Les Paul build

[Dylanmarleyyoung]

Good afternoon everyone , after I finished my telecaster build I have decided to tackle a Les Paul build . I have most of the measurements I need and found some good body diagrams . I have not found a good neck and fretboard diagram with measurements. If any one knows the fret board dimensions that would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

 

[Freeman Keller]

Good afternoon everyone , after I finished my telecaster build I have decided to tackle a Les Paul build . I have most of the measurements I need and found some good body diagrams . I have not found a good neck and fretboard diagram with measurements. If any one knows the fret board dimensions that would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

There have been several very good sets of drawings for lesters, usually the '59 'bursts. StewMac published the one that I used, it is dated1983, revised 2005. The drawings have been pulled from the market, rumor had it that Gibson threatened SM because the drawings were too accurate.

Be that as it may, the drawing calls out the neck thickness and width as 0.896 and 1.720 at the first fret and 0.982 and 2.062 at 12. Uncompensated scale is 24.562, fretboard radius is 12 inches, head angle is 16 degrees. The common feeling is that the 'bursts had a fairly "chunky" profile.

I was fortunate to have access to a vintage reissue and was able to make templates which I have used for many guitar since then, both Gibson and others.

I'll add that a lester is a big step up from a tele in many respects (particularly understanding the geometry) and would highly suggest having a very good set of plans available.

ps - I'll also suggest doing a scarf joined headstock instead of a sawn one, it is much stronger and not as wasteful of wood.

pps - the classic '59 burst build thread is by a forumite named Preeb, it is worth seeking out for inspiration. I have built two and did a thread on one of them but the photo links are all broken, I can supply photos if you have questions. There are several others on the forum who have built LP inspired guitars and I'm sure they will chime in but you might also want to do some searching.

ppps - consider chambering your guitar, you can save a pound and a half and there are no down sides.

 

[guitarbuilder]

Use the stewmac fret calculator to generate fret spacing.

Gibson Les Paul Guitar Templates | Electric Herald

Complete plans and routing templates for all variations of the Gibson Les Paul (Custom, '59), plus Les Paul Junior. Perfect for custom builds.

www.electricherald.com

https://www.electricherald.com/diagrams/lespaul/Gibson-Les-Paul-59-Complete.pdf

If you want to see some necks built...search this forum you are in for " Let's make a neck"

lp neck in here:

Let's make a neck ( volume 2)

This one will be kind of LP single cut like, which is my favorite kind of guitar to play. My first American made guitar was a Gibson LP Custom in the mid 1970's. I've had LPs and variants ever since. Thanks go to Leslie West, Paul Kossoff, Tom Sholz, Peter Frampton, and all the others 70's...

www.tdpri.com

Let's make a neck ( volume 3)

This neck involves a pre -fabricated fretboard, a neck blank, and a double action truss rod. I was looking through my parts and found a body that I made years ago for a pair of Peavey Ferrite pickups and I guess a Peavey neck I had. I think I sold the neck off and the pickups are around...

www.tdpri.com

You can integrate the 2 or 4 degree angle into the tenon and just rout a straight slot into the body.

I might suggest a LP Junior or LP Special , or Melody Maker, as a prerequisite to a Standard. I'm all for one piece necks for authenticity.

Gibson® LP Historic size Overlay

Crazyparts 30 years experience with guitar parts, pickguards and hardware for Vintage Fender and Gibson guitars. Europes No.1 for Aged - Relic guitar parts. We offer rare parts for Vintage Restorations.

www.crazyparts.de

I like a 1-11/16" nut width, 24.562" scale, and 2.25" end of neck width myself.

I do a lot of hand work in this one with inexpensive tools.

A nearly complete electric guitar in one month or less

I wanted to use up some NOS parts I made that are just sitting here. What better use of these than to make up some type of bizarro world guitar.

www.tdpri.com

 

[lowatter]

+1 on the scarf joint and weight relief chambering. If you are planning to use African mahogany(sapele), it's HEAVY. Spanish Cedar is a much better choice for the body. Just sayin'

 

[Freeman Keller]

This is what I pulled from the vintage reissue 'burst

Its definitely chunkier than the SM plans. Depth was measured to the center of the fretboard.

 

[Dylanmarleyyoung]

This is all great info and advice I’ll post some pics as it comes along . Thanks again for all the help and this is a pic of my telecaster I built , body is roasted ash , neck is roasted Birds Eye maple , rosewood fingerboard with mother of pearl dots.

 

[Bob J]

+1 on the preeb ‘59 burst thread. It’s a masterpiece.

 

[Freeman Keller]

If you need inspiration, here are two of mine. Left is a maple over mahogany solid body inspired by the iconic '59 'bursts, right is flamed Spanish cedar over mahogany, chambered for lightness. Vintage Gibson amp in the background.

 

[guitarbuilder]

John Catto has plans in here that are very nice. You now have to register and get a username and password to get to the plans. It's worth the effort to do that.

Schablonen und Zeichnungen - GitarreBassBau.de

www.gitarrebassbau.de

 

[pypa]

I just finished 2. I started as you are, but eventually broke down and bought the plans from GenOne. I found them worth the price as I referred to them often during the build. Those plans also come with the contour lines for the carve top so you can make templates from it. (I also bought templates which didn't match the plans perfectly; if I could do it again, I would have made my own templates from the plans.)

 

[Dylanmarleyyoung]

Hello again just a quick question , is the total length of the fretboard without binding 18.103 “ If I where using the 24.625 scale length ?

 

[guitarbuilder]

Hello again just a quick question , is the total length of the fretboard without binding 18.103 “ If I where using the 24.625 scale length ?

Go to the stewmac fret calculator. Punch in 24.625" for 23 frets. You will see the spacing fret to fret and from the nut. The 23 fret would be the end of the wood.

Fret Position Calculator for Fret Spacing - StewMac

Get precise fret spacing every time with our fret position calculator. Ideal for builders who demand accuracy across every scale length.

www.stewmac.com

24.625" scale • 12" radius • 24 slots
Note: Gibson® guitar scale is commonly referred to as 24-3/4" but is actually 24.625".

This is the most common of three different scales described as 24-3/4" by Gibson over the years.

Slotted Fingerboard for Gibson - StewMac

24.562" scale 12" radius 24 slots<br />Commonly described as 24-3/4" scale by Gibson.

www.stewmac.com

 

[Freeman Keller]

Hello again just a quick question , is the total length of the fretboard without binding 18.103 “ If I where using the 24.625 scale length ?

From the SM drawing, the actual uncompensated scale is 24.562 (24-9/16). Gibson used several variations of their "24-5/8 scale, its part of the vintage gibson lore). The distance from the nut to the 24th fret is 17.670, add 1/2 inch to the end of the board, so my plans measure 18.170. Of course you can make it any scale and fret spacing you want

 

[Dylanmarleyyoung]

I ordered a pre slotted fretboard from stewmac so my scale is 24.625. I cut it at the 23 fret for a 22 fret guitar . I was worried about space for the pick up cover but I think I’ll be ok.

 

[guitarbuilder]

I ordered a pre slotted fretboard from stewmac so my scale is 24.625. I cut it at the 23 fret for a 22 fret guitar . I was worried about space for the pick up cover but I think I’ll be ok.

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to layout some lines on your body blank and triple check measurements. I always strike a centerline and work from that with a protractor and machined straight edge. You can get some pickup rings and fit the fretboard on there as well. I usually locate my bridge and tailpiece holes after the neck is in place. I wouldn't assume that any drawing is perfect except for a general shape. Some guys draw to two decimal places, some draw in metric, some in imperial. Conversions round up or down....Parts vary in size. I have a LP pickguard that needs to be chopped down some to fit around some import humbucker rings.

You'd be wise to gather all your parts before you start to make holes and routs.

 

[Freeman Keller]

I ordered a pre slotted fretboard from stewmac so my scale is 24.625. I cut it at the 23 fret for a 22 fret guitar . I was worried about space for the pick up cover but I think I’ll be ok.

That will work perfectly. I humbly suggest locating your bridge studs via the StewMac fret calculator. Run it for your exact scale length, confirm that your fretboard has been made to that scale, then look at the bottom and it will give you measurements to the studs. Those measurements have worked for every ToM bridge that I used but I always use a second method of calculating bridge location to confirm.

I route the neck cavity first, set the neck before doing he pickup. The neck tenon extends under the pickup. The pickup is as close as I can get it to the end of the neck and still install the ring.

 

[Dylanmarleyyoung]

I did a little weight relief loosley based on some pics I found online . Routed some of the cavities and then noticed people put a bit of an angle in the control cavity for the volume and tone . If it’s an issue i will glue some wedges under the pots.

 

[Freeman Keller]

Dylanmarleyyoun, there is currently a thread running next to yours about carving the top of a LP. I highly suggest reading it before you start on your

LP Top Carve Question

I wanted to ask the forum: I noticed that for the various LP top carve contour maps that are floating around, there appear to be two different approaches to the upper bout. Putting aside what this does to the slope/height of the binding, and maybe even putting aside which one is "vintage...

www.tdpri.com

And chambering a lester is a very good thing to do. This removed a pound and a half from my second one, I wished I had done it to the first

 

[guitarbuilder]

I did a little weight relief loosley based on some pics I found online . Routed some of the cavities and then noticed people put a bit of an angle in the control cavity for the volume and tone . If it’s an issue i will glue some wedges under the pots.

I never put the angle in the control cavity and never had issues. I used the long shaft pots. That could/may be impacted by the more pregnant carve that the templates create, than a less domed carve like the " dome" era. Wedges would certainly be easier than the "historic" way to do it. I'd add more holes as a 10 pound LP isn't a lot of fun when you get older. I have a number of LP projects around that need work and I already glued the top to the one piece mahogany bottoms. I hate to do it but weight relief is necessary. One carve is fiddleback so I guess I'll go in from the back.

 

[pypa]

on a test piece weigh how many grams one of those holes removes. I found that you need a ton of them to reduce weight appreciably. I concluded the only way to get significant relief is to chamber more completely like Freeman did.