59 burst replica build

[EpiLesPaul59]

So whats the deal with holly headstock veneers? Was this something used on vintage bursts???

 

[tnt423]

So whats the deal with holly headstock veneers? Was this something used on vintage bursts???

Yup, holly is very white and even grained so it takes the black dye well and is easy to inlay. There may be other reasons they used it, but this is what I was told by some old timer Kalamazoo workers I spoke to.

 

[ARandall]

It also could be that it was easy to get in/cut to veneer type dimensions. It could also be that it was closed grain too, so it didn't need grainfill.

 

[nuance97]

You could easily substitute maple or even poplar for the holly and no one would know the difference.

 

[fatdaddypreacher]

i paid 10 dollars for a small crock pot. on high it hits apx 145 degrees. i put a small amount of water in bottom and put a baby food jar in it with the amount of glue i need............which now is virtually none, because i use titebond for just about everything.

 

[EpiLesPaul59]

So today i routed the body out. Had a little tearout but i think its gonna be fine. Just bookmatched the maple and glued them together
together. Tomorro after work im going to rought the body cavities out and clean all the edges
edges then maple glued to body.

 

[EpiLesPaul59]

So im having glueing the top together so i gave up and spent 200 on a precarved eastern maple top. Its alot of money but it will speed things way up and theres litterally no way i could mess up carving the top. Ive installed stewmac binding on my 2 of my epiphone lp's, so i think the binding will be easy. Now all my fpcus is going into the fretboard and neck till the maple arrives. If anybodys intrested in my bookmatched maple blanks ill let them go for 40 bucks. Just pay for shipping

 

[ARandall]

What issue were you having with the top??

Thats actually one of the easier glue joints as the surface is so small that, even with hide glue, you can get it covered and clamped quickly.

 

[EpiLesPaul59]

I dont have long enough clamps to get all the way across. I tried rigging something together to glue it but it turned out way to ghetto. Its okay the tops not too bad to have in the shop for a future build. Im acually alot happier becuase the top i got is carved out and its glued with hide glue. Expensive but Its gonna save me alot of time carvin that thing out and like i said i cant really mess anything up now. Noe for the fretboard i was going to cut the frets and then next week i was thinking of buying a dremel to to route out the inlays. Anybody think i could just do the inlays without it though. I was thinking of just using a drill to make a bunch of holes and clean them up with razorblade hammer and chissel.
Heres the new eastern maple top

 

[ARandall]

It will be interesting to see how well a pre-carved top glues. One of the things in favour of the 5/8" blanks is that the wood itself has structure due to its thickness....you clamp in a few spots and its stiffness holds the bits down inbetween. Not only will you probably have to use more clamps (as the thinner edge bits can flex a lot more) but your clamping surface is now curved.

Also, this is also your finished top - you can't afford any deep clamping marks.

Good luck with it - hopefully the template you routed your body with also matches the top.

 

[nuance97]

The following is how I went about gluing a precarved top. You may find it helpful.

Let's glue on a top.

Here you can see that we are now in the kitchen.

Everything is all laid out so that it is all within arms reach. Working with HHG was a little nerve wracking at first, but I got more comfortable with it after the third time.

The iron and hair drier were to warm up the wood so there was a little more open time.

I mixed equal parts dry glue granules with cool tap water and let it soak up all the water. After a while I began to slowly bring it up to 145-150*.

It takes a long time for the granules to completely liquify, and once they did I felt that the glue was slightly thick so I spooned in a little more water from the pot. Not too much though.

I had my wife help when it came time to warm wood, spread, and clamp. We did a couple of dry runs to make sure we were confident it our technique....Then we went for it!

These cam clamps are the best! They are so fast, and give a good bit of clamping pressure. We had it all spread (top and body) and clamped in under 1.5 minutes. My adrenalin was pumping. I didn't want to [email protected]#k this up!

And BTW the dowels IMO are undoubtedly the way to go! You just have to slide the top over them it takes ZERO time unlike using screws and a drill. That is a time killer.

The results

After trimming away the excess wood...

It looks good to me.

 

[Chef Greg]

very well done!

 

[ARandall]

Damn thats a lot of clamps!!!!

 

[EpiLesPaul59]

So I just hand slotted the brazilian rosewood fretboard. I used the vintage scale on the bartlett plans. I double checked the math and everything matches the plans. Looks good on the neck too. Now ive got to wait till friday to buy a dremel to get those straight cuts for the inlays. Unless someone has a cheaper idea?

Heres the jig i whipped together in a jiffy. I happened to have a epiphone les paul standard fretboard that i ripped off a broken neck lp. Im wondering why is there such a drastic difference between the vintage scale I used from the bartlett plans?

 

[ARandall]

It all depends on how the intervals are calculated. It comes to close in the same, there's just a different emphasis on the frets in the first octave vs 2nd octave, or thats how I understand it.

 

[EpiLesPaul59]

Got the top in and the holly vineer in. Too bad i gotta work tonight or else id route the body channel and glue it on.

 

[tnt423]

Beautiful top!

 

[Sunburstman]

looking good!!!!

 

[robertoa1a]

That maple is really going to pop when it has finish on it.

Cant wait to see it.

 

[Fred]

If you haven't bought the dremel yet, let me suggest getting a Black and Decker RTX. They are less than thirty dollars at amazon with free shipping and they have much better bearings than the dremel and they are compatible with all the dremel accessories. Do you have a router attachment for a dremel?