1st Build - Les Paul Jr.

[Sleator]

I'm making a LP as part of my Leaving Certificate exams, in Cons. Studies.
After years of waiting, I'm finally getting a chance to build my own 'lester.
And damn, I couldn't be happier!


I'm building a jr. with a few extra features.

It'll be made out of sapele, with a maple top & binding.


(also, on a side note, some of you may know me as 21stCenturyNimrod)



Here is what I aim to do;

[Sleator]

I'm a bit into the build, so updates will be quick...

...then slow!



I originally got the Sapele in a 3ft x 10" x 1.75" board (Big thanks to njk for that ) but I've lost the pic of it...

I cut to to size as shown



But the was a bit of overhang from the templates, so I had to glue some wings on.




(I made the templates btw, but never took any photos. Nothin' new or exciting there anyway! But boy did they take long!)

Got my hide glue ready..

Nothin' like carrying some hide glue in your school bag!



Stuff is kinda tricky to use at first..



...was kinda runny too. But seemed to hold pretty well when I got the clamps off!

Glued up. This thing weighed a tonne!!

[Sleator]

A pic of the endgrain.



It'll do!



Onto the maple;




Very plain... Was hoping there might be some sneaky flame in there, but not much!
It's also a three piece... I assumed they'd make it two, but I guess it's not the end of the world!



I asked my teacher to plane it down from 44mm to 34mm to allow for the 10mm maple top... but he somehow managed to plane it down to 30mm!

After thinking about it, 5mm wont make a huge difference!

(For you imperial guys )




I love this combination!






As she is now.




That's it for now! I'll have more updates as time goes on, but for now..

Stay tuned!

[Sleator]

Cutting the scarf



Getting that 17°




Uhmm....




Dry fit. Looked good!

[Sleator]

Earlier today, fresh outta' the clamps!




Ready to route




Noticed this after unclamping..




Not a big deal I guess.. Plan to get a bit of CA & fix her up!







Not too happy with how the scarf turned out. Hopefully it should be ok once I get the board on it. Any opinions?




..but on the opposite side, it looks fine!




That's it for now!

Should have the truss rod channel cut tomorrow.

[Barnaby]

Hey!

Looking good. I wish I had advice to offer about the scarf joint, but have never done one. It's probably no surprise to you that I find handplanes the best way to get a clean angle on mahogany like that, however. Specifically, a #4 smoothing plane.

I think this will be a sweet guitar. Others may have some advice for you on getting the top glued on more consistently too...possibly involving syringes and other things you don't want people to find in your school bag...

[Sleator]

Originally Posted by Barnaby

Hey!

Looking good. I wish I had advice to offer about the scarf joint, but have never done one. It's probably no surprise to you that I find handplanes the best way to get a clean angle on mahogany like that, however. Specifically, a #4 smoothing plane.

I think this will be a sweet guitar. Others may have some advice for you on getting the top glued on more consistently too...possibly involving syringes and other things you don't want people to find in your school bag...

Worst case scenario, the neck turns out bad, & I have to start again! If that happens, then I've only lost some wood, & can reuse the FB. No biggie! But hopefully it'll be fine.

I had thought about doing the Barnaby approach to it....

Y'know, building it purely with one of these







Yeah I'd say the top will be the least of my worries.
I looked at it again today, & it's actually closed up a small bit. I'll get a toothpick & jam some glue in there, then clamp it up!


She's going to be heavy
Not sure how much, but atm she weighs more than any Gibby Std or Cust. I've played ; without hardware!

[evolved_insanity]

Use more clamps for the body when gluing it face to face. When you think you've used enough, put a few more on there and make sure you get large enough clamps to get to the middle. Dont over tighten or you will squeeze all the glue out. It looks like you either didn't get that section clamped or your glue wasnt good. As for the scarf, before I glue mine, I use a hand plane to get them nice and flat and even. Then glue. Yours doesnt look too bad. The body on the other hand, I would re-saw and re-glue.

[bertzie]

For the scarf, get a really long piece of sandpaper, and a really flat surface, and sand it flat.

[njk]

Hey man you've made a great start a few problems but thats parr for the course. I think a scarf joint is best cut by hand but you should miss most of that once you carve the neck and with the finger board and truss rod in place there will be no problem with strength. As for the body thats a shame, not really sure what I would do, Hide glue is tricky to use but much easier to repair. I'd hang on till the body is all shaped up and then decide.
Can't wait for the next installment.

I would just like to add that this guy is still at school and has a few hours a week in the school Workshop, We only met for half hour when he picked up the sapele, but He has caught the building bug bad like the rest of us, I don't think he realizes this is only his first of many builds, he still thinks its a one off

Best of luck with the rest of the build Sleator, and you have my number, if I can help at all.

But you know all the best info is right here on these pages, and you can always give Gator a shout

[Sleator]

Update;


I've got the neck roughed, ready to carve. The headstock is shaped (had to do it by hand; no pattern bit!)
Pics soon


Have been working on the FB. Inlayed & ready to be fretted.






While sanding the inlays (pain in the "*&!) I decided to compare it to my LP....
Boy, was I in for a treat..




For those that didn't see it....












Ah well..
As someone once said;

“A man's errors are his portals of discovery.”

[Sleator]

More progress!


I was unsure how I was going to do the truss rod channel.
Someone suggested using a mortising machine. Worked great!



Fits pretty good!






Roughed the neck




Lookin' good (hiccup aside )

[Sleator]

This turned out to be a more hand-tooled build than I had hoped



It's not a finished project unless you spill some blood !



My rough "volute"...




Getting ready to carve!



Results so far..





Volute didn't turn out as great as I had hoped.





Unsure whether I'll keep it!

[FF_Pedals]

Looks good. What was the hiccup with the fretboard? Did you slot it yourself? What scale did you use?

[jon1]

Originally Posted by FF_Pedals

Looks good. What was the hiccup with the fretboard? Did you slot it yourself? What scale did you use?

Look at the inlays.

On a side note, the body looks great!

[ihavenofish]

Originally Posted by jon1

Look at the inlays.

On a side note, the body looks great!

ha, oops. thats ok, you can let people borrow it and watch them all get confused

kinda like when i lend people one of my bicycles.... with the brake levers reversed.

muhahaha.

[FF_Pedals]

Originally Posted by ihavenofish

ha, oops. thats ok, you can let people borrow it and watch them all get confused

kinda like when i lend people one of my bicycles.... with the brake levers reversed.

muhahaha.

Someone steals your bike and takes off down a steep hill, pulls on the "rear" brakes and goes flying over the handle bars?

[ihavenofish]

Originally Posted by FF_Pedals

Someone steals your bike and takes off down a steep hill, pulls on the "rear" brakes and goes flying over the handle bars?

forget hills, my friend did it in a parking lot, and the mechanic on the bike store floor.

[Nay]

Gutted about the fretboard though.

Attach it to a cheapy guitar, and try sell it to a music store. I bet it'll take ages for anyone to realise!

[Barnaby]

The number of times I've almost done this...

Don't worry about it. I just spent ages inlaying a shark at the 12th fret, but crossing the other two. Unfortunately, even after epoxy, there was some sort of void under the inlay (I'm guessing I got an air bubble or something, so, when I fretted the board (which was bound and looking great by this point), the thing just folded inwards and was ruined.

I bet even a couple of the pros on here have had it happen sometimes.

[Riku]

So how's the build coming along? I'm mighty interested to see how it turns out. To be honest, I didn't notice the inlays for ages. I have read this thread heaps to see what you meant about screwing up the inlays, I thought your fretboard was too short. Then when I was doing mine, I realised. But meh, it looks individual. Like mine, I put a slight angle on the moustache design on the top of the headstock. Looks like it was made by hand, which is what you want Well me anyway :P

Anyway, got any more pics?

[Sleator]

I haven't gave up on this, I have been very busy with exams & all that.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peak

[djrussell]

Looking forward to seeing more.

[Riku]

NICE!! Loving the bound fretboard there

[gator payne]

Oh my! got a bit aggresive with the bevel angle on the frets, 19th fret not seated.

[Riku]

Did you ever end up finishing this?