Fletch's Six Les Paul Buildup

[Fletch]

I hope nobody minds if I do my introduction here. I have lurked around here for a little while and at the other place too. I decided to register here, but the attitude is SUBSTANTIALLY better over here and everybody seems kool, especially in the luthier's corner.

I've been a player for about 25 years now and I've settled on a 71 deluxe gold-top bought from Guitar Center sometime in the 90's for $600 as the "go-to". Second to that is the 74(?) LPC that I have had since a teenager. I've got about a dozen or so other guitars that I've picked up over the years, probably like a lot of other guys on here.

About a year or so ago I picked up a copy of Beauty of the Burst. I had built a guitar as a teenager (with a butter knife!) and always wanted to do one again, naturally a les paul. Inspired by BOTB, I started on a mission to build an absolutely perfect 59 les paul standard.

After tons of planning and research, and purchasing wood and parts, I started cutting wood about 6 weeks ago with a router given to me from my mother-in-law and a bunch of Frued router bits from Sears that were on clearance. I will try to post some photos, right now I'm at about 75% complete but I think I'm doing okay so far.

Right now I'm at the top carve, and stopping the project so I can build a duplicator because once I get that right I aint doing that again! Also, it's cold now in NJ and I'm working in a small shed with a space heater. So since I'm busted waiting for linear bearings and warm weather I thought I would register and say hello.


Fletch

[Rhubarb Red]

Fletch - welcome to the forum.

If that's the start of your project, I'm impressed! Can't wait to track the guitar's progress.

I'm starting a build myself in the next few weeks and the questions I've posted - sometimes dumb, obvious ones - have always attracted courteous, helpful replies, which I think is a good reflection on the people who contribute to this site, especially here in Luthiers' Corner.

Good luck with the build!

[sliding tom]

Welcome - looking forward to your reports!

[voices]

welcome Fletch! looking forward to watching your build.

[69GTLP]

WOW
Welcome

[rockappalla]

Welcome Fletch! you'll find tons of useful info for your build here!

[decoy205]

WELCOME!
So far so good and remember we need lots and lots of PICS!!

[Vintage_Burster]

Awesome! Are you using Brazilian Rosewood for the board then?

[Lance_S]

Fletch,

Welcome and good form with posting picks on your first post. Your avoidance of massive public humiliation was true genius!!!

You will find a good group of fun and excited enthusiasts here.

Best regards.

[Fletch]

neck joint, binding channel and cavities so far.

[Fletch]

wire route in body and jack hole...

[Fletch]

Here is where I'm at now, I did the carve by laying it out and doing the stair-steps, then with a pneumatic die grinder with 2" spiral lock sanding discs I smoothed it all out. I'm using pictures of Gold-tops for reference as they seem to reflect the light and show the shape much better in photos. It still has quite a ways to go.

Right now I could really use goocart's 3d top carve blank...

[Lance_S]

The quilting looks HOT!!! Fantastic job.

[Skynyrdpicker]

Welcome, and keep us posted on your build! I love watching these progress, and finally turn into amazing guitars!

[Fletch]

Yeah, the top is pretty nice. Actually that is about $10 worth of wood. I bought a billet and a nice flamey pair of boards on ebay and those boards were a $9.95 buy-it-now that ended right after I won the boards I bought. At the last minute I decided to use them instead of the nice stuff since it was my first one if I wound up screwing up and throwing it away it wouldn't be a big deal.

There actually wasn't much flame on the boards but I was able to cut them to get what you see. There is a funny kink on the one side and it's a little bald in that spot but it's very authentic that way. I don't really care for perfectly book-matched tops with perfectly strait flame anyway, I don't want this mistaken for a new Gibson Historic or something.

Right now it's 12°C in NJ, probably colder in my workshop!!!

[The Thruth]

nice build

[pedro]

Welcome!
Great looking build you have going on there. Look forward to seeing more of it.

[jco.1]

Nice work; I love these threads.

[IceGator8]

I like the top.

[markophonic]

I like the top.

I prefer them mismatched.

Good Job!

[Fletch]

Heel and neck joint shots.

[Fletch]

Pot and switch cavity shots. I worked very hard to get these correct, I think I did alright, even got the "bite" down pretty good... I have one more modification to the template for the pot cavity and it should be good to go for the next build.

What do you think?

fletch

[Ole'Lefty]

Talent!!! I'm envious.ole'lefty

[Mongrel]

Man, beautiful sork, I don't care how many build threads I see I am always amazed at the skill here, great job and welcome!

[t_hamill]

Stunning, and a great shot of the top carve too!

[guitarbob123]

are you going to use a nylon 6/6 nut or a bone one (nylon would be correct)
also what pick-ups are you putting in.? it would be very interesting if you put pafs in your best one.

are the tailpiece posts and bridge posts in the right place. are they the right depth.
is the top carve right

it takes a hell of a lot of measurements to make a perfect one. you'll also need to get the finish mixture like the old one for it too age like the 59s.

you're doing amazing though and i wish i could do aswell as you are.
hoopefully one day i'll have the skills to do this.

[Fletch]

Originally Posted by Nelson674

im also curious of this as well, its going to be the next step i take on my build. i saw somewhere in the forum that someone used a 1/2inch dome bit to route it out and then clean up the the part where the washer sits. is this how you did yours as well? is 1/2 inch the right size? it looks more like 3/4...

Frank and Nelson,

I appreciate the complements, thanks.

The truss rod nut route was started with a 1/2" round bit when I did the truss rod channel, on the router table. I traced where I wanted the route to be, and then set up a simple stop with a clamp and routed up to the line. Then I went to work with a set of these from AC Moore:

A.C. Moore - Carving Knife Set-10 Pieces

The carving knife set is cheap and comes with a variety of shapes. I used these to flatten the back and to continuously scrape the mahogany to the line. Some of the knives in the set are perfect for scraping under and behind the truss rod knub that sticks out.

At this point, I traced the truss rod shape onto the holly veneer, but only drilled a few holes slightly inside of the shape. Then I glued the holly onto the headstock. After it set I went back to work with the carving knives, carefully breaking through. Eventually I flattened the back of the glued mahogany and holly very nicely and fit the truss rod nut up.

The thing that really smoothed it all out and made it nice like you see is when I discovered that the smallest rubber sanding wheel for my Dremel was just the right size to fit into the route. I clamped the neck to the bench, put a fine sanding roll on the Dremel and very carefully worked it into the route strait in line with the truss rod. (Be careful!) If you slide the sanding roll a little off of the rubber (so the rod will be inside a little when you sand), you can go just a little deeper.

After I had most of it nice and smooth with the sanding roll and Dremel as far as I could go (you get stopped by the rod), I went back and did final clean up and contouring with the cheap carving knives. The whole time, I had a wrench in hand and made sure it was deep enough for the socket to go on the nut, and also was careful that the nut didn't stick up above the truss rod cover.

Hope I explained it will, basically it was just a lot of patience!

fletch

[pinefd]

Thanks for the detailed explanation, fletch! And yes, you explained it quite well.

I'll have to try that route (pun intended) next time myself!


Frank

[Nelson674]

great explanation, thanks for taking the time to write that out Fletch.

patience you say? ...test me


this is really turning out great, keep it up!

[Fletch]

Originally Posted by guitarbob123

are you going to use a nylon 6/6 nut or a bone one (nylon would be correct)
also what pick-ups are you putting in.? it would be very interesting if you put pafs in your best one.

are the tailpiece posts and bridge posts in the right place. are they the right depth.
is the top carve right

it takes a hell of a lot of measurements to make a perfect one. you'll also need to get the finish mixture like the old one for it too age like the 59s.

you're doing amazing though and i wish i could do aswell as you are.
hoopefully one day i'll have the skills to do this.

Guitarbob,

Yes, I have Nylon 6/6 for the nut. For pickups, I have two options in hand. First is a pair of 57 Classic +'s, and a set of new Dimarzios (air classic and classic PAF) that I got from GuitarHeaven's liquidation sale. But I also really would like to try a set of Sheds or OTPGs. Lately I have been thinking about building my own PAFs though... that would be an interesting project. I have wood for several guitars so I can try all combinations before I find some new hobby and move on (which is inevitable and my wife can't wait!)

The tailpiece and knobs are all in the correct locations and comply with the Catto plan. The carve looks good to me so far but still has some tuning to go. I stopped on the top to build a top carver so until I can make a blank from this top it won't go any further, that should be by Friday if all goes well.

The tailpiece and studs are Pigtail and are very nice. I have some okay ABR bridges with the correct script and everything but I don't think they are real... might go with the Pigtail ABR as well. I am having a hard time finding 6-32 thumbwheels so if someone has a set or two...

Thanks for the complements, it really keeps me motivated.

fletch