Magnus

They would fuss, bitch, yell, kick chairs and slam doors.

When I built my LP back in 2003, I had about $600-$650 in materials, but after I bought all the tools needed to make it, I could have probably gotten a nice used Les Paul Standard at the time.

BTW, I used nitro spray cans on my strat, and it turned out great. I used Reranch cans for the color, and Deft clear. Those Deft spray cans are nice if you don't have a compressor/gun setup (I don't). Like the others were saying, test on some scrap Poplar and see how you like different tints.

How did you get the inlays so tight and clean?

Another thing on the top carve: the Burst guys tell me (and this is how I did my top) is the top is slightly angled at the bridge, all the way to the rear of the neck pickup. At the neck pickup, the neck angle comes in. I set my neck angle at 4 degrees, and the ABR-1 bridge is very low to the deck height, just about perfect. Here is a link that shows what I'm talking about. http://mountainwhimsy.com/2012/03/top-carve-2/

Ah, I'm late to the party! Long time member, but I had actually forgotten about the site for a couple of years. I built my les paul back in 2003, and I still have to put a finish on it. If you've never carved a top before, I'd suggest getting some wood from some place like Home Depot, that is the same thickness as your top, and practice with that. I carved three poplar tops like that to get a feel for what I was doing before I tackled the quilted maple. I did the step method, where I routed ledges in the top where I wanted the lines to be, then sanded it smooth with an electric disk sander. BTW, how close to a 59 Les Paul do you want to get? The top carve is a little different on the 50s Les Pauls. And, I did a scarf joint on my neck, but I put the scarf in the headstock. It is hidden on the top by the veneer on the face of the headstock.

I don't think it will be a problem with what I want to do. I'm going to use the attachment for the dremel that Stew Mac sells for cutting binding channels on archtop guitars. I had one a couple of years ago, and lost it. It works pretty well, and the binding is really small.

I forgot about the router base from Stew Mac, and the bit with the pilot. Thanks Doug.

How would you go about cutting the binding channel for a headstock? The binding i'm wanting to do is like the bound Jackson or Kramer headstock binding. I tried the search engine, but couldn't find what I was looking for. Any suggestions?

Yeah, I did practically the same thing, except I was in too much of a hurry to use it, so I skipped the set screw, and put some masking tape around the shaft of the fret caul. That was probably two years ago. I still haven't taken it to a machine shop to get a set screw.

Does anyone know where I can find a 1/2" straight bit with 1/2" cutting length other than Stew Mac? I haven't been able to find one yet.

Cool.

I think you're on the right track. I would suggest that you print it out full size, and cut out the body shape on heavy poster board, or something similar, and see how you like the size. After that, you can always make a wooden mockup from Masonite, or some pine to see how you like it.

Not again! Warmoth calls them double expanding, which they are. Warmoth does not call them double acting. They're single acting rods. Sorry, read that wrong, years ago. Must have hit a nerve.

I'm not sure what you mean by a template trimmer, but here is a nice set of template bits to start out with. http://www.grizzly.com/products/h5566