue gets pressed out it fills any voids with the binding color... quite ingenious, has anyone heard of this...


here is his post from over there... see next post... too many images...

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http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/681081-post17.html


 

Quote Originally Posted by ex-nihilo

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The next step is to glue the binding in. As I have said on another occasion, I use chopped up pieces of binding dissolved in acetone for my glue. It is very fast, does not require taping, and eliminates all seams.


BindingBits.jpg


glue.jpg


The first part that I glue is the tip of the horn. I start by pre-bending the binding.


starbinding.jpg


Then I glue this section. Simply hold it in place a few minutes for the glue to dry.


startplace.jpg


Then, I glue the rest of the inner horn, and then move around the rest of the body. The squeeze out you see is a good thing. That is dissolved binding filling the channel perfectly.


gluebinding.jpg


Once the binding is glued, I go back and sand it to clean it up.


Binddone1.jpg


Binddone2.jpg


Notice the Mahogany grain in the upper photo of the back of the body. This is the reason why I selected this piece of mahogany. Do you see how the rings are centered? I think that looks really beautiful. And though it maybe silly, I like to think that this will improve the sound of the guitar as the vibrations travel evenly through the body and around the maple top.

 

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Quote Originally Posted by GuitarNoobie

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nice work!

the binding pics, is that a bartlet top? i can see what look like cnc carving marks in it.


i ended up making my top carve a quasy 59 with a flat bit in the middle. i figure that if you want full round you can sand it, but you cant put wood back if you like the 59 look. smile.gif


i think im going to test carve the top after xmas. ill see if theres any scrap wood at the shop. i know there was some wide 3/4" poplar in a bin a while back.


body02.jpg

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Quote Originally Posted by ihavenofish

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nice work!

the binding pics, is that a bartlet top? i can see what look like cnc carving marks in it.


i ended up making my top carve a quasy 59 with a flat bit in the middle. i figure that if you want full round you can sand it, but you cant put wood back if you like the 59 look. smile.gif


i think im going to test carve the top after xmas. ill see if theres any scrap wood at the shop. i know there was some wide 3/4" poplar in a bin a while back.


body02.jpg

 

that post is a bartlett top, that dude has some talent !!!


good luck on your carve test... if i can do it i am sure you are more than qualified... thumb.gif


plus there is no telling what my carve is closest to, be it a '59 or something else. i am not that informed about the differences. i have a bit of some flat on mine so from your comments mine is not a true '59.


i was just happy as hell i pulled it off eek.gifbiggrin.gif

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Quote Originally Posted by GuitarNoobie

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that post is a bartlett top, that dude has some talent !!!


good luck on your carve test... if i can do it i am sure you are more than qualified... thumb.gif


plus there is no telling what my carve is closest to, be it a '59 or something else. i am not that informed about the differences. i have a bit of some flat on mine so from your comments mine is not a true '59.


i was just happy as hell i pulled it off eek.gifbiggrin.gif

 

the 59's have the flat bit. well, some of them. its highly variable in reality. modern ones are a complete violin arch - of course now all identical thanks to cnc. mine as i say is a hybrid. not as sharply defined as the textbook 59, but still flatish on top.


my cnc mill will probably make a nasty mess of the test carve. it has a very slow spindle that can chew up wood a bit. its not horrible, but the new machine will be much better and should leve a finish that needs only some 220 grit sanding if i do it right.


fun fun in any case.

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Quote Originally Posted by ihavenofish

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guitarnoobie... if you go to every page in this thread in internet explorer, then go to file - save as, you can save the whole page with embedded images for later viewing or reposting.

 

hello, i knew that... i use Firefox, but all browsers over that feature.


That should be able to save most of it with no problem.... Thanks for joggin my memory...



 

Quote Originally Posted by nevermind

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Danny, yes the binding and acetone glue is the way to go. Just be forewarned not to be futzing with the binding too much after it contacts the acetone glue. Pre-bend the horn by soaking the binding in very hot water, or using your heat gun.

 

thanks for the tip Brian. he says in his post it's fast drying and doesn't even need tape to hold it in place. how accurate is that???
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Quote Originally Posted by GuitarNoobie

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hello, i knew that... i use Firefox, but all browsers over that feature.


That should be able to save most of it with no problem.... Thanks for joggin my memory...





thanks for the tip Brian. he says in his post it's fast drying and doesn't even need tape to hold it in place. how accurate is that???

 

i always tape binding. it doesnt take much extra time and you know for sure it will dry in the spot you want it to
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I respectfully object to any non-Gibson made guitar being called a 'Les Paul.' I really don't even like Epiphone called their single cut model a Les Paul, but since Epiphone is owned by Gibson the license probably applies to both. Anyway, why can't we call them LP-type or SC-type, similiar to S-type or T-type?

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Quote Originally Posted by New Trail

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I respectfully object to any non-Gibson made guitar being called a 'Les Paul.' I really don't even like Epiphone called their single cut model a Les Paul, but since Epiphone is owned by Gibson the license probably applies to both. Anyway, why can't we call them LP-type or SC-type, similiar to S-type or T-type?

 

Semantics. There really is no difference by adding the word "type". I don't get how this could bother anyone unless they were trying to pass it off as a Gibson Les Paul confused.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by nevermind

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i've only used it to do f holes, which i did tape with blue masking tape. No clue if I needed it or not, but you could test on a scrap after you melt the binding in the acetone to check.

 

cool... blue tape, i got that... thumb.gif


 

Quote Originally Posted by atrox

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i always tape binding. it doesnt take much extra time and you know for sure it will dry in the spot you want it to

 

thanks atrox, if you use tape, i am using tape tongue.gif


 

Quote Originally Posted by New Trail

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I respectfully object to any non-Gibson made guitar being called a 'Les Paul.' I really don't even like Epiphone called their single cut model a Les Paul, but since Epiphone is owned by Gibson the license probably applies to both. Anyway, why can't we call them LP-type or SC-type, similiar to S-type or T-type?

 

oh brother rolleyes.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by atrox

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Semantics. There really is no difference by adding the word "type". I don't get how this could bother anyone unless they were trying to pass it off as a Gibson Les Paul confused.gif

 

yeah, im going to have to respectfully say that if you make something for yourself you can call it whatever you please.
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oh, and i got a reminder of why neck angle is fairly critical on a LES PAUL. for some reason on my model the bridge wasnt lining up correctly. too low to the body. i WANT it to be a bit lower than standard, but this was burying it into the top.


reason as it turns out was the neck angle set to 3 degrees instead of 4. typos for the win! 4 degrees put it exactly where it should be.

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Quote Originally Posted by ihavenofish

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oh, and i got a remonder of why neck angle is fairly critical on a LES PAUL. for some reason on my model the bridge wasnt lining up correctly. too low to the body. i WANT it to be a bit lower than standard, but this was burying it into the top.


reason as it turns out was the neck angle set to 3 degrees instead of 4. typos for the win! 4 degrees put it exactly where it should be.

 

I actually really like the look of a T.O.M. that sits below the body-line in a route on some guitars. In fact, I would almost prefer it on a LP! I know it's not "correct" for a LP-TYPE though. thumb.gif


You gotta understand though, That for me, a LP is a flawed guitar in many ways.... for me. I would have all kinds of improvements to Mason-ize a LP. In fact, My Epi Goldtop has no neck and no hardware on it right now. One of my projects while my business is on break.

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