Building a Chambered LP

[Mr Bones]

Im not sure this is the right area for this, so flick move or delete if needed.

Im already into this project a little, having cut out the body and top already, but better to start late than never I guess. With all the buzz around chambered guitars these days, and since I won't be buying any guitars for about 18 more years , I'm going to try and build a chambered LP-style guitar. I didn't want to use one of my one-piece blanks, since so much of that wood would be coming out. I picked up some nice light sapele a while back after reading some threads about sapele possibly being used on some early goldtops. It was only 1" thick, so I glued it up to 2". I decided to keep the body thickness at 1 15/16" to make the chambers have more volume. The body and top were bandsawn out, then routed to the final dimensions with an MDF template and router. That is as far as I got by the beginning of these pictures.

One side of the body was rough, so I took 1/16" off. I don't own a drum sander, nor a planner that is wide enough for an LP body, so I built a quick jig to thickness. This same jig works great for getting the neck angle onto the body, but more about that later. Here is the body being planned:


Sanded and marked (this seems simple that one should mark front and back, but is an easy mistake to route the wrong side. I speak from experience on this one ):

Body and new MFD template marked for cutting.


Inside chambering marked on template:

Jigsawing out the template:

[FLICKOFLASH]

I am doing something like that on my signature 7 string LP but it getting a large balsa insert

[Mr Bones]

template transfered to body:

I used a forstner bit to do most of the work, although make no mistake, this part took FOREVER:


Template applied with double sided duct tape and routed out:

The result:

[Mr Bones]

Sometimes hobby guitar making requires creative solutions to problems that aren't a problem for a well equipped shop. Brazillian rosewood is not only great sounding old wood, but also stiff enough to use as router rails. I couldn't use MDF like I had planned because the router bit just barely wouldn't go deep enough to get out the forstner bit marks. The rosewood was just enough thinner, yet rigid enough to do the job:

The end result:

Here is the maple top that will be going on this one. I wanted something pearly-esque:

Control cavity routed out:


I will sand and clean up the inside next.

[Mr Bones]

I decided to take a slightly different route (pun intended ) than gibson with the chambering. I left wood for the stap screws, pigtail wraptail, and neck tennon. Everything else went. I am interested to hear how the pickups will sound with no wood under them. I wanted to get as close to semi-hollow tone as I could (I realize that semis have maple blocks running through the center). I am going to also carve the back of the maple top in select spots to increase the volume of the chamber. Here is a shot of the gibson CR reissue chambering:

[FLICKOFLASH]

I always wondered what if you filled with Styrofoam like the cups are made of ..ever heard the sound transfer

[Mr Bones]

I am on the fence about a curly maple neck, or mahogany. Any thoughts, or input?

[Mr Bones]

Originally Posted by FLICKOFLASH

I always wondered what if you filled with Styrofoam like the cups are made of ..ever heard the sound transfer

I seen pictures of poor man's upright basses made with styrofoam. Apparently it is super resonant, but I wonder how much so when surrounded on all sides...

[FLICKOFLASH]

Originally Posted by nmguitars

I am on the fence about a curly maple neck, or mahogany. Any thoughts, or input?

curly maple can twist & be unstable & is very bright sounding & heavy , I had one of my 25/50 LP get a twist & a up bow just being in storage

[Mr Bones]

Installment #2:
Carved the back of the maple top. I really didn't take that much off, but I just wanted to thin the maple a little to take some of the brightness off. In the past few guitars I've built, one of the biggest factors for the tone of the guitar has been how thick the maple cap was, and how much I carved off when carving the top. Carving hard rock maple is not fun, and I am not looking forward to the blisters that will come from carving the top on this one. Eastern maple is MUCH easier to carve. This is my thinnest maple top yet, starting out at 1/2". The only spot on this guitar that will be 1/2" will be right at the tailpiece block.


I used a straight edge between the glue areas of the maple to gauge how much I was taking off.


I drilled the hole for the switch cover, then cleaned everything up with naptha to make sure there was no dust inside the body or on the glue edge.

Clamping time. I made sure to get two clamps on the center block, and a long clamp where the tenon goes so that the area surrounding the tenon has a good connection.


There were inevitable glue drips inside the body, I tried to clean them up as best as I could.

[Gigan]

Nice! Very excited to see how she turns out!

[Mr Bones]

Originally Posted by Gigan

Nice! Very excited to see how she turns out!

Thanks Gigan,
I hope to have it built by the end of the year.

[BOBBO]

This is an amazing process to watch !!!

[pinefd]

Great stuff, Nick! And the timing couldn't be any better. I'm in the process of building a chambered guitar myself (for the first time), and I'm few days behind you. So, watching your progress and techniques is very helpful. Thanks!

Frank

[Mr Bones]

Full-sized or mini Frank>?

[61LPSG]

Originally Posted by nmguitars

I am on the fence about a curly maple neck, or mahogany. Any thoughts, or input?

I think that mahogany would sound creamier. You are relieving the maple cap to mellow the tone, so the maple neck would negate that. ( I do love a nice birdseye, or flame neck on a Fender,(or a flintlock) though).
Keep us posted please, that looks so nice.

[pinefd]

Originally Posted by nmguitars

Full-sized or mini Frank>?

Yes!















It's a Less Tall Octave guitar...my own (fully functional) interpretation of these babies:

[winger]

Nice "diary"! Very interesting to watch the progress. Thumbs up !

[Mr Bones]

Took the clamps off this evening, and started the binding channel. I use the stew-mac binding bits:

and just go in multiple passes to avoid tear out until I get to this:

I then change the bearing out on the bit to a 1/2" bearing

and route a "dummy" channel above the binding channel. Again, I got in multiple passes until I get to where the top of the binding will go. This ledge tells me not to carve below this point at the edges when carving the top:

I then routed the bottom edge of the body with a 1/4" round-over bit just to avoid any tear out on the bottom edge.

[Mr Bones]

Time to get the "thicknessing jig" back out, as I also use this to cut the first angle onto the top. I used 4 degrees, which will now also be the neck angle, and mortice angle. I set it up by raising the back end, while the front end is clamped until I get the 4 degree angle. I use two straight edges and an angle tool to make sure I am at the right angle on each side.

Then proceed to cut the angle up to the point where the fingerboard will end.

[pinefd]

Nick, when you did your "chambering", how much wood did you leave on the bottom. It looks like around 1/2 inch or so, judging by this photo?

[Mr Bones]

Next step is to begin the carving process. This is slow and blister producing, but for as much as I gripe, it is my favorite part of the whole process. It is slow, sure, but also relaxing, and tonic. I could do it in a quarter of the time with a router, but routers are noisy and dusty.

My family of ibex planes:

This is as far as I got tonight:


I can't wait to see this top with finish on it. I picked it out because a) it has a nice pearly vibe to it, and b) it reminds me of an R9 I regret selling which had my favorite top ever on it:

[Mr Bones]

Originally Posted by pinefd

Nick, when you did your "chambering", how much wood did you leave on the bottom. It looks like around 1/2 inch or so, judging by this photo?

Good eye Frank! You got it, right at 1/2".

[Roman Rist]

Nice Job!