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

[Laughing Kookaburra]

The finish is really starting to resemble a finished product. Looks freaking good!

The best part is that this guy can playing this guitar through an amp he built...after the end of the world, when the rest of us are banging rocks and sticks together, he'll be rocking out!

[JeffB]

I was kind of waiting for the finished product to heap some praise, but yeesh Crusty..this is just flat out awesome!

[ex-250]

This thread delivers.

[Ball&Chain]

Thats too good not to have body binding.

[formula73]

Fantastic, man. Just fantastic. The best part is that it looks (and probably feels) absolutely professional while you were just trial-and-erroring to get it all figured out. That's talent, broseph! Awesome job. I can't wait to see the finished product.

[St_Genesius]

Once the neck is on, adding binding would be a HUGE pain in the ass.

Thats too good not to have body binding.

[LesStrat]

She's SECKSIE!

[BloodRose]

Amazing! Every step just WOWs me more! Looks very professional! And, you are my hero in that you have fixed my biggest PEEVE with my lp.. The output jack.. most of my night practice is sitting on the couch. I have a bad back and it hurts me to have to sit up on the edge so the cable isnt folded over.

hey, I think it would be killer if you had little baby mahog blocks running around.. they could grow and then you could build me one!!!

Congrats bro! I have a feeling this will be a stellar sounding guit and one you will cherish forever...

[Ventilator]

This project is really shaping up! I want one.

[TeleLubber]

the color/tint is coming out perfectly

gonna be the seksy with gold hardware..

[elscorcho]

[crusty philtrum]

^ ^ ^ Hahaha, okay, here's more ......

I sanded the whole guitar to remove the orange peel, and that takes the gloss off and leaves a matte finish. Then I masked her up and sprayed the black burst.

Because the front edges of the body have a small radius instead of a sharp corner where they meet the sides, i masked the rest of the body so that a small amount of the top (the radius on the edge) would not get any black, and then that narrow edge would be the original red colour and would appear on the front like a dark red binding. Unfortunately in a few places, the black crept under the tape a bit, and in some spots the masking tape wasn't in the perfect position.

So instead of being able to shoot another coat of red-tinted clear, i have to wait for the black to dry and then i will finely sand the edges to even up the 'binding'. Tomorrow i should have that done and be ready to shoot the last coat of tinted clear, which will bring back the glossy look it had in the previous pics, but with the black burst. The tinted red clear over the black will pull the colour scheme together and make it more cohesive, and also create an effect where the black will appear differently at different viewing angles.








EDIT : I notice since this post that no-one has said anything. I can understand that .... so far i've only posted pics of the guitar during the finishing processes when it's shiny and glossy, but in between each coat it is sanded back and looks dull like this. The black will look great under the following red clear coats (my other LP looks great and is the same procedure as this, although that guitar has binding).

I am fully prepared for the fact that doing the burst on this one may be problematic without binding, and if i run into such problems and can't solve them, i will sand the black off and continue to finish it in the dark-red only, similar to how it appeared in the previous set of pics. It's worth keeping in mind that i took three attempts to get that other LP top finished the way it is. I don't expect such extreme measures with this one, and i always have a 'Plan B'.

[TheLivingDead]

That looks sweet, dude!

[ParameterMan]

I actually like it matte. I do have to say that when I saw the latest red, I thought it would be a shame to put a burst ring on it but you have kept it tasteful as usual. I really like how you're masking the black back from the edge - it almost looks like the black has pooled in the top carve. Very cool!

[crusty philtrum]

That looks sweet, dude!

I know it actually looks worse at the moment .... I had hoped to have put the next coat of red clear over this but the burst needs a little bit of sanding so the gloss coat had to wait. I allmost considered not posting these pics, but this thread is probably about the mistakes and difficulties as much as the victories.

It's 3 a.m. Monday morning here, i'm just eating a meal and then i'll be seeing if i can tidy up the outer edges of the black. If i can't, i'll sand it all off. Either way i hope to be back to shooting the red clear coats later today and the look will be back on track, with or without the burst.

[crusty philtrum]

This is my other LP, i had to re-finish the top, and i used the exact same black and red tinters as i am using on this build. This pic doesn't show the effect, but with more red-tinted clear over the black, something interesting happens ; depending on the viewing angle, the black can appear as solid black, blood red, purple-y or even almost disappear completely at some angles.



The problem is, it's very difficult to capture some of those qualities with a camera. I guess a professional with great gear and skills could do it, but it's beyond my capabilities. Some aspects of this are probably only noticeable if you have the guitar in your hands (trying to capture that three-dimensional effect of a great flame or quilt top guitar would be the same kind of problem i guess).

On the LP in the pic here, the base coat is metallic gold, which makes it a candy-apple finish. Of course on the build that is the subject of this thread, the base coat is the sealer, allowing the woodgrain to be seen. But there will still be the same effect with the black burst with some red clear over it.

All these things are somewhat trial-and-error, and the worst that can happen is that i create a few more days work for myself. Not really a problem on a big project like this, the most important thing is to get the best finish possible, because i have to live with it and look at it for the rest of my life, hehe.

[crusty philtrum]

I've been sanding the edges, here's what it looks like now ...





I was using wet and dry paper wrapped around a pencil with a little bit of water. Whenever i wiped up any water drops, the black and red would both go glossy, and it looked stunning for a few seconds !

The sun is out, hopefully i'll get one or two coats of the red-tinted clear on today, meaning hopefully there should be some pics of her all shiny again.

[GoldenVulture]

I'm rather disappointed. Making guitars may be fun but this thread has thrown your ratio of serious to stupid posts massively out of whack. I really don't know what to say. Cut your hair, get a real job or stop being serious.
Hobbies are nice but they don't pay the bills. Either do jokes unless your a paid professional; like a politician or something and you don't want to be one of them do you? I urge you to forget this seriousness at once and get back to being the babbling brook that we know. your Sincerly GV.

PS; You've ruined what was a perfectly good piece of wood, shame on you.

[crusty philtrum]

I put two coats of red-tinted clear on today. For some reason, i just can't seem to get a good pic of the front, no matter how many i take, none of them seem to look like the way it appears in real life ; which is darker and the burst blends better, doesn't look so harsh.

Anyway, here's some pics ;

[crusty philtrum]