1959 Les Paul Build

[preeb]

Last month I had the opportunity to do a rather complicated fret job, it was an original 1959 Les Paul Standard. The frets needed to be replaced and the owner wanted to keep the original neck bindings including the little bumps that "frame" the fret ends. I don't do repairs any more and if it wasn't a real burst I would have probably refused the job and said "no and good luck"...
but naturally, I couldn't pass the rare opportunity.
My old Les Paul templates came from a mix of measurements and drawings I took from 50's LP's over the years, but never had the chance to have a burst for a big long repair with the option to measure everything and do a full accurate set of templates. So I did.
I couldn't run it on the pin router to cut a direct body and routs template of course, so I did it all slowly by drawing and copying everything to paper and had it scanned and blueprinted. I now have a super accurate blueprint in a 2D format.



Compared to my old templates and measurements there were a few differences, most are minor but a few were important improvements.
For the first time I witnessed first hand the fret scale and placement issue. It doesn't compute to any known scale so I simply copied the fret locations as they were. The other "big" issues were the PU routs, channel size and location, headstock, neck angle, inlays shape etc....
Anyway, the important thing was that I managed to finish the blueprint and all the measurements before it was picked up by the owner.
You probably noticed that I was offline for a few weeks (-;

OK, regarding a build.... Since I now have those blueprints, I have to do a proto build to make sure it actually works (-;
Many of you requested a LP build documented in TDPRI but I was too busy with the pre-CBS line and didn't feel like changing the machinery and the shop for a Gibi build.... I just needed a little push and this burst was it.

The first thing I wanted to do before the actual woodworking was to investigate the PAF's and setup to build them here at my shop. I have 3 paf's left, one nickel set and a single gold pu. I decided to keep the set for comparison and use the gold for specs.

I'll get into more PAF details when I'll get to that stage in this build...







I also know this issue was discussed too many times in so many forums and threads... so I'm not going to use any terms such as "I nailed it", "I found the secret", "I can build a PAF to sound just like the originals".... etc... We all know this is nonsence... no such thing as a PAF tone... they all sound different, some great and some really bad. What I did manage to do was to get all the specs from this one gold PU that was a great sounding example (to my ears) before I destroyed it (-;
I found that the typical great warm "snarly" character of this PU didn't result from the hardware at all, it's in the magnet wire and the way it was wound.
I proved this to myself and I don't wish to argue or start WW3 over this... this is just my own opinion and I really proved it by changing all the parts, one by one, nothing changed the tone... even the magnet had a very minor effect. I'm now setup with the correct wire and the correct weird tension.
I don't have a winding machine with a traverse mechanism but I managed to rewind the real PAF to sound pretty much the same as it was before the "damage".
I find this important to mention because building a burst without a correct set of pu's has no point TMHO. It will be like a 64 Mustang with a new Toyota engine. I had the same issue with the pre-CBS pu's duplication that I posted here a few times... gotta have the right sounding pu's for those golden era instruments... it's simply a must.

[preeb]

Next thing is getting the "right" wood. I still have a lot of very old lightweight quarter sawned neck blanks that produced killer guitars in the past but I was out of lightweight Mahogany for the body.



I always believed all 58-60 LP's were built from Genuine Honduran Mahogany rather than African... I was dead wrong. I don't believed a 8.x Lbs LP can be made of Honduran because it's too heavy. The minerals percentage even in the lightest Honduran is always higher than the light African. African can get very heavy... but it can also get much lighter than the lightest Honduran. I may be wrong here so please don't take this as granted... but I know for a fact that there are papers from that period indicating Gibson ordered African Mahogany in big quantities (I'll post it if I'll find a copy as I don't remember where I saw this).
Assuming Honduran and African are still the same species as they were 50 years ago, I can tell the difference easily looking at the lumber in the yard... and... the burst I had here was, to my opinion, made of African Mahogany, at least for the body. So I found a real nice Log in the yard that was kiln dried 3 years ago and just sat there because it was too big for the local carpenters I guess.
It's medium-light weight which is good. I don't want to go extreme on a proto...
So now I got tons of that stuff after cutting the log to blanks... but it's a really nice, clean and dry wood, very stable.



For the maple top... Luckily, I have no problem in that regard. I bought a lot of figured Eastern maple over the years for necks, tops etc... so it's just a matter of selecting the right looking top and matching it to the body after the frequency test. If the body it bright enough I can use a little darker maple and the other way around.

Here are a few samples that may be used on a repro 59

[dilbone]

this is going to be cool...

[preeb]

The above are all super 3D with a typical Eastern flame pattern. They also got those mandatory tight grain lines of course. All the samples were photographed dry (no naphtha or water wiped...) and will produce a super deep nice top once finished.

Which one do you like best?

[BritishBluesBoy]

Sweet!! Am going to enjoy this!!

Thanks Gil!!

[preeb]

The rest of the woods are QS Brazilian RW for the fingerboard (I got about 200 to those after sawing the last shipment from Brazil...) - No problem there.
The headstock veneer will be cut from Holly, I don't have any but I'll order it shortly.
I already spoke to a few suppliers but still need to pick the nicest one (-;

[Dizi]

Thanks, Gil! Been waiting for this!

Very cool.

[preeb]

All Right... lets make some dust.
I printed full size copies from the blueprint



... and created a detailed project plan so I already know exactly what the schedule of jobs is and what tooling, jigs and templates are needed.





I'll start with the body templates... there are quite a few...
The outline is cut first

[preeb]

Glued to the 1/2" HDF board



I repeat for the 4 body templates that need a full outline and set them on the board to save HDF material (this stuff is expensive)



The board is attached to the table



and very roughly cut around the outlines

[preeb]

Like that



Quick trimming on the band saw



like that



Next is spindle sanding exactly down to the outline

[Dizi]

Originally Posted by preeb

Which one do you like best?

I like this one, last one of the pics.

[BritishBluesBoy]

Originally Posted by Dizi

I like this one, last one of the pics.

+1

[preeb]

The outline needs to be 100% smooth without any bumps and such... I feel it with my hands and smooth it further until perfect. This is the most important stage in the template making.



Done. I'll use this first one to cut the other templates outline.



I install attachment screws (on this template only) in the mortise and pu cavities areas



and rout the diagonal channel

[preeb]

template #1 is attached to #2



And #2 is flush trimmed using #1 as a template...



#2 is the control and switch cavities template so I clean up the areas by drilling with a forstner bit first

[preeb]

I complete the job on the spindle sander by bringing it down to the line...



Nice and clean



I now place #2 on top of #3 (plastic back covers template) to verify they align properly





It's 100% accurate. All is well.

[dwdantzler]

Originally Posted by Dizi

I like this one, last one of the pics.

That's my favorite, too.

[preeb]

Same process for #3 template. I drill "on" the line first right where the straight lines end



and the switch cover too (nice flower)





I now clean up the control cover and rout the straight lines with a fence (attached with double sided tape)

[guitarbuilder]

Cool thread Gil. I've always had a les paul around and primarily am a Gibson Guy. I built a standard clone a few years ago. Other than the carving of the top, the rest of it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I used my home built CNC router and a digitizer to scan one of my Gibson bodies, and then I routed it out on some bookmatched hard maple. This sounds like a piece of cake, but I actually only had the machine scan every .25 inches. What I ended up with was something that looked like Gibson's rough carved tops. I sat on the deck for a few days with a violinmakers plane to smooth it all out and progressed to a scraper and sandpaper. It was an excellent experience. I started 4 more bodies and 4 more necks and never went any further with them and here's why. I bought a choice piece of Fiddleback maple on Ebay for one of them. It ran me about 100 dollars. During one of the top rout extravaganzas, the router dropped down and drilled a hole down where a bigsby might be. That took the wind out of my sails. I constantly look at the parts left and think, " I should get back to these". It just doesn't seem to happen.
marty

[preeb]

Like that



Corners are completed on the spindle sander...



Like that

[preeb]

Template #3 is done



and placed on top of #2 to verify alignment. No surprises here.





The basic body templates are done. #4 is not a part of the historically correct build and is for the chambered option in case someone wants a 7 lbs LP... I know I do (-; But I'll continue with it tomorrow.



That's it for now. Many many more templates and jigs to build before the actual guitar build... But I thought it would be nice to show the complete process.
Take care and stay tuned.

[Thunders1988]

Just what I needed during my exams... Another Preeb-thread.
I think I'm going to pay more attention to this one than my books.

[Jerry J]

Wow! I'm speechless.

OK, that's more than one word.

[krauser2]

Originally Posted by dilbone

this is going to be cool...

CORRECTION

this is going to be epic...

[Sterling Sound]

[/QUOTE]


I like this one , but they are all pretty cool Gil I was waiting anxiously for this thread, I will look forward to all updates and checking in 5 times a day I need to get a life but I love Les Paul threads

[BoogerRooger]

Plump up the cushions and get comfortable.

This is going to be great!

[KevinB]

Wow! Another great Preeb build thread.

As ever I am amazed at how easy you make this look, and it's great that you are prepared to share all this with us. You really should consider putting all these builds into a book. I know I'd buy a copy.

And, I vote for the last of the maple tops too.

[MaxL]

Man, Preeb... even your templates are impressive.

[joe desperado]

The scale should be 24.65 in 58-60 as far as I recall.

To build a Burst clone, (as you may know) these is a lot more to them then meets the eye. (like a fender I am sure). The top carve has very specific characteristics to it that differ from all other years. Also, the way the control cavity was milled is different as well. The control cavity was milled from two different angles which caused the milling machine to rub to spots on the side walls. The angle causes the bottom to have two surfaces that are not completey flat to one another. If you can nail the top carve and the control cavity, you can make a convinicing 59 clone. Even a lot of the top builders did not get the right details down. They were so concerned about the long neck tenon and pickup cavities that they missed the cosmetic things...like the top, cavity and the position of the tail piece and bridge.

JD

[preeb]

Originally Posted by joe desperado

The scale should be 24.65 in 58-60 as far as I recall.

To build a Burst clone, (as you may know) these is a lot more to them then meets the eye. (like a fender I am sure). The top carve has very specific characteristics to it that differ from all other years. Also, the way the control cavity was milled is different as well. The control cavity was milled from two different angles which caused the milling machine to rub to spots on the side walls. The angle causes the bottom to have two surfaces that are not completely flat to one another. If you can nail the top carve and the control cavity, you can make a convinicing 59 clone. Even a lot of the top builders did not get the right details down. They were so concerned about the long neck tenon and pickup cavities that they missed the cosmetic things...like the top, cavity and the position of the tail piece and bridge.

JD

Thanks JD for the input.

* It's not 24.65... The issue is that the 12th fret corresponds to either 24 9/16" (or sometimes 24 5/8") scale but the higher frets don't. They used an entirely different calculation method, same as they used since the 20's (like many other companies at that period)... I don't wish to get into the complicated math here but you can PM me for the details.
* The top carve in the 50's was totally inconsistent because they hard sanded the roughly curved top on a slack belt sander.
* The slanted second control rout is easy and done by many builders. I'll show how it's done on this thread as well.
*position of the ABR-1 is also inconsistent on originals. The tail piece will be angled back on the bass side as it should (-;

[Mojotron]

Holy frijoles Gil - I can't wait for the sandwich on this one!

[joe desperado]

Well...as I said "as you may know". Ha ha..

The bridge did not have as much angle as later years. Its compensation seemed way off and why the saddles are all the way forward..and all the way back. Its amazing that it actually played in tune..but it does.

Yea the top carve is all over the place, but the re-curve seems to change slopes by the toggle switch. (if follows the body line until it gets near the switch. Then if goes sort of straight etc). I am sure you mapped all that out if you spent the time on the other stuff as you did.


I'll be watching this build.

Thanks,
Joe

[preeb]

Originally Posted by joe desperado

Well...as I said "as you may know". Ha ha..

The bridge did not have as much angle as later years. Its compensation seemed way off and why the saddles are all the way forward..and all the way back. Its amazing that it actually played in tune..but it does.

Yea the top carve is all over the place, but the re-curve seems to change slopes by the toggle switch. (if follows the body line until it gets near the switch. Then if goes sort of straight etc). I am sure you mapped all that out if you spent the time on the other stuff as you did.


I'll be watching this build.

Thanks,
Joe

Yes... Already mapped 3 tops...
I'm not sure if I'm going to do it by hand (lots of fun) or use the duplicarver. We'll see...
It's probably going to be easier to manually carve it than to dig out the duplicarver from storage... LOL
I'll bring the duplicarver to the shop anyway... it's about time + I really want to make this an accurate production line type build so that I'll be able to duplicate the tops every time. If a special top or neck angle is required I can always do it by hand.

[irishtele]

Woo hoo!! Preeb build a Burst!!! This is going to be epic!

[storyboards27]

Originally Posted by krauser2

CORRECTION

this is going to be epic...

+1

This is incredible. Not only do we get to see Preeb build a Lester, we get to see how a pro builds his templates!

Awesome so far Gil! Can't wait to see how this one shapes up.

Oh, and either the first maple top or the last one.

[koolaide]

Awesome as usual Gil... you always leave me speachless.... This is now my first subscribed thread.

Thanks for sharing.

[Scooter91]

Looks like this will be lots of fun, Gil. Does the HDF make a lot of awful dust like the MDF?

[mgdesigns]

Just for my info - do you know what kind of wood is under the original Gold Top 57-58's? I had one of those '58's (grew legs and walked away 30 years ago), and the re-issue 2001 is as heavy, but I am still cuious if it's a flame maple or just plain maple under the paint.

And Preeb - Again Shalom - and thanks for another epic build. You are truly the master. Do you need an old man (mensch) to help sweep up the shop?

[imsilly]

Originally Posted by dilbone

this is going to be cool...

DITTO!

[FArrokh]

Nice project

[ratter]

Originally Posted by MaxL

Man, Preeb... even your templates are impressive.

Makes sense when you think about it, doesn't it?

Oh man this is going to be goooood!