matttheguy

Thank you very much, sir, it's much appreciated. I can use this as a basic mainframe for what I want to do, regarless of my extreme lack of experience. No, I will not use the guitar for my first attempt, hah. Sorry again for my ignorance, and thank you! EDIT: Clear coat refers to nitrocellulose, correct? After I hand apply the amber and apply a clear coat, how long do I have to wait before I add another coat and sand? And when I mix the dye with the finish, I'm mixing that with the nitro, aye?

Oh, of course. The equipment is already at my disposal, as I'm using someone else's with much more expertise than I. To build the guitar I'm working at the shop my dad owned before he died and to finish this I am going to get help from a friend of mine from high school who now paints cars for a living. Realistically for me to pull that off in one try is just pure insanity, of course I'll practice extensively on scrap wood. If it really comes down to it, I know my friend could easily pull that finish off. I just wanted a general idea on how to go about a finish like that, process, et cetera, before I came into his shop with supplies, and also what colours you folks believe I should use to replicate a finish similar to that. Edit: As for replicating that exactly, I don't want it to be as worn and faded as that. On that guitar it replicates the wear from the most used areas, obviously, as you see the burst is faded in certain areas and so forth. Regardless, I still understand what you're saying and appreciate your input.

I could use the dye in a spray gun, right? I don't want to add any coloured grain filler, I've seen this effect. While it's beautiful, it just isn't what I'm looking for. Ok, let's say I get yellow alcohol based dye (GRYEL) and cherry red alcohol based dye (GRRED). I sand the body down, moisten it, sand again, that process. Next, tape off everything but the binding and do a clear coat to seal the binding. Next apply the yellow dye to the top using either a spray gun or a cloth and then apply a couple clear coats (nitrocellulose, correct?), then apply the cherry red on the back, sides and in a burst on the front, then add more clear coats over that. Will a process like that yield similar results, or am I missing something in there?

So you personally would not use the aerosol cans, but the dyes instead? Would you use water based or alcohol based? Also, what about grain filler, or adding a clearcoat after I put the amber down? Thanks again.

Hello all, and thanks for whatever responses you provide! Alright, let's get down to business. The finish I want to replicate is seen here: Now, I'd like to know how you people would go about replicating a finish like that. I've been looking through the Reranch site and I think the middle of the burst would be closest to the Fender Neck Amber and the outer ring of the burst, the sides and the back would all be the Cherry/Heritage Red. What I really want to know is how would I go about doing this kind of finish. For example, what I need grain filler, primer, et cetera. Will these finishes be opaque or will the grain show through, things like that. Sorry for my ignorance, and thanks again! -Matt

Note: Drawing not to scale. I whipped this up in paint in about 2 minutes, so draw it out yourself on a piece of paper or what have you. These measurements are taken from the Stewmac plan for the '59 Les Paul. Also note that the deeper recesses are centered along the side of the shallower recess.

Hey, I have a quick question concerning the guitar. When I'm routing the channel for the truss rod (I'm using this truss rod), do I have to make the channel curved? Also, I think I'm going to deviate just a tad from the traditional Les Paul and I'm going to add a small volute under the adjustment recess. Finished my template today. I copied the outline of the body from the Stewmac plans and then sprayed it onto a piece of plywood and cut it out with the scroll, then sanded along till there wern't any bumps... wouldn't want to make the binding channel messy, now would I? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/mat...-06Template.jpg

Well, I've had alot of experience in a woodshop and toolshop, and I've always wanted to build a guitar, so I finally decided about 4 months ago that I would. The very first thing I did was I bought and read Melvyn Hiscock's book, and I feel that gave me a very good boost. I then started searching the web and found this site and Anthony Setchell's blog, which gave me the inspiration to do a Les Paul. I know, it may be trite, the world may have already seen too many of these, but it's still a warm, classic guitar, so, I have decided to build one. I'm using honduras mahogany for the neck and body and a low grade flame maple for the carved top (I like the mix between the flamed grain and the true maple grain), all from LMI. For the fretboard, I'm using a pre-slotted 24 9/16" scale rosewood piece from Stewmac. The fretboard and body will be bound with cream plastic binding. For the hardware, I'm using a traditional stopbar and a Nashville style bridge, Grover keystone style tuners, all from Stewmac. As for the pickups, I'm using Gibson 490R and 490T humbuckers. As for the finished guitar, the pickguard and pickup rings will be cream, with a 'Jimmy Page' style burst finish and a cherry side and back. Nothing too special, but gloriously special in its own sense. I'm back in my hometown for the summer, and the shop I'm using doesn't usually see a business drop until 'summer break', so I cannot start until the local schools let out. But, after that, I have a full metal and wood shop with every tool imaginable at my disposal. I hope to finish this guitar by the end of August, but I'll be sure to take my time on every scrape, every notch and every cut on this fine instrument. Here are a couple of photos of the parts I'm using: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/mat...-01-06Wood2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/mat...erialLayout.jpg I'll be sure to update on my progress!