MLP Bartlett Build

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by ordenes10

Tom, what are you using for glue the binding in the Wood ?Aceton?
Great build.thanks

Normally I just use CA glue, but in this one I'm using duco cement. either one works just fine.

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by nuance97

Where do you get your stud bushings?


+1?

these bushings came from Kim at retrospec. I aged them myself.

[expo]

Originally Posted by nuance97

Where do you get your stud bushings?


+1?

I dont know where Tom get his, but retrospec started to sell 1" bushings.

Retrospec Stop Tailpiece Steel Bushings - $8.00 : RETROSPEC - Vintage Inspired Guitar Equipment, Vintage inspired parts and accessories for guitarists.

EDIT: Always reload before post. great aging Tom.

[buyusfear]

Tom,

Thank you for taking the time to photograph, select, resize, water mark, upload, organize, and detail this procedure. I can personally appreciate the amount of work it takes to outline a procedure with photographs, adding a lot of extra time to stop and photograph.

Not only does your explanation and photo work provide for amazing reading material, but it instills the confidence needed for one to think about trying this for themselves.

Your contributions to this forum are greatly appreciated, so thanks for that.

[stmfitr636]

You sell that binding, don't you?

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by buyusfear

Tom,

Thank you for taking the time to photograph, select, resize, water mark, upload, organize, and detail this procedure. I can personally appreciate the amount of work it takes to outline a procedure with photographs, adding a lot of extra time to stop and photograph.

Not only does your explanation and photo work provide for amazing reading material, but it instills the confidence needed for one to think about trying this for themselves.

Your contributions to this forum are greatly appreciated, so thanks for that.

Thanks for the very kind words I'm glad you're enjoying the build!

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by stmfitr636

You sell that binding, don't you?

yes i do, here

[Barnaby]

This is exactly the information I need for upcoming work. I'm in the planning stages right now. Between this and the Ex-Nihilo thread, there is an incredible amount of information.

I had, in fact, been wondering how to do the binding around the horn - and now I know!

Just for the record, I do hope in the next few years to try for a really, really accurate burst build, and am intending to get binding, inlays, a nut, headstock veneer and probably even a top from you then. I'm already using your plans - and they're great.

[emoney]

I suppose this thread is 'ok'. You know, if you really dig watching an artist work, and
having him go to the effort of explaining how he plies his craft. Oh, and then him having the
werewithall to document the whole thing for us with high-quality photos, and common
english explanations. Other than those things, though, JUST another build thread (:0).

Thanks so much for taking the time for this, Tom. I am now, officially, sub-scribed!

[sasparilla]

hi, what material is the binding you sell? ABS?

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by sasparilla

hi, what material is the binding you sell? ABS?

yes, it's a type of abs.

[alk-3]

At this point I can rout the round over on the back of the body. This is an interesting detail, as it uses a regular radius bit, but it is routed in a way that makes the radius lower than the back edge of the body, Here is the roundover bit up against an original 50’s les paul.



Here is how I do it, just rout it slightly lower than the top edge





and then is feathered out by hard on the top edge only, creating a sort of elliptical back rout. Piture of it done.





The last thing to so is to finish of the switch cavity, and switch hole.

first I take a counterbore and make a 3/4" countersink in the cavity, this leaves about 3/32 to 1/8" of maple. the counterbore is on a very slight angle to conform to the top carve.



now i enlarge the switch hole and we are almost done.



Notice the wire channel protruding through the top of the circle created by the counterbore. this detail was not always on les pauls, but it does serve a purpose. without that wire channel extending this far, the switch itself would not function properly as the mahogany would prevent the butterfly of the swith from working properly. Many original bursts had this feature, but many more did not, so the top would have to be chipped out manually with a gouge.
regardless of that, the switch will still not function yet. i need to gauge out the bottom of the mahogany to accommodate the other end of the butterfly.



It should be noted that on many of the earlier bursts, when they first began to switch to the centre seamed version, these wire channels were all over the place. This is because the tops on earlier goldtops didn't have to be indexed and so they had a bit more consistency. when they switches to the centre seamed version of the les paul, they at first didn't bother to line it up too carefully on the body blank and had little regard for the where the wire channel would land. On some of them, the wire channel would nearly miss the pickup routs altogether, I have never seen a wire channel actually miss, but I have heard of it happening on very early bursts.

I hope all of these steps make sense to everyone, but don't hesitate to ask if any clarification is needed!

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by Barnaby

This is exactly the information I need for upcoming work. I'm in the planning stages right now. Between this and the Ex-Nihilo thread, there is an incredible amount of information.

I had, in fact, been wondering how to do the binding around the horn - and now I know!

Just for the record, I do hope in the next few years to try for a really, really accurate burst build, and am intending to get binding, inlays, a nut, headstock veneer and probably even a top from you then. I'm already using your plans - and they're great.

I'll look forward to that build! I watched your last one, and was pretty amazed with the attention to detail.

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by emoney

I suppose this thread is 'ok'. You know, if you really dig watching an artist work, and
having him go to the effort of explaining how he plies his craft. Oh, and then him having the
werewithall to document the whole thing for us with high-quality photos, and common
english explanations. Other than those things, though, JUST another build thread (:0).

Thanks so much for taking the time for this, Tom. I am now, officially, sub-scribed!

haha, thanks!

[nuance97]

Originally Posted by alk-3

I use the bit and bearing set sold by stewmac, it leaves a .090" binding channel.

So you do not have to cut the channel slightly deeper to account for the glue causing the wood to swell?

I'm jonesing for an update...Can you tell?

[Bruiser74]

GREAT Thread! Thank you.

[silverkw]

wow, awesome details! Thanks Tom!

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by nuance97

So you do not have to cut the channel slightly deeper to account for the glue causing the wood to swell?

I'm jonesing for an update...Can you tell?

Very good question!
You do not have to worry at all about wood swelling from binding glue on a les pual, in my experience. The binding gets attached, then the whole guitar gets fully sanded for finish, and the binding thickness gets sanded down to various thicknesses.. I've measured variances of almost 1mm on original les pauls binding. The thickness of the binding SHOULD vary, and no regard should be paid to the glue causing the wood to swell.

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by Bruiser74

GREAT Thread! Thank you.

Originally Posted by silverkw

wow, awesome details! Thanks Tom!

Thanks guys!

[alk-3]

Now I can finally set the body aside and begin work on the neck.
I start with some rough lumber, and cut it out to yield the greatest number of necks by nesting them together. I want the necks to be quartersawn as much as possible, so the growth rings should be perpendicular to the fretboard surface.



I start by roughing out the necks, and choosing one based on its tone. As mentioned earlier I want the neck to have a nice ring to it, something that complements the higher frequencies of the fretboard well. I want the grain to be straight and free of defects to yield a strong stiff, and stable finished neck.



I joint the fingerboard surface to make it perfectly flat.



Now I rip the neck to width. I want the total width to be about 2 3/16” so the ears on the headstock are the correct width later on.



I put the roughed out neck on a jig to cut the headstock angle to the correct pitch



Then I true it up by hand to make sure the nut will lay perfectly perpendicular to the necks long axis.



Now I can cut the truss rod slot. it is tapered from one end to the other.






Now I can finally cut the truss rod nut recess. The depth and size of the recess is accurate to 50's les pauls, and will allow the truss rod threads to protrude just the right amount for the nut to be seated well on the threads, and but interfere with the truss rod cover.



The truss rod anchor is drilled to a depth that allows the truss rod to bottom out in the slot. There should be a space between the anchor and the fretboard surface when seated properly.
At this point I turn my attention to the truss rod itself.




I thread one end by first filing the end to bevel it very slightly:



I am careful to oil the threads as they are cut. You have to be careful not to tear out the threads.





Then I screw the anchor onto the rod



And hammer the end to lock the anchor in place



Now I can cut it to length by placing the rod in the slot and marking the length, leaving enough room for the washer and nut.



Now I heat up some hide glue, and glue it the filler strips.





These are just off cuts of maple from the top. I clamp it in place with several spring clamps and let it sit over night.

[dickjonesify]

That is soooooooome joiner you got there! Wow.
Excellent thread, sir. I'm getting more inspired by the second.

[Philly]

Tom
Isn't that Konrads old jointer?
Philly

[Pooker]

Great build, Tom! (As usual, of course)

Is the neck to the right of the uncut blank in this photo the one you use for templating? The logo placement hints that it's from a pre-'57 GT...

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by Philly

Tom
Isn't that Konrads old jointer?
Philly

it sure is!

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by Pooker

Great build, Tom! (As usual, of course)

Is the neck to the right of the uncut blank in this photo the one you use for templating? The logo placement hints that it's from a pre-'57 GT...

Hey Ben. That neck in the photos is a 1952 that's in for a neck reset. I'm not using it for templating, it just happened to be on the bench.

[j.six]

Tom, you could easily make a coffee table book from your shop/construction photos. I'd sure buy one.

[Bruiser74]

Cool.
I also notice you run your boards oblique to the jointer blades.
Do you move it back and forth to avoid uneven blade wear and to
avoid lines left from nicks in the blade?
B

[glimmertwins]

...amazing build. If ever there was a build thread that deserves a sticky, this is it.

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by j.six

Tom, you could easily make a coffee table book from your shop/construction photos. I'd sure buy one.

Haha, thanks!

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by Bruiser74

Cool.
I also notice you run your boards oblique to the jointer blades.
Do you move it back and forth to avoid uneven blade wear and to
avoid lines left from nicks in the blade?
B

I run it at an angle to help minimize tearout, particularly in figured wood.
I do move the fence around, but mostly to minimize the amount of blade exposed simply for safety.
I'd really like to get a shelix head for tearout free cutting

::: Byrd Tool Corp :::