what radius fret board on les paul custom plus

[invasion]

was wondering is it a 12" radius on a les paul custom and indeed all les pauls ??

Also should I get a 12" radius sanding beam for my guitar (if it is 12")

or flat one that will do any guitar I want to level ??

I am guessing the radius may help prevent mistakes. Although I was thinking the flat 1"x2" tube should be ok if you just let its own weight do the work it should follow the radius you already have?.

What size do I want for the truss rod nut/bolt

 

Thanks

[james_edward]

Lp's are generally 12" radius on the board and you're much better off using a radius sanding block that matches. I can't remember the truss rod size exactly but you should find it's a metric allen head around 5mm

[RSDx]

Mine takes a 4mm allen key .... same as a lot of my bicycle parts. 'tis an '07, if that matters....

[Whitmore Willy]

Invasion,

 

In my limited experience all the Epi Les Pauls I have had were 12" radius fretboards.\

They all took a 4 millimeter hex wrench (allen wrench)

 

Now, as to sanding beams/blocks/files:

As I mentioned in your post about "tools": It is a matter of personal preference.

 

Now understand that I have only done a half dozen fret levelings myself. I am no expert and others may have

better opinions. I will say that I and others I have done them for have been quite pleased with the outcomes.

So this is my experience:

 

When I first started I bought a couple 8" and 4" sanding blocks in 12" and 16" radius. After starting I'm glad I did.

I taped off and marked the fret tops. I use the Carlos Santana method.(Got A Black Magic Marker)

 

Now here's the rub. (pun intended)

When I started to sand I quickly found that the 12" radius block was not a perfect match with the 12" radius

fretboard. Apparently all 12" radius are not exactly perfect. The block was just a little more concave.

This caused it to start sanding on the outer edges of the frets without contacting the centers.

 

Had I continued, by the time I would have been leveling the centers the outer edges would have been over sanded.

I immediately switched to the 16" radius to finish the job.

I have used the 16" radius block ever since.

 

In hindsight, if I were going to do more guitars in the future I would probably buy a flat block or flat

leveling file.

 

Hope others chime in with their insights and experiences.

 

Willy

[Gordy01]

If you are starting to buy some tools, you should get a set of radius guages first.

I've got the understring set, they work fine for the top also. Occasionally the neck will be one radius at the nut, and a different radius at the bottom of the neck.

I've measured some necks that were supposed to be 12 and found them to be 14 or 16 as I said in your earlier post.

I use the radius sanding blocks to do fret level jobs. It is important to get the correct radius block, as Willy said.

[KX36]

For Gibson, LP standards are usually 12, LP customs are usually 10. For Epiphone, I have no idea if the custom is diffferent.

 

I levelled my frets a couple of weeks ago myself. For the basic levelling, I used a cheap £5 Stanley spirit level, that happens to have a 1" x 24" flat surface on it.

 

I followed Dan Erlewine's Fretting Basics DVD and I'd definiately advise you to do the same. Dan uses various long straight things but anything with a flat straight surface 1" x 16-24" would be perfect. Dan uses the radius blocks afterwards to make sure the levelled frets still match the radius, you don't need to use it for the whole job. It's more important that what you use for the bulk of levelling is suitable and straight and that you get the neck adjusted as well as possible before you start.

 

I've blogged the whole process in 3 longwinded parts here. It goes into all the various cheap things I used as tools:

http://matthelyar.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html