ArieBombarie Posted May 26, 2008 Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 (edited) After a long time thinking about it, I finally started my first build. I always liked the Gibson Les Paul, but I didn’t want to make a replica, so I let the Les Paul be my inspiration and designed my own guitar. I wanted my guitar to have more of an attitude, to be more 'rocky' then a regular Les Paul. I came up with the following design: Here are the specs: Mahogany body Mahogany neck Zebrawood Top Carved top Ebony fretboard Angled set neck scale length of 24 3/4 inch (628,650mm) Angled Headstock Zebrawood laminate on headstock Chrome hardware 2 Humbucker pick-ups Tune-o-matic bridge Custom 12th fret Inlay Transparent Black Finish As this is my first build, I obviously lack experience in building guitars. To make up for it I'm taking things slow..... so bear with me Grz Arjan Edited May 27, 2008 by ArieBombarie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArieBombarie Posted May 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 I started a couple of weeks ago, so I have made some progress already. Here is the wood I bought: I started with making templates out of 8mm MDF, then I got some work done on the body... The Mahogany wasn't wide enough for the body, so I had to make it a two part body. After the glue set, I cut out the basic shape with a bandsaw. Then I attached the template and used a router to get the sides lined up with the template... Then I sanded the sides with an drum-sander which I made out off PVC pipe (the one you find under your sink...) Grz Arjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted May 26, 2008 Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 Looking good! Throw on a volute at the nut and a longer neck tenon and it's right up my alley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted May 26, 2008 Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 I just don't see a huge departure from a Les Paul to say that it has a more rocky feel. However the few details I really like are the large carve of the lower horn and the headstock. The body otherwise looks pretty standard except for the controls. I like your logo, but am not thrilled with the fret inlay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael.Speer Posted May 26, 2008 Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 like it a lot. then again im allways happy to see people try something new and not just parrot a classic keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otzelpeitz Posted May 26, 2008 Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 Hey, nice build! Looking good so far. Could you go into details about your drum sander, please? How did you realize it, and how could you center your shaft to balanced turning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArieBombarie Posted May 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 Hey, nice build! Looking good so far. Could you go into details about your drum sander, please? How did you realize it, and how could you center your shaft to balanced turning? At first I tried to buy a big enough drum sander, but I couldn't find any... but I had a small drum-sanderbit thingy for my drill lying around.. (something as shown on the picture..) it was about 3 cm high and had about the same diameter... it was too small for sanding the side of the body. I cut a piece a PVC pipe (4 cm diameter and about 6 cm high) and I used ducktape to increase the diameter of the small drumsander untill it became a snug fit inside of the PVC pipe.. The smaller drum sander sits right about in the middle of the larger one. On the PVC pipe I use double sided tape to attach the sandpaper.. It's not exactly a precision tool but it got the job done... Another possibillity is to make a 'real' one yourself.. I came across a website of a guitarbuilder how made one herself (see pictures below). It's made of solid PVC, the trick here of course is (like you say) to center the shaft, I don't know how she did this..... but I think she use a drill-press of some sort... Anyways.. even with this "real" one, I would use doublesided tape to attach the sandpaper, its easier and (I think) smoother then with this jig and srews... Grz Arjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted May 26, 2008 Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 Yeah, that sander with the screws just screams danger for your nice pieces of lumber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArieBombarie Posted May 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 Before I glued on the topwood, I pre-routed the wiring holes in the body... (and of course cut the bodyshape in the topwood) I glued on the topwood, clamped it and let it dry for a couple of days... After that I routed the topwood even with the rest of the body Next job is to carve the top..... Grz Arjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArieBombarie Posted May 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 Next thing I did was to plane the angle in the body for the neck using a planning jig I build (I posted a tread about the jig Adjustable planing jig thread) Then I used the jig to roughfly route out the carving: Then I used an angle grinder with a sandpaper disk (the kind with flaps) to smooth the rough carving. Then it was time to take out the sandpaper and sand everything smooth... as you can see I lost much of the bookmatched effect after the carving. This is because graindirection in the topwood wasn't perpendicular to the top, but had a slope to it... so when I carved the top the grain 'ran off' in different directions. I had already figured this out before I started so no unpleasant suprises there... all and all I'm still pleased with the endresult... I just ordered all the hardware yesterday at stewmac, so in a week or so I will have everything... In the meantime I'll start with the neck... Arjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 I rather like that non-bookmatched look. Very organic! Great work so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 First zebrawood I've seen that I liked. Looks great so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 i must say, WOW! this hits the spot perfectly for me. the only thing thats a bit sketchy for me is the headstock, but the rest is exactly what i would want in a guitar. great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anderekel Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Wow, I really like that, except that the horn looks too skinny in my opinion, but it looks really nice, love the carve and the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reantel Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Awesome job carving the top. Looks GREAT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArieBombarie Posted May 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Well, thanks for all the kind words... I'm rather pleased with it myself.... And now I have a deadline... A colleage of my girlfriend is the guitarist of Claw Boys Claw. They will be playing at the Lowlands festival in September. (Lowlands is the biggest 3-day festival of the Netherlands with over 60.000 visitors). And if it's finished and it playes well, he will be playing this gig with my guitar! So... no time to waste... Arjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirge for november Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Hey, coming on great! I love les paul inspired builds. I'm also a Dutchie, just wondering where you got your wood from as I'm planning to do a build in the summer holidays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdog Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 I'm NL based too. Have a look HERE. Very comprehensive list put together by another respected NL based member of this community... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArieBombarie Posted May 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 (edited) Hey, coming on great! I love les paul inspired builds. I'm also a Dutchie, just wondering where you got your wood from as I'm planning to do a build in the summer holidays. Glad you like it... got the wood at de Amsterdamse fijnhouthandel (www.fijnhout.nl) .... you could also try de Arnhemse Fijnhouthandel (www.af.nl).... Good luck with your project... Arjan Edited May 29, 2008 by ArieBombarie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArieBombarie Posted June 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 This weekend I got some work done on the neck. First I marked out all the dimensions on the neckwood and cut the scarfjoint on my teblesaw with a special jig I made. After I had cut the scrafjoint, I planed the headstock piece to the correct thickness, I figured this would be easier then doing this after I glued it on... Then I glued on the headstock piece and clamped it.... This is the headstock after gluing... I had to add the 'ears' to make the headstock wider. But because my headstock design isn't straight, I first tapered the headstock so that the glue-lines of the ears would end up at the top of the headstock instead of the sides where they would be more noticable... Then I clamped it and here is the rough headstock shape... I will add a zebrawood veneer on both the top and the back of the headstock so all the gluelines you see will be hidden. I also cut the tenon and routed the truss rod cavity Next up is shaping the neck and adding the veneer... Grz Arjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeljac Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 nice..... i dont like headstock... its more for explorers and that kind of guitars ! but... if you like it, just do it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Anderson Posted June 3, 2008 Report Share Posted June 3, 2008 Arjan, nice guitar!!! Btw, could you tell me what tenon is? Happy building! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArieBombarie Posted June 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2008 Arjan, nice guitar!!! Btw, could you tell me what tenon is? Happy building! well thanx... the tenon is the piece of the guitarneck that is glued into the body... With a set-neck the neckwood isn't as wide al the way to the end of the fretboard as is the case with a bolt-on neck but it's smaller... here's a pic... Grz Arjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Anderson Posted June 5, 2008 Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 Hi Arjan, thanks for your answer... Btw, look at this picture... Your headstock design looked similar to mine (I made this design 2 years ago), but mine is less sharp. If you didn't cut out your headstock yet, I'd be glad if you put my design on your guitar, since I haven't build any guitar yet, so I think it's better if somebody else use this design. Thanks Happy building Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArieBombarie Posted June 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 Ricky, thanx for your input.. indeed it's similar.. but I cut my headstock yesterday... so... I got a couple of replies saying that they didn't like the headstock I'm using, but I like the a-symetrical shape it gives the guitar less of a classic LP look, which I'm aming for.. I have to start work on the fretboard and the shaping of the neck and adding veneer to the headstock... I'll be posting my progress soon... Gr Arjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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