Fully hollow and carved Les Paul

WezV · August 2020

PhilKing said:

I think it looks great Wez. If it's too perfect I think it will lose some of it's appeal. What happened to your home made knobs? I was looking forward to seeing them on it. The new woods look spectacular.

I will get around to finishing the knobs at some point, just put these on until i do

normula1 · August 2020

that looks lovely

Jalapeno · August 2020

Simply stunning ! Mightily impressed.

roberty · August 2020

I bloody love this @WezV , amazing work

SteveF · August 2020

This looks amazing Wes.

Andyjr1515 · August 2020

Great job @WezV ;

NPP · August 2020

all the superlatives have been used up already by people posting above but it does look great, would be a shame to strip it

Jalapeno · August 2020

WezV said:

i could shoot more clear, but if i'm redoing it i think it will be worth doing from scratch and correct some of the splatter in the burst and things like that

Don't ! It looks perfect !

WezV · August 2020

Well there is still a few bits to do.

Need to make a nice bone nut for it. Decide on knobs. Clean out f-holes.

Still needs a proper setup once the nut is done.

I think I'm happy with this bridge, but need to add some rosin to the base to help it stay in position .. and I need to do some intonation adjustments on it.

Acoustically, it sounds a bit boxy when strummed. That's to be expected from the small size and narrow f holes, but it may improve as it settles in. Single notes sound amazing though.

I only tried it clean plugged in so far as it was late when I finished it. The natural tone translates well, and the boxiness is gone. Looking forward to seeing how it handles a bit more dirt

enjo · August 2020

That is stunning, great job.

WezV · October 2020

I think it's done.

I was unsure on the finish on this one as it was the first full finish I had done after a year or so off. But i have reworked it a little to get a feel I am happier with. I also added a little ageing, nothing drastic, just enough to make it feel right to me. Finish is continuing to sink into the mahogany grain nicely and starting to check naturally in places. far from perfect, but i think it suits the vibe of a "budget" gibson archtop from the 50's

I went with the solid blackwood 1-piece bridge, just held in place with a bit of rosin. It sounds and functions better than the tune-o-matic topped version, which I had to cut down a bit more than i was happy with to fit on the base. If I do another i will increase the neck angle a bit to accommodate more bridge choices. Its now strung with 11's and intonating really well with a nice comfortable action.

Decided to stick with the Gibson gold knobs, with a bit of light ageing, they just suited the look best

Sounds amazing