Aussie Les Paul Tele thing

[Dasher]

Here are a few pictures of my current build. I wanted to make something out of just Australian timber. I made the neck out of Tasmanian Oak with the fingerboard made from Sydney Blue Gum. The body is Queensland Maple.

The Sydney Blue Gum was cut from some floor boards I had. I have put the tuners on and laid out the knobs and mounting rings just to show what it will look like.

I plan to bind the body but keep it flat. You can see that I have a straight neck pocket and will be using the low roller bridge.

This is the first neck I have built. My other builds used Warmoth necks.

I used the StewMac Japanese saw and mitre to cut the slots. I've used their medium guage fret wire. I need a better way to bend the wire.

The neck radius is 7.25.

The Queensland Maple is nicely figured. I was planning on French polishing the body. I will probably laquer the neck.

Let me know what you think so far.

[w3stie]

Very nice! Qld maple is a lovely wood to work, and looks great too. I built a classical neck from Qld maple, and also a bass body from Tas Oak. Good luck with the build, looks like you know what your doing

[shaggy_k]

Beautiful mate. Lovely to see native timbers being used. Please keep us updated with pics as you go. Thanks for posting.

[Davecam48]

It will be great!! French polish is a big process mate and easily damaged, but looks brilliant. I'd be looking at the True Oil and Armorall process which I've tried once on a neck and it was easy to do and fast and was done in a day. It's also easy to touch up a repair later etc. Have you got a closeup of the back of the neck? I bought some Tassie Oak this week myself just for necks and to use up a Bunnings gift card from Christmas.

Regards Dave

[Dasher]

Thanks guys.

Davecam - these pics were taken off my mobile phone. I'll take some more over the weekend with a better camera to show you the Tassie Oak. It was great to use. I shaped the back with a rasp. Used a curved cabinet scrapper and sanded by hand. The grain runs beautifully straight through the neck. The Tassie Oak came from bunnings. Just the 19mm stuff they have heaps of. The Sydney Gluegum is awesome too. It was solid flooring I had put into my place. It is such a dense hard timber that it's perfect for fingerboards. It was a bit of a battle thinning it down, and a task to put the radius in, but such a lovely colour. And quite unusual on a guitar. I've just put side dots on this neck.

I think the Tassie Oak is great for necks. Bit heavy for a full body, but look for some with a pinkish tinge and nice straight grain and you can't go wrong. Easy to work with, rasps great and has nice closed grain. Perfect.

And in terms of the French polish, here's a look at my last build which was french polished. It's easily repaired, and a great finish. I've actually got some of that U-beaut hard shellac to try this time.

[Davecam48]

Wow!!!

Love that guitar, your building skills look way above my feeble efforts, but practice makes perfect so they say. I did manage to get a few pinkish Tas oak boards with good straight grain but it is only 110mm X19mm I could probably resaw and book match a drop top out of it which I had in mind because most of the things I build are hollow, but mainly got it to laminate for necks.
The blue gum is great stuff but hard as the hobs of hell. An old bloke who is a client of the hearing service where I used to work, years ago gave me quite a bit of his timber, he was going blind and in poor health and couldn't see well enough to use tools anymore.
Included was a small length of red gum that had been a wharf pylon in Sydney Harbour for 100yrs + and I made a jewellery box for my daughter from it. I just sanded it to 320 grit and buffed it. I just glows like its been french polished. Looking forward to the neck pix.

[Mojotron]

I love the paul body and the tele neck - had not thought of how well the work together, but I'll have to that a try. Looks like a great concept.

[Dasher]

@Davecam - I think there are some great timbers here to use. The gum varieties can be a bit unstable but the bluegum is wonderful for the board. I'm sold now on the Tassie Oak for necks. Queensland Maple is even better for necks but harder to get and expensive. I have a Queensland blackwood top to use on my next build. That stuff is beautiful! Maton use it for acoustic backs.

I've taken some more pics and will put them up tonight. The thin line build was Western Pacific Maple back with a New Guinea Walnut top. 'F' holes cut without a template (man was that nerve racking!). That guitar sounds awesome too! Seymour Duncan Tele Stack pickups in it. I have a YouTube of me playing it. I should put that up. Btw, the floor in those photos is the Sydney Bluegum. Off-cut's being used for this neck.

@Mojotron - I made the neck with a plan to build another Tele. But my son wanted me to build a LesPaul. Seems the kids at school think they are cooler. So it morphed into this project. I agree, I think it looks great.

Here is a link to the shellac I will use on this build. It's dewaxed and blonde. It cures harder than regular shellac and wears better. I might put some amber shellac from flakes under it on the neck to get a vintage tint:

http://www.ubeaut.com.au/hardshell.htm

[Dasher]

OK, Forgive my playing skills, but here's me playing the Thin-line on youtube. One with the neck pup and the other with the bridge pu. I think the guitar turned out great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRMJ8vGex9E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJUVGg_kHn4

[Davecam48]

Originally Posted by Dasher

OK, Forgive my playing skills, but here's me playing the Thin-line on youtube. One with the neck pup and the other with the bridge pu. I think the guitar turned out great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRMJ8vGex9E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJUVGg_kHn4

Mate I'd give a kidney to be able to play half as good as that!!!!!!!!!!

Made a 3 piece back for my latest project yesterday( from a piece of the Tassie Oak resawed ) and cooked it in the clamps overnight, and shaped it today. Works out about 4mm thick which is about right.

Who do I have to kill to play like that?

[Davecam48]

Love the floor by the way.

[Dasher]

Davecam you are way too kind.

Here is the neck. It has had one sealer coat of the shellac.I need to sand it back and when I've finished the whole build I'll do the proper finish. I wish you could see the Sydney Bluegum better in the photos. It's really nice.

[w3stie]

Originally Posted by Dasher

OK, Forgive my playing skills, but here's me playing the Thin-line on youtube. One with the neck pup and the other with the bridge pu. I think the guitar turned out great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRMJ8vGex9E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJUVGg_kHn4

Cool!

[Davecam48]

Re the ubeaut stuff, Ive been using their hard shellac for a few years and also their talcum powdwer for making gesso as well as their water based dyes which are good IMHO but for the black which always ends up a kaky dark green colour. I mix my own shellac flakes for sealer/grain filler and use the hard shellac for the finish. Grain filled a test piece of the Tas Oak today and sanded back to the timber leaving these fine orange flecks in the grain and hit it with the Tru Oil....Looks brilliant.

[trev333]

some Blue Gum .. more to do with the colour of the leaves /bark perhaps..
..I'm going to use it on a hollow body top...
I have a thinner piece outside that is fully grey and aged ..dressed flat years ago.... I might use that side...

the heart wood isn't blue.. that would be cool... it's more the colour of the dirt... red...

I hand planed a corner of the bigger slab to check the grain... geez! it's hard/heavy... and commonly used here for flooring and frame timber... out door BBQ furnature and slab tables... it polishes op OK...

[OpenG Capo4]

Is that stuff in the above pics also called "Lacewood"? I picked up a stick of that last time I was at Woodcraft to make a fretboard out of.

I had read before that lacewood comes from Australia. Cool to see it in its native habitat.

[shaggy_k]

It looks to me to be more of a silky oak style banksia (also called lacewood) than bluegum. Either way both are accepted tonewoods.

[LuvN Guitars]

Originally Posted by Dasher

Thanks guys.


And in terms of the French polish, here's a look at my last build which was french polished. It's easily repaired, and a great finish. I've actually got some of that U-beaut hard shellac to try this time.

Nice looking work Dasher.

I've also had good results using Tassie Oak/Vic Ash for neck, I'm also partial to Tasmania Myrtle for necks, it's a great substitute for Maple.

I'm interested to hear what you think about the U-beaut hard shellac, I've been thinking of trying it myself. I like shellac finishes, but some people are wary about its durability and the hard shellac sounds like it might be a good option for guitars.

[Sixwire]

Big question? Beautiful work? Since your toilets swirl backwards, do the volume controls spin backwards to ours too?

[Boblets]

Not only do our toilets swirl backwards but upwards as well, so watch your tootsie when you use one.

Contrary to popular belief only left handed guitar knobs spin backwards down under.