Well with the introductions out the way and me selling something in the classified section, I guess it's time to lay down the future plans. Ever since I sold my Jackson PS-4, I've been looking for a stock looking daily shredder that is comfortable to play sitting down, won't stab me when I'm standing up and won't scare little children. I loved the way that the PS-4 played, but I found it to be a very square guitar with few rounded edges that seriously needed a refret as well as new pick ups. I didn't want to hot rod it as finding a nice PS-4 is a little hard nowadays, so I decided to sell her one and keep searching.
Other options were a strat, (which I don't like), tele, which I like even less (lol........sorry). Or....................a Les Paul, I've seen many a rocker with a LP and loved the fact that even with a killer finish, they still look hardcore. I popped over to my local store and tried out a J&D brothers LP and liked the feel, the price was also not too shabby, there were a few things that I didn't like and the pick up options would not be my choice. Tuners, bridge also made me wonder why I should buy a guitar and then strip it down to do it the way that I want it. (beginning to sound like my jackson all over again.) I tried an ESP LP as well as a Gibson and loved them, but couldn't justify that kind of coin seeing that I'm a beginner.
So............time to build my own.
First a bit of history, I've done this before (back in school when I was 16, I built a warlock from tuners to bridge and everything in between with just the basic knowledge. i.e. I was in woodshop in a technical school with all the tools. This was how it ended up, incorrrect intonation, way high action, terrible fretwork. But it played, not very well, but that was due to a LOT of basic mistakes on my side.
Anyway, I ended up rewiring it and fitting an ebay neck (widow headstock) and it's been brought back into service, but as you can see, for a daily, it's a bit of a bruiser.
Plan of action. To build/ wire a custom les paul guitar. After looking around on the net, there are tonnes of guys building them with varying results, the guy in Isreal simply blows me away, but your average guy doens't have the skills and tools that he has. Then there was Jon Tirone from Peru (
http://members.fortunecity.com/jtfish/lpc/cvr/cover.htm) who built a les paul guitar using a slab of wood, sewer pipe for binding etc etc..............you get the idea. He made everything by hand with very limited tools. So it's possible.
I have to be the first to say that my woodworking skills are above average, I have a skateboard halfpipe in my garden that is self built, floorboards in the house, full kitchen from scratch, so I know my way around a chunk of wood and have quite a bit of tools, plus a wife that allows the odd purchase of tools that i SIMPLY MUST HAVE IN ORDER TO KEEP THE HOUSE FROM FALLING DOWN........lol.
What's going to be used?
- The wood for the body is going to be African Mahogany, neck is going to be Canadian Maple or African Mahogany and the fretboard is going to be rosewood. Nice and simple, but should do what I want it to. I'm looking at a light honeyburst style finish on it.
- As this is a daily guitar, I'm keeping it simple. No double locking, just a simple Gotoh STOP tailpeice, Gotoh tuners and more than likely a EMG 81/85 set up for pick ups. But the pick ups are probably the only thing that is undecided.
I'll probably have some pictures of chunks of wood by the weekend. I'm going to be fabbing the whole guitar out of MDF first to get an idea of what I can and cannot do.
