Chris G

Fantastic Guitar in that post!! I'm not worthy! Seems you like IPA as much as I do. Lucky I got the wood and milling shop a few miles away. He's got a 30in planer, so I do not have to spend 4 hours . How much did you did you have to take off? My bow is not that bad. I only have about .45cm that can be taken off. That will leave me with about 1.75cm to work with on the carve. The finish carve will leave the highest point at 1.57 I think. I need to look at the plans again. Are you working on any other guitars now? I have been looking around but not that deep into the forms.

Thanks for the tips guys! Muzz your project is coming along nicely. I have another questions. I just got done gluing my flame top together. I glued on a flat surface but I got a small bow in where the glue joint is, so its now not a flat surface. Is there a way to fix that? Can it be planed down to a flat surface? The top is thicker and will need to be planed down before it can be joined to the body. What are my options and have any of you all had the same problem?

Sorry hit the wrong button and posted the last one before I finish. I was asking about scarf joint necks. I know the les paul neck construction is week around the headstock and the scarf joint fixes that issue and helps from bending and twisting. I know there is a few way of doing the scarf joint, but which one would be best and the less visible?

Does any one have any tips for the first time builders or starting on a new builds? I do have a question about neck construction. How does everyone feel about scarf

That's what I thought. It will be a reminder slow down and think a bit more.

My mistake is I glued the boards backwards. One side the grain is running up and the other the grain is running down. I talked to one of my resources and he thinks it should not be a problem. Since the guitar is going to have the maple cap it should be fine I hope. He also said since the grain is so fine it will be hard to tell anyway.

Here are the plans for the Guitar. Here are the temples (still needs work) Here is the Flamed Maple Top. Here is the body blank getting glued and clamped. I did make a mistake on the body blank. Here is the finished blank for the two half together. I have more progress in a week or two.

Lets try this again. Here is pic of the wood I got from the wood and mile shop that is close to my house. Paid around $100 for it.

Thank you for the encouraging words! I do have a question for you since you are a admin. I used dropbox for the links to post the pics, does not seem to be working. What do you recommend for posting pics or can you create me a folder I can upload pictures to?

Photoes did not upload properly. Will look at that tomorrow.

Hello Everyone!! I have just joined the site and looks to be a great resource! My name is Chris and I am attempting my first guitar build. I have no experience with wood working or guitar building, so I will be flying by seat of my pants. I do have some resources that I can use to help me through the process. My Grandfather is a Master Wood worker and pretty much can build anything out of wood or other materials. I have a friend that does all the furniture repairs for the Hotel I work at and last but not least there is a custom wood and milling shop a few miles away from my house. I got my wood there and going to have them do some small milling work for me. I decided to build a Les Paul for my first build, because they are one of my all-time favorites. I have done some small work so far, but still waiting to get a few more tools (IE a band saw). I plan to have this build done before the summer ends. I know that seems like a long time, but will one get to work on the guitar one or two days a week. The wife and kids take up most of my spare time. I would be much appreciated if you all would give me tips and ideals through my build. Here are some pictures of the wood and progress. Here is the wood I got from the custom wood shop. The wood is African Mahogany and Flame Maple. The shop did some prep work on the wood like get the wood ready to join the body and bookmatched the maple top. I paid around 100 for the wood and milling work. Here are the plans I got from the web. If anyone needs a copy I would be happy to email them. Here is some of the templets I made. They still need some work but thought I would link them. I have glued and clamped the Mahogany. Here is the glued body. I still need to take a 1/4 of inch of the wood and clean up the glue marks. I did make my first mistake and will not be the last. Can you spot out my mistake? Do you think it will cause a problem? Here are some pics of the flamed maple top. This will be a challenging project, but looking forward to every minute.