The Les Paul Twins

[Christine]

74 SG and 79 The Paul. Great guitars.
View attachment 3098374

I had a LP from the mid 70s and an EB3, I don't remember the volute at all, I was young and uneducated about such things then. If it did it did nothing to stop the neck breaking after only two weeks but that wasn't really the bass's fault but least said soonest mended, let's just say the police told me in no uncertain terms that Les Pauls were not to be used as dentistry tools

 

[Englishman]

I had a LP from the mid 70s and an EB3, I don't remember the volute at all, I was young and uneducated about such things then. If it did it did nothing to stop the neck breaking after only two weeks but that wasn't really the bass's fault but least said soonest mended, let's just say the police told me in no uncertain terms that Les Pauls were not to be used as dentistry tools

One of the first things I learned in the 70s was that the Telecaster is always the preferable weapon of choice.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

One of the first things I learned in the 70s was that the Telecaster is always the preferable weapon of choice.

I’ve heard that a Flying V can make an excellent bludgeon. The guy who told me that probably wasn’t using a Gibson, however.

 

[Christine]

Not done a huge amount today, just finished of carving the necks, oh to be that slim!

Even a bit of work with the rasp around the heel, most of the general shaping was with spokeshaves and a block plane with a little bit with a cabinet scraper once in a while when I needed more control of what I was removing when the grain was adverse and only wanted to tear no matter how I worked, sometimes a problem with laminated bits

 

[GonePlaid]

I’ve heard that a Flying V can make an excellent bludgeon. The guy who told me that probably wasn’t using a Gibson, however.

I knew a guy who kept an non-working, unstringed EB0 on stage for that purpose-just in case.

 

[Christine]

Lots of post today, 5ltrs clear gloss nitro, 5ltrs thinner, 5ltrs acetone (nail varnish remover ) 1ltr anti bloom thinners, 25oml black nitro, 400ml black grain filler, 400ml clear grain filler so won't be long and it will be in use me thinks

 

[Gilmourisgod]

@Christine
How much wood do you leave under the trussrod? I’ve heard 1/8” as a bare minimum, I chickened out and left 3/16” on my Ric build, a little chunkier than I’d hoped, but you onlly get one shot on a neck through!

 

[Christine]

@Christine
How much wood do you leave under the trussrod? I’ve heard 1/8” as a bare minimum, I chickened out and left 3/16” on my Ric build, a little chunkier than I’d hoped, but you onlly get one shot on a neck through!

Probably about 3mm , my fretboards are quite thick at ~7-8mm, the truss rod slot is 9.25 deep and my neck is 21 mm at the first fret. Hindsight I should have made the fretboards a little thinner but I wanted to keep a thin line of fretboard showing under the binding without having a very shallow binding. If I was using a traditional truss rod then I would have made the fretboards about 5mm

 

[Christine]

I knew a guy who kept an non-working, unstringed EB0 on stage for that purpose-just in case.

Should have been restored, @Englishman's idea of the Telecaster is perfect, a Fender and a guitar, no loss so win win

While I make light of that incident, it was very upsetting at the time, I was scared big style, hitting anyone isn't something I would ever do normally. I did carry around a big reputation for the rest of my serious gigging days as a result of that, no one ever got on our stage again ininvited

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Should have been restored, @Englishman's idea of the Telecaster is perfect, a Fender and a guitar, no loss so win win

While I make light of that incident, it was very upsetting at the time, I was scared big style, hitting anyone isn't something I would ever do normally. I did carry around a big reputation for the rest of my serious gigging days as a result of that, no one ever got on our stage again ininvited

I think this would make an excellent bludgeon..

 

[Christine]

I think this would make an excellent bludgeon..
View attachment 3098544

That would add insult to injury!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

That would add insult to injury!

almost sent an apologetic note along with it remembering your loo requirements...then thought....nah!...

 

[Christine]

almost sent an apologetic note along with it remembering your loo requirements...then thought....nah!...

Only first thing in the morning

 

[theFixer]

Lots of post today, 5ltrs clear gloss nitro, 5ltrs thinner, 5ltrs acetone (nail varnish remover ) 1ltr anti bloom thinners, 25oml black nitro, 400ml black grain filler, 400ml clear grain filler so won't be long and it will be in use me thinks

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Only first thing in the morning

Oh so carte blanche after 10?

 

[Christine]

It's about time, winter will be here soon!

 

[GonePlaid]

Should have been restored, @Englishman's idea of the Telecaster is perfect, a Fender and a guitar, no loss so win win

While I make light of that incident, it was very upsetting at the time, I was scared big style, hitting anyone isn't something I would ever do normally. I did carry around a big reputation for the rest of my serious gigging days as a result of that, no one ever got on our stage again ininvited

I was told the EB0 was unrepairable. I never saw it, just took his word about it. Right about the 7ender, though.

 

[Christine]

Had a good day in the shop today, nothing really to show for it but here what I did. Scraped the sides of the second body flush with the binding, finished the shape sanding of the tops which hopefully will give a nice smooth flow to the gloss when it goes on. Finally I cleaned up the control cavities and made a start on fitting the pots, I gave up because I needed to go out but I'm most of the way through cutting angled seats for the pots to sit on to keep the barrels perpendicular with the top curves.

I also stuck a piece of binding to a bit of Mahogany and sanded it so I could test how the black grain filler behaves on the plastic binding, as it will it stain it or will it clean up easily during sanding. We'll see in the morning

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I found the ABS plastic binding pretty much impervious to absorbing paint (black), but found it would retain pigment powder in sanding scratches. It doesn’t seem to absorb Tru Oil, just kind of sits on top. I made the mistake of color sanding paint and binding with the same sandpaper, it became visible under clear coat!

 

[BassHappy]

Web page here about different joints Headstock and Scarf Joints Explained - Glued to Music

Hey Christine

Thanks so much for this article. It really helped me crystalize my thinking on the set necks I currently have on the drawing board. I am a mahogany and a set neck fan above all else - as you also seem to be - even though you don't see much of either on basses these days. I think I will stay with the one piece mahogany neck, no joint. I don't worry much about the headstock breaking off. I scored a beautiful Honduras board 17.5" wide by 13 feet long by over 2" thick. I can get 4-8 bodies (depending on thickness) and 8 necks out of it so I think I will be off and running soon.