gpcustomguitars

Side one...

Thanks guys! Luke: yes, I'm a big fan of P-90s, they have the thicker tone and the single coil bite, just right I was thinking of doing the gold top, even got the gold for it , but decided to try some sort of a burst - what I have in mind is closer to teaburst then honey, but we'll see if I can pull that off... Next one will be a goldtop for sure, perhaps with some mini hums if I can dig a few up. I should have mentioned this in the previous post, but better late then never - BIG THANKS to Mr. John Catto for great LP templates and explaining the top angles!!!!! Some more pics:

I should wait until it's finished, but...well... Some specs: one piece sapele body plain maple top, quartersawn, bookmatched by hand (ouch) very light mahogany neck, 3-piece, maple headstock veneer ebony fboard XL neck tennon hot rod 2 x P90 by WSC diamond inlayed on headstock, hand-cut shell I bought on vacation, 3 eur a piece Still have to taper the neck, radius the fboard, do the frets, cut the rest of the inlay stuff etc... Intended finish is faded honeyburst, nitro. More pics soon!

Looks very nice! What's that perloid material called? Is it available somewhere? Reall shell stinks horribly when cut...I'd like to avoid that if possible. Thanks! BR, Goran

It's visible on older Gibsons, that's why I went with straight binding. Finishing is not my strong side, so... I assume that even finished really good it would still show at some point during the natural fading process... It looks really nice, tho, so don't worry too much over that. One more pic, the headstock binding: Headstock veneer is a piece of maple from the same stock as the top, dyed black, but i scraped some of the color off with the binding, will have to redo after doing the inlays. I CA'd the binding here, because of the tighter bends on the crown - acetone would still need some time to set, and CA let me do the whole job in 15-20 mins, scraping included. If you wet the wood slightly, it sets even faster. BR, Goran

Thanks! Yes, the height was the same all the way (check my pics by clicking on my signature No2), and then I cut down most of it by hand using a chisel, and then scrape the rest with replacement exacto blades. I did it that way in the cutaway area because I like it better than showing some maple under the binding. The channel in that area is cut from the top and going down gradually (I use Stew Mac bits with bearings). Otherwise, it's a classic Paul, long tennon etc, thanks to great templates of Mr. Catto! Yours looks great, nice clean job, how thick is the maple? Any photos of the whole thing? BR, Goran PS will try the hairdryer next time!

Hi, Here's a pic of my progress so far. I did the fretboard with CA, everything else is plain acetone. Didn't scrape the body yet... BR, Goran

Yes, acetone gives you a good bond, I just touch up with CA at tight spots as needed. For the fretboards, I go with CA cause I don't know what effect would sweat etc have in the long run, and the moisture actually helps CA to harden, so... Also, fretboard parts are straight, so I don't need to glue my fingers to the guitar... I use runny stuff. I'll have some pics of my current LP later today, only one cream layer there, tho... BR Goran

Hi! I don't have any expirience with the StewMac cement, but for the ABS plastic they make it of, great glue is plain acetone. I use a small brush, brush both the wood and the binding, press it in and tape with masking tape. Acetone evaporates really quick, so you can remove the tape 1-2 hours later. For tight spots (ie top of the LP cutaway) I use a few drops of CA, and when binding a fretboard also. Also, you can source ABS strips from the cabinet shops that do custom cutting and binding of the MDF. I got 7m (14 strips) for 3$. You just need to scrape the one side clean of the factory adhesive. They are ~2mm thick, and 18, 36, etc wide. I got some really nice cream colored ones. Hope this helps! BR Goran

Thanks!

Very nice! I was also playing with the idea of "hiding" the tuners on the back, any pics of how you did yours? Do you still tune it that way? Cheers Goran

OK, just my .02. About carving the top - I do it like this (presuming you want to do a LP-type of top=neck angle-pup plane angle mostly flat): -glue the top onto the base -get the sides clean -if you are using a handheld router cut the binding chanell at this point, while the top is still flat, if you plan to have thicker portions of binding (think modern LP cutaway) you'll need few passes starting at the top for the bearing to have something to ride on and going down -route the binding chanel to it's final thickness, 4-5mm, max 1' wide around the top, you'll need a few passes to do this, and you have the final side thickness established - you need to stop at the ends of the horns -plane or route off the neck angle plane and the pup plane. I use overhead router, you can check my HP for some pics to get better idea, but you can also use a handheld router on some angled rails - for measurements you can use trigonometry, or just draw it out sideways ( I feel better with that). Using a wider bit helps, but not too wide as it can be too much for the router's bearings - don't ask how I know this Also, use very small steps, you want a fine cut. I do the pup plane first, neck angle second, cause the pup plane is shallower, so less strain on the router. Now you're all set for hand carving - you can get some more excess material off using the stairstep method you mentioned - but you can perhaps use that material to calibrate your hands and get the feel of the wood until you get close to final specs. From that point I use a spokeshave for rough stuff, then go with Ibex 10mm, than scrapers, and then hand sanding. Might use a wide chiesel here and there, also a rounded chiesel (no hammer, just scary sharp). Be patient, make some cardboard profiles and check often, you know, like doing a neck. Then you do the binding, and then you can add the recurve if you want. If you do the ABS binding, keep in mind you can glue it with plane acetone, it goes easyer on your fingers than superglue. About the neck - I taper the fboard, glue it to the still-square neck (also, I do the fretting before rounding it - doesn't rock, and you don't need to worry about dinging the wood, can be held in a wise), cut off the thin excess using a jigsaw, just leave something to scrape/sand off later, then blocks, dots whatever, radius it, fret it, dress the frets, shape the neck. If you're gonna bind it, I'd do it straight after glueing the fboard on, just make sure your fret slots are deep enough, and will stay so after the radiusing. Also, for that I'd use superglue in any case, ABS or not. Just my way of doing it...good luck! BR Goran

Yes, I've played loads of Shamray guitars, both customs and production line stuff (BTW I think due to the demand they are doing only customs now), and actually own 3 - a LP Standard, 5-string thumb (you can find it in the gallery) and a Ibanez Artist copy (semihollow, '70s)... I think you'd love the guitar you get there - Michael can walk you trough the process, and there is a number of luthiers there that can do almost anything - Pavel Bashmakov, Max Ushkalov, Dima Sushkov, Sasha Styepanov etc...you can PM me with any questions you might have...

Boggs: I used to live in Moscow for about 8 years, and during that time made a lot of luthier friends - lots of luthiers in Russsia, BTW - I still buy most of my hardware trough them (meaning I rarely buy at retail prices). P90 shown were just 10$ a piece, and I've seen the same pup (WSC) go for around 40$ retail on the net. Truss rod is made by Shamray Guitars, I know most of those guys really well, so it was free, basically it's just a 5mm steel rod, etc... I use byelorussian frets made by Sintoms, they are around 2-3$ a set, and they have great durable material. About the wood, while still in Moscow, I used to go woodshopping to Bohman's, and they used to throw away wooden spacers for stacking huge boards for shipping. Thing is, whatever is shipped, the spacers would be the same material... The guys working there would put those on a side waiting for the luthiers to appear One time I got veeery lucky and got a carfull of 10 x 10 x 100cm blanks just for giving their janitor 300 rubles (bit less than 10$), and I'm stil using those It was a pain to ship it to myself when I moved back home, but that's another story...the neck is from that bunch. The body is an ex-window sill (free)... Nowdays I shop mostly for local woods, maple (got a nice quartersawn board 8 x 40 x 200cm for about 30EUR), cherry, walnut (got a whole log for 100EUR, sawn and all, and the guy thrown in 3 walnut stumps for free, said he doesn't need them), ash...

Thanks! The headstock is angled, ~10, and the bridge is also angled, 5mm on the bass side, just the guitar hardly can stand on it's own, so the pic is not straight. It intonated properly without any tweaking. Truss rod was also dead on right away.

Hi guys! Finished this yesterday! It's a loose copy of a Firebird, but I changed the electronics, it's a set neck etc... This is my second order - the idea was to make a very cheap guitar for renting in the studio, and therefore not worry about possible damage to it. I actually started this a few years back when I just started doing this, and never really thought of finishing it since the body is made of laminated oak, my first routes were a bit sloppy etc...but this guy wanted it anyway so...my plans for this can be downloaded in the mimf library under templates. Make sure you elongate the headstock if you want 6-in-line tuners. Some specs: 24 3/4 lam white oak body one piece mah neck gibson style rod rosewood fboard sintoms' frets plastic nut russian cheap open back tuners toggle, 2 x P90, pots, wraparound bridge - WSC (very nice sounding pups for 10$) russian army oil cap - very nice finish - rattle can, nitro It's surprisingly light, and also surprisingly, sounds nice Total cost was around 60$

Very nice work Setch!!! And also very very nice planes! Did you make the blades, or gotten some replacement ones? What's the width? Looking forward to more pics, always a joy to see an LP in progress! Cheers Goran

Yes, the customer requested that. I was actually about to cut it and bind it, but he saw one without the hole somewhere on the net, and decided that he likes that better. Too bad, I think it would have been much prettier...

Setch: Ok, now I have a chip on my shoulder Now where's that 1500 grit...? BTW, this commision thing has made me more nervous than the actual making of the guitar, try to skip that when selling yours When all dust settles, I'd like to start an LP, I already have all the materials needed... About the language, , thanks! I speak russian OK, but my typing gives me up, I couldn't spell correctly to save my life! albertop: Great! Feels kinda funny knowing that someone else will use those plans Make sure you post some pics! Also, no neck angle drawn on those, so if you want to use a TOM or something like that make sure you re-draw the angle. I did that on mine since I'm using a wraparound tailpiece.

There's a FBird template in the MIMF Library, with some dimensions, that should solve it... BR, Goran

Thanks Setch! I LOVE your double cutaway (actually have pics of it right on my desktop to look at during the day at work )!!! BTW, I got around finishing that Fbird just now (almost 3 years ) , pics should be posted during next week! Drak: thanks, another hole in my english filled

Thanks guys! I'll be nervous about it until the moment the owner takes it home I guess The same customer also ordered a hybrid jazz bas a few days back, only necktrough, with block markers on bound rosewood fboard - should be fun! I'm not making much money on this, but it is getting me out of the closet, so it's OK... Sound is fine, that particular piece of pine has been hanging around the shop for a while now (~8 years), and I got it quite dry already - the plate was ringing like a bell when I thicknessed it prior to glueing. Still have some of it - used half of scraps to bookmatch a sort-of F mandolin top, and have enough left for another one. The stripes are VERY hard, took some time to sand it flat. Sounds nice, resonant...pups are great, Chernishov does a great job! Drak: sorry, didn't get the score question, I'm not a native speaker, so I have to stop and think on a phrase every now and then - it's my 10th finished guitar (have another 5 or so in different stages in the shop) if that's what you had in mind. skibum5545: I agree on the perloid pguard completely, but it was customers call, and he was on a budget - plain white pickguard I made costs next to nothing...

Hi! This is my first completed order, a Thinline copy. It was made around customers neck, I did the body and assembly. I was hoping to do the bound f-hole, but he decided against it in the last minute. ash body, hollow pine top bound with home made strips of binding usual thinline wiring 2 handwound Fedor Chernishev PAFs handmade pickguard The finish is nitro, brushed, I bought a HVLP for 110V, and now have to fit a new trafo for 220V 4 coats of clear, sanding every two coats 3 coats of color (nitro, thinner, few drops of Stew-Mac Vintage Amber), light sanding (800) 3 coats of clear, wet sanding flat, buffing Hope you like it, any comments, critique or questiones wellcome! Construction pics at: http://community.webshots.com/user/gpcustomguitars BR Goran

Glad to be of help! If it was curved a bit, you could have clamped it to the table from the side using 2-3 pieces of scrap MDF or something, and then using two, say, aluminum profiles on the side for the router to slide on. In my expirience, you get better (cleaner) results with long lengthvise passes. Now that you're hooked, search the mimf for Robin's Router Ramp, some great router ideas there! Cheers, Goran

Yes, it is an overhead router, I got the general idea at my friends shop, he has one that makes mine look like a toy...also homemade. I just bent the idea to my shop space/available materials. The material doesn't have to be too flat to begin with - I buy all my wood rough cut, straight from a mill if possible so it's always warped, but there is a way to do it without eyeballing it- first you determine and eliminate high spots on one side, so that it can stand without wiggling, and you have what machinists call a formed base, at least in my country Using the base, you plane the other side flat, then turn it around and thickness it. How many passes? I use a 35mm knife (aprox. 1.4"), so say a tele body blank (~40cm) as seen on the site needs around light (~15mm) 20-30 passes, ~5sec each. I almost always go with the grain, not against it, it flows more smoothly. Depth of the rough cuts is 3mm tops (less is better), and with some care, the thing is accurate up to 0.5mm. The motor running it is actually not very strong, but it does a fine job - 450W. I'm thinking about replacing it with something stronger, but probably not before I run this one to the ground... I'm about to use it for thicknessing some maple sides, that I yet have to resaw by hand , and it also can thickness the fboard blanks that are always a little warped, that is if you start with a 7-8mm thick blank. If you draw a side wiew of your carved-top, you can determine the exact place and thickness of a shim(s) needed to plane the angle(s), route the edges, and all you have to do is connect the dots . Also, you can add binding channels to already carved tops, thickness headstocks... The cost was 0$, it was made by my machinist friend in a day or two, using mostly scrap materials. I think it could be made of wood even, probably using some maple lams, some delrin for the rings etc... BR, Goran