Build thread: Pancake body les paul deluxe

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  • SambostarSambostar Frets: 8745
    I was thinking that Wez is definitely on to something here.  Although I can't even prep and join two pieces of wood together, although I would like to.  What are the stages of getting laminated parallel then Wez?  Or do you just have a very good table saw and blade?
    Backdoor Children Of The Sock
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345
    Will you stop posting about your limitless supply of free old mahogany.

    Some of us might get jealous.

    :P
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Cool thread, will be watching with interest.
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    Sambostar;861201" said:
    I was thinking that Wez is definitely on to something here.  Although I can't even prep and join two pieces of wood together, although I would like to.  What are the stages of getting laminated parallel then Wez?  Or do you just have a very good table saw and blade?
    These planks where already planed and flat so I didn't have too much to do on that aspect. Just used a scraper to take out the planer marks, went together nicely

    Once I had my two halves I used a router and straight edge to get the center glue join square. Could have planed it but mahogany grain can be more difficult to plane when its laminated like this

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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    TTony;861213" said:
    Will you stop posting about your limitless supply of free old mahogany.

    Some of us might get jealous.

    :P
    This isn't even the good stuff. :)
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    WezV said:

    normally the mahogany back is about 1 3/4" - so i will accept this even though its technically a mm thinner ;)
    You know what I'm going to say about where that missing mm should have come from...

    :-P

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    I did consider that. I guess it shows how close I could have got to the pancake recipe.... If I wanted too.

    I might still make it even less thick than a normal LP anyway, we will see
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    so I have been looking at trapezoid inlays and its led me down a different path for the whole fretboard.

    one of my biggest challenges has been finding time to build over the last  few years, child and proper job make it hard, and now thereis a new baby on the way.

    So if i can get something pre-made i will now consider it.  I have been buying pre-made fender style necks from allparts for quite a few years, usually unfinished so I can tweak them to what i want.  I have had fretboards slotted and part made necks from GSP - always excellent

    preparing a fretboard blank, cutting inlays, slotting, radiusing and binding is probably a good days work for me and add the materials on top.  I could save time by buying pre-cut inlays, but that pushes up material costs etc.  always trying to find the right balance and not undervalue my time too much

    Searching for pre-cut inlays i came across ready made les paul style fretboards from CH Guitars - if you haven't heard of them they mainly sell cheap chinese?? made hardware and parts - and £30 gets you a fully prepped, inlaid and bound rosewood fretboard.  that's cheaper than a lot of sets of  pre-cut trap inlays.  pics on the website are blurry - but i decided it was worth investigating further


    and not really expecting much other than a wasted £30 it turned up today and I will say I am pleasantly surprised and will be using it for this
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    The bad:
    • not as straight grained as I like
    • high colour variation
    • some scratches on inlays
    • bobbled looking inlay material
    • unauthentic scale length
    • some white residue in grain
    The good
    • rosewood  still better than a lot of Gibson's or other modern factory guitars
    • Nearly quartersawn
    • all nicely processed and ready to go
    • bloody cheap

    on the wood.  The curve in the grain and colour variation does make it lower grade even though many like that.  its all relative though, if it was braz RW it would be exceptionally high grade, but for indian its lower.  still pleasantly surprised its nearly quartersawn

    on the scale length. I expect its a proper 24 3/4" rather than a gibson compensated 24 3/4".  i do really like a 24 5/8" scale although my templates are all 24 9/16" which both intonate to about 24 3/4".  lets not go deeper than that other than to highlight its not authentic

    no binding nibs - but that's not a downside because I didn't want them  :)

    I would certainly recommend for anyone who was building and wanted to skip a few of the fretboard making steps



    next few days i will see if my 3-piece maple top gamble pays off too.  if it does I will be under £50 for the cost of wood on this guitar
       

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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    edited November 2015
    so i guess the maple gamble didn;t really pay off.  I purchased 6 maple "offcuts" knowing some would be a bit knotty but hoping i might get one or two tops worth.  not too much of a gamble though as it can all be used for different projects

    its a bit knottier than hoped so no maybe 1 top at most, maybe not even that.  certainly not two

    image


    it will all still get used either way, but maybe not for this project and maybe not for guitars at all. I will plane some down to see if I can get it a bit better, but there is a real chance they will get worse.  don't want to carve a top and see an ugly great knot appear
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    Actually the more I look at it the surer I am it should be a solid maple amp shell or piece of furniture. :)
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    so i have planed a few planks down to 17mm and managed to get a few bits i could use for a top.   but i started thinking about doing a mahogany top instead and I think thats going to be a much better idea.

    I am tryign to do this on a budget so I can splurge on hardware and pickups later.  SO using the wood I have is preferable and ordering in more maple gets prohibitive. 

    solid mahogany is still in the realms of what I was aiming for so I think I have convinced myself thats is what I will do.  But it does raise some other questions I will have to decide on later


    anyway, the heavy plank i decided not to use for the whole body will now be the top - so half of it went through the planer too - down to 17mm ready for a final handplane/scrape smooth one its glued together as a top

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    so otehr questions i need to decide on - I was originally going for a solid finish on top, leaning towards either pelham blue or black.  but looking at some solid mahogany les pauls I can;t help but think a simple oil finish would be pretty special.   I can decide later.  This will be a stream of consciousness build :)

    lets have pics of some mahogany top les pauls

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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    so, plain mahogany - probably a few shades darker
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    blue top
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    blacktop
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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12649
    Plain mahogany top, double bound a la Custom. Wicked looking!
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • MossMoss Frets: 2409
    Blue top!!
    Stop crying, start buying
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    I do have some W/B/W purfling here, but nah

    i want it rather simple looking - no flashy stuff

    I am considering just having a wraparound
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    impmann said:
    Plain mahogany top, double bound a la Custom. Wicked looking!
    i did a mockup - enriched the mahogany a bit too

    image

    i think i prefer it without the multiply
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    although this may be the winner - at least for today
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  • MossMoss Frets: 2409
    Looks amazing with the wraparound
    Stop crying, start buying
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345
    Wraparound gets my vote too.

    And either blue, or unadulterated mahog.
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • Top stuff matey. 
    "A city star won’t shine too far"


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  • If you want to add a dog-hair finish, wraparound, rib contour, and a chunky neck profile then let me know where to send the deposit ;)
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