Q4 22 Challenge: LP Senior (Finished!)

davros

Good catch Andy, yes, you will need to shift the posts about 2mm toward the bass side to get good alignment.

gretschthumper

Well I hope you’re both wrong, cos I drilled the holes already! …

If they’re too close to the neck I can adjust with the grub screws, the other way may be more problematic …
I’ve not put the threaded inserts in yet, as I want to do the staining and finishing first.
The scrap piece in front is the test piece for finish - it actually looks more red in real life

andy_k

At this point, I would advise some form of mock up with the bridge fitted, even some sort of temporary dowel in the hole to hold the bridge and strings at low tension would do the trick.
I promise you, you will find it easier to fix any issues now-before finish, than to have it all finished and then discover the issue I am trying to explain.
The effect I am trying to explain, will have the strings off to one side of the neck, and the bridge will not adjust that way, the only remedy will be to plug and re-drill the holes.
Some softwood dowel, and some screws to hold the bridge will allow you to have some strings on there with enough tension to check this, ( even the bridge screws wrapped in a lot of tape would do ) it is only an issue of alignment once the strings are threaded around the bridge, the actual intonation is the adjustable part- this will need the correct tension, and this is another critical part due to the amount of adjustment available.
It will be easier to hide any plugged holes under the finish ( they will be hidden mostly by the bridge anyway, just better hidden if done before finishing)
Hope it all works out for you.

WezV

You can see the bridge offset and reason for it here.

  The angle of the bridge means strings dont go across it at a perfectly perpendicular angle

Note how much closer to the edge of the bridge the high e is compared to the low E

davros

I would also recommend fitting the studs, cutting the nut and stringing it up before finishing.

Ask me how i know 



Then mask the studs with a disc of tape while you finish. This also prevents chipping the finish when installing the studs.

Much easier to fix before finishing 

andy_k

This effect, is greatly dependant on the angle required for the bridge to intonate correctly, and that particular bridge can also be used on guitars which have the bridge posts parallel to the pickup, as there are inlaid brass bars to give some string compensation, I have one on a modern LP Junior. and also fitted one myself to a Firebird replica I built, both have straight bridges but are adjusted to correct intonation, neither was drilled for offset studs.
I have another guitar with a Mojoaxe version of the bridge, which has offset stud holes, and it does display some of this problem - I can live with it, but it would definitely bug me if it could have been avoided.

gretschthumper

Hmm, I got the drift now, little drawing to illustrate

Bit rubbish & exaggerated , but we know what it means … 
I shall make some studs to fit in the holes, and see if the bridge is right, if not (which it won’t be) I’ll plug and re-drill with a jig that holds the bridge.

andy_k

Exactly, my idea of wrapping tape around the bridge posts, and stringing it up loose, would help check this alignment, unfortunately, you won't know if the top to bottom line is right until it is strung up to pitch-it all depends on the string guage and action you see.
Still better to get all this done before you finish the guitar-a couple of dowelled holes will be invisible if you finish it last.

gretschthumper

So I pressed the bridge posts in, strung the outer E’s … all seems to be well - it was worth checking though 

The gap is pretty consistent side to side, and the intonation seems good without help from the grub screws, which is what I was aiming for. 

Now I’ve got the finish to apply
The fretwork to do (that’s the bit I am nervous about, never done a neck from scratch)
and the wiring, which should be fairly simple, with only one pickup!

Don’t reckon it’ll be finished by the end of the month ☹️ … but this challenge thing has focussed my mind on this project, and I’m grateful for that - thank you to whoever comes up with these things!

PeteC

Looking very good.   You’ll need to extract the lower bridge post to get your bridge earth wire in the stud hole.   To extract the post without damaging the top you can make a neat little tool which you can use on future builds.  Just get a little piece of oak or similar hardwood and cut a cube section about 1”x1”.   Drill a 1/2 or 5/8 hole through it with the end grain at both ends   Now, with a large washer at the top of the “tool” and a hex bolt that fits your thread ( metric or imperial ) you can simply turn the bolt in the stud and it will lift out of the stud hole without damaging the top of the guitar.   

You can but such a tool from stewmac etc or you can make one for next to nothing.    

gretschthumper

Thanks PeteC, I made a post puller like that, and it worked well

Been working on the finish for the last few days - I used Crimson guitars water based vintage cherry stain, and Dartford black grain filler … the grain filler is scary stuff: smear it all over the thing & think “I’ve ruined it!”. But it sands back ok.

Then I used Tru-Oil, as I have some experience with - It was touch and go for a while, as I thought it was coming out too gravy brown, but now I reckon the colour is coming out right, sort of “old SG” or something like that:



It looks slightly redder in person - this is after 3 coats of Tru-oil, at the rate of one a day.

I’m trying to do the coats at the end of the day, so I can get on with preparing wood for the next one first, and not get dust in the finish



Hung out to dry  … the boards on the right are what I plan to make the next one out of 

davros

Looking great! I love how the finish transforms the wood!

WezV

Thats the perfect colour for this

PeteC

Yes -
perfect faded cherry/brown.   Looks really good

gretschthumper

After a lotta weeks waiting for the truoil to dry, we have progress! Brought the thing up from the cold garage to the flat, much nicer workin conditions

Not quite the colour I wanted, but thats my fault for not using sealer between stain and grain filler - it turned brown as they mixed - we live and learn.

Next some masking for fretwork:


which is where I am now - also making some strap buttons and a jack plate out of steel, plan is to nickel plate those

more soon

gretschthumper

The fretwork is done, all levelled & polished … tuners & bridge posts done, pickup on … and 2 little dings have appeared in the face of the headstock No idea how,but that wood (Khaya?) is so soft! Still, it’s relicked now, isn’t it?


The homemade jackplate and one strap button are on - I was going to nickel plate these, but I rather like the raw steel look … but they don’t match up with the bridge and tuners, which are nickel. I’m going to redo the strap button, grinding a form tool for the lathe, to get the curve where the strap goes:



Really getting close to stringing this thing up, and I’m bricking it, frankly … will the neck curl up like a banana? Will the trussrod work when I try and adjust it … only one way to find out 

vanlooy1

Looks great!

davros

Looking fantastic, you'll probably be surprised how lively and resonant it is - the simplicity of a dc jr and 1 pickup is a killer combination!

gretschthumper

davros said:

Looking fantastic, you'll probably be surprised how lively and resonant it is - the simplicity of a dc jr and 1 pickup is a killer combination!

Thanks Davros! It’s now strung up and wired, and it sounds great! It’s amazing the sounds you can get from a single P90 with just the volume and tone …

However … I’ve got some work to do on the fretting - plays fine on the lower frets, but there’s some problems on the 4th string above the 12th fret, and the first string chokes on the 8th. I adjusted the truss rod, and that helped, but I think I may need to go back to the fret levelling …  But it’s the first time I’ve done this, so I guess what I thought was good enough on fret dressing was not … there’s other stuff to do, such as the plastics, but I think I’ll look at playability first - starting with deeper nut slots.

Anyway, here’s a pic of it strung and plugged!

davros

My first couple of builds, I levelled the frets until the marker pen was gone from every one, but some time later I realised they still weren't level when I got a fret rocker! That's probably the best test of your levelling job.