Muttley's Custom LP Guitar Build
- Thread starter muttley600
- Start date
muttley600
Banned
muttley600
Banned
My go to gigging amp at the moment is an AER for the Jazz gigs and a Princeton for the louder stuff. Thats what I'd be using mostly. I have a few others in the workshop I'll try and sort some thing out. I still havent got my dads pad/studio area back up and running yet cos the kids keep grabbing bedroom space everytime I think I have a chance...
arthursilvia
Banned
So, I finally found a spare hour to buff out the finish and cut the nut on this thing and just now I stuck a set of D'addario chrome 11's on it.
Loving it so far.
More pics tomorrow when I can get a decent camera on it. The camera on this phone sucks at shiny guitar pics... Pretty much job done now though... Thanks for following and yes, you can do this too..
View attachment 85492
Is that maple stained at all, or is it the finish that is tinted?
muttley600
Banned
If you read the thread there is a detailed description of the process.
First questions
muttley, dude that guitar is beautiful. Your work looks flawless.
May I ask. In the 1st picture I see the neck blank and in post #2 the tenon is visible. Do you start with a solid block for the neck? I ask because in the first picture it looks like it's been worked already. I assume you cut the plane where the keys go (it does not arrive like that?) and I can see a white outline for the back of the neck.
Also the 4.4 degree angle of the neck. Is that the original or standard pitch for Les Pauls or your personal touch?
And do you work from plans or by now it all in your head?
Thanks
muttley, dude that guitar is beautiful. Your work looks flawless.
May I ask. In the 1st picture I see the neck blank and in post #2 the tenon is visible. Do you start with a solid block for the neck? I ask because in the first picture it looks like it's been worked already. I assume you cut the plane where the keys go (it does not arrive like that?) and I can see a white outline for the back of the neck.
Also the 4.4 degree angle of the neck. Is that the original or standard pitch for Les Pauls or your personal touch?
And do you work from plans or by now it all in your head?
Thanks
muttley600
Banned
There are a few ways to build a neck. In this case (as with most Gibson) the neck block is cut from a solid block. The white chalk line you can see is just where I have marked the billet before cutting a bunch of them from a single block of wood. In the second picture the tenon has been rough cut yes. On an angled neck joint like this I will normally work to cut the mortice and tenon to width first and then set in the depth and angle. Final fitting will just address the angle to trim it. Thats just the way I work.
Others will cut the complete mortice and then fit the neck tenon to it. Some do it the other way round. The main benefit from the way I go is that I still have quite a bit of wiggle room for setting the neck angle when it is glued in much later in the process. Even a fraction of a degree can effect the bridge height.
There is no best way just the right way that gets you where you need to be. I like to work to a centre line from start to finish so thats why I set the mortice and the tenon width early. My mainstay is building Archtops and this stuff is critical on those builds..
On the angle itself. I have seen Gibsons of all types with neck angles from 3.5 to nearly 5 degrees ( some of the really early ones were as low as 3 degrees). Most fit into around 4 to 4.5 because that is what they aim for. With final setting and gluing it can change a bit. The main consideration with neck angle is that it has to put the string at the right height for the bridge, you take into consideration the arch height at the bridge and the thickness of the fingerboard and it ends up at whatever it needs to be.. if I need to tweak it half a degree either way it's no biggie.. On my Archtops I aim for 4 degrees...
I always work from a paper plan and refer to it often even though I have built hundreds of instruments. I have a ton of information in my head but the plan is there to confirm it. A safety net if you will. I plans as a place to focus my head around what I am about to do. A place to drink coffee and think... Measure twice, cut once and all that.... The biggest cause of errors and mistakes that come with experience is complacency..
Others will cut the complete mortice and then fit the neck tenon to it. Some do it the other way round. The main benefit from the way I go is that I still have quite a bit of wiggle room for setting the neck angle when it is glued in much later in the process. Even a fraction of a degree can effect the bridge height.
There is no best way just the right way that gets you where you need to be. I like to work to a centre line from start to finish so thats why I set the mortice and the tenon width early. My mainstay is building Archtops and this stuff is critical on those builds..
On the angle itself. I have seen Gibsons of all types with neck angles from 3.5 to nearly 5 degrees ( some of the really early ones were as low as 3 degrees). Most fit into around 4 to 4.5 because that is what they aim for. With final setting and gluing it can change a bit. The main consideration with neck angle is that it has to put the string at the right height for the bridge, you take into consideration the arch height at the bridge and the thickness of the fingerboard and it ends up at whatever it needs to be.. if I need to tweak it half a degree either way it's no biggie.. On my Archtops I aim for 4 degrees...
I always work from a paper plan and refer to it often even though I have built hundreds of instruments. I have a ton of information in my head but the plan is there to confirm it. A safety net if you will. I plans as a place to focus my head around what I am about to do. A place to drink coffee and think... Measure twice, cut once and all that.... The biggest cause of errors and mistakes that come with experience is complacency..
Richard Monroe
Well-known member
Well, I'm a total latecomer to this thread, which I regret. I'm no luthier, and some of the technical build details elude me, because I lack the basic woodworking skill to comprehend it all. I can only say what is obvious to everyone else here. You know what you are doing, and more importantly, you know what you're *trying* to do. Thank you for sharing the details and pictures of your fine work with us all. I wish I was a good enough guitarist to deserve an instrument of that caliber. Thanks again.
The archtop I'd been working on before I just stopped building was a Benedetto copy and that neck angle is 4 degrees. I have trouble going beyond 5 degrees, I don't believe the neck is as playable over this.
By the way Mutt, I found my photo album of a few completed arch tops. It was soaked in hurricane Sandy last October and the colors all ran like a psychedelic poster from 1968. I salvaged a couple and will scan them into the computer to show you.
Setting up the work bench to start finishing the back carving. Thanks again for the kick start
By the way Mutt, I found my photo album of a few completed arch tops. It was soaked in hurricane Sandy last October and the colors all ran like a psychedelic poster from 1968. I salvaged a couple and will scan them into the computer to show you.
Setting up the work bench to start finishing the back carving. Thanks again for the kick start
beezelbubba
Shitty Buddhist
Breathtaking! Inspiring...awesome!
muttley600
Banned
Ended up lending this to a mate who wanted a decent lp style guitar for a tour he was embarking on 6 months later I got it back and he wants me to set it up and sell it on to him... He is gonna do some recording with it so hopefully I can post a few clips down the line. Guess I shall have to make another.
Anyway, I did the set up and sent it off for a few pics here's one that came out all right.
Going to be building a 175 style for myself first so I may do a build thread on that rather than dick around in the cave. What say you guys???
Anyway, I did the set up and sent it off for a few pics here's one that came out all right.
Going to be building a 175 style for myself first so I may do a build thread on that rather than dick around in the cave. What say you guys???
Bubba po
Tiny Stonehenge Moment
Beautiful guitar.
Yes, stay out of the Cave and do something worthwhile - your shtick in there is getting old, even to a mate.
DrewPeterson7
Sage of the Order
Holy hell, man, that looks gorgeous. Looks like the colors have deepend over time, as well, or is that just the better camera?
muttley600
Banned
I guess the mahogany has darkened quite a bit but thats to be expected. The sunburst in that pic is pretty representative of what it is now. Without looking back over the pics during construction I cant really say if it has changed markedly. I do recall not being entirely convinced that the camera phone I used did the colours justice originally though... I think I said as much at the time but maybe not.
muttley600
Banned
Hey Drew, I've just skimmed through the pics that were done and tried to eyeball which is closet to the "actual" burst. I'm guessing this will depend on our monitor calibration and all that shit but this one is about the closest I can pin down to what it looks like to me and I do have a fairly good eye for colour but I'm not a video calibration expert so ymmv. The mahogany is pretty close to the original pic above...
DrewPeterson7
Sage of the Order
Absolutely stunning! I was comparingh it to this picture, particularly the mahogany back, and it does look like the clear has tinted a little bit as its aged - IMO, to the betterment of this guitar. 
muttley600
Banned
Yeh, Brazilian and Honduran mahogany more than most will get pretty dark in a relatively short space of time. Often weeks and months rather than years. The fresh worked stuff is nice but it's always richer when it has shaded down a few steps. Decent mahogany that does that is becoming harder to find or more correctly more expensive. Luckily I have quite a bit kicking about and buy it up when I come across it. Lots of the stuff sold these days as instrument grade ends up pinkish and I'm not a fan of that aesthetically but thats just me.
muttley600
Banned
OK, point taken, I'm just gonna out a few more bigots then I'm outta there for the duration....
Would a pointy strat build be OK...