1959 Les Paul Junior Build

[bender]

EXCITEMENT!

[mrmofo]

goodbye vester restoration thread

[murky]

Pickups - I will make it so pickups can be changed around easy enough. I have a hum cancelling P90 coming, and I purchased Mal's mini humbuckers too which I will load the bridge into a P90 sourround. I want to experiment. Maybe Mr Glyn can fabricate something unusual for this? Goldfoil P90?

Finish - not done a TV yellow before. I have a formula which I will explain once I've succeeded. Plan B is black

Frets - my fav for a Gibson StewMac 0154. https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-a ... twire.html

I’ve been toying with putting together a PGK junior kit for a long time, but the stumbling block has been finding someone local that can do a good TV Yellow....

[GrantB]

Pickups - I will make it so pickups can be changed around easy enough. I have a hum cancelling P90 coming, and I purchased Mal's mini humbuckers too which I will load the bridge into a P90 sourround. I want to experiment. Maybe Mr Glyn can fabricate something unusual for this? Goldfoil P90?

Finish - not done a TV yellow before. I have a formula which I will explain once I've succeeded. Plan B is black

Frets - my fav for a Gibson StewMac 0154. https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-a ... twire.html

I’ve been toying with putting together a PGK junior kit for a long time, but the stumbling block has been finding someone local that can do a good TV Yellow....

What wood is the PGK? Needs to be a deep grain like mahogany to get the proper look. Korina would make a nice TV Yellow base. But say, Kauri would be arse. As would Alder.

[MrGlyn]

Pickups - I will make it so pickups can be changed around easy enough. I have a hum cancelling P90 coming, and I purchased Mal's mini humbuckers too which I will load the bridge into a P90 sourround. I want to experiment. Maybe Mr Glyn can fabricate something unusual for this? Goldfoil P90?

Finish - not done a TV yellow before. I have a formula which I will explain once I've succeeded. Plan B is black

Frets - my fav for a Gibson StewMac 0154. https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-a ... twire.html

Oh MrB, we need to talk.
Is it std. P90 dimensions?

[GrantB]

Pickups - I will make it so pickups can be changed around easy enough. I have a hum cancelling P90 coming, and I purchased Mal's mini humbuckers too which I will load the bridge into a P90 sourround. I want to experiment. Maybe Mr Glyn can fabricate something unusual for this? Goldfoil P90?

Finish - not done a TV yellow before. I have a formula which I will explain once I've succeeded. Plan B is black

Frets - my fav for a Gibson StewMac 0154. https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-a ... twire.html

Oh MrB, we need to talk.
Is it std. P90 dimensions?

It is...with a Dogear mount. Vintage spec, so shallow.

[GrantB]

Fingerboard ready to go!

That's my grandfathers old plane. I restored this week, took an hour to sharpen the blade...still need a little more on the 2000 grit. It's awesome. Cuts super cleanly and has a nice wide mouth for the shavings to go through.

Everyone knows tonez live in the flame maple truss filler strip! Man that was a nice piece of wood.

[GrantB]

Home made sanding jig. Planed the sides to shape then 240grit on the straightedge. Often its easier to move the wood, than the sanding device.

[murky]

Home made sanding jig. Planed the sides to shape then 240grit on the straightedge. Often its easier to move the wood, than the sanding device.

That's a really nice piece of wood!

[StrummersOfThunder]

You're a guru
Loving this thread

[GrantB]

So satisfying...Pops old wood plane.

Fingerboard has been glued on today. checked the measurements about 20 times to ensure the scale length will be right.

As an FYI - there's a funny shaped metal dodacky behind the yellow sandpaper covered radius block. Thats a multi shaped scraper. I love scrapers. This one I used to ever so slightly concave the underside of the fingerboard. This is so when it was clamped the outside edges pushed down hardest against the mahogany, leaving no little glue lines.

I used a lot more clamps than that initially, this is after about 4 hrs....needed to check a few things so just had the small ones on.

[GrantB]

Update time.

Neck shaped, heel was a biatch, BIG frets installed, headstock cut by hand and sanded, actually all done by hand. I was so paranoid about using power tools for this build I just cut everything by hand.

Tonight, after a can of Dale's Ale (so good), I got the courage to just glue it all up. Tadaaa.

This wood is exceptional.

[GrantB]

Clearly those pictures are in no particular order.

Neck dimensions for junkies.

1st fret close to 0.9", 12th close to 1.01". Not big shoulders. Trying to replicate a '58 neck...despite the '59 specs elsewhere.

Sanding and more sanding is the immediate future. I need to spray this fecker before I lose my 50-60% humidity window!!!

EDIT - frets, I chose the 0150 StewMac wire, .110 wide and .053 high. I'd call it jumbo, like some 59's I've seen, but StewMac says it is like the Kramer or Ibanez frets. I don't agree. But who cares. It does look a bit pyramid side on so I wonder if they have some 0158 mixed into the wrong packaging. Not complaining because the fret wire looks awesome.

[Lostininverness]

Looking sweet! Did you need to do anything to the neck pocket or was it nice and square and to the right angle already? Is that a well sealed crack on the top?

Neck feel comfy?

[Bg]

any progress yet....








(still not old as new person to torment)