Khaag's Les Paul guitar progress thread (Update: 05/29/07)

[blackbox_dev]

Straplocks a must

ive got them on my thunderbird but they stick out quite a bit vos i dont want to drill the body

Heh, the screw heads on my Strat fit the Schaller locks perfectly. No need to drill the body. However, if anybody wants to know, there is a good way if the screws are too small for the holes. Just use wood glue and glue in a piece of a toothpick in to the hole. I know, it sounds dumb but it's really strong and even guitar shops do it!

[dman762000]

I know next to nothing about guitars but i do know a bit about woodworking and from the pics you have posted, looks like you are doing a bang-up job, keep up the good work!

[khaag]

UPDATE: I've now started the neck. I'm using Rock Maple. It's a really dense wood, so it's kind of heavy, but it will be worth it for its strength. I'll post pics later when I get a little further.

[Edutainment]

Strats don't have a "tinny" tone. I'd call it bright. Les Pauls have a warm fat tone I think. It's not because of the shape but because of two other factors:

Strats are made of Alder and Les Pauls are made of (I think) mahogany.
Strats have single coil pickups (most of the time) and Les Pauls have humbuckers.

Aren't Les Paul's semi-hollow too?

EDIT: Never mind I was wrong, I was thinking Gretsch.

[khaag]

*Mini Update*

I just ordered the parts from Stew Mac, and as soon as they get here I can get back going on the construction. Here is the list of parts I've got as of now:

Bridge

Tailpiece

All the hardware is Gold. Also, I ordered an Indian Rosewood Fingerboard, White Bone Nut blank, Fret wire, the knobs, and electronics. I am using 500k Pots.

Will update again when the parts arrive

[myersn024]

Les Paul guitars rock. My parents bought me a Les Paul Special as a high school graduation gift, and 8 years later it is still the best guitar I've ever played. I kept the Stratocaster that I got when I was 14 and shoe horned a huge humbucker into it to replace the bridge pickup. I should have completely rewired it, but I was lazy. It sounds awesome for a mexican Strat when you have the selector switch set to the bridge pickup. I'll post a pic of it later if I remember.

[khaag]

OK, its been awhile since I've posted any progress so I think I'm about due to do one. I was stuck at a standstill for a couple of weeks because (a) I had to wait for my parts to arrive, and (b) Spring break came and I couldn't work on it because I wasn't at school.

Alright, well my parts came, and spring break ended, so I'm back on track. I've been working on my neck the last couple of weeks. So let me post some pictures. As they say, pictures speak louder than words... or is that actions?... or whatever...

The full neck:


Closeup of the headstock:


The neck joint:


The profile of the headstock:


I've also routed out the neck pocket as well on the body, but I don't have any pictures of it. The neck hasn't been shaped yet, thats why its so fat still. I'm shaping it tommorrow in class.

I'll post more pics when I get some Man this thing is looking saweet!

Also, I recieved a PM from Motomaster asking me a few questions about the guitar building process, so I though I'd post it here aswell to help any other aspiring luthiers.

Hey Khaag, I'v been interested in making a guitar for some time now and just want to ask you some stuff because your doing a sweet ass job with your Les Paul

1) Is it hard? How complicated is it?
2) is it as money draining as it appears to be?
3) Should i buy a body and neck that fits or make a completely custom body?
4) How do you get the fret board and frets spaced well?

Well I hope my ambitions come true and good luck with your project.

Thanks,
Tom

Thanks for the compliments! Alright... to answer your questions:

1) Yes it has been difficult. You must keep in mind though, that I have been working on this during wood shop class so I have only about an hour and a half of class time to work on it each day, so I havn't been able to work on it for a straight period. That could be a good thing also, because it gives me time to think about what I'm working on and helps me to take my time so I will do a good job. As for complicatedness, (is that a word?) yes it is. Everything must be precision, or else you won't get the correct sound from the guitar.

2) Is it money draining? Yes and no. Yes, because you have to buy all the parts. So far, I have spent about $500 on parts and electronics. However, when you consider that an authentic Gibson Les Paul costs upwards of a thousand dollars, it becomes a fairly good deal.

3) This all depends on how confident you are with your woodworking abilities. For me, I love working with wood and creating things. It is far more satisfying to build something yourself then to go to a store and slap some cash down for it. Again though, this is all depending on what you want to do. However, I would urge you to work on a custom guitar.

4) The fretboard is one of the most important parts of the guitar. For this I fully reccomend buying a pre-slotted fretboard. This way you can be sure that it is perfect and you will get the right notes when you play. I got mine from http://www.stewmac.com. They are a very reliable company with excellent quality products. I bought all my parts except the pickups and tuners there.


Hope this answers your questions, and good luck with your project as well.

Khaag

[Ecksem Diem]

I have a Squier Bullet which plays awesome and sounds awesome, and it only cost $99. No fret buzz or anything, and the pickup sounds really good.

You found a Bullet without fret buzz or popping issues with the pickups?!:shock:

As it regards to Khaag's homemade Les Paul, what kind of electronics do you intend to put in it? I find that active pickups tend to be easier to deal with in the long run, but passive pickups are much more fun to tool around with (and tend to have much more depth to them, no matter how much modeling or tone an active pickup is intended for). Also, <i>very</i> nice job shaping the body and neck; the body of the Les Paul I have now isn't contoured that nicely. If this project works out well, I'd love to see how you do with a neck through design. Though they're quite a deal harder to construct, I find that the consistency of the tone and the sustain benefit greatly from it. Still and still, I like a guitar to have a million freakin' switches and knobs on it.

P. S. - Iam, I've never come across a Les Paul (Epiphone or Gibson) with a glue-on neck, although I don't know about the Epiphone Special II model. Do you know specifically which model(s) has/have a glue-on neck(s)?

P. P. S. - Khaag, if you intend to put up sound clips when it's finished, would it be by any chance possible to hear a bit of tooling around on the guitar before you fret it? Just make sure you use flatwounds.

P. P. P. S. - :: gasp :: Kurt, Zack Wylde's kickin' guitar predates emos by a decade! How dare you mention emos and Zakk Wylde in the same breath?! I... I don't even know how to deal with this sort of thing. I think we're going to have to defer directly to Tony Iommi on the matter.

Edit - Khaag, what kind of truss rod are you going to be using? A standard metal one, a pair of the standard ones, a graphite block, a pair of the graphite blocks, or something else altogether?

[khaag]

Edit - Khaag, what kind of truss rod are you going to be using? A standard metal one, a pair of the standard ones, a graphite block, a pair of the graphite blocks, or something else altogether?

I'm using Stew Mac's Hotrod Trussrod. It's a 2-way adjustable rod and gives me lots of room for adjustment.

Here's a picture:


Anyway, another update. I shaped the neck today. It still needs to be sanded, but otherwise its looking very good I think. Well again, pictures speak louder than words so here you go:

The Heel:


A picture looking from the heel:


Full back shaped:



As for electronics, I said it in the first post but I'll say it again. I'm putting in active humbuckers. An EMG-81 and and EMG-85. I'm using four 500-k OHM Pots, gold plated jacks, and thats it.

[twilightprincess]

i cant wait for the finished project, its looking hell good so far.

and for the volume and tone thingies u should use the ones in my guitar, plexiglass look, its always good. [/img]

[blackbox_dev]

Looking very nice so far!

[Ecksem Diem]

i cant wait for the finished project, its looking hell good so far.

and for the volume and tone thingies u should use the ones in my guitar, plexiglass look, its always good.

Yeah, the black speed knobs always look pretty tight (especially on a guitar with an ivory finish).

[Edutainment]

I like the retro knobs with the little arrow like on old amps.



Maybe less pointy though 'cause that's a bit much for a guitar.

[Kurt_]

I think those are called chicken-head or something of the sort.

I was always a big fan of gecko guitars. Anybody remember the url of the site I'm thinking of? It's something along the lines of GuitarMoth.com. It had an awesome showcase with ideas worthy of a glance.

[khaag]

Well seeing as everyone seems to be interested in the knobs I'll be puttion on it, why don't I show you guys a picture? And while I'm at it, I'll show you some pictures of the other hardware I'm putting on the thing

The Knobs:


The Bridge:


Tailpiece:


Boy do I take good photographs