So... I got up this morning and there's this little notice from the post office in my mailbox, saying something arrived for me, and I need to come and collect it! Mmm, I wonder what that could be?! Maybe it's my Russian mail-order bride? Hell no, baby, it's my Paul-plans! I'll be very disappointed if it's a Russian woman and NOT my plans - I'll tell you that much...
After a run to the post office, (and a walk back), I had my new Russian woman, (where did she come from?), make me some coffee and I opened this baby, (the plans, not the Russian), on the kitchen table like an old timer would open a newspaper over a cup of tea. The only thing I read in the newspaper is the comics, but that will have to wait... No time for love, Dr. Jones... or is that Miss Kalashnikov???
Inspection
Now the first thing you need to do, is to make sure your plans at least resembles a 1958 Gibson Les Paul. After all, that's what you're building. My mother confirmed that it looks like guitar plans, (as opposed to plans for building a boat), so we're on the right track.
One thing that came up while researching this project, and talking to other people, is something that puzzled me quite a bit lately. It seems that not even Gibson can build a 50's re-issue (RI) correctly... Surely, if ANYBODY has reliable plans from the 50's it must be them? But alas, they still keep buggering up the positions of the control knobs! People, it's not that hard to get it right! I wonder if they are aware of this fact? Surely they must be? It's probably done with intent, but the questions is WHY?! Simply to distinguish the RI's from vintage 50's models? Thats what serial numbers are for!
Anyway... On the original 50's models, if you draw a straight line along the center of the tail-piece and extend this line toward the bottom of the guitar toward the knobs, this line should pass between the two knob closest to the neck, touching both of them. This line should touch the KNOBS after installation, so the actual center of the hole for the pod's pegs should be a distance equal to the radius of the knob away from this line drawn through the tail-piece. Might sound complicated, (seeing that even Gibson gets it wrong), but it really isn't. I'll explain it a bit better later when it comes down to installing these parts.
The correct position of the control knobs in relation to the tail-pieceon a vintage 1950's Les Paul Standard.
Ooh, my first scribble on my soon to be framed and hanged artwork!
*Checks a few other things... Seems OK for now... Will keep on checking and double checking as I go on...*
The plans are for a 1959 LP Standard, and NOT for a '58, but very little, if anything at all, has changed during the few months of production in the late half of '58. I will find out what these little cosmetic changes were, and let you know when I get to them later.
The plans seem to have been drawn directly from a vintage '59, with the serial number 9 2044 - the number is actually drawn in on the plans. I wonder if the guy who drew the plans was meticulous and drew it in because it was there, or if he had a sense of humor, did some research, and added the number for the hell of it. Be that as it may, the number does correspond to a late 1959 Les Paul Standard - one of the last ones made in that year, since the numbers for 1959 stop around 9 25xx.
Time for love, Miss Paul...
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
With some consultation with the plans, a few measurement translations, and a few plans to cheat, I came out with the following cutting list to take to the nice people at the timber merchants. You will need the following:
Mahogany:
450 x 350 x 45mm (Body - if you cant find 350mm, like me, glue up two 175's for a center seam*)
660 x 80 x 45mm (Neck)
90 x 80 x 45mm (Headstock - glued up to the end of the neck to accommodate the headstock angle**)
Maple:
450 x 175 x 16mm (x2) (Top - glued up to 450 x 350, center seam)
Rosewood:
65 x 470 x 7mm (Fingerboard)
*Gluing the mahogany on a center seam is not ideal for two reasons. Firstly, it's not supposed to have a seam, and secondly, any glue joints in the guitar will be "softer" than the wood, and absorb some tone... Look really hard for a piece of 450mm - short of cutting down a tree, gluing two 175's together should be your last resort.)
**Gluing the extra bit on for the headstock angle is not ideal either, but a viable and less critical "cheat". If you glue the two 45mm pieces up like that, you can get it from the same 50mm board, and have it plained once. The other option is to get a separate board, with a lot of wastage in both boards, and have the second one cut and plained to 660 x 80 x 65mm.
These measurements are slightly oversize for two reasons. Firstly, it's plained a little think to allow for some sanding - this is really very little, but enough to sand it properly. Secondly, it leaves you with a little bit of wood outside the actual shape of the guitar for the router to take off, without having to cut to close to the outlines with a jigsaw.
Wood is normally sold in standard sizes, so you will be forced to buy more than you really need. Looking at the cutting list and the standard sizes of wood, I will probably have to buy enough wood for 2 bodies, 3 tops, 3 necks and 6 fingerboards. Guess who is going to build some more of these? If you are lucky enough to have some of these woods in the right sizes, or you can organize to only buy what you need, PLEASE do so and save a tree.
Besides the "proper" wood, you will also need something to make templates from. The material depends on how lasting you want your templates to be - are you going to use them once, or are you planning on using them again? The thickness does not really matter all that much, but I would suggest something at least 10mm thick. (See the next post on making the templates for more information.) I'm probably going to use MDF or plywood for my templates, depending on the price, and I'll see what I can find as far as thickness goes, so for now I'll just give you the surface sizes of the material you need to get. You will need:
450 x 350mm (For the body, the top, and the cavities)
80 x 700mm (For the neck)
80 x 180mm (For the headstock)
80 x 660mm (For the neck and headstock profile)
Keep the rest of the board you got for the templates when they cut it for you. These bits will come in handy later to make smaller little templates, like those for the cavities, or even the neck joint.
***
It's Saturday afternoon now, so there's is no point in going to the shops now to get the wood. I'll just sit back, have a few beers, and wait for Monday morning. (Damn, this waiting is killing me!) I'll go get at least the material for the templates on Monday, and start on making those. The tone-wood might have to wait a little longer, until I finished some other work I have on order, so I can get paid for that, so I can pay the timber merchant. (Capitalism hard at work while I have to sit and wait...)
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