GregA

Okay. So, just to make sure, this post: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=12354 Is technically NOT the way to go? (numerous pics in separate messages)

Hi All, After 4 years (yeah...I know!) of tinkering on this project I am almost done my LP! I am going to post the final pics and want to make sure I am clear on the rules. If I wanted to show 4 pics of it, would it be okay to make a new topic and include one pic immediately, then add one pic in each of the 3 following replies? Or am I only able to post one pic in the original message and simply provide the link to the remainder. Thanks to anyone who can clarify. I read the rules and am pretty sure but don't want to step on any toes! GregA

Hi All, I will be applying a "rubbed" burst finish to my LP type guitar. (maple top) I will be using NGR Dye dilluted with methlhydrate. Should I tape the binding? I assume that I could just scrape it after but wanted a couple opinions. I imagine taping the side of the binding at least would make sense since then only the top would need scraping. Second questions: Would it be possible to just wipe down the binding before it sets so that it is clean? (I imagine the dye would stain the binding making this an ineffective approach) I will test this out but since I don't have the guitar here, I thought I may get some opinions in the mean time. Thanks all! GregA

Hi all, I will be scraping the edge of my binding to remove some unwanted colour and lacqer. Any advice on the process? I'm sure there are a few helpful tips out there! Thanks, Greg

Thanks for the info! I did a search for "spraybooth" but I guess I should have searched for "spray booth"! Thanks, Greg

Hi All, My buddy is a luthier and has decided to build a spraybooth. He needs an "explosion proof"fan and I was wondering if anyone had ideas on where to buy one. If someone knew a spot in Canada that would be great but at this stage, any info is appreciated! Thanks guys, Greg

Thanks Doc! You have been a huge help! I have a couple small questions. After you wipe with clean burlap, I assume there will still be a lot of haze. I have heard of people actually using a rag with mineral spirits to wipe off the excess after about an hour or so. So basically doing the procedure before it full sets up overnight. Any opinons on this? I guess the biggest problem would be pulling the fill out of the pores but I assume you could just let it sit overnight then go at it again the next day. My thoughts are that this would ensure that the "field" of the wood is filler free in the end. Also, the filler we are using is the actual stuff that Gibson used in the 90's. There is no label at all. We used naptha to thin it. Would that do to wipe the pore filler off? I apologize for so many questions and truly appreciate your insight. Thanks again, Greg

Alright..........here is the sad update! Information needed! After letting our oilbased filler sit for a couple days we gently went at it with 400 grit sandpaper on the back. Here is what happened! No matter how lightly we went at it with the sandpaper, if lightened the tone dramatically. It is now clear that sanding a stained mahogany back with just one coat of lacquer to seal the stain doesn't work if you plan on sanding... So...I am in the process of sanding down the back and neck to the mahogany. Luckily I still have the dye that I originally used so getting back to where I was will not be a complete hassle. Now.....so here is plan B: 1. Re-dye the back. (dry for a day) 2. Spray a wash coat of clear lacquer. (dry for a day) 3. Brush on the Oil Based grain filler. Now here is the information that I desperately need clarification on... 1. When applying the grain filler how long should I wait untill I wipe the excess of the "field" of the wood? (I'm not touching it with sandpaper again) The Doctor mentioned that it can be done the next day no problem but I was wondering if this is different for oil-based filler. I seems like this stuff hardens like concrete over a day or two and am concerned about waiting too long. 2. What should I use to wipe off the oil based filler? I need something that will not effect the lacquer. Thanks for all the help guys.... Greg

Thanks for the input everyone! If I do happen to sand through to the colour coat, what are my options? I have more of the base colour dye....could I not just re-stain it, then spray clear? It probably wouldn't be perfect but I imagine it would at least lessen the "eyesore" effect somewhat. Thanks again, Greg

Hi All, I am looking for shielding paint for my guitar. I know that stew mac has some but was thinking that I may be able to pick some up locally. (Calgary, Alberta Canada) Any idea if this has another name in the industry that I could ask about? Or even better, where one could get this in Canada? Thanks for any help! Greg

Hi All, Here is the deal. I am currently in the finishing stages of my Les Paul build. (after 3 and a half years!) Although I am doing all the actually work, I have accessed the help of a professional luthier to ensure that I don't screw it up too bad! (this guy has done work for many professional players in our area) His sequence of events in regard to grain filling is somewhat different from what I have read about and would like a bit of advice.... We have stained the mahogany back and neck (a beautiful dark cherry) and then sprayed a single wet coat of clear lacquer. We will then be grainfilling with an oil based filler, using a credit card to remove the excess, and letting it sit for a day. Then we will be carefully sanding any excess filler. Now, I know this is significantly different from the accepted method of either filling before staining or wiping the grain filler off with mineral spirits before it completely sets up. At this stage though, I have nothing but confidence with this guys knowledge and approach but have just one question. Clearly this creates a massive issue in regard to sanding through the lacquer into the stained wood. Has anyone done this and just how difficult is it to pull off without sand throughs? I am will to go inch by inch slowly to ensure I am "careful" but was curious as to just how hard this is going to be. (clearly any edge area is going to be particularly picky) Also, in the event of a sand through, what are my options? I have plenty of the dye left over I used for the body. Is there any chance of recovery if things go a little sideways? Anyone pull this off before? Basically I am nervous as hell (as I am sure you can tell) and would just like some opinions! Thanks all! I will be posting pics when I am FINALLY done! Greg A

Looks like a great start! Keep us posted. Greg A

Hmm....well there are a few small things that are new since my last post.. Frets finished.... Neck carved and shaped..... Bridge and Tailpiece Installed..... Tuners Installed.... Nut carved and installed..... Heel Cap on back fitted.... Holes drilled for knobs and switches..... So yeah...other than that.....nothing has changed. I just figured that since this was a forum for people building guitars, some may be interested in those small changes..... Perhaps I am incorrect in this assumption, but I hope that by posting step-by-step photos, it may help someone else out who is also doing some type of build project..... I really enjoy looking at that thing, don't get me wrong, I just didn't realize there was anything new. That's seriously one of my favorite guitars posted on here to date. Ahh...no problem Stonescreed. I realize the main pics do look a lot similar especialy since you cant really see any of the neck work initially. Later! Greg

Thanks for the nice words everyone! GregP: Just the very first pics are the new ones so you have probably seen the others. I just quote the previous post after it so that people can see the progression without digging through the forum.

Hmm....well there are a few small things that are new since my last post.. Frets finished.... Neck carved and shaped..... Bridge and Tailpiece Installed..... Tuners Installed.... Nut carved and installed..... Heel Cap on back fitted.... Holes drilled for knobs and switches..... So yeah...other than that.....nothing has changed. I just figured that since this was a forum for people building guitars, some may be interested in those small changes..... Perhaps I am incorrect in this assumption, but I hope that by posting step-by-step photos, it may help someone else out who is also doing some type of build project.....

The fretboard was one of the more challenging parts that has slowed me down and we are a long way from attaching it yet. (see pic below) Hand planing it down to the right taper, making the back perfectly flat, radiusing the top, cutting the frets, binding the edge, inserting the fret markers into the binding...and still a lot of work to do. Add the fact that ebony is extremely fragile and you have one of the biggest jobs in the entire process! We did nail the binding job on the fret board as the mitres on the corners of the board are invisible. (see the pic on the right) The next step wil be to do the perl inlay and finally, install the frets. We went with the traditional Gibson Les Paul shape headstock (**cough**copy infringement**cough**) but decided to go with a bookmatched piece of flamed maple cut from the same piece of wood as the body. (see pic below) Binding the headstock........that was a challenge. Anyone who has tried binding a guitar knows how involved it can be. Compared to the headstock, binding the body and fret board was a walk in the park. The binding and perfling needs to be cut into six pieces and mitred to fit into the routed grove perfectly. Nothing shows up more that a bad mitre on a binding job and this head stock is far from perfect. We did nail most of them really well (see the first pic below..dead on) but we were a tiny bit off on the "dimple" at the top and the bottom right corner (see the second and third pics below). Still, they are not "blatantly" obvious errors so, on the whole, I am really pleased with the results. It really helps to pull the guitar together since it matches the binding on the body. What's next? After the perl inlay and frets are done, we will be shaping the neck then installing the fret board and making wood covers for the back of the guitar. These covers will be made with a veneer of flame maple cut from the same piece of maple that was used for the top. (the toggle switch cover is already done as shown in the pic below) As far as the finish, I am leaning toward a sunburst of some variety. (heritage cherry perhaps?) We will then install the electronics, tuning pegs, pickups etc. (I am thinking about Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers) What else is cool is that there are seven of us each working on our own Les Paul. All are being built using identical methods to mine. The tops all look great and they are all unique in their own way. I will try to get a shot of all seven together when they are done. Anyway, thanks for reading! Greg

ORIGINAL POST First of all, sorry for this long-winded post...but I thought some may find the info interesting. Several months ago I posted some pics of a Les Paul I had been building and I thought I may post a few updated “work in progress” pics. (Much of the info below is a repeat of what was in the original post...so feel free to skip it!) Just to inform those who didn’t catch the earlier info, I started working on this project off and on over 2 ½ years ago. I am fortunate enough to have two friends who are expert luthiers and were nice enough to guide me through this process. (I could not have done it without them) The surface of the guitar has been lightly moistened to show the flame in all of these pictures. The nice thing about taking such a ridiculously long time to build this guitar was that every single piece of wood was left to stablize after any major cut was made. Any twisting that resulted because of a cut was then corrected and recorrected. The neck alone sat for close to two months after it was initially roughed out. It will be continually corrected as the build process continues. The result should be a very “stable” instrument as any twisting should be taken care of. (Of course I will need to keep it at a relatively similar humidity as what we have here in Calgary, Alberta. So I guess no trips to Costa Rica for this one!) The body and neck is British Honduras mahogany (each are one piece) and the top is a hand picked chunk of maple from British Columbia. The arch top was shaped entirely with chisels and a scraper and is slightly over an inch in depth at the deepest part. (so yeah...it is probably going to be a back breaker!) The neck joint is a little different than the traditional Gibson neck joint. (see pics below) The angled dovetale was a major task to get right but my buddies swear by it. It definitely seems to me to be a much more solid connection than a basic mortise-tenon joint. CONTINUED BELOW......

EARLIER POST Well, I thought I may update everyone on my progress. I have spent most of the time recently working on shaping the mother of peal inlays and getting them into the fingerboard. See pics below. The knobs etc....are just sitting there to give you the idea. I have also placed the perloid tuner pegs that I will be putting on the finished project. I decided to go with a "scalloped" inlay similar to the traditional les paul inlay. I added the "extra" scalloped inlay at the first fret, which makes it a little different. Not really sure why Gibson didn't put one in there on most of their Pauls. (the LP's with the standard block pattern as well as the customs all have pearl at the first fret) Anyway.....I think it looks pretty good up there! We basically started with rectangular pieces of pearl and built a jig to hold each piece at the same angle. We then sanded them down to final size. (as an aside......you need to be very careful when sanding pearl as those little pieces of shell do not come out of your lungs and throat once they are in there!) We did have a minor disaster as a tiny corner of one of the inlays cihipped a bit at the back of the piece. (see pic below) The unforutnate thing is that it creates a tiny dark spot in the corner of the inlay but that just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. I imagine it won't be quite as noticeable once the strings are on. I also have the truss rod fitted. The control cavity plates are also complete and fitted (a bit of a pain since the larger cover is actually 3 pieces of maple laminated in different directions to prevent warping. The top laminate is actually flamed maple on both plates but it is difficult to see) The next step will be to glue on the finger board and shape the the neck. Then it will be time to do the final radiusing and sanding of the fretboard and then install the frets. After that, I'll install the nut, tuners, and all the other hardware. Finally, we will finish it! The finish is going to be a bit of a tough choice for me. I was thinking about heritage cherry sunburst but that creates a problem with the headstock.....it would look ridiculous bursted so what colour do you stain it? I was thinking I could just stain it the "lightest" colour used on the body but I am not sure about how that will look. I am seriously considering doing a trans-amber finish on the whole guitar then adding the slightest darker amber around the outside edge of the body....not a burst really, just a hint of darkness around the outside edge to give it some depth. Then the headstock could be simply trans-amber and it would all look great! Lots to think about in the meantime........I would greatly appreciate any opinions on finishing this beast and how to address the issue of staining the headstock. Once again, thanks for reading! I will quote the orignal post below so you can see the earlier progress. Take it easy. GregA

Hi all, Thought I may update those who are interested on my recent progress. Apologies for the poor quality of the pics..... Well.....I am finally getting there! Since the last post, a lot has been done. The biggest and most important job was the neck. (see pic below) Extremely time consuming and important stuff! Basically, then neck was shaped using a series of files as well as a carving knife. Then, it was sanded until pefectly smooth. I am quite happy with the feel. The frets are also completed and went in smoothly. The installation of the tuners and nut was next. The nut was a bit tricky to get just right but after much toil, it is just right! The tuners were simply a matter of making sure you are drilling in the right spot and then installing. (see pic below) We then drilled all the holes for the toggle switch and knobs. A little more challenging than you may think since the holes must be perpendicular to the surface of the guitar which is somewhat difficult since it is an curved top. (a simple jig accomplished the job easily!) (see pic below) The back of the guitar is now finished also. I added a small heel cap in the same flamed maple as the control covers. I think it makes for a nice look. (see pic below) Just for kicks, we slapped the bridge and talipiece in and strung it up and started working on the setup. We have the action just about right and let me tell you, acoustically the guitar sounds amazing! It resonates like you wouldn't believe. Each cord be felt through the enitre body and seems to just hangout there for a ridiculously long time! Well.....the next update will be the finished product! I am ordering up some Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers which should be showing up soon. Then, I am going to create a very simple pearl/ebony inlay for the headstock, wire and install all the hardware and then get to work on the finish. After much debate...I have decided to go with a "heritage cherry" style sunburst. The headstock will simply be the lightest colour of the burst. Thanks for reading! GregA

The fretboard was one of the more challenging parts that has slowed me down and we are a long way from attaching it yet. (see pic below) Hand planing it down to the right taper, making the back perfectly flat, radiusing the top, cutting the frets, binding the edge, inserting the fret markers into the binding...and still a lot of work to do. Add the fact that ebony is extremely fragile and you have one of the biggest jobs in the entire process! We did nail the binding job on the fret board as the mitres on the corners of the board are invisible. (see the pic on the right) The next step wil be to do the perl inlay and finally, install the frets. We went with the traditional Gibson Les Paul shape headstock (**cough**copy infringement**cough**) but decided to go with a bookmatched piece of flamed maple cut from the same piece of wood as the body. (see pic below) Binding the headstock........that was a challenge. Anyone who has tried binding a guitar knows how involved it can be. Compared to the headstock, binding the body and fret board was a walk in the park. The binding and perfling needs to be cut into six pieces and mitred to fit into the routed grove perfectly. Nothing shows up more that a bad mitre on a binding job and this head stock is far from perfect. We did nail most of them really well (see the first pic below..dead on) but we were a tiny bit off on the "dimple" at the top and the bottom right corner (see the second and third pics below). Still, they are not "blatantly" obvious errors so, on the whole, I am really pleased with the results. It really helps to pull the guitar together since it matches the binding on the body. What's next? After the perl inlay and frets are done, we will be shaping the neck then installing the fret board and making wood covers for the back of the guitar. These covers will be made with a veneer of flame maple cut from the same piece of maple that was used for the top. (the toggle switch cover is already done as shown in the pic below) As far as the finish, I am leaning toward a sunburst of some variety. (heritage cherry perhaps?) We will then install the electronics, tuning pegs, pickups etc. (I am thinking about Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers) What else is cool is that there are seven of us each working on our own Les Paul. All are being built using identical methods to mine. The tops all look great and they are all unique in their own way. I will try to get a shot of all seven together when they are done. Anyway, thanks for reading! Greg

ORIGINAL POST First of all, sorry for this long-winded post...but I thought some may find the info interesting. Several months ago I posted some pics of a Les Paul I had been building and I thought I may post a few updated “work in progress” pics. (Much of the info below is a repeat of what was in the original post...so feel free to skip it!) Just to inform those who didn’t catch the earlier info, I started working on this project off and on over 2 ½ years ago. I am fortunate enough to have two friends who are expert luthiers and were nice enough to guide me through this process. (I could not have done it without them) The surface of the guitar has been lightly moistened to show the flame in all of these pictures. The nice thing about taking such a ridiculously long time to build this guitar was that every single piece of wood was left to stablize after any major cut was made. Any twisting that resulted because of a cut was then corrected and recorrected. The neck alone sat for close to two months after it was initially roughed out. It will be continually corrected as the build process continues. The result should be a very “stable” instrument as any twisting should be taken care of. (Of course I will need to keep it at a relatively similar humidity as what we have here in Calgary, Alberta. So I guess no trips to Costa Rica for this one!) The body and neck is British Honduras mahogany (each are one piece) and the top is a hand picked chunk of maple from British Columbia. The arch top was shaped entirely with chisels and a scraper and is slightly over an inch in depth at the deepest part. (so yeah...it is probably going to be a back breaker!) The neck joint is a little different than the traditional Gibson neck joint. (see pics below) The angled dovetale was a major task to get right but my buddies swear by it. It definitely seems to me to be a much more solid connection than a basic mortise-tenon joint. CONTINUED BELOW......

Well, I thought I may update everyone on my progress. I have spent most of the time recently working on shaping the mother of peal inlays and getting them into the fingerboard. See pics below. The knobs etc....are just sitting there to give you the idea. I have also placed the perloid tuner pegs that I will be putting on the finished project. I decided to go with a "scalloped" inlay similar to the traditional les paul inlay. I added the "extra" scalloped inlay at the first fret, which makes it a little different. Not really sure why Gibson didn't put one in there on most of their Pauls. (the LP's with the standard block pattern as well as the customs all have pearl at the first fret) Anyway.....I think it looks pretty good up there! We basically started with rectangular pieces of pearl and built a jig to hold each piece at the same angle. We then sanded them down to final size. (as an aside......you need to be very careful when sanding pearl as those little pieces of shell do not come out of your lungs and throat once they are in there!) We did have a minor disaster as a tiny corner of one of the inlays cihipped a bit at the back of the piece. (see pic below) The unforutnate thing is that it creates a tiny dark spot in the corner of the inlay but that just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. I imagine it won't be quite as noticeable once the strings are on. I also have the truss rod fitted. The control cavity plates are also complete and fitted (a bit of a pain since the larger cover is actually 3 pieces of maple laminated in different directions to prevent warping. The top laminate is actually flamed maple on both plates but it is difficult to see) The next step will be to glue on the finger board and shape the the neck. Then it will be time to do the final radiusing and sanding of the fretboard and then install the frets. After that, I'll install the nut, tuners, and all the other hardware. Finally, we will finish it! The finish is going to be a bit of a tough choice for me. I was thinking about heritage cherry sunburst but that creates a problem with the headstock.....it would look ridiculous bursted so what colour do you stain it? I was thinking I could just stain it the "lightest" colour used on the body but I am not sure about how that will look. I am seriously considering doing a trans-amber finish on the whole guitar then adding the slightest darker amber around the outside edge of the body....not a burst really, just a hint of darkness around the outside edge to give it some depth. Then the headstock could be simply trans-amber and it would all look great! Lots to think about in the meantime........I would greatly appreciate any opinions on finishing this beast and how to address the issue of staining the headstock. Once again, thanks for reading! I will quote the orignal post below so you can see the earlier progress. Take it easy. GregA

Thanks for all the kind words guys! I appreciate it! (spent a couple hours today planning out how to shape the mother of pearl I have for the inlay. Looks like we are going to go with a "scalloped" rectangle like the classic les pauls. The link below demonstrates what we are going for http://www.gibsoncustom.com/Historic/LesPa...ies/60LPStd.htm I will keep you posted with updates. Thanks again! Greg

The fretboard was one of the more challenging parts that has slowed me down and we are a long way from attaching it yet. (see pic below) Hand planing it down to the right taper, making the back perfectly flat, radiusing the top, cutting the frets, binding the edge, inserting the fret markers into the binding...and still a lot of work to do. Add the fact that ebony is extremely fragile and you have one of the biggest jobs in the entire process! We did nail the binding job on the fret board as the mitres on the corners of the board are invisible. (see the pic on the right) The next step wil be to do the perl inlay and finally, install the frets. We went with the traditional Gibson Les Paul shape headstock (**cough**copy infringement**cough**) but decided to go with a bookmatched piece of flamed maple cut from the same piece of wood as the body. (see pic below) Binding the headstock........that was a challenge. Anyone who has tried binding a guitar knows how involved it can be. Compared to the headstock, binding the body and fret board was a walk in the park. The binding and perfling needs to be cut into six pieces and mitred to fit into the routed grove perfectly. Nothing shows up more that a bad mitre on a binding job and this head stock is far from perfect. We did nail most of them really well (see the first pic below..dead on) but we were a tiny bit off on the "dimple" at the top and the bottom right corner (see the second and third pics below). Still, they are not "blatantly" obvious errors so, on the whole, I am really pleased with the results. It really helps to pull the guitar together since it matches the binding on the body. What's next? After the perl inlay and frets are done, we will be shaping the neck then installing the fret board and making wood covers for the back of the guitar. These covers will be made with a veneer of flame maple cut from the same piece of maple that was used for the top. (the toggle switch cover is already done as shown in the pic below) As far as the finish, I am leaning toward a sunburst of some variety. (heritage cherry perhaps?) We will then install the electronics, tuning pegs, pickups etc. (I am thinking about Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers) What else is cool is that there are seven of us each working on our own Les Paul. All are being built using identical methods to mine. The tops all look great and they are all unique in their own way. I will try to get a shot of all seven together when they are done. Anyway, thanks for reading! Greg

I posted this at Harmony Central but thought I may put it up here also... I started working on this project off and on over 2 ½ years ago. I am fortunate enough to have two friends who are expert luthiers and were nice enough to guide me through this process. (I could not have done it without them) The surface of the guitar has been lightly moistened to show the flame in all of these pictures. The nice thing about taking such a ridiculously long time to build this guitar was that every single piece of wood was left to stablize after any major cut was made. Any twisting that resulted because of a cut was then corrected and recorrected. The neck alone sat for close to two months after it was initially roughed out. It will be continually corrected as the build process continues. The result should be a very “stable” instrument as any twisting should be taken care of. (Of course I will need to keep it at a relatively similar humidity as what we have here in Calgary, Alberta. So I guess no trips to Costa Rica for this one!) The body and neck is British Honduras mahogany (each are one piece) and the top is a hand picked chunk of maple from British Columbia. The arch top was shaped entirely with chisels and a scraper and is slightly over an inch in depth at the deepest part. (so yeah...it is probably going to be a back breaker!) The neck joint is a little different than the traditional Gibson neck joint. (see pics below) The angled dovetale was a major task to get right but my buddies swear by it. It definitely seems to me to be a much more solid connection than a basic mortise-tenon joint. CONTINUED BELOW......