frubsen Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 i'm planning on building a les paul style guitar. i was just wondering if it was absolutely necessary to have a hardwood top? i was planning to just have a 2 inch thick piece of mahogany and no hardwood top. is this a good idea and is there any downsides to this? thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 mahogany is a hardwood...i think you mean maple...no it is not necessary,but the hard maple top adds a very desired tone to a mahogany body for most people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frubsen Posted October 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 so if i were to do a maple top then would i go for a 1-1/2" thick mahogany body and 1/2" thick maple top? would that make the most sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdog Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 What kind of pickups are you planning to use? The best sounding rock'n'roll guitar I ever heard was a friend's 1960 Les Paul Jr.....with 1 big bad P-90!.....A MONSTER TONE!!!!!! This is saying something, because I was playing a '59 Les Paul and a "55 LP......the LP Jr. totally killed and there was no maple on that guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_ed Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 Gibson has a limited edition Les Paul available made from mahogany only. You can find it at GC. It sounds very nice. A bit mellower than the normal LP, but still very sweet. Guitar Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frubsen Posted October 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 i'm planning on using slash's pickups, Seymour Duncan APH-1 Alnico II Humbucker. another way i'm going is. i'm not sure if its a les paul, but it looks like one. it was in Freaky Friday the new one, at the end, the blue les paukl style guitar. it had a different carved top then the normal ones, i liked the look of it. anyone have any information on that type of carved top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 My opinion is that P-90's, since they are a fat single coil pkp that are punchy yet bright, are the natural mate for an all-mahogony bodied guitar. It's just one of those natural matches made in heaven, like a stamped-steel, 3-saddle Telecaster bridge and an underwound, 5.5K (or so) bridge pkp gives you that heavenly trademark Telecaster tone, and an Alder-bodied Strat with slightly hotter pkps gives you that sexy violin-type tone that makes a Stratocaster what it is. There are certain 'matches' in the world of guitars that are completely classic matches, and P-90's with all-Mahogony bodied guitar is one of those matches. All Mahogony and fat-sounding HB's are asking for mush-land, unless the HB's are pretty clean. If you want to use HB's, I'd recommend the Maple cap, and it's more like 3/4" or maybe 1", not 1/2" if you're planning on doing a carved top. Also, make sure you use Eastern Hardrock Maple for your top, -not- Western Bigleaf Maple. The Eastern has the high-end bite you're looking for, the Western doesn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeR Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 Hi, Dont the Les Paul customs (the black beauties) have a mahogany cap/ or solid mahogany build? Like every one has said, though, if you want the Les Paul tone, I think a maple cap is vital. Luke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 Yes, there are a fair number of old LP's with solid Mahogony bodies, usually the ones that were painted a solid color. They did that because it was cheaper, not because of any tonal virtue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 The best sounding rock'n'roll guitar I ever heard was a friend's 1960 Les Paul Jr.....with 1 big bad P-90!.....A MONSTER TONE!!!!!! i played one of these as well recently...you are so right...the tone was awesome even for metal,believe it or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted October 16, 2004 Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 (edited) so if i were to do a maple top then would i go for a 1-1/2" thick mahogany body and 1/2" thick maple top? would that make the most sense? A regular LP has a 1 1/2" thick mahogany body with 3/4" thick maple (or mahogany) top. Top running from 3/4" in center to 1/4" on sides. The all mahogany LPs are more warm sounding guitars. The maple brings out a more bright tone. If you want to copy the LP tone, then I would suggest using a maple top. Do you just want cool sounding warm, darker LP type guitar, you might go for the all mahogany option. Good p-ups can off set or bring out a certain tone. Again, depends what you're after. Here example of great looking mahogany LP: Are you planning using a complete solid body, the swiss chees option, or the hollow variant??? Swiss Cheese Hollow Option 1 Hollow Option 2 Hollow Supreme (solid maple top & back) Edited October 16, 2004 by RGGR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frubsen Posted October 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 (edited) i'm going for the complete solid body. thanks for the pics, do you have one like that but for a complete hollow body? i've decided to go with a mahogany body and maple top. this is the style of carved top i would like to do sorry for the bad pic, i couldnt find a bigger one. anyone here ever done this and have any tips? Edited October 16, 2004 by frubsen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted October 18, 2004 Report Share Posted October 18, 2004 (edited) thanks for the pics, do you have one like that but for a complete hollow body? There is no such thing as a complete hollow body LP, to my recollection. The LP Supreme is as close to a complete hollow body Gibson ever built. You need some wood in the center to secure the trem, p-ups, and the neck. This center wood section is probably the most important piece of the guitar, as it transports the vibrations from/to the strings/neck/bodytrem. Just a reminder. A complete solid LP made out of mahogany is very heavy!!!!! Not very comfortable playing. The cheese holes Gibson put in the body are just for that reason. Weigth relief holes. They seem to have little or no effect on the sound of the guitar (so Gibson says). Edited October 18, 2004 by RGGR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frubsen Posted October 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 whoops, i meant the pics for the complete solid body, not hollow hehe. i may add some of the cheese holes if i find it too heavy. and i've changed my mind again lol. i'm going to go with mohagany body and maple flat top. not going to go with the carved. i was talking to my wood teacher and he was thinking it would be better to have a maple top and bottom and mohagany in the middle to prevent wood warping and binding. he said if i wanted to do mohagany body and maple top then to use straight grain wood so it wood hold up better. any thoughts of wood? thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 (edited) whoops, i meant the pics for the complete solid body, not hollow hehe. Can't you use a little imagination???? A solid LP body is a cheese hole body without the cheese holes. i was talking to my wood teacher and he was thinking it would be better to have a maple top and bottom and mohagany in the middle to prevent wood warping and binding. Normally LP's have only a 3/4" to 1/4" maple top (carved top) with a 1 3/4" mahogany back side. The changes of warping this 1 3/4" (solid) mahogany blank are pretty slim. Warping mostly happens to a neck, hardly ever the body. Especially with the two piece bodies. Only the LP supreme has both maple front and back side (but this version has no back plates!!! Check out: Les Paul Forum - Articles - The Gibson Les Paul Supreme Edited October 19, 2004 by RGGR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushy the shroom Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 RGRR- that's warping, not wrapping. I own the 3 pickup Les Paul Custom, and I must say, it doesn't sound too muddy. Maybe it's the Burstbuckers. It does weight a ton (9.9 pounds), and it's terrible weight is a factor that inspired me to build my 4.7 pound hollow body. If I were you, I'd not just go for "cheese holes", rather much larger hollow sections. Besides improving the weight, I find that hollowed bodies present much more response and dynamics than a solid plank of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 (edited) RGRR- that's warping, not wrapping. Ah, so wrapping is what you do with X-mass presents, and warping is what wood does when it dries and bents. Okay!! Never knew that. Warping!!! Darn sounds like wrapping when pronounced fast enough. I find that hollowed bodies present much more response and dynamics than a solid plank of wood. There are some interesting discussions on the LesPaulForum about this issue. Some purists will say that the only "real" tone comes from a solid custom. They simply hate the cheese holes (tone chambers when Gibson's marketings department talks about them!!!) ;-) Personally I'm planning on building a LP of Korina, and it simply breaks my heart having to cut holes in the body just to get the weight down......something tells me this is not right. On the other hand, my back will thank me everyday if I do so.....I guess. Edited October 19, 2004 by RGGR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frubsen Posted October 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 (edited) ok, so would it be worth the extra for straight grain wood, or does it really matter? Edited October 19, 2004 by frubsen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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