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http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?171038-52-59-Burst-Conversion
The reason I am linking it this is because it shows the bits a Golden age gibson (in terms of wood and construction quality, if not design quite yet) you don't often get to see
like this pic - with a fairly large shim going down the entire bass side of the tenon
doesn't stop it being a beautiful guitar, you would find similar in gibson's from all ages. But it does show the difficulty Gibson have always had in getting this join right.
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Most modern mass produced stuff I've tried just feel boring, I'm still chasing the unplugged tone
On the subject of tenons, I've got a build planned out at some point for a dc junior style but with a flying v type joint with the heel on the body, it's to get a strong joint if I want a 59 style neck pickup placement
The narrow long tenons I did on my strat and tele styles came out really nice and I'd do them again
I don't like losing the side wall on the body that's all and from a finishing point of view I don't like the look
(formerly customkits)
Not getting into the whole debate about pros & cons or rights & wrongs though!
When are we going to see the new work shop?
Your life will improve when you realise it’s better to be alone than chase people who do not really care about you. Saying YES to happiness means learning to say NO to things and people that stress you out.
https://www.facebook.com/grahame.pollard.39/
Anyway, worth restating my intentions with this build. Its not to prototype my own line of les paul style guitars. Its to do things the way Gibson might have done in 51-52 whilst avoiding the mistakes of the 52 les paul. Not the documented ways they did do it - but some of the steps they might have gone through to get to there
So far i have majorly diverted with a sycamore top and a laminated neck. I am okay with that and may divert in other ways
But i did show you all a 51 prototype to demonstrate gibson were playign with the full width tenon back then, even if it only ended up being on that guitar
not quite right though is it - they have not done the full lip of the juniors/specials but left quite a hump on the transition. Also, they have made the heel quite a bit larger and its not really needed. I also wonder about the two inlays - possibly covering screws, if so why
So a full width tenon is fully in the spirit of this project- but not the way they did it in on the 51 guitar
just so happens the full width i did on my last guitar looks to be the perfect hybrid between the 51 prototype and the eventual and classic les paul design
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Its clear from the gibson examples that they often sacrifice a good fit on the bottom face of the tenon as part of getting the neck fit right. The short rocker tenon takes that to extremes and almost totally sacrifices the lower glue surface. Even that example, the worst tenon design, will still work as long as the side faces are a good join. the side faces are your glue surface, the fretboard and neck heel sets your reference angle
You can't ignore the base of the tenon when going full width, it becomes your primary glue join and your reference point for the angle.
In short - what you lose in one location, you more than gain back in another
But yeah, i would agree the gibson solution is more aesthetically pleasing than my full width join above. I just chose to place that factor lower down my list of priorities
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(formerly customkits)
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Next steps are to radius, inlay, fret, carve, drill etc....but its all prepped and is currently a consistent thickness of 24mm along the neck shaft
I can route the body for it at this stage as all the important dimension for neck angle are correct.
New new tailpiece is here too. its maybe a little too long - but they are easy to shorten if i need to
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I don't prioritise weather it looks good it's just what I use and I'm happy with how they work
A joint to me is all the surfaces available being correctly fitted and used
(formerly customkits)
at no point did I suggest yours were not fitted correctly or that it was a substandard method. I am not going to post a load of pics proving my point here. Just google gibson long tenon and enjoy all the pictures of gaps.
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I'll shut up now and see how yours turns out, get some sound clips up if you can
(formerly customkits)
Still need to do the binding channel in the cutaway, once that's done I will trim down at least a 3rd of the treble side to make it nice and neat - similar to a fender neck join. That's the glue joint I sacrifice for this.
The neck slots straight in nice and tight, but not so tight i cant get it out again.- no more fitting needed
It starts to look like a guitar
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(formerly miserneil)
The body angle has already been done as part of the carve. I use an extra long template that sits on the body angle, but is also supported by blocks either end to keep the angle consistent
however, worth noting that I still have a flat fretboard as a point of reference and could tweak the heel angle if I had messed up the body route. Thankfully it's still spot on 4 degrees
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which gets us to this point
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I have decided that tailpiece is definitely the right one. I am still not sure about the bigsby bridge. I would need one staggered for a plain G. I quite like it, but wonder if it makes the whole thing a little too gretschy. I am not even sure that's a bad thing
I am starting to think about controls and I am still slightly tempted to go for a non-standard layout as used by les, but would not be putting a jackplate on the front. I don;t know whether to do a front mounted jack in place of a pot, or just write it off as a silly idea
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