First Build - Les Paul Junior DC

[Riku]

Originally Posted by emoney

Riku you are FAR from an idiot just because you had one "oops" on a guitar build. If that
was the case, then I can't even say what I am, lol. You've done awesome work to this
point and will end up with an awesome guitar that you made. Not many people can say
that....ever.

Smart thinking having the Luthier fix it, even though I'm sure it would've been fine. Now,
when it comes back, let's see those finishing steps, ok?

Thanks mate, your great. Thankyou so much for the encouragement, it means a lot to me. Really, thanks heaps. I've seen some of your work, fantastic to say the least. Everyone here is an inspiration. Now I'm getting all sentimental, come on Riku pull yourself together

You want finishing steps...you got it!

[caulfim]

Originally Posted by emoney

Riku you are FAR from an idiot just because you had one "oops" on a guitar build. If that
was the case, then I can't even say what I am, lol. You've done awesome work to this
point and will end up with an awesome guitar that you made. Not many people can say
that....ever.

Smart thinking having the Luthier fix it, even though I'm sure it would've been fine. Now,
when it comes back, let's see those finishing steps, ok?

^This, I've made many more mistakes with a kit, the fact you've decided to do it from scratch puts you far ahead. It's great work, carry on like this and you'll be fine, and it's a lot more interesting than most people's year 12 projects. Life's a learning experience, don't make the same mistake again and you'll be fine, that and never ever trust year 7s, they are demon spawn...

[Riku]

All righty, the templates are currently on their way. I also printed some P-90 routes, and am soon to put them both onto 1/4" boards to ease the routing process. I think it should be time now to start sanding the body blank and get it cleaned up a bit. There's a picture of it here somewhere. Just a question, how thick is a '59 DC Junior body? I read somewhere it was 1.75". Is that correct?

About the finish, I have been testing it out on some offcuts of Maple, and so far it's working very well. I'm attempting to get the consistency I would prefer, but definitely getting there.

Thanks for the assistance again

Oh, forgot to mention, when this one is all over and done, I'm planning this for my next build:


Fender Precision Bass, same colour as displayed in the pic. Not sure what timber yet, what would be cheap? Definately an Allparts pre-built neck from ALS here in Aus, and a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound SPB-3 Bass Pickup in the bridge position. But all focus on the LPJ at the moment.

[Riku]

A quick update, the neck came back from the luthier yesterday. It looks and feels fine, although the top of the neck is slightly heavier than I remember. Not noticably heavy, but just as if more material was added, which I assume was the case. I have been busy at work finishing the contour.
Progress pics!!



Looking better now! I still need to even it in some areas, shape the heel and add in the neck angle.




I basically used a small electric sander for the bulk, and I am now in the process of using a rasp, spokeshave and sandpaper to finish it off


My favourite picture so far


A little mark near the top...don't worry it will be fixed.


Still need to remove the marking lines, but that's the easy bit!


Bit of slight damage in some areas but nothing a little sandpaper and elbow grease can take care of. She's looking alright if you ask me! Those last ones are taken on one of my friend's project. Any thoughts?

More pics soon

[Riku]

Because I edited pics, bump :P

[Barnaby]

Woah...for some reason, I missed all the drama with the neck. I'm glad it worked out in the end, but it must have been a painful time. As emoney said, don't worry about this stuff - we all have accidents all the time during building. Some are minor, and some lead to a small pile of telecaster necks by the side of my workbench that can only be used as a cautionary example for other luthiers...

Looking good now!

[emoney]

Looking good Riku! Shaping a neck is a pretty satisfying step. Still shocks me every time I
end up with a guitar neck when I started with just a regular old board. Keep those
updates coming.

[your idol]

Wow im lovinthis... Great work

[Sleator]

We seem to be following a similar path atm

It really is quite daunting taking on a scratch guitar, with no experience. Especially when it's under the strict time-frame of school projects!

Hiccups happen; I fudged the inlays on mine, but rather than beat myself up about it, I look at the rest of it, & how a few months ago I never thought I could do it.

I like to think it adds character.

I haven't made any mistakes; I have made a few happy little accidents

[Riku]

Thanks for the support. Quick question: what do I put on the finish for the fretboard and the headplates? I was thinking oil with one or two clear coats of lacquer. Any suggestions?

[RICH/CANADA]

Originally Posted by emoney

I think the issue with your "angle" is all in the joint that you've created. By cutting it
like you did, you have a "butt joint", as opposed to a scarf joint. The concern is that the
strings, when properly tensioned, will basically just pull your headstock off because of the
lack of strength in that particular joint. However, I'm sure there are also those that believe
a butt joint is strong. I'm definitely not the guy to be giving you direction, here, lol, but
hopefully someone will come on with an opinion coming from a more experienced realm.

And example would be to have a buddy grab your hand in a handshake fashion. Then, have

another person sit on that handshake. You'll noticed that by interlocking your hands, there's
a good solid "bond" and the two of you should be able to hold another person up. Now, instead
of "shaking the other person's hand", put your fists against each other, like a fist bump. Then
try to have someone sit there. You'll find that for the most part, you two won't be able to keep
your fists together strong enough to hold the other person. The handshake is a scarf joint,
the fist bump is a butt joint. That may be a horrible analogy, but it's the first thing that came to mind.

Oh, and to answer your question; the headstock angle was in deed designed for string tension, like
you mentioned. However, it's not the angle that is the concern, it's the way you've created that
angle now.

That was great analogy.
I don't think that joint will hold. Fix it now or fix it later.

Rich

[RICH/CANADA]

Originally Posted by Riku

Thanks for the support. Quick question: what do I put on the finish for the fretboard and the headplates? I was thinking oil with one or two clear coats of lacquer. Any suggestions?

Don't put lacquer on your fret board. Oil the fret board and lacquer the headstock when you lacquer the guitar.

Rich

[emoney]

Definitely use fruit oil on the fretboard. Most people use Lemon Oil and the headstock can
just get shot with clear when you're shooting the rest of the guitar.

[Riku]

Sorry for the lack of updates an pictures, but I ran into a problem. I bought some machine heads for the guitar, and I was going to drill the holes in the headtsock with a template. I asked him if they'd fit a 20mm thick headstock, and he said "yes they'll fit for 20mm". So I thought I'd struck gold and purchased them. So as I lined it up against the side, it didn't come all the way out to the top. I was a bit confused, so I measured my headstock again. 20mm. So I measured how much room I had oin the machine heads. 20mm, but with the lip of the attachment, 19mm! That's not including the little circular things around them. So my only option is to remove the backplate on the headstock (leaving the front veneer on), then sand down the neck contour to be even with it (this doesn't worry me as I need to touch it up a bit anyway) and then if need be sand the headstock down further. It's all happening here, and I'll start work on Monday. It's currently the weekend here

Quick question: the backplate is glued on. How would I go about removing it?

[Mr Teeny]

Most glues will come off with heat, what glue did you use?

I guess it's pretty similar to removing a fretboard with heat and spatulas , have a look at this thread but they'll be plenty of others in this forum for whatever glue you used.

removing fretboard.

[Riku]

Quick update: removed the backplate:


Bit of residue but that can be sanded. Gotta redo the contour now, but it shouldn't be too bad. Thanks for the assistance Mr. Teeny, I just ironed it and used spatulas. Thanks again

Hope to have this done by the end of the week

[Riku]

Alrighty some more progress. Not much done, just neatened up the back of the headstock and drilled the machine head holes. Up to final sanding now. Just have to wait until my fret marker inlays arrive and we'll rock and roll. In the meantime here is some pics:

Re-sanding the contour and the V transition


Drilling one of the holes for the machine heads. I bore down with a drill the size of the actual shaft of the tuner...


...Then bore down again to make the room for the bushings with a slightly larger bit. Knew where to stop by tape, simple


Front view with 2 holes drawn. That's the John Catto template, not sure what revision. Oh well


Back of the headstock with two holes drilled. It cleaned up nicely after removing the residue of the glue from the removal of the backplate


And finally, the headstock at the front after all holes drilled. Still working on the truss rod access


That's it so far. Like I said, still waiting on fret marker inlays, and of course my body templates. But until the former arrives, I'll sand to, say, 2000 grit? Sounds good to me anyway. After the inlays are in, it'll be straight onto grain filler, then stain, then lacquer! Thinking of spray painting my initials on the top of the headstock where 'Gibson' would usually be. In silver. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Thanks for looking

[emoney]

Ha, a lot of us leave the "trussrod access cavity cleanup" until "later"....or at least I do, lol.

Good save on the headstock. Removing that veneer was great experience for future repairs
should the need ever arise. Keep those progress pics coming!

[Riku]

Thanks for the support Just waiting on the inlays now, which is a pain in the a$@. Quick question about wiring: grounding. What does that mean? I know you have to 'ground' the bridge, but what does it do? Are there any other things that need grounding? Thanks for any help.

Also, I was thinking to make my body lighter (that mahogany is light to carry, but its not that light), I was going to chamber the top where the pickguard will cover it so that it won't be visible yet still do the same thing as a chambered Les Paul in a way. Is this a good idea?

Thanks y'all

[Riku]

Alrighty gents! Time for some more progress. Sorry I haven't posted anything new, I'm a lead in the school production of Oklahoma so it's very full-on. I'll get back to work on Monday. But you probably don't care anyway

Anyway, some parts arrived in the mail. Firstly my inlays:


8mm dots, standard on the Junior. I didn't realise how thin they were. Boy am I going to have fun putting those in...



Capacitor for the circuit. I have no idea what its for, I was just told I needed it. SO I bought one.



And finally, truss rod cover! I was very happy with everything. In fact, I was ecstatic. That was until I took my BRAND NEW truss rod cover out of its bag...



With a little light, there were so many scratches, dents and cuts in it! The light obscures some, but it was covered in these little nicks, and that huge scratch down the left side. Not too pleased. But then it dawned on me. It is advantageous to my concept!

My concept, you ask?

Instead of creating a guitar that looks absolutely stunningly brand new, I wanted to make this guitar look like it has been sitting around for 20odd years. How to do that? Instead of going with that blaring red finish of the cherry, I intend to make a faded version showing more brown with red tinges, similar to a natural mahogany colour. The scratched truss rod cover just makes it look more convincing. It also works with my aged machine heads:


Reckon that will work? Of course I will have to add scratches to the body, or maybe I could just make it a faded, old looking guitar which was made to look that way yet still be brand new. Is that coming out alright? What do you think? But above all I will not put a full red cherry stain on it. I want it faded with brown-red colours, with traditional Junior satin finish without grain filler to pronounce the timber. Any thoughts?

[Jay Jillard]

you could alwasy lightly wet sand the cover then buff it out. all those scratches should come off easily.

[Riku]

Has anyone ever been too eager in a project? Cause I think it happened to me. No I didn't mangle myself with a chisel, that's another story But in all seriousness now, has anyone ever been a bit cocky and completely screwed up their project? No I haven't completely screwed my project either, I just want to hear some stories. Context later.

Right now, progress pics! My inlays as you know arrived, shining mother of pearl. My timber teacher loaned me an expensive drill bit that drilled holes for inlays like I've seen on the forums. Long story short, it worked perfectly And after a harrowing three hours of laboriously lining up the drill, drilling to the right depth, and glueing them in, I ended up with this. Sorry for the terrible picture quality


Not too bad for someone who has NEVER done a dovetail joint never mind an inlay in their life. This is the first time I've ever inlayed a plank of wood, and not meaning to blow my own horn, they're pretty good for a first time. I'll admit in one or two areas they're not 100% straight, but it makes it look homebuilt and gives it character. And its not too noticeable. At least they dont affect sound if they're misplaced...or do they? And do you see what I mean by too eager? I got too excited on the last one and missed the mark by about half a millimetre...now that one is noticeable...I can't believe I did that...I am very disappointed. Nevertheless, it is fixable.

A beauty shot of the first couple of frets. These ones are beautiful. Novice fretboard porn if you will


The next few frets:


In this picture you can really see the damage. Its only just off. The one above the botched one looks like I've left sawdust in the cornner, which has happened seeing as I've been sanding with 400 grit to within an inch of my life. The camera angle doesn't show it but they're all in line except this one...>_<


I'm going to re-drill the hole accurately this time, put in the inlay and fill the damage with a little epoxy mixed with the rosewood sawdust I have been collecting for such an occasion. Is this a good idea or am I better going a different approach?

Another long shot.


I think it came out rather nice. After sanding the board to 400, she already glows in the light. I'm so proud of this thing its the greatest achievement in the area of construction. I'm not this type of person, I'm more of a theatrical person, and I want to be an actor once I've left school, but I've always loved music and I wanted a personal guitar. Sorry for spilling my life story, but this is the reason behind the build

Also, I had one of my trademark changes of mind about the finish. My teacher suggested something more complex than a straight stain, so I've decided on a burst. After a bit of snooping (mainly on Gibson.com), I came across this:


It was perfect! Those colours looked good too. But I plan to put a tortoise pickguard (the speckly dark red colour). Would that clash too much with the brown in the guitar? I love the look of a faded finish that shows off grain, and this does the ticket. I'll do it like this, and use the leftover Rosewood from removing the veneer as material for the control cavity cover. I'm pretty chuffed for what the future holds

Thoughts?

Thanks for looking

[emoney]

I think you've got the right idea, but you might be doing your steps, at the least, differently
than I would. I'd make my mix of Sawdust & Epoxy and fill the "mistake" first, THEN, after
it glued, I'd come back and redrill my hole. The "repair" will show up less that way.

Otherwise, good work and yes, I too have gotten bitten by the "cocky" bug and it's the
absolute easiest route to screwing something up. It usually rears it's head in the form
of not taking your time because you "think you know what you're doing". I'd imagine
a LOT of us have done this at one point. Heck, I'm still doing it.

[Riku]

Well I took some time off the neck to start the body today. It is a lovely figured mahogany (Honduran? The guy didn't know what type, any timber experts who could tell me what kind it is?) I thicknessed it to 1.75", which is 44.45mm. I accidentally took it down to 44mm, but I don't mind. It's not historically accurate as we already know. Here is a good shot of the lovely figure in the timber:


As you can see, I've already traced my template onto it. I also added the platform for the bolt-on neck to attach to. More pics:




Its hard to see where I drew on it, but mark my words, it's there! A couple of shots with the near-completed neck:




I also mixed up some epoxy with Rosewood sawdust and filled the hole. It worked perfectly. I didn't take a pic, but on Monday when it's dried I'll get one. It really worked a treat, and is the right colour! Also, due to some recent rising of moisture levels, the bottom right hand corner of my fretboard had risen off the neck ever so slightly. SO I tacked some more glue in there and clamped it down. Damn humidity!



You can see the epoxy in the picture above. Just have to sand it down when it's dried and re-do the the hole. I didn't get time to cut the body, as I spent most of my time working out how epoxy worked. Ah well. I'm still debating as to whether stain the enck with an ebony stain to match the back of the body or to leave it natural. Anyhoo, I also have the option of inlaying my initials in mother of pearl on the top of the headstock. Australian Luthier Supplies in Queensland said they could cut it out by hand and inlay it themselves if I send them my neck for AUS$160 including postage back. Is it worth it?

Thanks for looking.

[Barnaby]

Looks cool - I think you'd be fine with a couple of oil coats and maybe a hard wax to finish, then this will be unnoticeable. Not invisible, which is impossible, but just something that nobody would ever see unless they specifically knew it was there.

As for the initials, I suggest getting precut letters from Andy DePaule or an eBay seller and inlaying them yourself. Even if you don't do a perfect job, it will feel more like 'your' work and it's a great skill to start developing now.

[Riku]

Oops, forgot to thank emoney for your assistance on how to fix the hole. I went with your suggestion, much easier than doing it with a new inlay in there In all seriousness thanks for the assistance. I have to say, without you and Barnaby, and many other countless members on MLP for their suggestions I don't think this guitar build would be up to the point it's at. I'd like to say a massive thankyou to everyone, you've been great support, and I can't wait to finish it

Also, a quick question: I noticed my '59 template had the bridge pin holes on a slant. Further research indicated that the '59 DCJR did in fact have a slanted bridge. Is this necessary, as I have also looked at the mordern re-issue on Gibson.com and it has a straight tailpiece. I'm a bit undecided whether to go straight or angled, and I won't be putting just a regular Jr. tailpiece, but rather one with better inotation like this:


Will a slanted or not slanted bridge affect the playing?

Thanks for all your assistance guys

[djrussell]

That was a big issue I had with my first Junior build... I wanted it to have a slight 3-4mm slant, but with a compensated bridge (I just loved the look)... the originals had uncompensated bridges, so they required that precision slant to get the intonation right... the problem I had was you cant really have a slant if you want a modern compensated wrap around bridge (and so I had major problems with intonation - eventually having to get a wraparound with saddles to mask my 'mistake'). This was the one i originally had on mine:



So you can see its set... But, in saying that, your tailpiece there has saddles - so its completely adjustable... so I would suggest putting it straight on your build and as close as possible to manufacturer recommendations.


EDIT: BTW if you want a vintage vibe and look, but with adjustable saddles I've heard incredible things about Pigtail wraparounds... pricey but might be worth looking into.

[Riku]

Thanks for clearing that up djrussell I'll definitely be going straight across with that information in hand. But I had a good day today in terms of guitar and other things. But you should only concern yourselves with the guitar Anyway, as promised, here is a picture of the epoxy'd dots, dried and sanded down:


It came out quite well I think. Most of the stuff will be removed when I redrill the hole for the inlay, so you'll barely see it. I'll follow your advice Barnaby and hit it up with some oil and a hard wax when she's done. It won't be invisible, but it'll be pretty darn unnoticeable! It's not very noticeable as it is Next thing you ought to see, cutting out my body blank:


That platform that I left on is obviously for the bolt-on neck. And after a lip-chewing ten minutes...


Done! Not finished, but it's rough cut. I picked this part of the timber because of the amazing figure. What do you think? I am still confused as to what kind of mahogany it is, can someone help me out? Some more pictures of the roughed-out body, some with the neck leaning on to give you a general idea:






And my favourite picture of the build so far:


You can see all the offcuts from the blank in the background. What do you think so far? Next update, I will have the body routed to perfection and the edges rounded. But I have to re-drill the hole for the inlay as well. And inlay something into the headstock. I came across a second option: brass. A friend of mine suggested getting my initials done in brass, then glued onto the headstock before lacquer. It's cheaper and it will be slightly raised off the timber to give a really nice 3D look to it. Currently favouring this option. Will this be detrimental to the sound or is it ok to do?

Thanks for looking

[djrussell]

Looking great man Junior's are just the coolest guitars on the planet IMO. I'm gonna get a DC Junior TV Yellow copy done by years end too so i'm very interested to see how your's turns out:

[emoney]

I don't think brass would affect the sound at all, however, any consideration to routing
out a cavity for it and having it sit flush with the rest of the headstock?

Body is looking great, btw. Good work!