MAKING SOME LPJ DC's

GSPBASSES

I’ve been asked many times recently when will I be making some more Les Paul Junior’s, will the next three weeks I be making 6 Les Paul Junior’s.

The bodies are basically made and so are two of the necks.

I went out to David Dykes to buy some more Brazilian Mahogany, I need enough to make at least 12 necks, some for the LPJ’s also some to make LP standards.

My Les Paul necks are constructed a bit differently to most builders. First of all I buy slab cut Mahogany, not quarter sawn as is the norm for this type of neck. I buy very wide planks of 30mm or 38mm thick Mahogany. This is marked out in the side profile of the neck (see the photographs below) then cut out on the bandsaw. You will notice that each piece of wood is numbered, this is so when glued together again no two pieces of wood are all glued back to an adjoining piece. As you will see from the photographs the wood is turned through 90 degrees so becoming quartersawn. As this particular plank was nearly 40mm thick I was able to slice some of the pieces in half again, that then become the centrepiece of the neck.

When the pieces are all glued together they are run across my planar the square them up ready to take the headstock veneer then routed the truss rod and the fingerboard to be glued on.

As you can see this was a very wide plank, it’s been cut in to 3 for ease of transport. You can see in the background some of the LPJ bodies.

You can see from this photo how the plank is marked out.

The pieces of mahogany cut up ready for their edges to be planed and then glued together.

This photo shows the neck blanks glued up and ready for the next stage.

The Les Paul in the back ground is just a tease for anyone who is looking for a lightweight Les Paul standard, more on this another time.

Close-up of the mahogany showing it’s just got a little bit of flame in it, I think they will be really pretty.

TTony

PM'd of course

Wazmeister

What prive will these be mate ?

longjaw

Love this type of thread!

ThePrettyDamned

Oh boy.

Wade_Garrett

I'm looking forward to this, I love DC's!

GSPBASSES

 

Friday I worked on the necks that were already part built, the fingerboard’s just needed their final sanding and then fretting. Once that was all done the necks were ready to glue in.

Two necks clamped in place while being glued.

You’ll see from this photo I’m using an Ebony veneer on one neck and a Pear veneer on the other, I’m often asked to use Pear veneer, as I believe this is what used to be used on the originals.

After that I glued the headstock veneers on the new necks, two Ebony and two Pear so tomorrow I can fit the truss rods and glue the  finger boards on.

GSPBASSES

Saturday morning, I cleaned up the headstock veneers, routed the channels for the truss rods then glued on the Rosewood fingerboard.

Slightly off topic, you may well of notice at the end of the bench there is a solid rosewood telecaster neck being glued up. This piece of Rosewood has been hanging about my workshop the years. It didn’t get used originally as there was a crack in it. I’ve been asked just lately if I make solid rosewood necks, so thought I’d dig this piece of wood out to see if the crack and got any worse, it seems like it did not. So I decided to make a neck from it. The piece of Rosewood was about 30mm thick, so I sliced off a piece for the fingerboard on the bandsaw, planed the surfaces up, slotted the fingerboard then glued it up. I should know early next week if the neck is okay (no cracks).

streethawk

Can't wait to see how that rosewood neck turns out.

SteveRobinson

I've just finished painting and assembling one of Graham's single-cut guitars. 

Here's a closeup of the TV Yellow finish. I used a white base coat, grain filler then pale yellow/brown clear coats to give the colour.

Now sold

Danielsguitars

Holly was used for the headstock veneers on vintage les Paul gold tops and bursts, I would think they'd use it on Juniors too, it's more white looking than pear

SteveRobinson

50s Juniors had no separate facing, the mahogany was just painted black

mgaw

pm sent

Steffo

Lovely . If I wasn't so ham fisted I would probably give it a go.

Danielsguitars

SteveRobinson;1107476" said:

50s Juniors had no separate facing, the mahogany was just painted black

That makes sense as it was a cheaper model, does that apply to specials.
I haven't gone into detail on Juniors, I might be looking at a 59 junior soon, I'll gather some more info then.

Did they cut a nut slot in the neck?

SteveRobinson

customkits said:

Did they cut a nut slot in the neck?

No, the (nylon) nut just sat on a shelf in front of the fretboard.

Specials had the holly veneer like a standard, and the Gibson logo was similarly inlaid.

Danielsguitars

The nylon nuts are good fun to cut, what a pita, they work well when done.

I'll probably make a special in tv yellow

IvisonGuitars

@SteveRobinson That TV Yellow looks AWESOME Steve, very authentic indeed, great job!

SteveRobinson

Thanks @miserneil, I'm pretty pleased with the colour myself, I think it will look even better when it starts to wear. 

Here's a closeup:

IvisonGuitars

@SteveRobinson Absolutely! Love it!

GSPBASSES

Spoke to my customer about the Pear veneer he doesn't really care whether it's Pear or Holly, so long as he can stain it black, that's all he's worried about. As far as I'm concerned I think I'll just stick with ebony veneers, it adds a few quid to the build but not a deal breaker by any means. I shall get some Holly veneer just in case somebody specifically asked for it.