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Thread: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

  1. #1
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    DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    I've officially started my DC Les Paul Special. Instead of buying the templates I thought I'd build my own to give me a little practice with some of the tools prior to tearing into my good wood. I'm using White Limba for both the body and the neck (Korina).

    Some progress from a couple months ago:

    I first plotted out 3 copies of the blueprints so I could glue them onto some MDF.



    Then I rough cut them. Most of them anyways. Only had a little bit of time and I ran out.



    That's all the progress I made until today after buying an Oscillating Spindle/Belt Sander (fantastic tool!). I shaped the body and neck templates so they're ready to go. First I got the body templates close:



    Then I drilled holes in the center of the neck tone pot and the LH bridge post and bolted the templates together to finish shaping them into consistent shapes. Any areas I had to do some more serious sanding I used the spindle sander but everything was finished with a sanding block and #220 grit sandpaper.

    Prior to sanding:


    Post sanding:


    Not 100% perfect to the lines on the blueprint but then again I'm no CNC router. I'd bet the old 50's Lesters are wildly inconsistent since they were largely hand made back then. They look good and it will work.

    I then finished rough cutting and sanding the neck templates. I still have some work to do around the neck tenon and at the very top of the headstock where it comes to a point dead center of the crown. I need to take a file to them to finish the neck templates. I'm not going to use them for routing templates though, save the headstock template. They'll be good for tracing the dimensions out but when time comes to route it to shape I'm going to use a straightedge to make sure the sides are 100% straight. These are pretty straight but I want to be positive I have dead straight sides and the only way to do that is by straightedge.





    I glued the template on kinda crooked. I traced the fretboard mating surface outline with a straightedge and sanded it flat with the belt sander attachment on my OSS.


    The template family thus far:


    Next on the list is to take them to my buddy's garage so I can use his drill press to hog out the material for the pickup cavity routes, control cavity routes, and the neck tenon. Then some final shaping and I'll be finished with my templates and ready to start on the guitar! I'll be taking all of my wood to a local mill within the next couple weeks to get them planed down to the required dimension.

    I'm now into the build!! Can't wait to get these templates finished!
    Got them Statesboro Blues

  2. #2
    Forum Member Kap'n's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    I couldn't imagine attempting anything like that ever.

    Looks incredible.
    Several guitars in different colors
    Things to make them fuzzy
    Things to make them louder
    orange picks

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    You're blowing my mind.

  4. #4
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Forum Member Timbo's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    'Alton Towers - Where the magic never ends', or so the commercial says. Imagine my disappointment when it closed at 7.30

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Thanks guys! I still have a long way to go though and many opportunities to screw up!

    The body I'm not so concerned about but the neck, I am. I'm going to be trying everything out on poplar prior to doing anything on my Korina. Scarf the headstock, add the headstock wings, route the truss rod channel, shape the neck profile. If I screw up I want to screw up on a cheap substitute.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Wow! What an undertaking! I'm only good for bolting things together and soldering- mechanical stuff like that. No woodworking or even carpentry.

    Please keep us up to date, even with errors that you might make along the way.

  8. #8
    Forum Member cdw2000's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Two thumbs up! You are a braver man than I.

    I will be very interested in seeing the progress. Please keep this thread going with updates.
    "Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so" -- Douglas Adams
    "If something has a 1 in a million chance of occurring, 9 times out of 10 it will happen" -- Terry Pratchett

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    For better or worse I'll be sure to post my progress!

    Also, I meant to post this in the clone zone. Mods could you please move it there?
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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    Forum Member stratcat62's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Amazing. Can't conceive of taking on a project like that.
    _____________________
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    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Me either! I can barely cut a body, ket alone build a neck. I guess that's why I got a "C" in woodshop...
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    I've never taken on anything like this either! Can't tell if I'm ambitious or stupid!

    One thing I've learned, both from several major projects at work and by doing a nitro finish on my Tele is that if you break it down into small steps suddenly it becomes manageable. With patience, knowledge on how to do each step, using the right tools for the job, and a little practice before proceeding on good wood, I'm hoping I'll end up with something playable.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

  13. #13
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Judging by that, I think you'll do fine!

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread Update 9.17

    Some forward and backward progress. I roughed out the control cavity routes and the main pickup cavity route and got it close with my spindle sander. I laid the outer route template over top of the inner route template and everything was looking great; perfectly in line. I didn't get a picture of the pickup cavities but I did get one of the control cavities. I have to take a sanding block to it and smooth it out a bit but it's almost done and looks pretty good.



    The pickup routes were about the same. To finish it out I got a 1/2" top bearing router bit and some 1/2" poplar and made fences for a router guide. Decent enough plan I thought. I lined everything up, taped it down with double sided tape, and routed away. Not glamorous but they were straight and on the line (or so I thought...I'll get to that in a sec) so to my eye at the time, so far so good.



    Then I decided to get cute and tried to use a router as a drill press. Bad idea. Lesson: don't use a tool for something that it was not intended.

    [

    Ruined neck pickup route. No biggie, I still have the bridge and I can make due.

    I then went to the inner pickup cavity route:



    Not perfect but it'll do. It'll be buried underneath a pickup anyways. Take a look at the centerline though.



    Hmm. Lined up the centerlines on another template to double check (lines don't look centered due to the camera angle):



    Then I lined up the pickup routes, the centerlines were off, and I noticed that the route wasn't near as clean as I originally thought. I re-drew the centerlines a couple times since I drew them crooked (it's hard to draw those things straight over that long a distance). I think the router bit might've been to small as well (corners have too tight a radius) but I can't tell since I cut the cavity corners crooked.



    Lesson: don't eyeball things when you're lining them up. Measure, measure, measure. Then line up. Then measure again. And use better double sided tape so the router doesn't move things around (good thing I have ample supply at work; had to get the cheap Lowe's stuff in a pinch).

    So I'm doing one more template. Going to do this similar to how I'll do the body. Draw the centerline, trace the body, cut it out, get it close, then route the edges. Measure out the outer pickup cavities, then using some P-90 cavitiy templates I just purchased from Stew Mac, route the pickup cavities again on the new template.

    To help avoid this situation again, I'm also going to use solid one-piece templates as opposed to taped on fences and spend considerably longer measuring and lining things up.

    This is why I made my own templates. So when I screw up learning I only mess up $2 worth of MDF as opposed to an $80 solid hunk of Korina. I'm also going to practice making a neck with some Poplar from Lowes for the same reason.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Good lessons to learn, especially on cheap stuff. I'm lucky to have a guy locally with a cnc machine, I have him make me templates. I personally prefer Lexan or something similar for pup and cavity routes. They're easier for me to line up than mdf. And GOOD double stick tape is key! Sadly I've learned that the hard way on an instrument...
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    I have access to good double stick tape at work and I have since taken some home. Not mking that mistake again. I think part of the reason I boogered up the pickup cavity route so bad was because the fences moved on me due to the crappy tape.

    The pickup templates I got from Stew Mac are some sort of clear acrylic I think. They have the centerline well marked so I should be able to get this last template lined up well. Much better than the one I boogered up at least.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Fantastic project, I am enjoying watching your processes


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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Long time since any progress. Finally have a few weekends that I can work on the guitar! Made one last template since I boogered up the pickup route template last time. I got some acrylic pickup route templates from Stew-mac. The multiples ended up coming in handy...you'll see why in a sec.

    I wanted to practice drawing, cutting, routing, etc... out of a blank board so I grabbed a piece of MDF, drew the centerline, measured everything out, etc...



    I then rough cut the body, routed it, drilled a big hole with a 1" forstner bit in the pickup cavity to help me rough it out with a jigsaw (will do that 100% with a forstner bit with the guitar body). I then lined up the pickup template with some good double stick tape.



    I'm still getting used to the router and I tried to finesse it too much. And this happened.



    Damn. I boogered up the template as well. Good thing I bought two of them! I had enough MDF as well. So I started over. Centerline, body outline, pickup outlines and midline.



    Roughed out the pickup cavities again.



    And this time I made sure everything with the router was lined up correctly and didn't screw around. Routers behave much better when you go into it confident in your setup, pull the trigger, don't hesitate, and start cutting.

    Much better!



    I repeated for the bridge pickup. The final product:



    Now THAT looks more like a guitar! I touched up a few last details on my other templates, namely sanded down some router chatter marks and smoothed out the control cavity route templates with a sanding block. I'm ready to start on good wood now!

    I've split my neck blank (I can get two necks out of it!!!) and have my body blanks. Going to stop by a local mill next week and have them plane the body to 1.75", plane the neck blanks flat, and my other body blank to whatever thickness I can get a singlecut Les Paul out of it (it's a bit crooked). I think I can get it to 2", maybe even 2.25".

    Yes I'm doing two guitars. The other will be a carve top Les Paul. I can't let all of that extra neck wood go to waste!

    I'm not done practicing on scrap though. After I rough cut the neck I'm going to practice scarfing a headstock, cutting a truss rod channel, and carving the neck on some poplar to get comfortable before I finish the neck.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

  19. #19
    Forum Member Skip's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    I really like your meticulous patient practiced approach... me, I am often driven by "the completion complex" and have learned that hurry flurry scurry does not often yield desired results. Your patience and trip through unchartered territory is fantastic! Really enjoying watching your project progress.


  20. #20
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    It's better that you got comfortable with the router cutting templates. Thanks for letting us see the whole process.

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    I'm surprising myself actually on my patience! I made a half-a$&ed attempt at making a Telecaster from scratch one time and failed miserably. Rushed it. I want to succeed this time so I'm making sure I take my time. By practicing on scrap I get my rush jobs out of my system and screw up cheap wood as opposed to the good stuff. Cross my fingers!!
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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    Forum Member Timbo's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Thanks Tugboat, enjoying this thread and looking forward to the next installment
    'Alton Towers - Where the magic never ends', or so the commercial says. Imagine my disappointment when it closed at 7.30

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    More progress but I'll post the progress pics after my next (and hopefully last!) round of template building. Remade a body shape template for my DC and am making the body route templates for my LP Standard. Making neck templates as well. Going to make sure the templates all join together and line up correctly before cutting any actual wood.

    I also got the wood thicknessed. The neck blanks were thicknessed to a bit over 1.5". I'm going to scarf the headstock for added strength:



    The LP Standard I was hoping to make a burst. After thicknessing and getting a good look at the grain, though, I'm going to make it a goldtop. Pretty boring.



    My DC special, though, is definitely just getting a clear coat. Beautiful grain!



    Can't wait to start on the wood!
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    So I finished one of my neck templates and fit it together with one of my body templates to see if the centerlines line up. Accidentally cut the mortise in the body without enough cushion to make bigger and fit it so I filled the space with double stick tape. Got it to fit reasonably well.

    But I double checked the neck template against my fretboards and my blueprints are all boogered up. The neck template is too narrow and about 1/2" - 3/4" too short. Most of the stated dimensions on the prints are 1/32" - 1/16" off. Pickup cavities are OK, outer control cavity is off a bit compared to my cover. Width of the body is spot on but the length is off by about 3/8".

    Damn. The body shape looks fine so I'm going with it. Going to have to make another neck template the old fashioned way. Measure, mark, and use router fences. Going to make another neck mortise template for more practice in lining things up. Probably going to do all of the neck mortise with hand tools. Routers are too easy to screw things up with.

    Also , my eBay purchased reconditioned oscillating spindle sander bit the dust. That's the last time I buy a reconditioned tool off of eBay, especially when I noticed after I bought it that Home Depot sold it for the same price I bought it for on eBay. So I had to buy more tools this weekend too.

    I also noticed that the mill I had thickness my body screwed up. They only planed one side (which I already knew about and figure I'd just block sand it smooth). But the place I want to put the body the plane dives down by 1/16" or so. So it's either get the body re-planed which would put it closer to SG thickness or move the body down to a more boring grain pattern. Thinking the boring grain pattern is the better option. The body is already a smidgen shy of 1 3/4". After sanding, etc... It will probably be about 1/32" - 1/16" thinner than it is now.
    Last edited by tugboat; 11-12-2012 at 05:27 AM.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Couldn't you plane it and the cap it, or are you against going that route?

    Best of luck dude!
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    I'm just going to plane it flat and build it as is. It'll be thicker than an SG. I'll be getting my new jointer plane up and running here soon so I'll hit the body with the jointer once it's in service.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Cool
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    So I finally decided to start on my build! Before rough cutting I decided to double check the flatness of both sides of the blank. I scribbled pencil lines then planed them off with my Stanley #6.



    They planed off fine. Blank ended up at about 1.65" thick

    Obligatory shaving picture (need to work on my sharpening a bit):



    I then scribed the centerline, drew the centerline, then traced out the shape.



    Since I have no bandsaw I had to make due with a jigsaw. So I bought one of these contraptions to hog out material. That's about all it's good for; I wouldn't be comfortable drilling out a bridge with it. It wobbles around and it ended up biting me in a few places. I'll get to that later. Here's an action shot:



    Then I rough cut. My jigsaw cut the korina like butter:



    Rough cut. Then I spent a couple hours with a shinto rasp and file to get it closer to the line.



    Then I got out my portable router table and of course the electronics didn't work. You plug in your router to the table, then plug the table into an outlet. I decided to do it without the table and route it straight on top of the template since for safety reasons I didn't want to clamp the trigger on the router. A couple places it got crooked on me though. Rookie mistake #1. I need to get a bottom bearing bit tomorrow and finish it off. Here's progress so far, warts and all:

    This side I'll be able to take a sanding block and blend in the blemishes.



    A shot of where the router got crooked on me. I'll be able to blend this in with a sanding block as well.



    This is on the bottom of the guitar. This is where the drill bit wobbled on me when I was drilling relief holes before rough cutting. The one on the right in the waist I'm thinking about patching in some scrap Korina. It's too deep to blend since it will get too close to the pickguard. The one on the left I'm not sure if I'm going to blend it in with a sanding block or patch it with some korina or korina dust and glue.



    When I finish routing I'm just going to clamp the trigger on my router when hooked up to the router table. I should've done that anyways. Oh well. Where the router slipped it should be easy enough to blend in. Any additional input on how to fix my goofs?
    Got them Statesboro Blues

  29. #29
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Wow! I cannot imagine taking on a project like this!

  30. #30
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Patience and some sanding, that's all I got! Looks good so far!!!
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Thanks guys! I made some pretty rookie mistakes but it's nothing I shouldn't be able to fix. I'm gonna end up sanding and bleningd the blemishes instead of patching. I was trying to keep the shape as close to vintage LP as possible but this one might end up a bit more "tight waisted" like a Zemaitis once I blend and make everything symmetrical. I just hope the upper horn doesn't end up looking goofy once I fix it.

    The neck should be trickier than the body. I have plenty of good pine to practice on before I start on the real wood.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    I feared the worst yesterday after seeing the goofs from the drill bit and router slip but they blended out very well! I picked up a bottom bearing router bit, finished out routing the sides, and started blending out the drill bit marks and router slip with a palm sander. Everything went OK until I got to the router slip on the upper LH horn. The sides started curving badly.

    Back up to this summer and I bought a Rigid Oscillating Spindle sander to sand sides flat. It lasted 3 uses and then stopped turning. The motor would turn on when you flipped the switch but the spindle would not turn. Haven't been able to use it since after trying many times. This would've worked PERFECTLY for this. So on a lark I plugged it in and flipped the switch and it came back from the dead! I finished it out with the ROSS. I still need to do some touch-up work by hand on the sides, and to sand off the tape gunk, but I have a guitar body! I LOVE the grain on this Korina!



    Ignore the dog hair on this one. Funny thing is that I vacuumed this room yesterday.

    Got them Statesboro Blues

  33. #33
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    I have three Labs, so I'm cool with dog hair! LOL

    Looking good there buddy!
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  34. #34
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    That looks great!

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Thanks! Hope the rest of it turns out well too!
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Spent the afternoon rough cutting the neck. Since I don't have a bandsaw I had to improvise a bit.

    After scoring and drawing the centerline I marked out the nut location, sides of the neck, end of the fretboard, tenon and one cutting line on each side of the neck. I left 1/8" on each side to account for any inaccuracies when rough cutting as well as to give me wood on each side to trim the tenon to final shape before gluing it to the body. I gave plenty of space on the headstock and tenon ends as well so I can cut them down when ready.



    My jury-rigged rough cutting jig. It's amazing what you can put together with a few dollars worth of good lumber from Lowe's, some clamps, good double stick tape, and a right angle square. The neck blank is secured to the MDF with double stick tape and then ripped with a circular saw. I cut one side:



    Then the other:



    Then I cut the side profile. I marked off enough space to do the heel transition (cut the side profile to the 18th fret) and had to get creative to let me cut the side. My circular saw had enough depth to cut it and I stacked two pieces of lumber that ended up being the same height as my neck blank for a stable surface for my circular saw. I used double stick tape and a clamp to stabilize the neck this time, placing the clamp at a spot that stopped the saw short of the heel transition area.

    Here's a picture without the surface for my circular saw (you can see the double stick tape that kept it in place):



    I finished up the cut with my jigsaw and knocked down the high spot it left with my shinto rasp and now have this:



    Another picture of the rough cut neck:



    I cut the neck side profile to be a bit over 1-1/8" including the fretboard. That should give me enough thickness to true up the neck and have enough to carve the neck with. I've got it stickered and laying on its side underneath my bed right now, along with the scrap from the blank. The scrap should come in handy as headstock ears. I'll let it sit there for a couple weeks to let it settle before moving on. Next week I plan on routing the pickup and control cavities, roughing out the mortise, routing the neck angle in the mortise, and routing the side radius on the body.

    I still have a lot to do on the neck. My goal is to have it ready for paint by the end of April.
    Last edited by tugboat; 03-17-2013 at 03:25 PM.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Another update. More body work while the neck settles. I started by hogging material out for the pickup and rear control cavities with my mini portable drill press tool thingy and a Forstner bit. After hogging out I cleaned it up and brought it down to depth with my new set of Ashley Iles chisels. I have no frame of reference for how sharp they are as these are my first chisels, but even with my ham-fisted attempts at final honing they cut like butter.





    My handiwork after chiseling (didn't get one of the pickup routs):



    I then hit it with the router:





    I wanted to practice using chisels so I finished off the pickup routes using forstner bits and chisels. These areas will be covered by the pickup so it's a good area to practice. Not too bad for my first attempt. I need to refine my setup and I'll get better results most likely. It's hard to see when setting up the drill down in the cavity. It would probably have been better to do this first then do the outer pickup route.


    Hogged out with the forstner bit:


    Cleaned up with a chisel:


    I spent some time with sanding blocks smoothing up the sides. Here's a mock-up with the pick guard:



    I need to spend a bit of time with sandpaper enlarging the pickup routes. Especially the bridge pickup. The neck pickup cover fits but is REALLY tight and the bridge pickup cover doesn't quite fit.

    There are a couple divots I need to steam out as well before final planing/sanding and radiusing the edges.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

  38. #38
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Looks great!

  39. #39
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Awesome work man!
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Re: DC Les Paul Special Build Thread

    Thanks! Next week the stress gets ratcheted up a bit. I want to get the neck right and next week I'm going to really start on the neck, hence the part of the build that makes me most nervous. I plan on truing up the neck, scarfing the headstock, routing the truss rod channel, installing the truss rod, and gluing the fretboard.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

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