Build thread: Pancake body les paul deluxe

Skodadad

No harm in sticking to what you know, often makes the difference between first class and world class.

WezV

I could never be accused of sticking to what I know

WezV

I now have a couple of coats of sanding sealer on the body -  I brush this on rather than spray.  I can be quite liberal with it and once sanded back it will leave a nice surface ready for thin coats from the spray cans

You can see the grain has not been filled - i want this to be a bit grainy

 

Now i just need to decide whether to colour the back and sides or not - the back is quite pale so some amber would warm it up nicely

but the sides against the binding and top look pretty great

 

I have pretty much decided I am sticking with the blacktop.   I could go chasing a more oxblood colour and complain about the paint mix but tbh it looks great as it is, so why bother

impmann

It looks amazing, Wez.

WezV

i got the amber on the back sides and neck done today - still needs clear coating but that may wait a few weeks now

Andyjr1515

That's looking lovely, @WezV. What clear coat are you going for?

Sambostar

@WezV amazing craftmanship and I followed all of this fairly easily.  The only bit I don't get is how you did the neck joint.  I assume you made the tenon on the neck parallel to the fretboard and mounted the body on a table and then made an angled overhead router jig for the body rout recess to accommodate the neck, then measured the depth of the neck tenon and set the router accordingly minus the fretboard depth?

And the other thing was the body binding rout.  Did you do that with the body on it's flat side on the router table with a bearing bit?

Still, a hell of a lot of craftsmanship though eh.

WezV

That's pretty much it

except no fancy routing technique.... I used an angle jig similar to this - the neck pocket template was attached to the frame, my frame was the same thickness as the front edge of the guitar body so it pretty much aligned itself to the 4 degree neck angle plan i had already added to the top, but i double checked the angle again at this point

WezV

 missed the binding ledge question.

Most LP builds i have seen do this after the carve using something like this

the the stew-mac version, and there are simpler DIY version but the basic idea is the same, the router can more up and down and will follow the contours

I went a different way, i do want one of those at some point but i decided I would make do without.   I routed the binding ledge whilst the top was still flat, before i started doing the contour map.  This works for everything except the bit inside the cutaway

the ledge was cut when the body was at this stage

you can see it here

i have this router set for binding - router just sits straight on top of the guitar body

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Routers_and_Bits/Bits/Binding_Router_Bit_Set.html

because its all been done pre-carve i hhad to be careful not to touch the edges when doing the carve - but it worked out well

once carved i went back with a different stew-mac binding tool that attaches to a dremel just to do that bit in the cutaway

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Tools_for_Binding/Binding_Router_Guide.html

I hate that tool, its not very accurate, but it helped get me to this stage

WezV

so its all at finishing stages at this point  - last (hopefully) coats are on and it will now hang for a few weeks to cure.

it all looks orange peely and horrible at this stage but I thought I would show it anyway - warts and all.  The good news is - no temperature issues whilst spraying and no blush at all

the binding edge is actually very neat - but the orange peel make it look all over the place at the moment.  

and its current hanging place for the next few weeks

WezV

also - pickups are ordered

impmann

It has to be said, Wez... That picture of it hanging on the wall is somewhat Dali-esque!! :-)

WezV

It made me think I should make a giant clock with les Paul's for hands

speshul91

WezV;930764" said:

It made me think I should make a giant clock with les Paul's for hands

Make me one with basses for hands while you're at it.

WezV

its had a few weeks curing - now desperately needs levelling and buffing.   But the parts are now mostly here so I thought a pic was needed

still need to sort out some mounting brackets for the pickups too, but I have some thin aluminium bar to cut and drill for the pickup bolts 

Skodadad

It's OK I guess

WezV

so before i get onto buffing I have done a coat of graphite shielding paint.  I have not used this stuff before, always used copper sheet.  It will probably have another coat after buffing and before wiring

this is much easier than the copper sheet, not sure why it took me so long to try it.   I decided to put a bit of extra shielding inside the resoglass build too

meltedbuzzbox

Thats an awesome Wez Paul ;-)

WezV

meltedbuzzbox said:

Thats an awesome Wez Paul ;-)

It nearly happened, I was going to get a decal made

Anyway, I have been levelling and started buffing,   I did 400, 600, 800 and 1200 grit wet and dry followed by a quick buff with T-cut and a microfibre cloth.   I need to go back and repeat the last 2 steps in a few places, and will then give it a final polish with some finer compound.   I have only buffed the top, may go for more of a stain sheen on the back and sides

Its actually looking a little bit more oxbloody.  okay, I may be imagining it, but its less totally black than it was  

so hard to get good pics of a black guitar.  I won'y say it's perfect, but I am very happy with the way its coming together

impmann

Man, that's nice.