With the Telecaster 'Luke' almost finished I thought it was time to start thinking about the next guitar. I could try another Telecaster but I really want to try and build a Les Paul style guitar and in particular an angled neck.
First things first I need a template, I had a full size print out of a Gibson Les Paul Junior which I thought of copying however I am not all that keen on the Junior. I do still have the Epiphone Les Paul Special Model I recently refinished so I decided to copy the body shape (and neck dimensions). I marked out the body outline and cut it out with my jigsaw staying as close to the line as I could and then sanded the perimeter smooth.
For a body blank I used the middle of a table I recently scrapped at home (replaced with a metal and glass one!). The pieces I used were the bits that fold out of the middle to make the table bigger when required. Now the big downer is that the material is predominantly MDF with a laminated surface. To make a blank I glued the two pieces of the table together. If I can preserve the front and back then I will have a nice figured smooth front and back.
I mounted the template to the blank and then routed the perimeter with a bit that uses a ball bearing which rides round the template. After 3 passes the body was free of the blank and ready to be sanded smooth.
I spread a layer of wood filler all the way round the perimeter and started sanding. My only issue so far is the weight of the body, It is so heavy, maybe too heavy but the should be some decent sustain I think.
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