After a few weeks of working on the mostly-straight lines of the fretboard, it is nice to be finally working on some curves.  I’ve had the templates made for a couple of months and had the wood for about a month, so it was time to get going with the guitar body. The main reason for not starting with the […]

Binding seems to occupy a lot of space on the Les Paul guitar and luthier forums.  What width?  What thickness?  Whose color is correct?  I have to admit, I got caught up in it.  One dealer has a cream that some folks say is too pink for a vintage-style Les Paul.  Another’s is the right color, but too expensive (something […]

OK, another bad pun, but it was just too obvious to pass up. With the inlay complete, I turned my attention toward finalizing the fretboard.  First up was tapering the fretboard to its final dimensions.  I subtracted 0.04″ from the finished size on each edge to accommodate the binding.  This was definitely a measure five times, cut once operation.  Working in hundredths of an […]

All wood has personality.   A set of characteristics that make it unique from other species.  Colors, textures, and smells, mix with weight, stiffness, density, and grain to define the working properties for that species.  Learning the subtleties of each species is one of the most enjoyable aspects of any woodworking project.  Alaskan yellow cedar has a sweetness in smell […]

There are few places on a guitar that catch your eye more than the fretboard.  It is hard not to watch a player’s fingers move around the frets, constructing chords or picking out notes.  This is especially true if the fretboard has nice inlay. The original Les Pual guitars from the late 50’s are characterized by large, trapezoid-shaped inlays that […]