Lets build a few LP Juniors...

[ajcoholic]

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[riffpowers]

Originally posted by ajcoholic
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Amen to that brother!!
I'll take a natural SC and a tv yellow DC!!

[Bbreaker]

[Alchemist]

Excellent, this is just what I need since I am building a LP neck

[ajcoholic]

just a few more minutes guys... trying to figure out photobucket, and make dinner and get cleaned up at the same time...

[ajcoholic]

OK... lets try this again!

Firstly, for those who never saw my other threads a little background... I am a 35 yr old woodworker by trade. I own/run a 4000 sq foot wood shop and building furniture is my livelihood. I have been building guitars since I was 15, and have done about 25 or so over the years.

ABout my philosophy/mentality.... making guitars (among other things) in my opinion and experience, is NOT some kind of mystical thing that only a select few are able to achieve. Dont buy that line...thats CRAP! If you have the desire, and the understanding of basic woodworking & some tools, and are able to work through the individual steps you can build yourself a great playing guitar. Sometimes I see other fellows who build guitars (other hobbiests like me, or pros) try and make more of it than it is, really. So just watch this thread, and see how a 13 year old kid can build his first guitar. Just keep in mind that like everything else, you get better with practice and with trying new things. You can't expect to be an expert after your first guitar. But keep at it and you will be rewarded with something hopefully you can be proud to play and gig with!

All that being said, I have nothing but the utmost respect for the real pro luthiers who make beautifull guitars with beautifull woods and are able to charge enough to make a good living. In my build threads I am always refering to the guy like me, who wanted to build a guitar to play. Something to call your own. Never be afraid to try something becuase the worst that will happen is a spoiled piece of wood and some lessons learned.

I am working in my shop, and yes, I have some industrial equipment. MAinly that makes things faster for me, however just remember you can build a guitar in its entirety with the basics of just hand tools. It will take more work, time and skill but it can be done. I will try and explain things as I go, and how you can cope with various steps with minimal tools.

I am building a copy of a Les Paul Jr. My 13 year old friend, Connor, (who I play with in the local community band) is making one as well. We are sticking to the basic design with some minor changes. Nothing fancy though, the LP Jr. is a basic guitar without binding, inlays, etc. A good place to start!

So here we go... first step selecting some wood. I have African Mahogany in my shop, and thats what I am using. Here is a 10' plank of 8/4 kiln dried Mahogany. Medium density so it will make a nice lighter weight guitar. You dont NEED to go hunting for special guitar woods, many times visiting your local woodshop will yeild you some extremely nice timber. Just make sure its good and dry and without defects like checking. Notice this plank lies pretty damn flat for its entire length on my 10 foot table saw carriage. Its not going to move on me later on.

[ajcoholic]

just to show what I am using for my patterns and such, I have a template I traced from the 56' LP jr I have access too, the headstock pattern, pickguard pattern, measurements of the neck, etc. I took templates of the neck profile and I also have plans for an LP custom I am using to get some info from as well. And many pictures of various LP jrs in some books.

[ajcoholic]

the next step is to cut the lumber to rough lengths. I got Connor to cut three pieces. Two will make up the bodies and one will be ripped later for the necks.

I use the radial arm saw but you can use a skill saw, hand saw, etc. It doesnt matter what you use. Just cut the plank into manageable pieces.

[chevette]

I am giddy with anticipation

[ajcoholic]

One thing I want to note is that none of the following are staged photos. Connor has some woodworking experience from school (he is in grade 8 and they take basic shop class).

Now, after the material is cut to rough length, it needs to be made flat on one face and two edges. I use my power jointer. It cant be beat for its speed and power, HOWEVER, you can use a hand plane or hand power plane as well. Just make sure its as flat as you can get.

here I am facing one of the pieces...

[ajcoholic]

next the edges need to be done. I make sure the fence is exactly 90 degrees to the table and go at it (actually Connor is doing it)

[ajcoholic]

here are the three pieces faced and edged. IF you have more basic tools this may take a while. If you are lucky to have some access to a smaller jointer it takes about 2 minutes...

[ajcoholic]

Next, each body will be made from two pieces of wood. Since the widest 2" rough mahogany board I had in stock was 10" wide, and the body is approx. 13" I needed to laminate. So each 27" length of wood is rough bandsawn into two pieces.

[ajcoholic]

Whoops. I made a boo boo. Before the body blanks were cut into two's I passed each piece trough the thickness planer. I left the blanks about 1/16" thicker than the finished measurement as they will be taken to the final dimension after they are glued up.

Here is the planer in action...

Again, if you dont have a planer, you can use a hand plane or hand power plane to do this step. Just make sure you take it slow and work to a pencil line.

[ajcoholic]

OK back into sequence...

Now the two body blanks, still oversize and thicker than required are glued together. I use magic guitar glue only available to Santa's elves... Just kidding, I use Lepages industrial PVA - but ANY wood working glue will do, white, yellow - aliphatic or PVA. Hell even good old hide glue will do fine. But it stinks and its messy. Plus a modern woodworking adhesive will dry and be workable in 20 minutes. Just make sure the joint faces are flat, clean of any chips or anything that will porevent good face to face contact. Spread a thin layer to one face, put them together and clamp with just enough pressure to allow the glue to squeeze out a little.

[ajcoholic]

I almost forgot! The most important thing to have when building a guitar is.... a hot cup of Tim Horton's coffee. Mmmmm coffeee. Makes the job even sweeter!

[supercow3]

Very nice ...this should be sticky as well

[ajcoholic]

Once the glue has set up (about 1/2 hour) its more than dry enough to work. Now the body blanks are again dressed (put through the planer) a light cut on each side bringit to just over the final thickness. I left 60 thousandths oversive, to allow for sanding the faces.

[ajcoholic]

and then, we can trace the body outline onto the blanks. here are the two of them!

[Drazden@skewl]

Man, where are you located? Those bodies look awesome!