PeteBuchan Posted May 14, 2007 Report Share Posted May 14, 2007 (edited) I've been working on a hollow 12 string les paul with a through body neck. Both the body and neck are made from rippled sycamore, and the accent stripes are made from rosewood offcuts I saved from the side of my fretboard. I'm using a Gotoh 12 string bridge (same one used on the fender 12 string strat) and so the neck has no angle. This is what it looks like just now. I'm not too sure what I'm doing for a finish, but it's definately goign to be a tinted lacquer to allow the stripes to show through. I had originally decided to dye it amber and sunburst it with black round the edges, but I'm not so sure about that now. Any suggestions would be good. Here are some more photos showing some progress shots. Body Tone Chambers Body Pete Edited May 14, 2007 by PeteBuchan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblaty Posted May 14, 2007 Report Share Posted May 14, 2007 It looks really good I´m looking forward to see the progress and mostly the finish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted May 14, 2007 Report Share Posted May 14, 2007 very nice indeed! My only crit is that I would have liked to see the stripes go right through to show off the neck through but it is still very nice anyway. Is the sycamore from Scottish Hardwoods? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_ado Posted May 14, 2007 Report Share Posted May 14, 2007 ohhhh man ........ohh man ......................thats hot!! I'm loving it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteBuchan Posted May 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2007 The sycamore is indeed from scottish hardwoods. Cost me no more than £20 for the whole lot - and I managed to save enough for a bolt on neck too! The second bit has some really nice rippling. The stripes were only there because I left the neck out in the garage overnight and it ended up bending slightly and when I glued the body on, there wasn't a nice join so I thought I'd cover it all up with some rosewood - but I think it looks like it's supposed to be there. I should have strings on it pretty soon - i have the fretboard radiused, and once I'm finished at uni for the year, I'll have time to fret it. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted May 14, 2007 Report Share Posted May 14, 2007 what bridge will you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteBuchan Posted May 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2007 I have a gotoh 12 string bridge - its the same one used on the fender 12 string strat. Since I'm using this bridge, there is no neck angle. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted May 14, 2007 Report Share Posted May 14, 2007 That's looking pretty good! It looks like the top is carved a little. How deep is the carve? Also, did you carve just the top, or did you carve the inside of the top too since it looks thin where the "f-holes" are? Some pictures of the inside of the top would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted May 14, 2007 Report Share Posted May 14, 2007 (edited) I have a gotoh 12 string bridge - its the same one used on the fender 12 string strat. Since I'm using this bridge, there is no neck angle. Pete Nice! Edited May 14, 2007 by Hector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteBuchan Posted May 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 Inisheer, The top is simply planed with a slight bevel right round, and the concaved sections are filed and sanded. The inside has a matching carve, achieved by routing the inside in a series of steps, then tidied up with a chisel and sandpaper. The thickness is around 4mm. My calculations were slightly off as I was aiming for 3mm, but I'd rather it was too thick than too thin. I'm going to mask off the edges of the f-holes so that when i dye it, those sections will remain light and so accent the shape of the fhole against the darker body colour. I'm afraid I don't have any pictures of the inside, but its just the same on the inside as on the outside so you can probably picture what it looks like. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteBuchan Posted May 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 Had some spare time today so got the inlays sanded flush with the fretboard, got the pickup mounting ring holes drilled and the output socket screwed in. I still need some insperation for the final colour. Any ideas? Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 I'm thinking a "warm" color... amber, brown, red? LP's look great that way. This is a way cool guitar, whatever you choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_ado Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 no way try and keep it as natural white as possible im no professional when it comes to finishes so i dont know how u would do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteBuchan Posted May 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 I'm heading towards leaving the top as it is, then dying the sides and back brown. Maybe putting a slight tint onto the top. This has been the only guitar I haven't really had a good idea of how I want it to look right from the start. It's also the guitar I've been most eager to play Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_ado Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 do the white please hahaha nar you do what you want do you want a vintage feel or like modern or somthing?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPA or death Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 I'm heading towards leaving the top as it is, then dying the sides and back brown. Maybe putting a slight tint onto the top. This has been the only guitar I haven't really had a good idea of how I want it to look right from the start. It's also the guitar I've been most eager to play Pete That's the route I would go too. A light amber or cherry red on that top would be beautiful imo. Great build no matter how you decide to finish it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteBuchan Posted May 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 Ideally I'd like a vintage feel to it. Like something that was built years ago, but at the time looked quite modern. Can't really think of how to describe it. I'm also undecided on whether or not i should add a slight sunburst? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 red edges with a yellow middle, like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteBuchan Posted May 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 I'm progressing nicely just now. I got the fibre board stuck onto the headstock last night and it is now cut flush with the outline of the headstock. I got the fretboard glued to earlier. It's clamped just now, waiting for the glue to dry. I'm going to try find the bridge screws again, and when I find them, the bridge is getting screwed down and i'm going to get some strings on so I can see what it sounds like. I just want to play it before the frets go on so I can say i've played a fretless guitar After this weekend, I'm not going to be gettign any work done for a week or so due to exams and the like. But once they are all clear, I'll get this thing finished and playing. Can't wait! Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteBuchan Posted September 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 (edited) I've finally got round to buying a new spray gun after breaking my old one. I've done the colour coats and will get the majority of the clear coats done tomorrow. Here are some pictures of it so far.... ....and some pictures of the back: http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o218/Pe...ouredBack-2.jpg http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o218/Pe...ouredBack-3.jpg I'm quite happy with the result. I think the back came out more how I wanted the front to look like but it's all good. Pete Edited September 1, 2007 by PeteBuchan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdizzle Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 ohhhhh man, that color is absolutly gorgeous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 Do you have any updates on this one Pete? This is a great build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan D Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 Nice, loving the burst! Normally, I am not a huge fan of Les Pauls, but this one is gorgeous. Any tips for applying sunbursts like that? I'm thinking of doing a blueburst, but I'm afraid I'll accidentally spray my cat a solid black or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteBuchan Posted March 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 (edited) Here's a little update. The guitar has been resprayed a number of times since then due to poor finishes and poor spraying conditions. It is also looking rather sorry for itself just now as my house was broken into a few weeks ago and it got smashed up! It's fixable, but a bit annoying. Anyway, I'm going to convert this from a 12 string to a 6 string as I really like the sound of it, but I don't think I'll use it much unless it's in 6 string form. I'll use all the 12 string hardware on a p90 hollow tele i'm making just now. The next thing is to decide what colour I should spray it now! Here are some pictures of my previous attempts! Natural http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o218/PeteBuchan/clear.jpg Natural plus black burst and sandpapered binding http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o218/Pe...an/Image009.jpg Orange plus black burst http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o218/PeteBuchan/12str.jpg Cherry sunburst http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o218/Pe...gColoured-1.jpg And finally the current 'smashed up' state http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o218/Pe...an/Image013.jpg Which one should I go for?! As for how I go about bursts, the 'cherry' burst was done by eye with my paint gun and all the others were done using the body template technique. That's the one where you take a thin piece of ply or card or something and cut it with the outline of the body. Place small blocks of wood in the pickup routes and line up the template with the profile of the body below. I put a weight on the template to keep it from moving with the blast of air from the gun. Now, you just spray onto the body at an angle. You can adjust the width and strength of the burst by raising/lowering the template from the body, or by adjusting the angle of spray ie if you point the gun directly down onto the body you will get a very small dark burst, but if you spray inbetween the template and body the burst will be softer and wider. I find this technique to be much better than the 'by eye' approach. It may not look it in the picutres, but I chose that picture as it looked best in it. The other pictures are on a camera phone. Pete Edited March 26, 2008 by PeteBuchan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 I likw the cherry burst the best. Sorry about your luck with the vandals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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