Crusty Builds A Les Paul (How Not To Build A Guitar....)

[crusty philtrum]

Finally the seemingly endless preparation reached a point that i deemed adequate and i brushed on the first sealer coat. It's still wet in these pics, and when it's dry, it has to be sanded (every effin' thing has to be sanded....over and over and over.....I'm sick of sanding...). Then i have to fill the grain, sand that, then apply another coat of sealer and (guess?) ..... then finally it will be ready for the gloss laquer to be sprayed on. Whether or not the weather is gonna be suitable for that part of it remains to be seen.

[MetalManiac]

Sorry to break the bad news to you Crusty, but Gibson Corp. has just slapped you with a Cease and Desist order.

[crusty philtrum]

I sanded the first sealer coat down, but broke through in a few places on the body, so i sanded it all off and did it again.Then i stained some woodfiller and filled the grain by rubbing the filler into the wood with a coarse cloth, leaving it to dry and then gently sanding it away, leaving the filler in the pores of the wood.

After that, i sprayed another coat of sealer over the top of the grain filler. I have my
own pro-level compressor and guns, but the weather has not been suitable, we didn't get much of a summer and winter seemed to start a month early.

The sanding sealer is made by the same company that makes the finish i'm going to be
using, which is a nitro developed for musical instruments. It (the sanding sealer) contains some solids and tends to slightly darken the appearance, although it lightens up as I sand it smooth.

These pics were taken just after spraying the final sealer coat. After that, i sanded it
smooth and shot the first coat of gloss lacquer, so it now looks pretty much the same as these pics but more shiny. That coat will be sanded smooth and then there will be coats of red-tinted clear to build the colour.

[crusty philtrum]

Sorry to break the bad news to you Crusty, but Gibson Corp. has just slapped you with a Cease and Desist order.

That's okay, i got smashed a while ago and dreamed i spoke to Les. He said "I like your ideas, son, don't worry about those G men, you go ahead and build it. And thanks for fixing that output socket up for me".

[crusty philtrum]

Right, that brings us all the way up to today .... and during the period where i couldn't get any more pics posted, the sun was out (not too hot, but a little warmth anyway, we're into winter now down here) so here's what i got done this afternoon after i sanded down the final sealer coat..... these are not good pics, they don't represent the colour too well, but it's dark-ish and the finish is smooth. (the camera's flash makes it look lighter than it actually is).

It's red tinter (actually a wood stain that works great for this purpose) in clear gloss nitro, and this was the second coat. I'm not thrilled with this brand of sealer and lacquer, they both tend to darken the finish, but it will work out okay. I'll give this a day or two to harden, then i'll mask the body and spray the black burst on the front, then give it another coat or two of the red-tinted clear, and finish off with a couple of coats of straight clear. Then a long month of drying.

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Ohh I remember that piece of wood, you showed it to me and Will.
Crazy to see how far it's come from its humble beginnings as a rectangle block

[crusty philtrum]

Ohh I remember that piece of wood, you showed it to me and Will.
Crazy to see how far it's come from its humble beginnings as a rectangle block

Yes, that's right, i showed it to you and Will that first time you came by my house. This started about six months ago when some money became available to order the neck. Since then it's kinda taken over my life and my house. It was always about that rectangular block of wood, because i just knew it would make a great-sounding guitar if i could actually pull the project off without stuffing it up.

I am very tired and drained, but happy. It's always been a weird mix of stress and joy. Recently while talking to Laughing Kookaburra via email, rambling on about the whole emotional and philosophical whirlwind this project has created for me, i finally realised what the feelings reminded me of ; Ya know when you meet a girl or woman and you like her A LOT, and you think she might feel the same way, but it hasn't been discussed or put into words ? That kinda "I'm going to tell her how i feel .... as soon as the moment is right .... will she like me like that too, or will that be the end of everything because she doesn't feel the same ?". It's that same kind of tension and elation at the same time.

And i tell ya ... this guitar is definitely a female ..... it just wouldn't be right for me to have been so intimate with it if it was a male, hehehe. All that work on the carved top alone pretty much means we're married now i think.

I just hope i'm not going to be hearing the sound of tiny blocks of mahogany running around the house any time soon, hahahaha.

[MetalManiac]

So these tiny bubbles in the clear can be sanded out? Or is it just light from the flash?

[St_Genesius]

Screw Aceman's poll. THIS is the coolest Les Paul on the forum. Period.

[jake_xms3_punk]

this thread is inspirational! good work man!

[crusty philtrum]

So these tiny bubbles in the clear can be sanded out? Or is it just light from the flash?

They're not bubbles, they're tiny dimples (Known as 'orangepeel'). The less orangepeel, the less sanding is required to make it smooth. The weather is only just warm enough for spraying, but not warm enough for the lacquer to really flow out properly. I will use a little more thinners from here on, although again the cooler weather could mean a thinner mix could be prone to running.

I've just had a really close look all over the guitar, and it's more orangepeel than i'd normally get, but normally we have better weather. Basically it just means using a slightly coarser sandpaper to knock it down smooth, although it's still fine work.


The flash definitely makes it look extremely dramatic ... my camera is average at best by today's standards and my photgraphy skills are well below that level, hehe.


The one issue with sanding from here on is that if i sand unevenly or break through the top coat the appearance will become blotchy due to darker and lighter areas. The orangepeel is even all over the body so the sanding won't need to be concentrated in any particular area, so it should be okay.

At least i'm back in familiar territory now even if the weather is not suitable. I've never sprayed nitro before, i mostly used auto acrylics, and that's what i refinished the front of my Les Paul with. I was thinking about using it for this because i have everything i need here to do it. The nitro seems to handle in a similar way, a few slight differences, but this stuff isn't totally clear, the acrylic is.

Tomorrow, sand the guitar. Sunday, hopefully, spray the burst. Wednesday is looking good and that would probably be the day to spray the final coats of straight clear. In between would be another coat or two of the red-tinted clear.

EDIT : It just occurred to me that i might use my touch-up gun from here onwards, so far i've used my big gun. I can probably control a thinner lacquer mix better with the small gun and it may atomise better, meaning a smoother finish with less orangepeel.

[DankStar]

crusty rules! cool git!!

[bluesbend]

What a great thread! Congrats on a job well done Crusty.

[walkdmc]

i love it...one day i gotta give this a shot. we need sound clips!

you had me since the first post when you said, "How hard could it be?" Very Jeremy Clarkson of you.

[crusty philtrum]

I'm really buzzed up to be able to share it. A few old friends knew about it all along, and outside of people who play, most people wouldn't be hugely interested for more than a minute or two. In here, everyone has some idea of how guitars are made and how they have to work to be a good instrument, and how it can be tiny details that make or break a guitar.

I'm really really touched by all the nice stuff people are saying. It's very humbling, especially when the internet has many incredible skilled craftsmen/women making stunning 59 replicas and all kinds of amazing stuff that i could only ever dream about.

[Kam]

So cool. I'm honestly blown away. You've persevered through a lot of things that would've stopped me in my tracks. Nice touch with the output jack, too. The position has never bothered me on a regular Les Paul but it's very creative. I like it.

I can't wait to see it finished. Good luck, man.

[H8Red442]

Dude, that is some kinda awesomeness right there. Congrats on amazing job.

[grumptruck]

Jesus blanking Christ.

omg.

win!

[JollyRoger523]

Awesome - the only word needed here.

[ImmortalSix]

Hell yeah man, keep up the good work. Great thread.