Epiphone Les Paul Special Model - 13 - Still Not Happy With The Finish

Now here is something I haven't seen for a while in the garage, the Epiphone Les Paul stripped down and hanging up drying from fresh paint!  There was a few places where the lacquer was not as thick as I would have liked and I had rubbed through to the paint below.  There was also a couple of areas where the ivory colour didn't look right and needed to be removed completely.  For example there was a bit poking out under the neck joint which I wasn't happy with.

I think I may have been a little too keen finishing the surface and wet sanding as the lacquer had cracked in a couple of places so I decided to to strip everything down, touch up where appropriate and add another couple of coats of lacquer to blend everything in.

Telecaster Two - 36 - Fitting The Machine Heads

Today is the hottest day of the year so far in Birmingham, England so I'm not going to get into anything too energetic.  I ordered some vintage style tuners which arrived a couple of days ago so I laid out their positions on the back of the head, drilled the six 8mm holes and inserted the machine heads in line.

I tapped in the ferrules into the front of the head then drilled pilot holes on the back of the head for mounting screws.  Each machine head shares a mounting screw with its neighbour so my measuring had to be very accurate.

I had practised the layout on a piece of scrap wood first and it was worth the effort for confidence if nothing else.

Well they look fantastic and the whole neck is looking fantastic.  I still would like to make the head unique in some way.  I don't really want to inlay the head because I haven't had the practice and I don't really want to use waterslide or vinyl decals so Luke and I pondered on creating something like a truss rod cover unique to this guitar and any future ones we create.

Difficult to see in the above picture but this is what we came up with, a smaller version of DLP swish! I will mount this just above the truss rod access hole on the head so it will still leave adjustment access.  I have asked Luke to paint the swish the same colour as the pickguard, so we will have some continuity between the neck and the body.

DLP Les Paul Prototype - 1 - Template and Blank

With the Telecaster 'Luke' almost finished I thought it was time to start thinking about the next guitar.  I could try another Telecaster but I really want to try and build a Les Paul style guitar and in particular an angled neck.

First things first I need a template, I had a full size print out of a Gibson Les Paul Junior which I thought of copying however I am not all that keen on the Junior.  I do still have the Epiphone Les Paul Special Model I recently refinished so I decided to copy the body shape (and neck dimensions).  I marked out the body outline and cut it out with my jigsaw staying as close to the line as I could and then sanded the perimeter smooth.

For a body blank I used the middle of a table I recently scrapped at home (replaced with a metal and glass one!).  The pieces I used were the bits that fold out of the middle to make the table bigger when required.  Now the big downer is that the material is predominantly MDF with a laminated surface.  To make a blank I glued the two pieces of the table together.  If I can preserve the front and back then I will have a nice figured smooth front and back.

I mounted the template to the blank and then routed the perimeter with a bit that uses a ball bearing which rides round the template.  After 3 passes the body was free of the blank and ready to be sanded smooth.

I spread a layer of wood filler all the way round the perimeter and started sanding.  My only issue so far is the weight of the body, It is so heavy, maybe too heavy but the should be some decent sustain I think.

Telecaster Two - 35 - Close To The Finish Line

The bright blue pickguard might be a little too much, I wanted to see it as a contrast with the pickups and other hardware.  I also had a couple of volume and tone knobs in the same colour as the pickup covers so I thought I would put them on as well.

The pickguard defiantly accentuates the lines of the guitar in conjunction with the cutout shape.

With the neck on the whole thing starts to come together, I cant wait to see the guitar with all the screws, pickups and bridge saddles installed and string it up.

I can see myself taking the picture in the photograph below! Must be getting a nice deep shine with the Tru- oil.

Telecaster Two - 34 - Pick Guard Colour

This morning I added a couple of coats of Tru-Oil to the Telecaster body and set it aside to dry while I tidied up a little.  Tidy in my garage is a relative term! But this is actually tidy for me.

I then turned my attention to the pickguard lightly sanding the front with 600 grit sandpaper to give the paint something to adhere to.  I suppose traditionally I should have fitted a black pickguard but I don't have any black spray so instead I had a look around the garage and found a can of Ford Amparo Metallic Blue paint.

I sprayed several layers leaving about 15 minutes or so between each coat.  Once everything is dry I add a couple of layers of lacquer and set it aside to dry thoroughly before buffing it to a nice glossy shine.

Now it's on the guitar I'm not too sure... But I like the thought of using old car paint on my guitar much like Leo Fender used to in the early production days back in the 1950's and while I don't want to paint the whole  guitar blue I can have a splash of colour on the pickguard as a tribute.

My mind is already starting to think about my next project... A pair of matching Les Paul Juniors springs to mind... Where is my template material?

Telecaster Two - 33.3 - Darkening The Edges

Decision decided!  2 x P90's it is.  I fitted the pickguard with a couple of screws and laid out the position I wanted the neck pickup to sit in.  In theory it should be identical to the original cavity under the pickguard, however I did route this before I repositioned the neck so it might be slightly off.

The route was fine and both pickups look great so I have just got to decide how to finish the pickguard now, or maybe I will find another material to use and this one will be the template.

I like the subtle sunburst effect but the edges would look better a little darker and the effect will be enhanced.

As I have decided to do this all with stain I just have to keep adding layers around the edge, letting them dry a little then working the transitions by gently rubbing the edges in small ligth circles with a clean dry cloth.

It takes a lot of work and I keep going back and taking a little off and adding a little more, ultimately wire wool will smooth all the transitions out but it also takes some of the dye away as well.

Telecaster Two - 33 - Positioning the Bridge Pickup

First thing this morning I wanted to see my work in actual daylight rather than under the garage lights, I am off this week so I can spend some time getting as much done as I can and hopefully get close to finishing.

In the daylight the subtle sunburst shines and shows the redness of the stain. But back to business, I have laid out the position of the bridge pickup and start but using a forstner bit to dig out some of the material before routing the cavity.

With most of the wood removed the router made quick work of the remaining material.  I have set the pickup to be flush with the edge of the pickguard.

The proportions look fine but when I put the scratch guard in position I start questioning how the neck pickup with look... Should I fit a regular Telecaster pickup or stick with the P90 as originally planned?

Next I decided to permanently place the pickguard and drill the holes to secure it to the body.  I drilled 8 holes and set the pickguard in place.  I wanted to do this now so I can position the control plate symmetrically  between the two screws on the on the bottom of the pickguard.

With the pickguard mounted I marled out the control plate cavity and used a forstner bit in my hand drill to take away most of the material.

Once I had 7 holes and most of the material removed I used a combination of a sharp knife, a file, a straight edge, some sandpaper and lots of patience to tidy up the edges.

All the holes I pre-drilled before I glued the top on are now accessible so it shouldn't be any problem to feed the cables into the cavity and solder everything onto the pre-wired control plate.

I marked the position of the control plate on the pickguard and carefully removed the excess to ensure a perfect fit without any noticeable gap.

Now it just remains for me to decide which way to go with the neck pickup...