Mr Natural Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 2 les pauls- one lefty, one righty one piece mahogany bodies hard maple tops mahogany necks- the lefty will have- ebony fret board crown inlays white paint- no binding, gloss laquer finish the 12 yr old getting this guitar requests the emg 81/85 set. zak wydle set fits the bill. Headstock will be inlaid with this kid's last name in MOP, the truss rod cover will have his first name (so when anyone asks what kind of guitar he plays- he can say its his own custom model) righty- rosewood fret board black paint- white binding-not sure about the rest- this one is taking some time- it started out for someone else, now its for me. every guitar starts as a board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted October 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 routing body shape-bought templates for these adding weight reduction chambers - done freehand (obviously)- I didnt take the time to make nice neat templates for these routes since these will be covered up by the maple and a couple coats of shielding paint in the wire channel since I wont be able to get in there once the maple goes on. This lefty doesnt really need it (since the kid wants EMGs)- but I figured I might as well since he may grow up to enjoy passives one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 a bit of work on the fretboard for the lefty I started to carve the top of this with an IBEX finger plane. What was I thinking - as you can see- I have pulled in the reserves to help out (note grinder to the right in the pic)- the progress in this shot is with just the finger planes. My forearms now look like Popeye's. sorry for the exposue on this shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted October 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 just when you think everything is going good. so- on the lefty- routed access panels, made left handed control panels out of purple heart and ebony veneer- stained the ebony black(cant find plastic control panel for left handed gibson, not even from gibson direct) did the headstock veneer inlay- I did this off the body incase I screwed up- (which I often do- see below)- the kid wanted the Gibson block style for his last name- a friend of mine found a script style pretty close and sent me an email which I printed out and used as my guide. For the record- my first attempt at cutting this FAILED. My friend (who does woodwork, but not guitars) suggested I try a different blade, which along with some wax made all the difference in the world cutting these. and now the big fat FAIL- this took me THREE times to cut this out. I finally got it cut, inlaid, used some "artist fresco powders" with clear epoxy my friend sent me which i must say blended nicely with the ebony (better than the stew mac black epoxy)- so I am thinking- this is probably the best inlay I have ever done. looks good right? and I did mention this was for a LEFT handed guitar right? so anyone out there named Gabe need a right handed truss rod cover? so- after picking my heart up from my feet.......I shall live another day, learn a lesson (which I share with you all)...and try again. ugh. and I have been so careful labeling everything "this side up" or "lefty" etc. well- my record is still intact- this is my 7th or 8 th build- and I have screwed something up on everyone of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idmicheal Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Man, that is sort of tragic. I haven't started building yet (can't wait 'till I have time in the summer), but I'm sure I'll make more that my fair share of mistakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted October 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 Headstock/fingerboard dyed black and pearl cleaned up. Sanded the body, started to sand the finderboard and realized I hadnt tensioned the neck/rod yet- you can see where I started to sand off the dye on the finger board. The middle of the board is more black. That dye really does a good job with the ebony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted October 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 frets on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted October 30, 2010 Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 frets on For the record I am pretty sure I would hose a lefty royally (as in Queen of England royally (no offense wez) ). Excellent work. Now about truss rod covers....ha ha ha. Ok kidding aside. Looking good. edit: it is friday night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 30, 2010 Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 for the record I am pretty sure I would hose a lefty royally (as in Queen of England royally (no offense wez) ). Excellent work. why you apologising to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted October 30, 2010 Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 for the record I am pretty sure I would hose a lefty royally (as in Queen of England royally (no offense wez) ). Excellent work. why you apologising to me It made sense when I was typing it... I gotta stop posting while drinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Bennett Posted October 30, 2010 Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 Hey, I have a right-handed guitar playing son named Gabe. What you could do is reshape that truss rod cover into an oval. Then you could inlay it anywhere, or make the guy a key chain or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted October 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 my paint booth is my garage, with a couple of 2X4s attached to one of my benches, with framing square clamped on top, and a fitted bed sheet to catch overspray. Aint pretty, but it works. I have a "door" that I attached after the spray has settled and it keeps the dust out. I shoot McFaddens laquer thinned with 15% thinner/pigment mix and a dab of retarder. I am shooting thru (dont laugh) Preval sprayers. One day I will have proper woodworking and spray equipment, but for now- well this will have to do. I tried the McFaddens white on this but it wasnt the brilliant white the kid wanted. This white is Colortone White Pigment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted October 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 Hey, I have a right-handed guitar playing son named Gabe. What you could do is reshape that truss rod cover into an oval. Then you could inlay it anywhere, or make the guy a key chain or something. Ken- PM sent- forgot you told me your son's name when we spoke last- sorry about that! Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 31, 2010 Report Share Posted October 31, 2010 for the record I am pretty sure I would hose a lefty royally (as in Queen of England royally (no offense wez) ). Excellent work. why you apologising to me It made sense when I was typing it... I gotta stop posting while drinking. Bear in mind that Elizabeth Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is not in fact English, and neither is her simpleton racist Greek consort, Phillip. So having a hosed royalty isn't too much of a stretch for the imagination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 31, 2010 Report Share Posted October 31, 2010 I am shooting thru (dont laugh) Preval sprayers. I did the same thing with my exploder.Worked really well,but it is so expensive by the time you are done,at least at the thickness of finish I used Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted October 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2010 these photos show the white a bit better- its blistering artic white- I went a bit heavy on the pigment- but its the color the kid wants. Also had one part of the headstock front veneer edge that wasnt taped just exactly right- had to scrape a little overspray off. took these photos before re-taping the fingerboard to start spraying clear. Wes- if this goes like a previous guitar I sprayed- I expect to either use 3 or maybe 4 preval sprayers- I have used up one with the vinyl sealer/2 coats, straight laquer (2 coats to fill), one heavy color coat to also fill (sanded back) then 2 final color coats. There is just a little bit left in this first can but I am afraid of it spitting on me- so I will use a new one to start clear. I should easily get done with just 2 more. 4 preval refills is roughly $14. For onesy twosey its ok- but I really do need proper spray equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted November 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 Lefty done-getting a good pic of a "ultra white" high gloss guitar is a bit difficult. Note new truss rod cover- done correctly THis guitar photographs kind of creamish indoors-but trust me- its blistering white. Most of the photos I took didnt come out -they are overexposed or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Bennett Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 The black and white theme really looks nice. I'm curious how you developed the arching. Is it freehand or based on patterns? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 It seems to be more aggressive in the horn area than a standard LP so I'd guess he did it without template. That said, it fits the pairing with EMGs Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted November 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 It seems to be more aggressive in the horn area than a standard LP so I'd guess he did it without template. That said, it fits the pairing with EMGs Chris It was done with a template- its a tad over 3 1/2 degrees. I used my version of David Myka's neck jig. I didnt introduce the "middle plain" as I have since found out about les Pauls- from what I have read there is the neck angle plain- then the plain from approx back of neck pickup to front of bridge, then the flat plain that the bridge sits on- well- mine is flat till the back of the neck pick up and then drops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.