custombuiltguitars Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 I picked up one of those $89 LP JR's over the presidents day sale at guitar center. Never even played it at the store. I knew it was a project. Played it for 5 minutes at home, then tore it apart. 1st the inspiration for this project. A customer of mine (purchased one of my self built guitars from me) emailed saying he had a LP special, bolt, that needed a body. The plywood delaminated at the neck pocket. He wanted cheap, so we agreed on a price for a finished poplar body, and a price for me to put it together. A pic of his finished guitar So back to my project. I had a 2 piece blank I glued up a while ago for something.... was waiting for the right project. This is it. In the mean time I leveled, radiused and polished the frets. The body routed, sanded, and grain filled. one shot of the back stained and sealed it will get 4 coats of nitro laquer. The grain won't be 100% filled. I'm good with that. I prefer less finish. I'll hand rub it, put in the new P90 (GFS) and put it together and set it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt1039 Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 That is looking good. Keep us updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custombuiltguitars Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 and here it is after 3 coats of nitro and rubbed out. I force dry my finishes so they don't die back much. In a week I'll polish it up again if it needs it. After I spend the next several hours diggig out of the snow, I'll start assembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 It has that Gibson Firebrand vibe to it...... very nice!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custombuiltguitars Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 just waiting on UPS with the P90 now. All assembled and set up. Strung up with GHS 11 to 50's.STD tuning. Nice action. Intonation....can't complain in the least... the brightness in the pics make the P/U cavity look off center, but it isn't. Must be the glare. Sounds AWSUM unplugged. Lots of life. Not the dead horse the plywood body was. Plus a JR ain't a JR without a P90 (in my eyes anyway). I did what I could with the nut. That and the tuners will be the 1st things to go. Also some better looking knobs. The original speed knobs....well are just WRONG for a JR. So I put a couple of Strat Knobs I had lying around on it for now. Thinkin chicken head knobs.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wardog Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 very nice, are u going to do a pic guard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custombuiltguitars Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 very nice' date=' are u going to do a pic guard?[/quote'] Thanks. I don't plan on it. I made the neck pocket deeper, so the original one won't work anyway(won't slide under the 22nd fret.) . Besides, that one is black white, black. The white stripe just looks wrong. So we will see. I have some thinner black pickguard material, so I may make one and lay it on there and see how it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custombuiltguitars Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 ohhh yeah!!!!!!!!!! Sounds great. Time to jam for a few hours.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpfan Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Thats awesome! I like it. I'm a huge LP Jr. fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhead Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Really good job on the finish man! SWEEET! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 ohhh yeah!!!!!!!!!! Sounds great. Time to jam for a few hours.... WOW!!! Both you and Brianh have done some really killer mods to your Juniors[cool] .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custombuiltguitars Posted February 25, 2010 Author Share Posted February 25, 2010 ty,ty,ty. I enjoy building them as much as playing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deflepfan Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Love, love love the natural wood!! Very sweet! Sheila PS - Really loving that purple one, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custombuiltguitars Posted February 25, 2010 Author Share Posted February 25, 2010 Love' date=' love love the natural wood!! Very sweet!Sheila PS - Really loving that purple one, too![/quote'] Thanks! As a woodworker I can't stand to hide woodgrain. I dig the purple myself. 2 of my guitars are purple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Whoa Custom! I freakin' LOVE that thing! The Purple Nurple too! 'Splain a little more about the body - you cut it yourself? What template did you use? How'd you get the upper contour so perfect? Also, what do you mean by "force dry"? Waiting for lacquer to dry is the biggest PIA with nitro - I must know this secret! Post some shots of your shop and let us know what tools are necessary to make these things - bandsaw, router table, planer/jointer, etc. Awesome, awesome, AWESOME! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custombuiltguitars Posted February 25, 2010 Author Share Posted February 25, 2010 Whoa Custom! I freakin' LOVE that thing! The Purple Nurple too! 'Splain a little more about the body - you cut it yourself? What template did you use? How'd you get the upper contour so perfect? Also' date=' what do you mean by "force dry"? Waiting for lacquer to dry is the biggest PIA with nitro - I must know this secret! Post some shots of your shop and let us know what tools are necessary to make these things - bandsaw, router table, planer/jointer, etc. Awesome, awesome, AWESOME![/quote'] Thanks! I enjoy building immensly. More so than spelling. force dry is just forced hot air and heat lamps. Trust me, you don't want to see my shop. Like a lot of builders, it is a mess all the time. Yes, I cut it myself. How did I get it so perfect? I make a lot of guitar bodys. Just practice.Been building my own guitars for 15 years and for myself and others for 12. I made my LP template , and all my guitar templates myself. The Lp template is just a tracing of an old Memphis I had. Virtually identicle to the Epiphone actually. Tools used, bandsaw, handheld router, random orbit sander, angle grinder. And a pile of homemade templates.3 stacks of templates each about a foot tall. Oh, and my unisaw to rip the blanks. A couple of wood bar clamps. Basic everyday hobby woodworker stuff that I earn my living with. Nothing fancy. That stuff, and this comes natural to me. I'll hve to get a few more pics as I forgot to highlight something. The neck pocket is a roughly 4 degree angle, and so is the back of the body where the neck plate is. Making upper fret access a breeze. Probably better than on a set neck s/c LP JR. Thanks again for all the compliments. I LOVE this guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpfan Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Just out of curiosity, if you decided to sell that guitar or make another like it and sell, how much would that run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deflepfan Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Just out of curiosity' date=' if you decided to sell that guitar or make another like it and sell, how much would that run?[/quote']He'll be back tomorrow. And yes, he'll make you one - already talked with him about an unfinished body for a future Junior in my life! Freakin' love that job he did! Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custombuiltguitars Posted February 26, 2010 Author Share Posted February 26, 2010 Just out of curiosity' date=' if you decided to sell that guitar or make another like it and sell, how much would that run?[/quote']sent you a PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 I like the wood access panel, thanks for the idea. Bump.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custombuiltguitars Posted February 27, 2010 Author Share Posted February 27, 2010 I see no reason to use anything else. I've been doing control covers from wood for years. Which reminds me. The shop tool used in all my builds that I forgot to mention is a 13 inch planer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custombuiltguitars Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 Finally got to hear her thru my Vox Ad30VT that pushes 2 -12 inch speakers. OMG! The tone I have been searching for....in this simple guitar. On the 80's Marshal setting....... WOW. Sweet cleans on the blackface. Next I'll either have to do a special, or add a neck P90 to this. I love this guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Finally got to hear her thru my Vox Ad30VT that pushes 2 -12 inch speakers. OMG! The tone I have been searching for....in this simple guitar. On the 80's Marshal setting....... WOW. Sweet cleans on the blackface. Next I'll either have to do a special' date=' or add a neck P90 to this. I love this guitar![/quote'] I say add a Charlie Christian to the neck[biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpfan Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 sent you a PM I never got the PM. Try it a agin if you have time. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custombuiltguitars Posted March 3, 2010 Author Share Posted March 3, 2010 I say add a Charlie Christian to the neck[biggrin] Yeah, a friend of mine already said to do that. As this JR looks a lot like John Lennons anyway. But I love the tone from P90's on mahogony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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