Muttley's Custom LP Guitar Build

muttley600 said:
A tele body is one of the easiest to do as it's flat and you can use a standard router base. I know what you mean about screwing up thing. Even now I have a moment of apprehension before making any critical cut. The old adage measure twice cut once still applies only with a router I'd say measure twice cut twice. In other words spent a good deal of time setting up and testing the cut on scrap. Get an old tele body and try it on that. Another thing I'd do is make up a bigger base plate for the router as it helps avoid tipping and gives it a more stable feel. If you are used to routing it isn't that hard a job.
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Good advice. Thanks
 
muttley600 said:
Thats a good question and the best thing about building is you can get exactly what you want rather than off the shelf.

I played a Les Paul std.. for quite a while in the 70's and the things I didn't like were, fat frets, fret nibs, 44mm nut width, stop tail piece, (although there is nothing wrong with them). I don't like the soft mahogany they use these days and I like a rosewood fingerboard. I don't mind a heavy guitar and the chambred stuff doesn't suit me as it tends to empty out the punch that les pauls have IMHO. I don't like the thick toffee apple polyester finish they have started using either.

This one will have 2mm standard frets with a standard fret over binding. A 14 inch radius rather than the usual 12 inch. It will also have a trapeze tail piece.

I will wind and build my own p90's for it based on the recent exchanges I've had with JCH. They will have forbon bobbins unlike most gibsons now which have switched to cheaper stuff. I have a real thing about p90's at present and was going to mod a guitar I built years ago to get a p90 in the stable but changed my mind and set about building this. My next build for myself will be an ES150 style with a p90... Not sure when I'll have the time for that as I already have a dozen to build before that...
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Has Gibson abandoned nitrocellulose lacquer?
 
Thanks so much for posting the photos of your work -- your craftsmanship is awesome. I also do woodworking as part of my gig, and I have a great appreciation for clever solutions to tricky problems. The binding jig is brilliant! I don't make guitars, but I'm almost tempted to find something I need a binding jig for, just so I can build one. . .

I hope you're planning on posting some photos of the finish process, too. . .you'll have my full attention!
 
Had some time to get back on this now the holiday season has gone and the kids are back to school tomorrow so things should progress. I really should get some one to change the thread title now though..

Anyway, binding is done.

Used a new supplier to test their binding and it looks great but was more of a pain to work than other stuff I've used..

I bent it with a hot gun and let it cool in a channel jig for an hour or so

binding.jpg

After that it went on fine and cleaned up nice.

binding2.jpg

It's now ready for finishing and so the next few sessions will be all about scraping, sanding and getting it perfect before I hit it with a honey burst. I've gone down to 240 grit so far and now between grades I shall raise the grain each time to get rid of scuffs and make sure the surface is right. The stains will show even the slightest imperfection so I always spend twice as long as I think I should on this...

binding3.jpg


binding4.jpg

I hope to start on the pickups tomorrow as well...
 
Had time to make the flat work for the pickups today.

I'm going to put a traditional p90 in the bridge and have made up a deeper bobbin to put my all new "Charlie Christian style" p90 in the neck...

The bobbins are old school made with Forbon and maple spacers. For those that are interested the traditional bridge pickup will have 42 awg wire and alnico 5 magnet and the neck will have as much 38 gauge awg that will go on the bobbin with a big fat secret ceramic magnet and a bronze bass plate.

A few pics.. Not very interesting but there you go. I hope to wind them tomorrow..

pickup1.jpg

pickup2.jpg

pickup3.jpg
 
More interesting is the sunburst..

One of the advantages of building for myself and not a customer is that I can try out a few new things without worry in case things go tits up. With that in mind I'm trying out some new spirit stains on this. The ones I have been using are OK but these are supposed to be ultra colour fast... We shall see.

I'm aiming for a cross between a honey burst and a tobacco burst and will be rubbing it as per the old school Gibsons rather than spraying. I may finish with a bit of airbrush work if the rub doesn't give me what I'm after. I hate the sunbursts that just focus on the leading edge so this will work towards the centre without too much graduation.. hopefully...


First thing is practice what you preach so I test on scrap.

sunburst1.jpg

sunburst2.jpg

sunburst3.jpg

Things seem Ok so I'm going for a mix of piece one and three.
 
OK, here goes...

First wash the whole thing with spirit...

sunburst4.jpg

Hit it with a yellow all over

sunburst5.jpg

Rub in the Amber and red around the edge and work it in to the yellow keeping the spirit wet at all times.

sunburst7.jpg

Start to work in more amber and red.

sunburst8.jpg

Always rubbing with clean spirit and colour I'm tinkering to get a nice honey colour and finally add a touch of dark amber to the very edge and work it in.


sunburst9.jpg

The pictures don't really do it justice as the colours are a bit off and the transition is not as stark but I'm going to stop there and use shellac in the morning to drag it in a bit and finally hit a very fine tobacco edge as a final touch. All in all it's going to plan so far... The new spirit stains are good to work and I'll definitely use them again if the colours hold. More later..

sunburst10.jpg
 
lol... I just noticed the old beer cans on the bench. I wasn't pissed when I did this I promise. They are for washing off brushes and mixing colours. :drunk:
 
Greg_L said:
Awesome! I like a gradual burst like that. Those dark-to-light-really-quickly jobs don't fly with me.
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Thats largely because sprayed sunbursts tend to come out that way when they are massed produced. It isn't that easy to do a good sunburst without changing spray cups five or six times. To do it right you need to shoot at least four colours with clear between. The best production bursts done with a gun that I have seen are PRS but I'm not a fan of their style. A hand rubbed burst always looks better and you really can tell the difference with a little examination.
 
Wow that's beautiful!

I'm taking notes here. My next one's going to have a maple top, and maybe a burst. You mentioned the color holding. Do these stains that you 're using have any UV protection?
 
JCH said:
Wow that's beautiful!

I'm taking notes here. My next one's going to have a maple top, and maybe a burst. You mentioned the color holding. Do these stains that you 're using have any UV protection?
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Thats the problem right there.
Start from the point that every stain, dye, paint, tint, etc will fade or change over time mostly due to uv and chemical reaction and work from there. None of them will ever be truly uv protected no matter what you put on there.

It's widely regarded that analine dyes are the best for holding colour but they will shift. The trick is to anticipate which way they might go. In my experience with most analines and spirit in particular that they will brown off a bit so I aim for a colour that is a little more orange than I may want but can still live with. That way any shift will head in the right direction. Also factor in that this piece of maple is quite "pink" if you know what I mean and will probably darken off to an umber sort of colour.

I'll break open my SLR later and try and get a true colour shot of what I have on there and we can see what happens when I stick under uv for a day or two.

On the analines in particular the water based ones are supposed to be the worst but are easier to use. Spirit based ones tend to be a bit trickier but I just cut dilute them down and keep the top wet as I work.
 
I want one of those with the cut-out on the top also ..... a double cut paul by muttley.

'That's what I want' ........ oh, and money too.
 
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