johnsilver

The body is approx 2 7/16" in the middle and just under 2" at the edge. These are the dimensions on the 59 LP plan I bought from StewMac. Its a beast, especially since I didn't chamber it. The 59 wasn't chambered, at least the plan didn't show it, and I didn't know anything about chambering when I made the body. At least my son has been working out for the past couple of years and has a job with medical insurance. Thanks for the ideas on the burst. I was hoping to get some. I have the StewMac (darn them) finishing book with some Gibson burst recipes so I was going to test some of those out on scrap maple. I need a burst that's dark enough on the edges to cover the sand through. I was actually thinking of a tobacco burst (sorry Chris) but no definite plans yet. Does everyone think a honey burst is dark enough? I didnt' think so. Despite the screwups, I have some things going for me. I have to burst the back so I can further develop my technique. Also, I can always go black burst (more on that in a minute), or solid top if all else fails. Anyone ever heard of a gold top and bottom? Since this is styled on a Supreme, it has gold hardware. Also, gold MOP. Also, gold frets. Also, gold pup covers. I'm already afraid this will look like a guitar version of MTV's Pimp My Ride, so I'm not sure about the black burst. Who knows, maybe my son will join a funk band.

I just carved the neck. Came out ok. More on that later. This was my first attempt at a carved top guitar. There are now some good tutorials and examples on many ways to accomplish this with some precision and safety. I had no idea, and not the proper tools. I used everything I could find - spokeshave, chisels, gouges, files, angle grinder, sandpaper, spoons, my teeth, whatever. Ultimately, it came out ok, but I wouldn't recommend this approach to anyone, anytime, much less summer time in an unairconditioned garage in Houston. One problem is that I overcarved / sanded the top maple at the waist through to the mahogany. You can see it in the pics. Well, there goes my amber finish plan. Current plan is a burst of some sort using amber in the center and working out to the edges dark enough to hide the sand through. Warning, some of these pics depict graphic violence to innocent wood. laminated body cut to rough shape body sanded to shape carving in progress - call for help body eventually not too bad but with sand throughs obvious maple back w/ spalted area near the heel another view of body carve - not too bad

A couple of months ago, I completed an SG style guitar for my middle son. SG topic The SG was my third guitar to start but the second to finish. The second one I started was an LP style for my oldest son. Being a newb, I had no idea how far over my head I was for my knowledge and skill level. Anyway, I got into trouble at multiple places e.g. technique, sequencing, etc. Added is that I don't know what a LP is supposed to look and feel like. I mean, I have a general idea and a detailed plan from StewMac, but I have only held a LP a couple of times and I'm not a player. So, I put it away and after a while I started and completed the SG. It came out ok. With that, I got back to the LP. However, as per this post's description, it remains to be seen if it will be a guitar or attractive firewood. The objective is a guitar in the style of a LP Supreme - maple top and back over a mahogany center, mahogany set neck, ebony fretboard, gold MOP split block inlay, custom gold MOP inlay on the head, 7 layer binding on the top, 5 layer on the back, 3 layer mitered binding on the head and single ply on the neck. Oh, the aspirations of ignorance..... Anyway, here are pics of the target guitar from Gibson and my status as of yesterday. I'm trying to use thumbnails but I'm not sure I'm doing it correctly. Gibson LP Supreme Amber My version's progress July 15 As you can see, I've made progress but there are many problems and obstacles to overcome. I'll address those as this post progresses. Some I've tackled but some remain, so I may need some advice as I go. Anyway, it all started with a trip to my local wood supplier. They had some really nice straight-grained mahogany for bodies and necks. I found a plank of 6/4 curly maple and got them to resaw it for me. I got two planks of 9/16" bookmatched from that - enough for the top and back. Pics below. mahogany for necks and bodies body blank curly maple plank maple bookmatched Well, enough for a start. I'm off to the garage to carve the neck. More later. Thanks for looking.

You'll probably find something to help here.

I use 3/16" for headstock binding. IMHO, headstock binding the entire thickness of the head would look wierd.

Mickguard, I didn't catch the original issue but it sounds like you have a concern about sanding evenly. Here is a jig I made to help me handle fretboards. I use it for sanding, radiusing if not pre-radiused, and as a shooting board if I need to plane the fretboard edges flat. It is basically a piece of 3/4" mdf with two other pieces of 3/4" mdf screwed on top. I used the factory edges of the mdf for the two pieces on top to ensure they were straight. They are placed the same distance apart as my radius sanding block, just so the block fits snugly but moves along the length without binding. I double stick tape the fretboard on a center line drawn on the board, and then place the sanding block on top and begin. It helps me maintain even pressure and not "roll off" the edges. I'll also sand from one side, then move myself over and sand from the other side to avoid pressure differences. It works ok. This pic is of a pre-radiused board from LMI. I asked them to what grit equivalent their boards are prepared to, but they really couldn't answer since they machine the boards. For this board, because of all the inlay, I started with 400 and went from there. Hope this is of some use.

When you get Melvyn's book, you'll see he has a chart on body thickness for popular guitars. His chart shows an SG at 1 1/2" thick and a Les Paul at 2" thick at the edge and 2 1/4" in the middle. I have a LP plan that indicates 2 7/16" in the middle. Bottom line is that an LP has a lot more mass than an SG. I recently completed an SG with a thin maple drop top - total body thickness of 1 1/2". I'm not much of a player, but I didn't notice any significant "brightness" to the guitar. Also, when I was selecting pickups for the SG, I was advised the skinny neck (relatively) loses a bit of deep bass, so I selected pups to retain some of that. The vendor (Lews Guitars) said they would help retain the bottom more like a LP. I put Seymour Duncan JB (bridge) and Jazz (neck). Here is my SG. click If you want the LP sound, why not make an LP?

I've never tried to use wood glue for inlay. I just read the label on my bottle of Titebond and it says it is designed for adhering hard and soft wood and other porous material. I don't think MOP is porous, but then again, this application isn't going to be under stress so I don't see why a drop of wood glue wouldn't hold a MOP dot in a tight fitting hole. For inlay, I use the medium thickness CA. No mixing, easy to control and dries very quickly.

Exactly. That's why they come a little thick. You can take off what you need but you can't put back on.

I've ordered 4-5 ebony boards from LMI and they've all been a little overthick. I just checked the last one I still have and it is 7.6mm thick (not pre-radiused). I've only ordered one pre-radiused board from them and I can't check it because its being glued to the neck as we speak.

Grim, thanks for posting this. A good safety tip.

I would love to have some of the band saws you guys are talking about, and I will. Right now, my problem is space since I use my garage as a shop. I still park two cars in there every night so everything has to be portable, movable or small. That's why I bought the Delta 9" bandsaw. After I cut my first guitar body out with a jig saw and the neck with a Japanese style hand saw, I wanted something else. Its usable but limited of course. I change the blades often to help avoid drift. I'm aware of the bearing cost so I try to keep it clean. I have cut 2" thick Les Paul style bodies with it, and cut necks with it including cutting two set necks from single 3 1/2" square blocks of mahogany or mahogany / maple laminates. Done that a number of times. Example pic below. That's the little Delta in the background with the dust port connected to my shop vac. I'll use it until it dies and then decide what to get next.

MiKro is right to caution about the thickness of the top and careful carving. On the piece of maple I mentioned above, I carved it to a Les Paul type carve (or as good as I can do one) and it came out ok but when sanding I sanded through the maple at the very edge at the waist. Its still ok, I'll just have to finish it differently than my original plan. I'm working on it today since I took the day off for the 4th.

A guitar 1 1/2" thick for the body is ok. That is the standard thickness of a Gibson SG for example. If your piece of Makore is 1 1/4 thick, a skilled shop should be able to resaw it such that you end up with two pieces at least 1/2" thick. That assumes the piece is already pretty flat and that cleanup after resawing is minimal. I recently had my local shop resaw a 6/4 piece of curly maple and I ended up with finished pieces 9/16" thick.

Simo, looking very good so far. I'm watching this with great interest as I have a nice one piece black limba body blank and a black limba neck blank in the garage (er, I mean my workshop). Keep the pics coming.

I can't advise directly but I do have a book from Stewmac titled Guitar Finishing Step by Step. It is extremely useful for all stages of prep and finishing, but to your question, it gives recipes and steps to achieving lots of finishes including bursts. They have recipes / techniques / sequences for Gibson and Fender bursts and one recipe for a PRS vintage burst. Stewmac also has a video specifically for applying a sunburst finish.

Thanks guys. Thats helpful. Algee, I have that caul - have used it to help glue on the fretboard in the past and as support when hammering frets. Most of the time, it is used to hold a roll of paper towels and keep it from rolling away. Works great for that! I think I'll do what I usually do i.e. prepare the fretboard, glue it on, carve the neck and then fret. This time, I'll press them in instead of hammering.

For those of you who use an arbor press for fretting (I know you're out there), what is your preferred sequence of pressing frets in neck / fingerboard construction? What I mean is - do you press the frets in the fingerboard before gluing it to the neck (allowing simple pressure on something with flat base, or do you glue the fingerboard to the neck and then press the frets? If the latter, do you use a jig or something to support the neck? I'm asking because I just picked up the arbor ram from the machne shop where they drilled a couple of holes and tapped one for a set screw so I can use the Stewmac press. Thanks.

New tools always deserve congrats. I saw that model at Lowes last weekend. I have the 9" Delta. The new one is better. You should be able to slice up some baby back ribs with that.

I have a basic set of the StewMac files. But, I don't know what a torch tip cleaner is ( ), so I'm curious. Pics or reference?

Mattia, this is the smallest I could find - 4" lightweight. Grizzly grinder

Robert, thanks for asking this question. I learned something from it.