1959 Les Paul Build

[Sterling Sound]

Is this the fastest growing thread on TDPRI? Active one day and more than 2000 views and 5 stars already. This could eventually equal the popularity of the Jimmy Page Aged conversion thread over at the Les Paul Forum.

[ksharpe10]

Well Gil is well known around here!!! Thanks Gil on the outcome info. on the 59 refret. It was a one at a time cut file job, on the frets. Hey I would do it for a chance at a 59 blueprint opportunity. You always say you only trust your own measurements. Well, someone certainly provided a real sweet opportunity!!! Wink, Wink, Will be Watching.Thanks.

[The OB]

preeb just came across this video on youtube . brian jones is playing a tele is this the one from your other thread ?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfcis...eature=related

[ksharpe10]

great job.

[Runn3r]

...usual super meticulous work Preeb!

...and i find your comments on mineral content in wood to be interesting and i am in full agreement over the impact (re:weight) of this oft-neglected attribute of certain woods growing in certain locations...

[fletch]

Gil, this is another amazing build ! And well timed as i just started work on a Les Paul Junior. I'll be watchining with interest

[Lostheart]

I'm gonna keep my eyes on this! The only Les Pauls I'm interested in ATM are Juniors, Specials and Goldtops with P90's but I appreciate the look of a late 50's burst.
You have mad skills, Gil, and you're reputation as a luthier is going to take another giant leap when this beautiful axe is done!
If I had the dough and would be on the lookout for someone to build me the guitar of my dreams I'd contact you right away....

[preeb]

Just wanted to thank you ALL for the kind words and let you know that it is *my* pleasure to post here. I'm overwhelmed by the number of positive replies... for a Les Paul in a Tele forum @#$?!?
I broke my tooth big time yesterday (Pistachios...) so I'm not at the shop this morning... I'm in the "Why did it happened to meeeeeee" pain stage...
Instead I'll get myself free hand routed by my dentist (-;
I'll be back soon enough as good as new!
Thanks again my friends and please stay tuned.

[bentooshape]

Originally Posted by preeb

Just wanted to thank you ALL for the kind words and let you know that it is *my* pleasure to post here. I'm overwhelmed by the number of positive replies... for a Les Paul in a Tele forum @#$?!?
I broke my tooth big time yesterday (Pistachios...) so I'm not at the shop this morning... I'm in the "Why did it happened to meeeeeee" pain stage...
Instead I'll get myself free hand routed by my dentist (-;
I'll be back soon enough as good as new!
Thanks again my friends and please stay tuned.

My first post here, and i have to say that im sooo impressed by your skills Preep. I red your Tele B-benderthread as well and just have to say congratulations!

Keep up the good work Preeb. Im really looking forward to see the upcomming post for this build.

Best regards,

Andreas

[MatthewK]

Originally Posted by preeb

I broke my tooth big time yesterday (Pistachios...) so I'm not at the shop this morning...

I can only hope you took the time to make a few templates of your original teeth - the only question really is, bone or Tusq?

Get well soon. I'm not a Les Paul fan but I'm a Gil Yaron fan, can't wait to see it unfold.

[Eliran]

can't wait to see that build Gil
i didn't know there is a burst in Israel!!!!!
hope you feel good

[paulskirocks]

Originally Posted by preeb

Just wanted to thank you ALL for the kind words and let you know that it is *my* pleasure to post here. I'm overwhelmed by the number of positive replies... for a Les Paul in a Tele forum @#$?!?
I broke my tooth big time yesterday (Pistachios...) so I'm not at the shop this morning... I'm in the "Why did it happened to meeeeeee" pain stage...
Instead I'll get myself free hand routed by my dentist (-;
I'll be back soon enough as good as new!
Thanks again my friends and please stay tuned.

I am now a fan, as well...

Sorry to hear about your tooth... a few years back I was eating pistachios and there was a shell in there... blew apart my first molar... never got it fixed...

[RocknDrTom]

I like the last maple top option too.

[The OB]

sorry to hear about your toofus , hope the dentist is as skilled as you with the tools :)

[jdm61]

Originally Posted by preeb

DCR means much less than some might think. It's highly overrated (-;
It's all about frequencies, dynamic range and magnetic field sensitivity.
It's true that more wounds (higher DCR) will drop the resonant frequency of the coil but this is just one factor in the mix.
Just to emphasize the point a bit, If guitar amps were, theoretically speaking, keeping the amplified signal on a 1:1 ratio to the input across the entire audible range (40-14K Hz) or in other words "Totally flat" like a good stereo PA, then DCR would be the key factor.
But fortunately this is not the case. Flat amplification for guitars would sound bad even to alien life forms (with ears) that never heard an electric guitar in their life time (-;
Amps are an integral part of the sound chain, and TMHO, as important as the guitar itself (leaving the player out of the loop of course) . When filtering certain freq ranges out or boosting others, combined with the dynamic response of the amp to the freq range and the attack of the input signal we create "the sound".
Now, back to my point, if a pu has it's resonant freq at lets say 8K, its harmonic sensitivity will fall around this pick point and by moving it up or down we change the entire "flavor" of the pu. Less or more DCR (or wounds) will get this point higher or lower *BUT* depending on the amp's nature and eq setup it might get partially canceled or boosted or both... etc....
Same kind of relationship is going on between the pu and the guitar itself. If the guitar freq response is not matched well with the pu's you'll get a thin, muddy or hollow sound. This explains why some guitars sound killer through some amps and why a pu sounds great on one guitar and bad on the other. Mostly, it's a matter of luck and a good ear to choose your gear correctly.
The main point is that the pu and amp designs are controllable but wood is wood and the important thing is to select the right woods for the right build and match the pu to the guitar. The amp territory is not a big issue because most good amps are... well... good enough to handle many types of guitars and most serious players (Hey... I said players!!!) can initially select a desired and preferred starting point between a master/non master volume, tube types, gain, etc.... Fenders, Marshalls, Voxes.... you know the list... and hey... they even come with gain and eq knobs (-;

P.S.
Early PAF's have different pick points for each coil because they were not matched and the more mismatched the points are the more "quacky" the sound is. This has nothing to do with the DCR but rather with the DCR difference between both coils on the same pu. You can also hear this "quackiness" on Strats and Teles when combining pu's. A strat with a weaker (less DCR) middle pu will be more "quacky".
If the points are different but not too far off (about 100-200 wounds apart) the result is a smoother "combed frequency range" which reminds a very soft chorus effect without the vibrate.

Good stuff, Gil. I heard someone say a while back that a solid electric guitar is not a musical instrument. it is half of an instrument with the amplifier being the other half. While you could eaisly play an "electrified" D'Angelico or L5 without plugging it in as long as you didn't have a big space to fill and get the sound you were looking for, you can't do that with a Tele or Les Paul.

[preeb]

Today I'll start with the new neck templates. There are a few but I'll start with the bigger ones which include the fingerboard (without bindings), the neck profile and the neck top & tennon. It's important to keep the center line straight when gluing those long paper prints. First I glue the center line alone and then I glue the rest.



And the board line on the profile template



Roughly cut on the band saw.

[preeb]

the straight surfaces are sanded flat on the long belt sander





keeping everything square to the belt of course

[preeb]

Smoothed to 220 grit on the flat bar which is straight +- 0.0005 from edge to edge.



and a little spindle sanding for those curves



All is measured and verified accurate to the blue print. It's very important to measure and NOT completely trust the printed lines. Paper is a little flexible and if 100% accuracy is needed the only way is to take measurements all the time...



One down two to go...

[preeb]

Fingerboard template is done the same way as above... I do it a hair oversized since the edges will be sanded further when the fret ends are trimmed prior to binding.



Edges need to be super straight





and the width super accurate...

[preeb]

The third template includes the tenon which is extremely important.
1) it needs to be 100% centered
2) it needs to fit the mortise like the glass shoe to Cinderella

I start with the tenon area and measure every few sanding strokes



Until its exactly as wide as the mortise width



I leave the base of the tenon a little wider because it will be chiseled a little at final neck to body fitting.