1959 Les Paul Build

Beautiful guitar.

Sorry for not passing through while in CA... I had a super tight schedule and we had to make it from LA to to San-Juan in 3 days...
Maybe next time or when you come to Israel (-;
I did manage to get together with Marc Rutters for a few hours on the way from San Diego to LA. It was great.

 

There's nothing to laugh about. I checked your link and really liked the design on the #3 guitar. How does the Red Cedar sound?

 

Yeah... it was amazing. I'll probably go back there some time in the future.
It's against the law to get close to them. 100 yards is the limit and there's no way to get close enough to enjoy a physical contact.

 

Looking at those bobbins in the past always made we wonder how tight the tension was since the bobbin lips always bent on the edges.
When I took it apart the tension wasn't tight at all.
The CAB material was so soft and flexible that it got deformed from a low tension winded wire.

 

At last, back at home.
It was a wonderful trip but it's even better to return home (-;
Home is where the heart is...

I bought a lot of oil pore filler material and packed it safely but when it arrived I felt the bag was too light... I found a nice letter from the airport security saying they had to remove it and safely disposed it. I wonder how they safely dispose an oil pore filler... LOL

 

Yeah... I saw it on the news last night.
They got too close to the whale and they are lucky they only lost their boat.

 

Yeah... thanks Nathan. I saw them when they came out. Interesting stuff... he does make a great mimic of McCarty's voice.
Did you get the part of the RW sap dripping on the hot room floor?

 

Yam yam...

 

Thanks, It's nice to be back (-;
This guitar started as a 1992 Standard which I converted into a 57 in 1994.
I left it in the U.S. when I got back to Israel (after I lost my house in Sherman Oaks in the big 94 earth quake... long story).
I forgot all about it until my uncle in Phoenix told me he found the guitar without any parts in a box when he was moving to a new house... so.. I brought it back and equipped it with my PAF's, M-69's and vintage correct parts and it came out great. I took the photo because I love the way it aged since 94... kind of an "under the bed" gold top color. I usually never get a chance to see how my guitars naturally age and this GT is beautiful.
pure lacquer mixed with #256 CB bronze powder... the original formula (-;

 

Never mind the house... we were lucky to stay alive.
It was in the dead middle of the epicenter and it was worse than a 7 flags ride.
I'll tell you the whole story one day... it's a long one (-;

 

Oh it's real alright...
When slicing BRRW board blanks from raw lumber I need to replace the saw blade as it gets dull from burned sap. It mostly happen with the darker heavier wood. I then use a heater (hot iron...LOL) to remove the sap from each board before it gets air dried and stabilized. The heat also helps to find the potentially bad boards which warp badly right away.
I never tried to put it on fire and I'm not sure why McCarty thought it was dangerous for it to drip over the heating room floor... I use a very hot iron and except for the horrible sharp smell it never really ignited or anything.
The reason for removing the sap is to prevent clogging of the sanding belt while radiusing the board, other than that the sap gets naturally crystallized in normal temperature and presents no issues to stability or tone.
I know some manufacturers use microwaves to get this done but I'd never do that as it makes the entire wood brittle.