Build thread: Pancake body les paul deluxe

Shark_Eyes

This is looking really really good, so impressive. Mahogany Les Pauls are possibly my favorite looking guitars too.

Looking forward to seeing this finished in the new year.

Andyjr1515

That's looking very good @WezV  

Fatfingers

WezV said:

this is the closest I have done to proper carved top set neck les paul

That looks ace. Got any more pics of it?

WezV

Fatfingers said:

WezV said:

this is the closest I have done to proper carved top set neck les paul

<snip>

That looks ace. Got any more pics of it?

yeah.  that one was a one peice mahogany body and totally carved by hand.  It was built for a mate  who likes heavy guitars.  His other two instruments where an SG2000 and 90's les pual studio - this was his lightest guitar at 11lbs.  His name was Twisty, which is why it has a twist in the neck    He died about a year after it was made and I don't feel like it was ever finished - we tweaked it regualrly up until he passed and had ideas for other mods

 

WezV

the original block of wood

and an assembly shot

 

Fatfingers

Lovely. Strange too – as I don't like the look of PRS guitars generally. Maybe it's down to all those fancy finishes. Just not my cup of tea. But I love this. 

Sambostar

Pics of your sanding tool re-enactment or it didn't happen.  Like porno, give us some slow motion detailed pics of the angles and what tools you used.  We need to learn dude. This is amazing.  Vaguely.  It is.

WezV

I didn't take pics, I just started sanding with the power sander and 40mins later it looked like this. I have linked to some threads which show the process in more detail.

I put some masking tape around the edge and on the neck angle plane to save sanding there. I used a belt sander belt which I had previously chopped up - heavy duty clothed backed abrasive

Easier and quicker than I thought it would be

WezV

Or are you suggesting I am doing a dalefty and photoshopping the whole process.

Sambostar

No, I am suggesting you are a space alien and it happened with divine intervention.

Besides You still have all your fingers.

WezV

I didn't expect it to work as well as it did, which is why I was prepared to break out the proper tools

 

As far as I am aware original gibsond were rough carved on a duplicarver before being taken to a slack belt sander for final shaping.  I guess this method is quite close to that, in a more DIY sense, so I shouldn't be surprised it gave a pretty convincing les paul style carve.

 

The other thing it helps to explain is gibsons variable neck angles.  I hardly touched the neck angle plane  I had routed at 4.3 degrees when sanding the carve in, but I think I have still managed to change it to 4.1 degrees.  That must be much easier to acidently alter if sanding the contours on a slack belt sander.   I need to check again when I get home.  It won't affect the neck angle on mine as much as it would a gibson because I am doing a full width tenon so the bottom of the slot I route will determine neck angle, not the top of the body like on a normal gibson

WezV

okay - rechecking neck angles.  I am using a spirit level on my phone for this. I am using my crappy work phone to take pics

 since mine is in the pics

 I used the same thing to determine the angle i set my router thicknesser jig to for cutting these angles

First thing though, better check I am on a level surface

0.2 degrees - i will take that off the actual measurements

Neck angle plane - (4.39-0.2) 4.19 degrees

Pickup angle plane (1.59 - 0.2)  1.39 degrees

and it levels of at the bridge

I was aiming for 4.3 and 1.5 degrees so I am pretty happy with that after sanding

WezV

turned my attention towards the neck tonight.   If you remember its a 3-piece mahogany blank I had squared up and cut the headstock angle on.   No progress pics  - but here was the order of operations tonight 

The starting point - a nice square blank all marked up.   There is actually an error in my marking i should have picked up - but its not an issue and I will show it later

First step then, whilst still square is to route for the truss rod.   I do a square bottomed channel with a 1/4" bit for most of the length, then finish off the last section with a 1/2" round nose bit to give a nice access channel

Once that was done I went to the bandsaw and cut out the side profile.   should have double checked this, i left the heel far too long so will need to go back and cut a bit more away later... no bother.

Once the side profile was cut out i got out the router thicknessing jig again and routed the underside of the heel to be perfectly flat and parallel with the face of the neck - the neck heel won;t be angled, but the slot in the body will be to give us the neck angle

then I got some straight edge templates, marked the top of the neck blank again and routed down either side

and that's where we are now

truss rod is a nice push fit -

 

fretboard fits on top perfectly - you can see the long heel

so that's quite a bit done.

next steps:

• Cut heel back a bit
• (I may taper the neck thickness on the router thicknesser, or may just do it at caving stage)
• Add headstock wings
• Veneer headstock
• Thickness back of headstock 
  
• Cut headstock shape
• glue fretboard
• carve neck
• fret
• fit to body.....

WezV

Got the neck heel cut back a bit closer to the body join and glued on the headstock ears tonight.

Small progress, no pics

WezV

so neck is now cut to its actual shape and I have gone a bit off piste.   I am trying to decide whether to celebrate the mahogany  by leaving the headstock plain, or just veneer it  i decided to get it all cut to shape to see, may still veneer it later

anyway - side profile fully cut out

headstock shape cut

Skodadad

Impressed as ever, you talk about building guitars like it's buttering bread!

WezV

and the headstock shape

WezV

Skodadad said:

Impressed as ever, you talk about building guitars like it's buttering bread!

I sometimes struggle to butter bread - i get really frustrated when the bread tears!!

impmann

You see, I had this brilliant idea for spray butter for that exact reason - much like squirty cream - but I was told nobody would buy it.

Shark_Eyes

I like the idea of the headstock matching the plain wood body.