1959 Les Paul Build

[loog]

great thread preeb,

Thanks

 

[The OB]

i dont know why but im looking forward to the sandwich as well ?
and of course the build too
maybe cause i cant duplicate the build but i can definatly clone the sandwich
im sure both will be superb as always preeb

 

[old_picker]

this is weird - i am just about to dive into an lp burst build right now -

 

[jrich99]

This should be great...

 

[Expatbrit]

Love build threads, love Les Pauls, can't wait for the next installment. Thanks for sharing this with us preeb.

 

[Mark-00255]

Excellent! And great timing for me as well. I just glued up some maple that was sitting on a guy's bookshelf for 20 years. The figure has a cool mustache look that will be below the bridge! The only hardwood supplier here in my little town had some African Mahogany in stock this week. There were two long pieces that I liked for two-piece backs. One that rang forever when tapped, but unfortunately had some cracks that prevented getting decent pieces without buying the entire 8-ft board. And the other that had a low, bell-like clarity when tapped. I bought that one! I'll be watching!

Thanks Gil!

 

[Moggl]

I don't know why but im looking forward to the sandwich as well, and of course the build, too.
Maybe because I can't duplicate the build but I can definitely clone the sandwich.
I'm sure both will be superb as always, preeb

+1

I also agree about the last top shown.

Subscribed.

Thanks, Gil!

 

[tuuur]

Finally! Way to go preeb, looking forward to the next steps!

 

[preeb]

A short Friday... Shabat is coming and I did very little today.
#4 Template will include my own design for the chambered sections and is not a part of the 59 exact replication schedule obviously. I love chambered Les Pauls, they got a certain quality in the tone which reminds me the featherweight 52 wood response, warm beautiful mids and a very woody sound. Most earliest 52 LP bodies were not made of Mahogany, they used Cedro and therefore were much lighter and sounded awesome to my ears. The chambered Mahogany I designed will do 2 things:
1) Dramatically drop the weight down = warmer mids
2) Allow the maple top to vibrate freely = More harmonics

I usually look for those two characters in a good LP. (This will not work for Hi-Gain metal tone but will be great for Clean, Blues... etc and Tube Amp OD).
So, between Cedro and Chambered Mahogany I'll take the Mahogany for it's wider freq response and its tighter lows.

I'm not sure yet if I'll use this template on this proto build... although I really want to... We'll see. Anyway, I need to cut it as a part of the design templates.

Here it is. Note the special design where theres a narrow section between the neck tenon and the bridge area that opens up like a fork to channel the low end to the studs but still allow very large sections of the maple top to vibrate. Remember that the control cavity is a chamber as well so the bridge area is pretty much surrounded with "free" maple. since there's no air ventilation (like F holes etc) the chambered areas will hardly affect the attack and signal decay.

I drill the perimeter first

and manually smooth the lines with this special bit

 

[Mister B]

Thanks for sharing this build with us, Gil. I've learnt so much from your Fender style builds and I can't wait to see how you tackle a set neck, it's going to be great.

 

[preeb]

OK... I just noticed I made a little mistake here... I left a too small of a gap between the diagonal channel and the top chamber. This might create vibrations of the thin "wall" at certain frequencies so I think it will be better to add about 1/16" just to play it safe. I glued some HDF and will cut it once dry.

This is what it looks like with the cut chambers. I will use this template on my pin router because there is not enough "base" to use a hand held router safely.

 

[preeb]

Fixed

I squeezed another small template while the one above was drying
If you "know"50's Les Pauls you probably know what the second control cavity rout is...
But for those who don't here it is:

Note the slanted second rout that is done in order to align the base of the cavity with the curved top to allow the pots to extrude evenly. There's usually some mahogany left at the bottom and some "damage" to the cavity walls. Not all cavities look the same but they all have this second rout.

I made this jig for the second rout. The angle is not yet finalized since I use a lower neck angle than the mandatory 4.4... (I love the ABR-1 when it sits low) and need to test it as I go with this proto build, but the rout outline is correct.

 

[preeb]

I aligned it with the #2 template.
Top view

Bottom view (as if from within the cavity as the capacitors see it (-; )

It will be angled like that

by those. Just need to set the angle and sand them a little. It will be attached by a strong double sided carpet tape.

 

[preeb]

Getting ready for the neck templates, but this will definitely wait until Sunday.
Shabat Shalom!

 

[casterway]

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?

This one, definitely.

 

[Tele-brewer]

Splendid!

Finaly the Burst thread me and so many others were hoping for.

Your templates and the making are beautiful, indeed. Thank you so much for sharing.

Which one do you like best?

The last one.

CORRECTION

this is going to be epic...

+1.

 

[steadyriot]

This thread/build is going to rock!
And you need the last top.
you need it!

 

[eshuffle]

Nice work I really like your maple tops. Anyone would look great.....

 

[mrmorrison]

I'm very much looking forward to this!

 

[GEISHA]

I do not expect anything less than a top notch Les Paul Burst from Preeb, one Les Paul himself would be proud of.
The Beauty of the Burst.