Single slab of mahogany one piece Les Paul build

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wowser

[bobiron]

Awesome work, loved the videos.

[bender]

That too. Excellent pacing/editing skillz. Better paced than many of the projects I work on.

[calling card]

Amazing!! frightening how multi talented you are.

[elams1894]

Awesome video. How many hours did it take, would you say?

Well thats a good question werdna and one which I have asked myself many times and the answer is quite scary. It has taken nearly a year to build and I spend a lot of time on it. It would have taken me well over 1000 hours.. thats conservative. I don't know why it took so long really but it just did. I just seemed to go on and on and on. The templates and jigs just took forever it seemed. Many things needed repeating but I thought that I would just take my time with the problems and get it right. The good thing is that I have all the jigs and templates ready there for the next time I want to build another one of these.

Thanks again for checking out the vids and for the kind comments.

[Capt. Black]

Wow!

I've been reading the thread on iPhone for a few days but only just had a chance to sit down and watch the videos. Great work! Really absorbing to watch the process. I know Ash has mentioned that your method differs greatly to his but this has given me a whole new appreciation of what goes into a guitar build, no matter which way it is done.

So I'm watching part three and just when I was thinking how I'd love the chance to see and handle this guitar one day, a track comes on at about 4:15 and I think, hang on, I know that song... Holy shit! That's Fire at Will. I recorded all the drums for that record! Woohoo. I have tenuous connection to this guitar build. LOL

[elams1894]

Wow!


So I'm watching part three and just when I was thinking how I'd love the chance to see and handle this guitar one day, a track comes on at about 4:15 and I think, hang on, I know that song... Holy shit! That's Fire at Will. I recorded all the drums for that record! Woohoo. I have tenuous connection to this guitar build. LOL

Awesome! I love Fire at Will!.. cool

[kwerk]

Congratulations, that's a fantastic project, perfectly executed.

I like your pickup design the best of all the good things to see there.

It's fun to see how other people do things, especially where a customer's design and budget aren't a factor. You do things very differently than I do.

Actually, you do things very differently to every other build thread I've read. Kinda like throwing the book out and writing your own. As I said over at the other joint, this blows me away. Just phenomenal.

[elams1894]

Actually, you do things very differently to every other build thread I've read. Kinda like throwing the book out and writing your own. As I said over at the other joint, this blows me away. Just phenomenal.[/quote]

Thanks Kwerk. Yes its always interesting seeing what methods people use to build their guitars. Sometimes I've had ideas and thought, that would be cool, and then try to work out how I would go about doing it. There may certainly be different approaches that work better perhaps but with the limited equipment I have, I try to find a solution that best fits the gear that I have. I have always been interested in the acoustics of guitars and how I might be able to get the best out of the wood in terms of construction. Sometimes it works and sometimes it goes horribly wrong, but its a heck of a lot of fun. I have a few other ideas floating around my head, I'll give them a whirl when I get some more time ha.

Thanks for the kind comments Kwerk, much appreciated.

[twistedthoughts]

As has been mentioned here before - I also now have a whole new appreciation for the work Adrian and other luthiers do.

Also for patience in general. Whenever it comes to any sort of project that takes a long time, my desire to do it right gets over powered by the need to get it done. I couldn't imagine a) doing something the requires so much patience, skill, craftsmanship and artistic vision as making a guitar and b) setting up a camera with the correct angles / light / focus to capture the process. I simply could not do it. You should be extremely proud of both the guitar and the excellent videos you put together.

My hat goes off to you, Mr Elams.

[jeremyb]

And now with a demo of it playing!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXr0pmcE21Q[/youtube]

[elams1894]

Thanks Jeremyb! I just logged on to post the vid and it was already here..cool.

A massive thanks to Waylon for testing her out for me and running it through some of his fine pedals. Waylon is a great guy and I cannot speak highly enough of his pedals and the quality of his workmanship. My playing really is pretty average and its great to hear it being put through its paces.

I had many problems arise with its wiring. I ended up rewiring the whole guitar and having to shield every part. For some reason the guitar timber seemed to have a high level of conductivity. I haven't struck that before however the total shielding was very effective (a massive effort, but well worth it!)

Glad to finally have it complete and humming. Cheers

[jeremyb]

She looks beautiful man, and sounds amazing, you must be stoked!

[elams1894]

Fully stoked, just over the moon with the tone.. cheers Jeremy

[PlukkyBoy]

Absolutely amazing stuff. Quite apart from the skill, the patience to see it through to the end with the pickups and knobs is mind boggling - when I finally get around to a build it'll be the complete opposite!