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Les Paul build revisited


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10 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

Thanks for the replies guys. The wood has a darkish red hue, so if it is Meranti then I guess it falls in to the first category in Curtisas post. I am probably going to risk it, the wood does feel fairly hard...but then until I route the area for the true rod and start shaping it then its all a bit up in the air. Im a little confused however. The template I am using shows that the truss rod for an LP design is supposed to be angled (fairly low down next to the nut and much higher towards the body). This has added confusion on a number of levels, firstly I am confused as to how achieve this and secondly I have been watching videos of builds where the routed area has just been the same depth throughout...is it ok to route it unangled?

Anyway...as for the body, the top is on and everything routed out. Don't get me started talking about the carve on the top! Lots of trial and error. I have used an 'antique pine' varnish on it. Quite pleased with it so far. 

IMG_9110.JPG

Looking good!

Ref the truss rod slot, a modern one way or two way truss rod would have a slot running parallel to the top face of the neck

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3 hours ago, Prostheta said:

It looks like our dining table! Does the carve have a recurve at the edges?

 Well there is no flat section towards the edges like on a regular Les Paul. That’s how it turned out originally however it had a tonne of gouges that I just couldn’t get rid of. I initially filled those gauges with filler, when I sprayed the guitar (my initial idea was a goldtop) it looked awful! No matter how much I thought I had sanded the filler plush with the rest of the body the result was a bumpy mess. So I ended up sanding a straight slope all the way to the edges with the orbital sander. This meant that on some areas the cap is very thin. Not perfect but I’m reasonably happy.

Edited by ShatnersBassoon
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1 hour ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

 Well there is no flat section towards the edges like on a regular Les Paul. That’s how it turned out originally however it had a tonne of gouges that I just couldn’t get rid of. I initially filled those gauges with filler, when I sprayed the guitar (my initial idea was a goldtop) it looked awful! No matter how much I thought I had sanded the filler plush with the rest of the body the result was a bumpy mess. So I ended up sanding a straight slope all the way to the edges with the orbital sander. This meant that on some areas the cap is very thin. Not perfect but I’m reasonably happy.

It looks very tactile - like one of those smooth stones they sell to relieve stress :)

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49 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

For a Les Paul, I'd make a truss rod to fit the neck. I'm guessing you're going for a two-way or a rod that is otherwise not fixed into the neck?

It doesn’t have to be a slavish copy of an LP i guess. I’m just using an LP as reference really. I do not understand what you mean when you say not fixed in to the neck? I thought that is what the procedure was, that it is installed inside the neck. Do you mean make my own or buy one and cut it down to size? 

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Truss rod installed today. I bolted some metal on to the side of my neck blank, a physical barrier for the router. Didn’t have the right sized bit for the thicker section so used a chisel. Main thing I guess is that I got it  snug/tight. It certainly doesn’t rattle about.  I would post a pic but seem to be having a problem when I do it via a phone. 

Edited by ShatnersBassoon
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you got my vote on the top carve - I love it.  one of the things that stood out before I read any of this... but what do I know.  I just know what I like.  That would is beautiful to me.  Def clear worthy (NO GOLD TOP!).  Nice work!

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10 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

you got my vote on the top carve - I love it.  one of the things that stood out before I read any of this... but what do I know.  I just know what I like.  That would is beautiful to me.  Def clear worthy (NO GOLD TOP!).  Nice work!

Thanks man. I have needed another passion for a while now (don’t like to use the word hobby)...it’s hard getting motivated sometimes so positive words are great to see! 

Edited by ShatnersBassoon
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find myself thinking "It's too bad I have all these great guitars".  I can really see myself getting into this 'passion' but I suspect it's a lot like salt water coral, or pedals, or home built elec drums in that you can just toss money at it in so many different directions and find yourself spending all the time on the journey(building) instead of the destination(playing).  (that's fine by me)

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I'm in the awkward position of having to find money to buy something to make instruments produce noise....that sort of kills the passion a little, because you just can't see a tangible reward at the end, or at least no way to cash in on the effort expended! haha

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not sure I follow?  you don't play?  you maybe need some 'the house on the rock' contraption? 

(if that's the case you can always send me your guitars to test play hehe!)

or do you mean pickups ... that's another direction I need to explore... building my own pickups.  It has been my experience that in most cases (pedals/guitar) you can buy stuff way cheaper than you can build... but you can build stuff 1000 times better than you can buy.  It seems like pickups would likely be the same.

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OK...a couple of daft questions. I haven't routed out the access point for the truss rod yet, whats to stop the truss rod just falling out? Is it relying solely on the tight fit to keep it in place? (Not a problem because I managed to get it nice and snug). Also, when it comes time to glue on the fingerboard, does the glue go on to the truss rod too? Does it matter?

Cheers.

Edited by ShatnersBassoon
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Truss rod should be a firm fit in the channel with the top flush against the fingerboard underside surface. That's usually all it takes to prevent the rod falling out. Once you add a couple of turns to the nut to get the correct amount of relief in the neck, tge curvature will make it even less likely that it will come adrift.

 

34 minutes ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

Also, when it comes time to glue on the fingerboard, does the glue go on to the truss rod too? Does it matter?

Depends a bit on the rod construction. Where the rod threads or any moving parts of the rod are exposed it is possibly wise to avoid glue getting near it. The usual method was to install the rod in the channel, run a bit of clear sticky tape up the length of the rod/channel to prevent glue seeping in, and then just glue the fret board over the top of the sealed truss rod as per normal. Although I'm not sure if this is actually completely warranted when using PVA glues, as it's unlikely that the glue will stick to metal and cause issues. You might get a bit of a crunching noise on the first turn of the nut as any attached glue breaks off the threads, but that might be about it? I'd definitely protect the rod if I were gluing with epoxy though.

In recent times I've switched to a rod where the entire thing is encased in heatshink and the nut is sealed inside a stainless steel cap. In this case there's nothing for the glue to foul with so I don't bother using the sticky tape sealing method anymore.

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4 minutes ago, curtisa said:

Truss rod should be a firm fit in the channel with the top flush against the fingerboard underside surface. That's usually all it takes to prevent the rod falling out. Once you add a couple of turns to the nut to get the correct amount of relief in the neck, tge curvature will make it even less likely that it will come adrift.

 

Depends a bit on the rod construction. Where the rod threads or any moving parts of the rod are exposed it is possibly wise to avoid glue getting near it. The usual method was to install the rod in the channel, run a bit of clear sticky tape up the length of the rod/channel to prevent glue seeping in, and then just glue the fret board over the top of the sealed truss rod as per normal. Although I'm not sure if this is actually completely warranted when using PVA glues, as it's unlikely that the glue will stick to metal and cause issues. You might get a bit of a crunching noise on the first turn of the nut as any attached glue breaks off the threads, but that might be about it? I'd definitely protect the rod if I were gluing with epoxy though.

In recent times I've switched to a rod where the entire thing is encased in heatshink and the nut is sealed inside a stainless steel cap. In this case there's nothing for the glue to foul with so I don't bother using the sticky tape sealing method anymore.

As I thought, cheers :) No exposed threads with this rod (modern two way).

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+1 on everything @curtisa says.

For my own part, I opt for the use of U-channel truss rods, often called "Martin style" or "Gotoh" rods in spite of the ones on the market usually not being made by either. In this instance the entire moving section of the rod is enclosed and well away from glue. I find they tend to be more durable are there are no welds and the Allen key adjustment nut is easily replaceable.

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  • 3 months later...

OK so have been taking my sweet time with this build and I have ran in to a problem. As you can see below the wiring diagram that came with the wiring kit that I bought (Jimmy Page push pull style) does not correspond t0 the colours of the wires (I bought these pickups a long time back and Ive read somewhere that wire colours used to be different, maybe thats related to the confusion?) Also Im not sure what it means on the instructions about the ground connections being soldered together? Any ideas? Thanks. 

kit_lpkit02_mr_page_08.gif

IMG_2423.JPG

 

Heres another photo I took recently, drilled all the necessary bits for the knobs/electronics since then. Still needs more finishing etc.

1521656023_ScreenShot2018-08-16at20_37_03.png.7c292419199c6c28104df9fddb19b98e.png

 

Edited by ShatnersBassoon
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2 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

As you can see below the wiring diagram that came with the wiring kit that I bought (Jimmy Page push pull style) does not correspond t0 the colours of the wires (I bought these pickups a long time back and Ive read somewhere that wire colours used to be different, maybe thats related to the confusion?)

Looks about right to me. I see red/black/white/green and shield (the big fat black wire). Granted the 'green' they've used in the diagram looks a bit murky, but it appears correct. Assuming you're using Irongear pickups, of course. If you use pickups from a different manufacturer there's no guarantee that the colour code will be identical to that used by Irongear.

 

2 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

Also Im not sure what it means on the instructions about the ground connections being soldered together? Any ideas?

Anywhere you see a wire on the diagram with the black three-lined triangle-y thingamabob shown, you need to connect all those points together.

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14 hours ago, curtisa said:

Looks about right to me. I see red/black/white/green and shield (the big fat black wire). Granted the 'green' they've used in the diagram looks a bit murky, but it appears correct. Assuming you're using Irongear pickups, of course. If you use pickups from a different manufacturer there's no guarantee that the colour code will be identical to that used by Irongear.

 

Anywhere you see a wire on the diagram with the black three-lined triangle-y thingamabob shown, you need to connect all those points together.

I am indeed using iron gear pickups. Just needed to look more clearly at the print out, thanks! 

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