Magnus

WWOCCD? (What Would Orange County Choppers Do)

They would fuss, bitch, yell, kick chairs and slam doors.

I have a feeling since your asking this question the short and simple answer is NO, yes it can be done but its gonna take someone who really knows what there doing to do it. I would say your best bet is to hang it on the wall and either start learning how to build a guitar or go buy a new one. you say its only gonna cost you a couple of hundred to do this but trust me by the time your done you will be at the point of nearly buying a low end Gibson.

So true! It is a common misunderstanding that building your own guitar will cost less than buying one. When you get to maybe no 4 or 5 you can make a "cost efficient" guitar that has the same quality, or better, than what you will have to pay for parts, wood etc. I think the best advice this far is from RAD; keep it as is. I still miss my first guitar. I would probably hate to play it but I still know what I would do if I got my hands on the bastard that stole it...

When I built my LP back in 2003, I had about $600-$650 in materials, but after I bought all the tools needed to make it, I could have probably gotten a nice used Les Paul Standard at the time.

BTW, I used nitro spray cans on my strat, and it turned out great. I used Reranch cans for the color, and Deft clear. Those Deft spray cans are nice if you don't have a compressor/gun setup (I don't).

Like the others were saying, test on some scrap Poplar and see how you like different tints.

How did you get the inlays so tight and clean?

Another thing on the top carve: the Burst guys tell me (and this is how I did my top) is the top is slightly angled at the bridge, all the way to the rear of the neck pickup. At the neck pickup, the neck angle comes in. I set my neck angle at 4 degrees, and the ABR-1 bridge is very low to the deck height, just about perfect.

Here is a link that shows what I'm talking about.

http://mountainwhimsy.com/2012/03/top-carve-2/

Ah, I'm late to the party! Long time member, but I had actually forgotten about the site for a couple of years.

I built my les paul back in 2003, and I still have to put a finish on it.

If you've never carved a top before, I'd suggest getting some wood from some place like Home Depot, that is the same thickness as your top, and practice with that. I carved three poplar tops like that to get a feel for what I was doing before I tackled the quilted maple.

I did the step method, where I routed ledges in the top where I wanted the lines to be, then sanded it smooth with an electric disk sander.

BTW, how close to a 59 Les Paul do you want to get? The top carve is a little different on the 50s Les Pauls.

And, I did a scarf joint on my neck, but I put the scarf in the headstock. It is hidden on the top by the veneer on the face of the headstock.

I don't think it will be a problem with what I want to do. I'm going to use the attachment for the dremel that Stew Mac sells for cutting binding channels on archtop guitars. I had one a couple of years ago, and lost it. It works pretty well, and the binding is really small.

I forgot about the router base from Stew Mac,

and the bit with the pilot.

Thanks Doug.

How would you go about cutting the binding channel for a headstock?

The binding i'm wanting to do is like the bound Jackson or Kramer headstock binding.

I tried the search engine, but couldn't find what I was looking for.

Any suggestions?

I took the rack to a local machine shop along with the fret caul for reference. They did the same process Russ described. The charged $15. I didn't have all the tools to do it myself at the time.

Yeah, I did practically the same thing,

except I was in too much of a hurry to use it,

so I skipped the set screw, and put some masking

tape around the shaft of the fret caul.

That was probably two years ago.

I still haven't taken it to a machine shop

to get a set screw.

Does anyone know where I can find a

1/2" straight bit with 1/2" cutting length

other than Stew Mac?

I haven't been able to find one yet.

Cool.

I think you're on the right track. I would suggest that you print it out full size, and cut out the body shape on heavy poster board, or something similar, and see how you like the size. After that, you can always make a wooden mockup from Masonite, or some pine to see how you like it.

The ones from Warmoth works nicely as well for thin necks, but the nut is not welded on.

They are more like a single action truss rod, even though they advertise them as double acting.

Not again!

Warmoth calls them double expanding, which they are. Warmoth does not call them double acting. They're single acting rods.

Sorry, read that wrong, years ago.

Must have hit a nerve.

I'm not sure what you mean by a template trimmer, but here is a nice set of template bits to start out with.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/h5566

I got one last week. Good bit, but I'm still going to order another from Stew Mac. The reason being, is i'm using masonite templates, and that bit that you linked to has a 1" cutting length. Too long for me to route the neck pocket and pickup cavities on my strat.

Well, I get the impression he would like to use the radiused block to remove the bulk of material. The truth of the matter is that you should spend the time getting the fretboard level so that there is no "bulk" of material to remove once the frets are installed. Just tweaking

Nope. What I mean, is that if i'm not doing a compound radius on the frets, then I could get the job done a lot faster with the aluminum radius block.

I make sure my fretboards are level, before I ever reach for the frets or fretting tools.

Learned from past experience.

The ones from Warmoth works nicely as well for thin necks, but the nut is not welded on.

They are more like a single action truss rod, even though they advertise them as double acting.

I can definitely see how the radiused aluminum beam is superior.

You'd better not clue them onto the fact that a guitar whose strings have one radius at the nut, the same radius at the bridge, the same radius fretboard, and a tapered neck means that the strings at the sides of the neck need to be higher than on a guitar with a compound radius board!

Play with a soda can and a ruler for a few minutes and you'll see what I mean.

I meant for leveling the frets quicker. I like the way i'm leveling now, with the aluminum level, so I can put a slight compound radius on the frets.

Besides, I don't see any reason to shell out that much money for a tool I won't use a whole lot, when I have something that works just fine.

Thanks, guys.

If you want a low-cost alternative, go get an aluminum level at the hardware store. I've got one, it is very straight, and it works well for me.

I can definitely see how the radiused aluminum beam is superior.

For the record, my $5 harbor freight end nippers that I sanded down on the belt sander worked great for cutting the fret ends. That was 5 bucks well spent.

Good job, Matt. Sometimes making it yourself works just as well.

Case in point: Stew Mac sells their arbor press for $99.94. I went and bought a 1/2 ton arbor press from Harbor Freight for $15-20 (I don't remember the exact amount) and all I had to do to it was drill a hole in the end of the ram for the fretting caul to fit in. Wrap a little tape around the fretting caul, and push it in the hole.

I bought a well used vintage Boss OD1 the other day quite cheaply from a music store. In slapped a battery in and it worked perfectly at home in front of my Vox AD50VT. When I set up for a practise before the gig it worked a couple of times then became weak, fuzzy and then would slowly grow louder. I played around with the connections on the leads then decided not to bother with it.

When I got home I tested the battery voltage which was good but found one of the bat clips was loose so I crimped it tighter and cleaned all battery connections and jacks with switch cleaner and cotton buds.

It worked perfectly when I retested it at home but wont no for sure until I use it at a gig whether it is reliable or not.

Has anyone experienced a similar thing with Boss pedals?

This thing has to be well over twenty years old but does sound awesome when going properly but if it isn't reliable Ill need to get it repaired or get rid of it.

I have an old Ibanez Flanger that I had to crimp the battery terminal connections.

It's worked fine ever since, so I figure it should be fine.

...that's what headstock ears are for. Seriously, 3" wide neck blank with ears is a perfectly 'safe' way to build. Even 2.5", really...

+1

ears for both necks.

It seems a potential waste of wood to size the neck blank based on the width of the headstock.

Ok thats good to know. I agree with what you say John I hate waste so you ll be happy to know the reason why I have used a 3" wide neck blanandto include the headstock, is the timber was salvaged from a builders skip, the mahogany were door frames and I got about 6 x 6' pieces, all of which are at least 3 inches wideand 2" deep.

I have to work around the bolt, nail holes etc but I won't be short for neck blanks for a while

"Gipsun" uses peghead ears, and have at least since the fifties.

If you need a pdf or jpeg of a Gibson headstock based on a

'burst let me know. I've got it on file, and I can send it to you full size.

Has anyone used to double expanding rods from warmoth? They don't look nearly as thick as the hot rods, but look like they work the same way?

I have used both the Warmoth rod and I have a Grizzly rod in a neck that is going on my strat project. Warmoth calls theirs a double acting trussrod, but the nut just threads on. The one that I have WILL NOT impart an upbow. It works like a single action truss rod to me. The Grizzly is double acting. Hard to explain how it works, but if you had one in hand, you could see how it does.

I haven't measured both of them, but dimensionally, the Warmoth and the Grizzly are very close.

replying with pics when done.... about the liking .... i first need to improve my playing... (i really think i will end up posting my bands guitar player opinion XD)

Nah, I was talking about how you like it when you get it finished.

Kind of, was it a worthwhile mod?

That type of thing.