Fully hollow and carved Les Paul

Andyjr1515 · May 2020

Ooooh...that's really coming on nicely. Love that top carve.

WezV · May 2020

I wont get chance to do much work until next week now, but thought i would grab a few construction pics for you all.

I have gone unconventional for the neck join so will show and describe why

Gibson tenons, long or short, have 7 main facets .
1) base tenon
2) Bass side tenon
3)Treble side tenon
4) Bass Side fretboard
5) Treble side fretboard
6) End of tenon
7) heel/body join

A well made Gibson style join will have all of those fitted perfectly. Most sacrifice at least one, Gibson sacrifice a few for best aesthetic fit and to make fitting the complex join as easy as possible. Each facet sacrificed weakens the join.

6 and 7 are end grain to end grain joins, so should be considered non structural. You can ignore 6 all together if you want, a gap between the end of tenon and body doesn't affect anything. You can't ignore 7, even though it adds no strength you dont want to see gaps between heel and body.

Gibson famously sacrificed number 1 with the rocker tenon seen below.

Image: https://www.mylespaul.com/forums/members/dwagar-albums-don-s-stuff-picture9779-tenons.jpg

They also are known to allow a lot of slop in 2 and 3 and correct with veneers during glue up...one reason to drop the long tenon was it makes it hard to hide this...you can see a gap on the treble side filled with a veneer here, also issues with the base of the tenon shown by how thing the end of the tenon has become

Image: https://www.mylespaul.com/attachments/screen-shot-2020-01-01-at-9-04-38-am-png.430182/

Now i don't want gaps or veneers in my neck joins.... I want a simple easy fit with maximum glue surface

So normally i go for a full width tenon. It has 4 facets to it, making it much simpler to cut, making it much simpler to avoid gaps - maximising glue surfaces
1) base of tenon
2) Bass side of tenon
3) Treble side of tenon
4) End of tenon (non structural)

Worth noting that almost every builder who isn't GIbson or claiming to make accurate replicas makes this choice. Its the PRS nek join for example. Also commonly seen on felines LP's around here. So whilst its totally possible to make a good version of the traditional join, there really isn't much point beyond vintage accuracy... and one or two other aesthetic choices

Here is a couple of mine with the full width tenon

you can see the binding on the treble side doesn't quite go to the 16th fret join like it does on the traditional design... but i have 3 massive glue faces and can reshape the heel in fun ways and its all a lot easier to do than the Gibson version

Onto this guitar. Its a hybrid of the two. I could have done my usual full width tenon, but i actually want everything to look really pretty in the cutaway area and show all the construction details ... so that means going a bit more traditional.

I decide to go with a 7/8 Tenon... or more precisely its like a full width on the base side and traditional one on the treble. This is actually the method used by a lot of far eastern factories for exactly the same reasons i am doing it... it looks right from the outside, but is an easier fit.

Here it is on a cheap kit

but they were very lazy and took a big notch out of the structural bit to make it even easier..

I'm getting to pics of mine....

WezV · May 2020

SO my neck join on this has 6 facets

1) Base of tenon
2) Bass side of tenon
3) Treble side of tenon
4) treble side of fretboard/neck extension
5) end of tenon
6) heel/body join

i need a neck extension under the fretboard side as the neck needs to be raised from the body for correct neck angle geometry

Body is slotted like this

neck slots in

and i just have a little bit more fitting to do to close the gap between body and heel..neck is set at a 3 degree angle

also here is a gut shot.... the back edge of the rims and kerfing still needs to be levelled off to fit the back, then I get my last chance to tidy all this up before i fit the back.

PhilKing · May 2020

Interesting, I hadn't realized that you had taken the sides down to the cutaway on the bass side of the block.

roberty · May 2020

This is looking bloody fabulous. Amazing work

Strangefan · May 2020

So much want!

WezV · May 2020

PhilKing said:

Interesting, I hadn't realized that you had taken the sides down to the cutaway on the bass side of the block.

Yeah, there is also a thin strip of wood where the sides join at the tailblock, and where the treble side meets the horn. It gives 3 subtle vertical lines in the side assembly to highlight the construction. If I was binding the guitar, I would have put 3 vertical binding strips instead

WezV · May 2020

Sneak peak at the back plate. I bound round the cavity cover in the end, needs cleaning up and levelling off but i think its going to work well

PhilKing · May 2020

Nice touch, I can see that now.

WezV · May 2020

Single diamond tailpiece arrived

WezV · May 2020

SteveRobinson · May 2020

I prefer the other tailpiece, it looks different to the norm.

Of course the correct choice would be a Bigsby!

WezV · May 2020

The other one looks right, but is a cheap Chinese one and whilst it's not terrible I think it adds to much weight for what it is.... So definitely no Bigsby.

If anyone had an original one I would use it. I also had a quick look for other old ones as I quite like the thin bent metal ones used on a lot of quirky vintage guitars. In fact I keep eyeing up the one on my old Framus style archtop

ICBM · May 2020

WezV said:

The other one looks right, but is a cheap Chinese one and whilst it's not terrible I think it adds to much weight for what it is...

It might help to balance the guitar - if it's anything like my PRS Hollowbody it will be a bit neck-heavy with that much space inside the body.

I do think it looks much better too - the three little diamonds hint at matching the polepieces of the pickup.

WezV · May 2020

Tonally, I don't want a big chunk of cast crap metal down there... Even if it aids balance and the style suits ( which is does since it's based on a Gibson design. I got it because it matches one Les used on his early LP's)

I'm going lightweight on neck and tuners so whilst it may be neck heavy I dont expect balance to be an issue... Certainly seems okay so far

PhilKing · May 2020

Hi Wez, I might have something. Let me look through. It might have had Sandy damage, so it will look very reliced!

WezV · May 2020

PhilKing said:

Hi Wez, I might have something. Let me look through. It might have had Sandy damage, so it will look very reliced!

If you do, that would be great!

MattNovak · May 2020

I have an old 50’s Hofner Congress - they have a great tailpiece called a Compensator which I think would look cool...

Roland · May 2020

Straten compensator. There’s one on my President. I thought it was a good idea.

WezV · May 2020

I like the compensator

WezV · May 2020

Here is an old LP with a hofner tailpiece, which I don't mind

A pic of Les and Mary with the 3 diamond tailpiece

And a few early variations

WezV · May 2020

Dupe...

WezV · May 2020

Also the 51 proto,

PeteC · May 2020

Holy Cow... this is getting better and better !

WezV · May 2020

frets are in.

The neck is a friction fit so can be hung like this, although if it was a solid body it would not hold it... too tight is not good when you come to glueing

you may notice a headstock inlay, got a few bubble in the black superglue so its not done yet but these are some discs i has laser cut years ago.... i thought I had used them all but found a couple whilst sorting out

and a weight in

Neck is 1lb 5oz, body is 3lb 11oz... i think that is a good weight distribution for balance, and will likely be what it comes in at without hardware once finished.... got some wood to remove, finish to add etc, should even out

SteveF · May 2020

This is looking awesome

TTony · May 2020

That’s a very comfortable weight.

PeteC · May 2020

This build continues to inspire ... its looking really great. What pick up is going into it ?

WezV · May 2020

PeteC said:

This build continues to inspire ... its looking really great. What pick up is going into it ?

The nickel covered adjustable staple shown so far

PeteC · May 2020

Of course. You mentioned the mojo staple in the early postings.

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Fully hollow and carved Les Paul

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