So now that the project is essentially complete, it is time for a little bit of back fill on the blog.    First up is coloring the curly maple top. I essentially followed the great tutorial that Gator Payne posted on the MyLesPaul.com forum.  I used trans-tint dyes mixed with water.  I started by doing a grain enhancement with a […]

Saturday, April 14, 2012, 4:47 PM I’m pleased to announce the birth of Tequila, a ten pound, glowing hunk of spit and vinegar.  She sings like an angel, screams like a banshee, and cries like a baby.  Perfect on all counts.  Details to follow.

The heavy woodworking is done and all the pieces are now one.  I suppose I could install the tuners, pickups, knobs, etc. and start making some noise, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.  This is true for just about any project I work on.  The building can go fairly quickly.  And the finishing […]

Now that the neck is glued in place, how do you decide exactly where to put both the tail-piece and the bridge?  This has been lurking around in my thoughts since the beginning of this project.  I mentioned in the earlier post that aligning the neck perfectly with the centerline of the guitar body is critical.  If I simply marked […]

OK.  Time to back fill some of the steps leading up to shooting the lacquer clear coats.  First up is attaching the neck to the body. I spent a bit of time while cutting the neck tenon and mortise ensuring that the neck would be aligned with the guitar’s centerline and not stick out a funny angle.  Even a little […]