So I've Never Done This...

[Lithium]

Congrats Creepies, that really is a score!
I just started mine too, and I'm in the same boat, I started w/ a vague idea and 0 experience.  Looks like you've gotten some help here.  Not that it matter, but since I didn't know anything and had to start from scratch I went and looked at a number of existing models (I'm building an LP) and picked the things that I liked about each one as I wasn't able to find anything that was "just right".  I kind of prototyped what I consider the skeleton, the body and neck off of those and what I intended to do.  I bought a showcase body and a had a custom neck put together.  (Here if you want to see: http://web.me.com/minus7words/Les_Project/Gallery.html)  I'm actually going to blog the build (feel like a total tool for saying that).  At this point, my plan is to start at the top and figure out my hardware as I work my way down the guitar.  First step for me is going to be figuring out whether I want to add an inlay in the peghead or just do a decal and figuring out how to finish the neck and peghead... that' the part i'm most worried about as I have never done it and I REALLY don't want to screw it up.  I hope that either helps, or tells you exactly what not to do   BTW, Hi, I'm new here as well.

 

[Creepies]

Thanks for all the recent advice - made a few more decisions  :icon_biggrin:.

Decided to go with SS frets - too highly recommended to ignore... and my dad said he already needs some fret adjustment on his Warmoth strat. This guitar's supposed to be about playability and sound first, and looks second. The ivoroid binding will have to go . On the bright side, I really don't mind paying 20 bucks for SS frets and saving 110 on binding, plus all I'll save on future refretting and whatnot.

Still having a hard time deciding on the neck/fretboard wood... I'm reading a lot of good things about wenge/ebony. I want a nice punchy midrange, smooth unfinished neck, and some nice highs as well. I'll let the pickups work toward my high end, so wenge sounds like a great option for a neck. I'm nervous as to how it'd play though, as I'm pretty certain I've never even seen a guitar with a wenge neck. In any case, the wenge/ebony seems like it's a perfect match for the sound I'm looking for. Any other fingerboard recommendations for wenge?

Lithium - VERY nice looking guitar you have there . I also decided it'll be much easier to work from the neck down, with pickups as the last step (I don't want to have them installed, wait for 6 weeks on the neck, and void the pups' warranty). Good luck on finishing that peghead!

 

[m4rk0]

So I've Never Done This...

for a second I thought this topic was about your first time visit to the dutch red light district..  :tard:

Now on the neck if the color of the top allows it, a bloodwood neck would be great! nice and bright, with great sustain!
Ziricote should be good too - no experience with this myself, but heard great things

 

[Nando Vallart]

for a second I thought this topic was about your first time visit to the dutch red light district...

Such a nice place  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I do not think that Ebony, Bloodwood, or Pau Ferro come in the Les Paul style neck,  The wood doesn't take to having things stick well to it, like glue.  That makes the angled headstock a problem.  I could be wrong.  I think the glue will stick well enough for the fretboard, but that doesn't have the stress on it that an angled head stock does.  Not sure about Ziricote.  Best to call Warmoth and ask.  I am a huge fan of the unfinished neck, but I also am very curious to see what a Korina neck sounds like.  Seems to me it would have the Les Paul tone, with more bite.  I would also vote for stainless frets, but I am a 6105 fan.  They look smaller than jumbos, but when I compared my old strat neck to the ebony neck I recently got, they are actually quite close in size.  And, they are just great from a functional standpoint.  Also for P90's in a humbucker route, Bill Lawrence, the man not the knockoff company, also makes a model that fits.  Quite possibly the most inexpensive hand made pickup out there.  I can say this, any direction you choose with these Warmoth folks, you'll end up with a great guitar.
Patrick

 

[Creepies]

I do not think that Ebony, Bloodwood, or Pau Ferro come in the Les Paul style neck,  The wood doesn't take to having things stick well to it, like glue.  That makes the angled headstock a problem.  I could be wrong.  I think the glue will stick well enough for the fretboard, but that doesn't have the stress on it that an angled head stock does.  Not sure about Ziricote.  Best to call Warmoth and ask.  I am a huge fan of the unfinished neck, but I also am very curious to see what a Korina neck sounds like.  Seems to me it would have the Les Paul tone, with more bite.  I would also vote for stainless frets, but I am a 6105 fan.  They look smaller than jumbos, but when I compared my old strat neck to the ebony neck I recently got, they are actually quite close in size.  And, they are just great from a functional standpoint.  Also for P90's in a humbucker route, Bill Lawrence, the man not the knockoff company, also makes a model that fits.  Quite possibly the most inexpensive hand made pickup out there.  I can say this, any direction you choose with these Warmoth folks, you'll end up with a great guitar.
Patrick

Hey Patrick, I'm not looking to make a neck out of any of those woods - I'm only looking to make a fretboard out of them . I'm leaning towards a wenge neck, but Bubinga seems as though it'd be really great too... Thankfully I have all the time in the world to make a decision  :icon_biggrin:. I've also ruled out ziricote, there are some really beautiful pieces which would match the body nicely, but many more pieces which would look bad with it... Plus it's expensive. I've basically narrowed the neck woods to Wenge, Satine (if available in LP style) and Bubinga. For fretboards I'm thinking Ebony, Satine, or Pau Ferro.

Who knows, I'll probably change my mind 6 or 7 times before the body even arrives, haha.

 

[guitlouie]

I'll probably change my mind 6 or 7 times before the body even arrives, haha

You can take the probably out of that sentence.

 

[Nando Vallart]

I'll probably change my mind 6 or 7 times before the body even arrives, haha

You can take the probably out of that sentence.

+10000000000000000

 

[Orpheo]

Mr Orpheo here can give you a "bad" one from Bare Knuckle Nailbomb... but I would say that probably is something like: he didn't like it or couldn't adapt it to his rig... not that it's bad, and it's the only "bad review" that I've ever know...

Then, congrats! this body is top notch!
I would say that a rosewood or wenge or ziricote (for youe bright tone wish) is what will match this color better....


Remember to be careful, it's not a body that you will find any day of your life, what means, call your dad to help you, as he is experienced with Warmoths...

no, please dont twist my words. the nailbomb is a great pickup, but it doesnt squeel and scream as much as I hoped it would. they claim its a pickup with nice amounts of output, an organic tone, and quite tight and roaring, and thats absolutely true. the tone for lead and rhythm is just  :hello2: :hello2: It just lacked good representation of pinch harmonics

 

[Nando Vallart]

Yeah, but I take apart the fact that I've listened some good clips of Nailbombs with screaming pinch harmornics... what lead me think that should be a problem of adaptation in that guitar/rig, etc...

 

[Creepies]

So I know I'm going with the standard thin neck size - it's on my Dad's Warmoth strat and is by far the best playing neck I've ever laid my hands on. It's got 6130 fret wire size, which I like, but it's a bit tough to bend and vibrato on. I also happen to have a Peavey EVH Wolfgang, which is much easier to bend and vibrato on, as it has the 6105 fret wire size; however, it often feels like my fingers are going over road blocks, which I HATE. (That, and I like "strangling" the neck up until about the 7th fret...can't really do that on my Wolfie).  I played a SRV Fender yesterday to see if I'd prefer that neck over the standard thin (it felt like holding the big end of a baseball bat to me  :tard and though I didn't like the thickness of the neck, I absolutely loved the frets. It played like butter...bending and vibratos were easy and smooth, without that "roadblock" feeling…

…and I found out today that the frets on it are 6105. I believe the out-of-whack tremolo on it had much to do with it's ease of playing, so this is what I'm wondering:

The marriage of a standard thin neck and 6105 fret wire, plus larger gauge strings (so there's more string and less roadblock) seems like it'll work out well for bendability, and less speedbumps (I hope). Am I wrong here? I'm also worried that a standard thin neck on the LP body is going to play or be awkward...Someone please tell me this isn't true  ! How does the 6230 compare to the 6105?

Definitely need a lot of good information / advice / experience - the neck is absolutely going to be my next step.

One more thing! I keep reading that many of the traditionally great tuners (Gotoh, Grover, etc.) have suffered a loss of quality due to their recent production in China. I don't like locking tuners or auto-trim tuners...Can't tell you why but I just don't. I prefer traditional, heavy feeling “cut ‘em and wind ‘em yourselves.” Anyone tried Hipshot tuners, or any testimonials/arguments against this paragraph/for a certain brand?

Long post, I know, but I’m like a damn baby when it comes to this stuff :binkybaby:!

Thank you all!

Jason

 

[Nando Vallart]

Go for your standard thin with SS6105 frets will be skinny as you like and bending like butter...
It's your guitar, f**k the others whose think it's awkward... (like me :laughing7

 

[tfarny]

I'm starting to really like the 6150, I'm mainly a small-fret guy (6130) like you but I'm coming around to the 6150. It's very personal though, there's no right answer.

Get the regular Gotohs that warmoth sells - the $25 kind. They are really good.

 

[kreig]

certain guitars will play "like butter" probably because "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts" - it really applies here . . . in guitar building .

you can think you are putting all the right pieces together . . . and hope you are . but Joe Perry said it best many years ago . some guitars are "DOGS" ! no matter what !

"off the shelf " guitars I pick up to play . . . I can tell almost immediate if it's worth the time plugging it in. how it sounds before plugging it in, is what counts to me.

I specifically listen for,  if the guitar has what I call "SPROING" . when you here the strings "bounce off the fretboard" , making the "SPROING" sound.

I challenge you to go to your local guitar store and play EVERY guitar for just a minute. then pick the one's that have that "sproing factor"! doing a side-by-side comparison.

when you find a few that possess that factor , you'll notice it does'nt matter who made it, pup config.,price,wood type,hdwr. fret size,etc ...

so when building your guitar, ask for the best tonewood in whatever species you choose . i usually go maple/maple .

tell me what you think, regarding this post ?!

Kreig

 

[Creepies]

Top notch advice!

I think I'll go with the 6105s. I'm basically at the point now where I feel I could safely order a neck .

Those Gotohs LOOK nice, I've been thinking. I'll take your advice and go with 'em, Farny.

Kreig - excellent point. With all the inner chaos rampaging around my mind, I need some order, and Joe Perry's words of wisdom seem to be what I needed.

So everyone, thinking on ordering that neck soon  :icon_thumright:.

 

[kreig]

Kreig - excellent point. With all the inner chaos rampaging around my mind, I need some order, and Joe Perry's words of wisdom seem to be what I needed.

now I'm going mad ! beware, it's common when building customs'/ it's like song writing . . . how do you know when it's finished?

 

[Creepies]

Kreig - excellent point. With all the inner chaos rampaging around my mind, I need some order, and Joe Perry's words of wisdom seem to be what I needed.

now I'm going mad ! beware, it's common when building customs'/ it's like song writing . . . how do you know when it's finished?

:icon_biggrin: I've gotten used to the feeling that

IT WILL NEVER FEEL FINISHED!!

Haha, but I keep narrowing down my options, so that's helping a loooooooot. Only one neck left to play and then the ordering begins! Clapton neck, here I come...

And the body arrives in two days...Many pictures shall reign o'er this web page  :toothy10:.

 

[Nando Vallart]

Clapton? Wasn't you looking for Standard thin? :icon_scratch:

When you finish the guitar, you'll start think on other, so it's trully "The Neverending Story"  :laughing7:

 

[Creepies]

Clapton? Wasn't you looking for Standard thin? :icon_scratch:

When you finish the guitar, you'll start think on other, so it's trully "The Neverending Story"  :laughing7:

I'm still thinking standard thin, but the Clapton neck is the only one I haven't played . I'm gonna go find one to play today, but I doubt it'll compare to the thin. I just don't want to order the thin, then play a Clapton AFTER and be like... "Shit".

 

[Nando Vallart]

:icon_thumright: