Vintage Les Paul Dimensions

[THEBIGOLDDIRTYBIRD]

Hi All,
First post... I'm interested in finding some accurate body dimensions of vintage les pauls. Specifically but not limited to juniors. The 1 3/4" mahogany slab body is a given as well as the 1/2" to 5/8" maple cap on "standard" models but what are vintage Pauls measuring in at in length, width, waist, upper bout etc. I know that there is no definitive answer to this question but i was hoping that someone had some actual vintage measurements to share. The plan I own (can I indicate where it's from?) varies from my '91 Classic pretty heavily and I'm curious what is closer to vintage. Thanks in advance for any replies. This a jem of a site to find!!!

Sincerely, Matt

p.s - yes, i'm building a les paul junior replica.

[shotgunlew]

Hey bud welcome to the site, It sure is a jem to find. I dont have any measurements but some members on here might.


chris

Originally Posted by THEBIGOLDDIRTYBIRD

Hi All,
First post... I'm interested in finding some accurate body dimensions of vintage les pauls. Specifically but not limited to juniors. The 1 3/4" mahogany slab body is a given as well as the 1/2" to 5/8" maple cap on "standard" models but what are vintage Pauls measuring in at in length, width, waist, upper bout etc. I know that there is no definitive answer to this question but i was hoping that someone had some actual vintage measurements to share. The plan I own (can I indicate where it's from?) varies from my '91 Classic pretty heavily and I'm curious what is closer to vintage. Thanks in advance for any replies. This a jem of a site to find!!!

Sincerely, Matt

p.s - yes, i'm building a les paul junior replica.

[dwagar]

I think Stewmac sells a set of plans too, don't they?

[paulgarstki]

Hi There,

First post for me as well. If you haven't found these already, there is a good cad drawing of a double cutout LPJR in pdf form. I also don't know if I can post where it is found, so: if you enter "Les Paul Junior Plans" (without quotes) in Google, you'll find it listed about 2nd in line,and called "Guitar Plans"

As long as I've got your ear: Can you describe how the P-90 is routed on the LPJR? I've got a cheap copy and it mounts the P-90 in a strange (and totally wrong) manner -- I'm curious how it is supposed to be mounted. Shallow rectangular route?

--Paul

[THEBIGOLDDIRTYBIRD]

Yes Don, I have the Stew Mac plan but something looks a little off to me about it. My '91 Classic also looks off from vintage, good but different. I also have an old diagram from John Catto and it features different measurements as well...

91' Lp- L=17 5/16", lower bout= 12 5/16", waist= 7 3/16" upper bout= 9 3/16"

Stew mc- L= 17 1/4", lower bout= 13 3/16", waist= 7 1/4" upper bout= 9 5/16"

Catto* - L= 17 1/8", lower bout= 13 1/16", waist= 7 1/4" upper bout= 9 5/16"

* the Catto plan also features an asymmetrical waist and upper bout which is confusing but accurate perhaps???

I know that this all qualifies as nerd-minutiae but nonetheless i find it fascinating. Thanks again for any replies!!! -Matt

[THEBIGOLDDIRTYBIRD]

Thanks Paul, the Pdf looks oddball when i open it i'm guessing due to it being a Cad file(?). The p-90 is indeed a shallow rectangular route with a deeper T shaped inset to accommodate the pole-pieces and wiring of the pickup. If you poke around the web looking at juniors you're bound to find a route pic. Ebay, Gbase and Google image search are great ways to find nice pics of vintage juniors. I have about 500+ pics of just Juniors saved in a file on my desktop. Flying V's -350+, vintage drums -240+, Misc guitars- 600+, Martins- only 138 (mostly 0, 00 size). I am a Nerd. -Matt

[paulgarstki]

The PDF I'm referring to is by K. Thomas / D. Hughes, made Aug. 07, and is of a "1959 Les Paul Jr. Double Cut".

Don't try to expand the pic on that web page. Instead, download the LPJR.ZIP from lower down the page, - unzip and there's the PDF. If that doesn't work, just send me your email address, I'll attach the PDF to you (I think you can send me a msg by clicking on my username)

It's a nice drawing some fellow did from his own LPJR. Not very complete from a luthier's veiwpoint, but you'll probably want it for your collection. Here're some dim's:

13" lower bout
14" from bottom of body to where cut meets neck

Thanks for the info about the rout. I'm making a LPJR body from mahogany with hardware & neck from a chinese knock-off. (Actually, I'm making a John Lennon-type LPJR). It seems like the dimensions are almost exactly the same as my Sonex-180 (1980 Gibson synthetic ("resonwood") body version of a flattop LP. 2 humbuckers and a bevel on one side of the body front).

I have indeed looked around for pix of the rout hole -- found plenty of LPJR pix but so far not with the P-90 off.

--Paul

[shotgunlew]

Wow thats in depth