I thought there can never be too many Les Paul DC Junior build threads, so here's another one! This may take a while as I've got some boring house projects to get done at the same time, but this should be a nice distraction.
So far, I've built a guitar from scratch at Crimson Guitars, and 2 bodies at home since using bought necks. This will be my first attempt at a scratch build without any help (wish me luck!). I'm planning on making this pretty close to vintage, my main divergence will be using a dual-action truss rod both because this is what we used at Crimson, and it reduces the amount that needs to be cut away at the headstock, giving a little more strength.
Previous builds:
Step one was obtaining some plans - all the ones I could find to buy seemed to be not quite right for some reason, but then I stumbled on these (
LINK) which are ridiculously comprehensive. I was planning to buy templates online but the only comprehensive set I could find were going to cost me over £100 to get them from the USA. So, I had the plans printed at 1:1 scale at my local print shop, and proceeded to make templates from 9mm MDF.
I like to use a combination of a short router bit for the first cuts, then a longer one, so 9mm templates work well for me, and don't require as much sanding as thicker MDF. I've struggled with making templates before using a jigsaw, files and hand sanding but it was a breeze for this build using a combo of my cheapo Aldi router table (for the straight bits), a new band saw and a spindle sander. Having decent tools meant this only took a day and the edges are lovely and square.
So, I'm now waiting on lots of goodies to arrive, so I can start building proper.
Goodies in transit:
- African mahogany body blank
- African mahogany 1-piece neck blank
- Indian rosewood slotted fingerboard (I'm not brave enough to slot myself yet)
- Oil City Firewatch P90
- Faber 'tone bar' bridge
- 3-on a plate Kluson tuners
- Dual action truss rod
Next update when the wood arrives from Guitars and Woods in Portugal.
Comments
Yes, a bandsaw and spindle sander make template making a breeze as I have also recently come to realise.
Really loving that 2nd pic - bit Starla like which is no bad thing IMHO. Really nice looking guitar.
EDIT - I think its a good choice to go with the Faber compensated bridge. I used Faber non-comp on both my Juniors for a more traditional approach and tbh the intonation still drives me a bit nuts as I am a stickler for tuning. I'm planning to swap them both for compensated fabers or PRS bars.
I've already checked out your build thread, good to learn from how others have approached things. Hopefully I can come somewhere near the standard of your builds!
... was your Crimson build?
Interesting shape. I’ve long liked the Crimson semi-hollow LP-ish design.
Looks like the course has properly inspired you to do more too - which makes it an excellent course to my mind!
The course was great, but I was pretty happy with using the tools etc. beforehand. The main thing for me was building the neck. Hopefully I can translate what i did on the course without having a massive planer/thicknesser!
[edit]
Very nice!!! Don't often see a new shape that works so well.
You can also get by without thicknesser / planers by making a router sled and hand finishing with planes or sanding if you have any machining marks left after routing. Carefully set up, you can get very accurate thicknessing done this way. 1/4" fretboards from thicker rough stock are pretty straightforward to do.
... it's very effective.
Wealden tools.
It's accurate and will take 0.5mm off the face of a piece if needed, with ease. I used it today to flatten a piece that was slightly twisted (so it rocked when I put it through the thicknesser and came out just as twisted, just thinner!). Created one perfectly flat face by packing underneath the twist, flipped it over and flattened the other face. Job done.
Messy though ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVUhHWab1h0
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My Youtube page
https://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Surface_Trim__3_Wing_250.html