1959 Les Paul Build

[preeb]

Originally Posted by Scatter Lee

those will save you a little time

Those will save me a big hole in my pocket (-;

[preeb]

Originally Posted by Shepherd

Hey Gil, sorry to hear about your dog. He's probably watching over this thread with Les Paul himself.

Thanks Shepherd. It is a she and her name is Wawi. A real sweetheart... had her since she was 1 week old until I had to put her to sleep at age 14 to save her the agony of advanced cancer. She left while I was hugging her.

[Mojotron]

Originally Posted by preeb

Thanks Shepherd. It was a she. A real sweetheart... had her since she was 1 week old until I had to put her to sleep at age 14 to save her the agony of advanced cancer. She left while I was hugging her.
...

Sorry to here that Gil. I know that must have been really tough - been there myself - but I think that's the best way to do the right thing.

[preeb]

Originally Posted by nuance97

Hi Preeb,
What length router bit is required to get the full deapth of the pickup caviety wings?

That would depend on your template thickness.
It should be between 1 1/4" - 1 1/2" ( (-; ) from neck plane level... so you'll need 2 bits, one for entry and another for depth. I use 3/4" thick templates so my bit is pretty long @ 3" total or so.

[preeb]

Originally Posted by Mojotron

Sorry to here that Gil. I know that must have been really tough - been there myself - but I think that's the best way to do the right thing.

Thanks. It hurt me deeper than most human losses I have suffered over the years. It's the unconditional total love and devotion we get from them that makes them a blessed gift from g_d. There's a lot to learn there...

[heinzlorenzo]

Originally Posted by preeb

You said "most"... have you ever seen one routed?

Two of the known lefty bursts are routed with the right handed channel and then drilled for the left handed wire hole. Even though they modified the shape of the cutaway significantly to avoid the righty channel, they still have little pieces of mahogany fitted in where the channel came through. There is at least one lefty goldtop with a lefty channel routed. This channel is only 1/2" wide and appears to be cut freehand, possibly just following a pencil line.

[preeb]

YIKES! Are you serious !!!!!

[sasparilla]

hi there, iam still collecting Burst-information, i found this Picture here:



is the 0,3125" Routerbit right?

The depth for the humbucker-ears are 1 1/2" ? (on both pickupcarvings? so the neck pickup carving is deeper because the template is following the neck-Angel?)
And how deep is the bigger, less deeper carve of the humbuckers? i couldnt find something about that.

Sorry for my poor english

[BluesHound]

Originally Posted by preeb

Thanks Shepherd. It is a she and her name is Wawi. A real sweetheart... had her since she was 1 week old until I had to put her to sleep at age 14 to save her the agony of advanced cancer. She left while I was hugging her.

Same thing with our Goldie, she was 16. The nicest, most gentle of animals. I will always miss her

Still we have Tess now...... the bloody dog's a loon, completely unhinged.

[heinzlorenzo]

Originally Posted by preeb

YIKES! Are you serious !!!!!

yep, seen it with my own eyes!

[preeb]

Originally Posted by sasparilla

hi there, iam still collecting Burst-information, i found this Picture here:

No

No, I never said that.

Yes

And how deep is the bigger, less deeper carve of the humbuckers? i couldnt find something about that.

Sorry for my poor english

VVV

[preeb]

Originally Posted by heinzlorenzo

yep, seen it with my own eyes!

I will not replicate that... it's horrible!

[preeb]

Found the tortoise sheet. It's a genuine Italian tort thick enough for the dots and in the exact correct 50's color mix.

I do not punch this material because it's too thick and will never get 100% round. Instead I take the extra effort in turning it. I cut it to little pieces and CA glue it to a 3/32" shaft on my Dremel



Run it on a silicone abrasive surface (220 grit) until it's a perfect round 3/32" circle



Hide glue gel is used because hot hide glue might deform the sharp drill in the binding (I think I never discussed the hide glue methods... I'll do it in a minute). I press the dots in



and make sure they all stand a little proud over the binding surface

[preeb]

When the gel sets I flush sand the dots with 220, 500 and 800 because, unlike wood, the dots and cellulose bindings will show scratches after lacquering.



I examine to verify it's all good under strong light

[preeb]

A few words on hide glue. I used many types over the years and finally settled on 256 gram strength. It's perfect for me... not too gummy and not too runny. It gels fast but not too fast so if you have some experience it allows more than enough time to set the clamping right.
I start by weighing the raw hide grains



and add an equal weight of water to it and let it sit for minimum 30 minutes until it absorbs all water and looks like this



I now put it in 70°C water until it turns into fresh liquid glue. I keep the lid on to keep the 1:1 glue:water ratio (important!)



It only takes about 5 minutes or so to turn it into a ready to use glue

[preeb]

I put some away to cool down. It will turn into gel and used for the dots above.
The rest I'll use for gluing the board. On relatively large areas I add salt to the hot glue to get a longer wet time, otherwise it might get gelled before the clamping is done and will make me very nervous... (-; I add about half a spoon to every 100 gram. More is added for even bigger surfaces or tricky clamping situations.



I'll let it sit in the hot tab for 30 minutes allowing the salt to disolve.
Time to cut the nut blank... I need it for the final board placing.

6-6 Nylon sheet is cut



Like that



I tape the board to correct location and mark the nut line over the holly (I deliberately left it a bit longer). Don't get me wrong here... I trust measurements and plans but I always prefer to use the actual parts when I can.

[preeb]

A special file is used to bring the holly down to the line. It's flat on the wide sides and cuts on the narrow.



I test the nut blank for a super tight fit



on both sides, and make sure it doesn't rock and sits steady with zero voids. I believe it's important for tone and I explained this issue in details in another build.



I now get ready for gluing. I shut down the AC and heat up the surfaces to be glued (a little)

[preeb]

I'll use a big brush and therefore will allow it to get hot in the glue for a couple of minutes. A cold brush will gel the hot glue too fast.



I can't take shots of the gluing... sorry... I need both hands and my full attention to applying and clamping... anyway, Immediately after clamping with the 12" bar riding the frets, I check for creeping and remove the nut before the glue gels. I'll use a different hide glue mix for the nut.



I turn the AC back on and leave it to get fully cured.

[ordenes10]

i didnt know that nescafe fabricates hide glue

[preeb]

Originally Posted by ordenes10

i didnt know that nescafe fabricates hide glue

I always make coffee to my guests because I need as many jars as I can get...