(Another) LP Junior DC build (finished!)

What's Hot
24

Comments

  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    @PeteC Lucklily I was planning to finish it TV yellow nitro, so that should hide most errors!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    Progress update:

    Making the body was pretty straightforward, cutting out on my new bandsaw and using my aldi router table to cut to the template - I use a short 10mm template bit to start, then a 25mm template bit, finishing with a bottom bearing bit on the other side. Cavities were also pretty straightforward using a handheld router. I'm aiming for a '58 style roundover of 3/16" or 5mmish but i only have a 1/4" roundover bit, so backed it off a little and finessed with sanding.



    For the neck, so far I've cut the headstock angle, using a bandsaw, tidying up with a block plane and flattening with my trusty 120grit sandpaper spray glued to some quartz tile we ripped off the fireplace.
    The blank is not quite wide enough for the headstock, and one side isn't totally flat, so planning to go semi-Gibson and add just one wing. It'll be TV yellow, so I think unnoticable that it's not symmetrical.

    0reaction image LOL 3reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    ...now waiting for the truss rod and 6mm router bit to arrive before continuing with the next. My truss rod package arrived from Northwest guitars, but judging by the small hole in the cardboard packaging and bag, it escaped en-route. So, there's a probably a random truss rod floating round a royal mail centre somewhere.
    0reaction image LOL 3reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • PeteCPeteC Frets: 409
    Bad luck ! 
    Good decision to go with the compensated bridge   I just swapped over a non comp for the Faber compensated and it’s made a real improvement to tuning and intonation.  Looks pretty good too.  
    0reaction image LOL 3reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    The wife picked up some 6mm hardwood dowel from hobbycraft, so the boob is fixed, just need to wait for the glue to dry and re-rout the cavity ledge and redrill the hole properly.

    Good call on the bridge, PeteC, that's exactly the same one I have.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • PeteCPeteC Frets: 409
    So please with it that I am going to buy another for the Idigbo junior.   It also cured the Tendency to sitar a bit in the e and b which I had put down to dodgy nut slots.   I like the vintage plain bar but I like using add chords with open g and b strings and it was driving me nuts having to retune for different keys.   
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • sawyersawyer Frets: 732
    Love a Junior build! Looking good and your previous builds look fantastic. Bookmarked 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    I've been pretty poor at updating this thread, but have been taking a few photos along the way, so here's a megaupdate.

    I had a bit of a wait at this point for the truss rod to arrive - the first package arrived with nothing inside, so had to wait for a replacement to be shipped. In the meantime I ordered a 6mm bit for the truss rod on the basis that the truss rod was 6mm wide. Turns out i should have get a 1/4 inch bit as it was a little over 6mm, but a couple of very close passes gave me the right width slot. The truss rod end was a little oversize, so i bought a really ball-nose cutter from e-bay to enlarge the recess without taking too much wood away. Turns out it was blunt, so didn't do the tidiest job, but that will all be hidden.


    Next I used a bandsaw to cut the back profile, using the blank on it's side. This gave me the approximate heel profile, neck carve thickness and headstock thickness. I included a volute because other than vintage accuracy I don't see any good reason not to with a 1-piece neck and 17 degree headstock angle.

    Then I cut the sides and headstock approximately to shape on the bandsaw. The blank wan't quite wide enough for the full headstock, so I planned to add just 1 'ear'. I used an offcut from the neck and glued that on at this stage, using the already flat faces from the blank to get a good joint.

    After the glue was dry, I re-cut the headstock shape and brought down the thickness with a block plane.

    I don't have any pictures of the next part, but I attached the neck template and used a table router to bring that to the correct shape, fretboard side down on the table to get a good vertical surface. The neck to headstock curves were shaped using the neck template (like Gibson do). I then attached a headstock template and *very carefully* to avoid tearout shaped the headstock with the headstock face down on the table router.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    Next to the fretboard. This is an Indian rosewood pre-slotted fretboard at 24.625" scale from Guitars and woods. It was a little thick, so I first stuck it down to a flat table, with 2 strips of 9mm thick MDF stuck either side, and used a router to thickness it down to just over 6mm. This will save a lot of sanding with the radius block later.

    I found the fret slots were not quite square with either side of the fretboard, so marked a centerline perpendicular with the fret slots.

    Next, I drilled positioned the fretboard on the neck and drilled 2 2mm holes for registration pins to locate the fretboard when gluing. One in the 1st fret, one around the 17th fret. I use some short pieces of side dot inlay plastic as pins. They're accurate dimensionally, and easy to cut if they stick up into the fret slot, although I made them short enough to not.

    Popped in the truss rod with a couple of tiny blobs of silicone at each end. There was nothing to stop the fretboard sliding up toward the headstock-end, so this held it in place and should prevent any rattle.

    Then, I could glue on the fretboard using a couple of cauls and as many clamps as I could find.


    When dry, I used a bandsaw to trim down the edges of the fretboard, then used the table router with an end-bearing bit to trim down flush with the neck.

    Next onto carving the neck. I took the profiles for the 1st and 17th frets, and drew on:
    • Vertical lines at the sides
    • Horizontal line at the bottom
    • 2 45-degree lines to intersect the side of the profile using my trusty school set square
    From this, I got measurements for the distance of the 45-degree facets from the neck/fretboard join (6mm in this case) and the width of the flat bottom facet (27mm in this case). The measurements for the 17th fret were different and if you had an asymmetric profile, they wouldn't be equal on both sides.


    Onto the neck, I marked the 1st and 17th fret thickness on both sides of the neck and joined them with straight lines. I used a saw rasp to carve the back of the neck to the correct thickness.

    Then I translated the measurements for the 45-degree facets to the neck at the 1st and 17th frets and joined them with straight lines. Again using the saw rasp, I carved in these 2 facets to give the approximate neck profile. Some people then bisect the 45 degree facets with 4 22.5 degree facets. I didn't bother - from here I rounded off all the corners until the profile was smooth and matched the plans. Plenty of tidying with some long 120 grit sandpaper strips shoe-shine style followed.

    The picture below shows my 'carving station'. Just clamped a piece of 2x4 to the workbench, and clamped the neck to that. It makes accessing both sides of the neck really easy.



    The neck and heel transitions were then carved carefully using a combination of an Iwasaki round carving file, a regular half-round file and 12-grit sandpaper.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    Next, I used a 12" radius block to sand the fretboard radius - first with 120 grit, then 240, then 320. This is slow and boring - took a good hour and a good reason for thicknessing the board first!

    Next, I drilled the fretboard dots and glued them in with superglue. Same with the side-dots. I levelled them down with a chainsaw sharpening file https://www.sam-turner.co.uk/products/stihl-flat-file-for-reworking-depth-gauge-150mm?fo_c=603&fo_k=ce4f7d88b146b203248224a4bef5d293&fo_s=gplauk&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9NXv94b86gIVzOvtCh1lbwfiEAQYBSABEgIzXfD_BwE which I superglued to some scrap wood to give something to hold.

    Next, I cut and hammered in the frets (Jescar FW45100, supposedly what Gibson use in the Custom Shop). Used the chainsaw file to tidy and bevel the ends, then wicked in a little superglue at the ends to keep them from lifting in the future and fill the bottom of the slots at the edge of the fretboard.

    Using a block plane, I flattened the neck heel (with approx 3 degree angle cut in), leaving a couple of mm to refine the neck angle.

    Next to aligning the neck and routing the pocket. I use a couple of pieces of right angle aluminium along the sides of the neck, and move the neck around until its in the right position and the aluminium is equidistant from the centreline.


    Once it's all good, I clamp the neck down and stick 2 straight pieces of MDF to the body tight to the sides of the neck, and another one tight to the end. This is my neck pocket template, and always ensures a really good fit. I route the pocket with a hand router and then test-fit the neck.


    Now, I place the bridge in it's approximate position, on a little bit of scrap pickguard material and use a long straightedge to see how the neck angle looks. Using some trial and error and a block plane, I carve the neck heel so the neck where the fretboard ends is flush with the body, and the strings are the correct height over the bridge. I also checked that there is sufficient clearance over the dogear pickup as that's not height adjustable.

    Once I'm happy, the neck is glued, clamped and left for 24-hours.

    This leaves a small amount of the neck sticking up out of the body. Adding some 9mm MDF, I just used a router to skim it down level.


    And we're here:

    I even impressed myself at how clean a joint this is!
    0reaction image LOL 2reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    Now the really nervewracking bit, aligning the bridge. I read up online a lot of methods for positioning a wraparound bridge, but as mine is intonated, I decided to follow the Ivison guitars method.

    I built a makeshift tailpiece with a scrap of wood and angle aluminium and screwed this into the strap button hole.

    Then I put the bridge roughly in place on top of a piece of scrap pickguard plastid. Moving it left and right to keep the strings equidistant from the sides of the fretboard, and forward and back until the 2 E strings intonated properly.

    Once it was in exactly the right place, I drilled a 2mm hole through into the body (leaving a little wiggle room forward and backward for final adjustments), to mark the bridge post holes, then drilled with a 13mm brad point.


    0reaction image LOL 1reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    My chosen finish (TV Yellow) is out of stock at Manchester Guitar Tech at the moment, so I've decided to assemble it, and decide whether the neck profile needs any more refinement - it's currently nice and chunky.

    So, I did a full fret level/crown/polish and put it all together for a trial run.

    I think the bridge could do with being 1/2mm toward the bass side, but too late now, and I had to rout the P90 cavity 2mm further to the treble side to get the pickup to align with the strings, but all in all, it's all nicely aligned - a lot better than some original 50's Gibson examples I've seen, anyway!!

    Wow, this thing is the most resonant, awesome sounding guitar I think I've ever played. The sustain is immense. Gibson definitely got this design bang on. The Oil City Firewatch P90 is hot but detailed and, the chunky neck is fantastic for riffing.

    Plenty still to do, lots of sanding and painting but for now I'm having tons of fun playing it!



    0reaction image LOL 4reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    This is the ultimate aim, looks-wise (except with the smaller 1958 roundover) - I think I'm pretty close!




    0reaction image LOL 2reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • sawyersawyer Frets: 732
    Looks fantastic!  Well done on a awesome build. Looking forward to seeing it finished. I absolutely love Juniors. They light and angry. What more do you need.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    That’s a nice piece of work.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • PeteCPeteC Frets: 409
    Lovely work and great build update.  It’s looking great.  
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • PhilKingPhilKing Frets: 1473
    Looks really nice and well made.  Great pictures and write up on the build.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    Thanks all, tried to put a few details that might help others. I know there are couple of build threads that really helped me out!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    Smallish update today. Finishing is half-done, currently waiting for a headstock decal before putting another can of clear on.

    This is how I've gone about the TV yellow finish, guided by the really helpful Manchester Guitar Tech article and using their lacquers as usual.


    First of all, lots of sanding, raising the grain with water and sanding it back twice to 400 grit. The mahogany looks so nice when wet I was almost tempted to go for a natural finish!


    Next up was 2 light coats of white primer - just enough to be opaque but enough to fill the grain. Tempted at this point to go for TV white!


    Next up filling the grain. I used Rustins mahogany grain filler, I think this is the same colour as Gibson used back in the day. I thinned it with white spirit and rubbed it in with a cloth. I then wiped the excess off with lighter fluid (naptha).

    The result was fine, but i struggled to get all the mahogany colour out of the surface of the white primer in some spots. Next time I would consider using normal white lacquer or a thin coat of clear before grain filling to make the top surface a little less absorbant.

    For some reason I didn't get a picture of this stage, but the filler worked well and really enhanced the grain.

    Next, Steve at Manchester Guitar Tech suggests loading on some sealer to level the surface. I had a little left in a can so used that, mostly on the headstock (because that needs to be totally flat) and a couple of coats on the body. I'm fine with the final finish not being totally flat - some shrinkage into the grain i think makes it look a little more authentic and I plan to do some minor aging too. I wet sanded the headstock flat with white spirit but didn't touch the body.

    Next comes the transparent TV yellow. I'm after a full on yellow here, so used pretty much a whole can, until it was even all over.


    Next, I masked off the headstock and gave that a few coats of black. I removed the tape softened the slight lip from the masking tape with a gentle sand, then re-masked just the surface of the fretboard to expose the sides and hit the whole thing with a can of clear gloss, and now I'm here, waiting for the decal to arrive so I can put on another can of gloss.


    Couldn't resist a mockup, so here's a preview. I'm really happy with this so far! The colour looks different depending on how the camera adjusts for the light and white balance. The mockup below's pretty accurate to the real colour.


    0reaction image LOL 1reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • davrosdavros Frets: 1324
    edited September 2020
    Oh, since that was taken I've cut some new plastics and aged them along with the hardware to match the aged Faber bridge. Going for the slightly tarnished with sweat over 60 years look rather than rusty.

    Plastics were aged by some gentle rubbing with an abrasive pad (like a green pan scourer), then 0000 wire wool to polish some of those scratches out, then a going over with Silvo (basically brasso) to give a slightly dulled appearance.

    Metal parts (all nickel plated, not chrome) were scuffed with the abrasive pad then dunked in Ferric Chloride. I hadn't used it before but worked really well.

    The Ferric Chloride came in a little 50g bag of crystals which I mixed with 150ml of water (instructions suggested between 1:1 and 1:4 concentration for etching) in an old jar.

    Screws, ferrules and strap buttons I held with pliers and dipped in for 5 seconds, then rinsed in a bowl of water. For the tuners, I diluted it down some more, probably to 1:6 as the previous mix went a bit quickly. I dabbed it on the tuners with a cotton wool pad, left it for a few seconds and rinsed off again in the water.

    I didn't age the bridge myself, it came that way, but the look is basically the same.


    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.