Thank you, it's not just a normal tutorial on carving, it's a reflection of all your experience and it blows me away. You're explanations are clear and top notch. Bravo!
I'm building a Les Paul Jnr double cut at the moment. Watching the way you work, and how freely you pass on your knowledge get's me thinking, maybe just maybe I could give this a go myself. Thank you sir.
I love this video. I toured the Gibson factory in Nashville, back in 1978. Machining has come a long long way, and is truly a blessing. But, doing it by hand adds a dimension unparalleled. Having human hands do the work is magical. Thank you for this video! God sure has gifted man to do beautiful things!
Fantastic tutorial. Very detailed and answered a lot of my questions. The only part you glossed over was the routing the neck angle tennon slot which I think is an important step to get correct .
I plan on eventually making my own 59' and I was wondering how in the world they did carved tops. My first LP was a 78' and flat. I got a Japanese 59' copy and the carve surprised me. I thought that it was their take on it. Literally had no idea that Gibson carved the original 50's models. Thanks also for talking about the binding prep. I guess the next challenge is templates. Ughhh.
Thank you so much for posting this video! When the last one was taken down, I was incredibly bummed as I was starting my own L.P. build. In my opinion, this is the must see video on how to use the templates and carve the top with neck and pickup plane angles.
I did 4 Les Paul and can fully confirm, taht your way to do it, is a very professional one, that will lead to a perfect result. Chapeau to your way of demonstration!
Congratulation. You made a great job. Every step of top carving is consequence of a high knowledge of what is the best result. Thanks for having shared such a great tutorial.
Hey there. I came across this video a few days ago while I was trying to find some info on the two stage routing used in late 50's LP control cavities. Earlier this morning, I came across one of your builds (very nice work!) on the my Les Paul forum, and noticed you perfectly nailed the control cavity. As I was looking around on there some more, I came across a comment from someone, and from what I could gather, it sounded like you might have digital files that could be used to create the necessary templates. I'm close to wrapping up my second LP build, and as of now, have only drilled the pilot holes for the controls, lol. I'm somewhat shocked by the lack of info available on this step of the build. No template sets for sale, or blueprint type drawing I've come across seem to address it. Really hoping you might be able to help me get this thing wrapped up! I tried to leave you a message over there, but couldn't really say all I had to say with the character limit. I recognized the beard from seeing this a few days ago, and thought I'd try reaching out over here as well. Hope it's not a bother. Anyway, any help you might be able to offer, would be appreciated immensely!
and HES REFORMED AMEN! this video helped me alot im building a les paul for someone and been deciding if I was gonna go traditional with the carve or use something like yours... I'd potentially like to purchase some from ya if that's possible. its gonna be a lefty les paul
Wow, this explains why my Edwards Limited (Japanese Les Paul copy) has what I call a negative carve. The carve around the belly goes so deep that it is below the thickness of the edge of the guitar near the binding. It could probably hold water. Don't get me wrong, the guitar is completely beautiful, and the carve is an absolute great job, but it's definitely not a proper LP look
my Burny LP custom is all Mohogany guitar. The black paint was so bad i sanded it all off and that was what was under it. left all natural. I dig it and enjoying your Video.
This Les Paul carve video is amazing in its technical detail and excellent workmanship. And what a mystery that it sits here all by itself on a church channel surrounded by religious videos. Who is this amazing luthier?
Beautiful job - This gives me a real appreciation for how to build a les paul the traditional way, but when I see all the energy that goes into it, it makes me just want to do it with a CNC router.
Wow!!! Would have help me a lot to watch this video before carving mine! I would really like to see how you do the mortise for the neck. My technique was not so nice. The neck is loose in the mortise. I will probably have to shim it when I will glue it and glue the finger board after. I also had no clue about the 1,5 degre angle for the pickup portion of the body. You did a really good job carving this body.
So just to answer your question in case you or someone else is wondering. As a carpenter to me it looks like all he did was built a hollow box out of plywood to whatever height the first template is and just attached a long board and cut a hole for the router but to fit through
You sir have a very impressive skillset, holy cow talk about craftsmanship… Do you do this just as a hobby, or do you build for friends/family/customers now and then? Fantastic piece of artwork there, absolutely stunning!
Awsome video. Great job. I need a set of those carving templates. Also what les Paul routing templates do you use. And do they all come as a set. Keep up the good work.
I’m going to be building my first Gibson style guitar and this video was very informative! Do you have any plans on how you made the jigs to cut the neck plane and pickup plane?
Excellent tutorial, congratulations and thanks, I am one more subscriber. One question, does the binding in the region next to the neck, follow at the same level horizontally or go up in this region to follow the top and keep 1/4 inch? I always have doubts on this point. Did the router cut horizontally or did it travel on top?
This is fantastic. I'm a woodworker, only furniture up until this point, but I do play the guitar and have always wanted to do a build. Are your templates available anywhere in any form?
thanks for this great build guide ! really detailed. a question on 0:28 drilling the pilot holes for the pots, are these pot holes not at some angle(s) (perpendicular to the final carved maple surface tangent, instead of perpendicular to the mahogany back)? are these pilot holes drilled straight down? or using some angle jig ? Thanks!
Watching this was so good. So..I've been waiting over a year to find a LP kit-don't have the tools to do what you just did. I guess the most important question now is: How do I purchase one of your LP bodies? Or do you sell those templates?
Hi this video is gold but could you expand on the cradle for the router? Is it just a platform at 90° from a base that is the same height of the body plus the thickness of the mdf? Probably going to have to knock one up so just wondering if there's anything I should be aware of. Thanks!
Scott, do you happen to have a link for the router bit you are using here? I am building a similar jig for my top carve operation, but am struggling with the right type of bit to use for the operation.
