EireGT Posted March 27, 2021 Report Share Posted March 27, 2021 Hi guys, would like to introduce myself, I'm Dylan, based in the west of Ireland I used to frequent these forums when I was far younger (circa 05-06) when I was still in school. Which brings me to the topic of these post... In my final year of school I attempted a Les Paul style build for a woodworking project which was never very good! Think loose frets with sharp ends, oversized neck pocket, poorly filled in cavity repair job, no access to a router in school sonall cavity's and openings were created using drills and augers and hand tools... List goes on I've recently unearthed it in my dad's attic and wanted to try and put a nice finish on it. I think it would be too easy to just fill the openings and smooth over and paint the full thing to hide the evidence but it's such a nice piece of Mahogany it would be a shame to cover it over so would anyone make any suggestions as to what I could do to tidy it up? Will upload some pictures when I figure out how to post them direct from my phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted March 28, 2021 Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 Hi and welcome back! While waiting for your post count to reach the level that allows you to upload pictures there's not much we can do other than encourage you to take another look or three to find all the issues that require addressing. There's most likely more than one way to make your build solid and good looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EireGT Posted March 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 4 hours ago, Bizman62 said: Hi and welcome back! While waiting for your post count to reach the level that allows you to upload pictures there's not much we can do other than encourage you to take another look or three to find all the issues that require addressing. There's most likely more than one way to make your build solid and good looking. Thanks for the welcome and the heads up! That's a pity but would explain why no matter how hard I tried I couldn't post anything last night! I've taken a few steps towards solving the problems over the weekend. Ordered a router and template cutter bit and some other generic router bits, small pillar drill and drum sander kit. Also took a punt on an eBay 24 fret paddle headstock neck a couple weeks back that arrived recently. Plastic nut and fret work doesn't look the best but level-ish. For €25 if it doesn't work it's not the end of the world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 28, 2021 Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 FWIW, while you're still at 'New Member' status you should be able to upload pictures provided the total upload per post doesn't exceed 500kB, so you'll need to resize your photos first. Alternatively, if you can host the images elsewhere there's nothing stopping you embedding the images in as links. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EireGT Posted March 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 12 minutes ago, curtisa said: FWIW, while you're still at 'New Member' status you should be able to upload pictures provided the total upload per post doesn't exceed 500kB, so you'll need to resize your photos first. Alternatively, if you can host the images elsewhere there's nothing stopping you embedding the images in as links. Ah okay, thanks I'll take another go tomorrow and share what I'm starting with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EireGT Posted March 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) Aha finally cracked it! Edited March 28, 2021 by EireGT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EireGT Posted March 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 I have some mahogany veneer wedged into the neck pocket to close the gap and the opening at the rear is from an aluminium plate I made up to hold the strings as I was a broke student with no access to string ferrules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted March 29, 2021 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 it is a lovely piece of mahog for sure... but if it were me... seems with the neck pocket issues a prime candidate for a lovely veneer over it. I think you may have just surpassed a member or two if we consider this one the longest ongoing guitar project! looks like you got her going in the right direction - looking fwd to the finish line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted March 29, 2021 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 Doesn't look too bad at all! And the mahogany sure is too pretty to be hidden under a layer of paint. As @mistermikev said, the neck pocket needs some veneer. If the side of the pocket is straight then all you'd have to do is to glue an oversize strip of mahogany there and reroute the pocket to size. A couple of mm's should be pretty much invisible if you choose the piece right. Another option is to use something different on both sides of the neck pocket - a thin stripe of ebony might match with the pickup ring and if you put the same ebony on the bottom of the neck pocket as well it would look like you had originally designed a dark stripe around the neck pocket! That would require some careful re-routing, though. If you can't hide it, make it a feature... The aluminium plate to hold the strings is a valid idea, all it requires for added comfort is gaps for the ball ends of the strings. So if that's a 1 mm plate, you'd need a 8-10 mm thick piece inlaid into the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EireGT Posted March 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 Thanks again for the feedback. The side wall for the pocket is rough so I think it'll need to be squared off first. I think I have a piece of veneer that should be a good match that section Although I do like the idea of the ebony trim about the pocket and maybe have a matching inlay for the alu back plate as I'm unsure what to do with the old ebony fingerboard. I'll need to double check that I cut the slots in the correct location if it's to be salvaged. Holding against the eBay neck it's not a million miles off  More to follow when tools and things begin to arrive 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EireGT Posted April 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2021 Bits and pieces have started to arrive so I started by cleaning up the electronics cavity a little I also widened and squared off the neck of the neck pocket. Just need to cut a piece to glue in and smooth off before widening again and covering with a veneer. Tried to enlarge the up pickup cavities a little. Not the cleanest attempt but without a template it'll do. It won't be visible under the humbucker surrounds Lastly I added a fillet radius around the body to clean up the edges. Considering taking back all the coating and redoing with a transparent cherry red like LP Junior 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EireGT Posted April 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2021 So some more minor updates. Glue set on the repair so I set about re-routing the neck pocket. Beside some minor grain tear out at the end I think it has come out okay   Also did some more freehand routing to tidy up the cavity of the 3 way switch so another on the list done.  I'd like some advice though, I mentioned earlier to grain matching the side of the neck pocket with a veneer. What would the general advice be to complete this? Rout down <0.5mm and glue in with superglue or similar and smooth off? Or other?  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted April 6, 2021 Report Share Posted April 6, 2021 1 hour ago, EireGT said: I mentioned earlier to grain matching the side of the neck pocket with a veneer. What would the general advice be to complete this? Rout down <0.5mm and glue in with superglue or similar and smooth off? Or other? I must admit that I understood your meaning wrong: I thought you were going to make the patch out of that piece of veneer, thinking it was a thick block. Silly me. I'd leave that patch as is. The colour seems to be close enough although it's hard to tell before you've sanded it and at least wiped some naphta for a mockup finish. The neck will cast a shadow there so it will be easy enough to hide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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