Official Luthiers Forum!

I just finished fixing up one of my error-filled early builds, and what an incredible difference.

My third or fourth guitar was a Les Paul knock-off. Curly maple top, mahogany body and neck, red-and-yellow sunburst. A very pretty guitar. Seymore Duncan antiquity humbuckers. The materials were great, but the end product was bad. The neck was as big as a baseball bat and incredibly uncomfortable. String buzz everywhere. Wiring problems that created ground hum and the pickup selector switch generally didn't work. And the guitar weighed nearly 14 lbs. Uggh!

Well, I hadn't played it in several years, and about six months ago I decided to take it into the shop and fix all the mistakes. I rewired the switch and fixed the grounding problems. I routed out a couple large cavities in the back of the guitar to reduce weight and covered the holes with the same cream-colored plastic I used for the binding. I took a rasp to the neck and whittled it down to something comfortable. I repainted the neck to match the body. I re-worked the frets to eliminate buzz.

I buffed the neck yesterday and finished the fretwork, and then strung it up last night about 9:30. What an incredible guitar, if I do say so myself. I have some nice electric guitars --- including a real Les Paul --- but they don't hold a candle to this one. Incredible tone, long sustain, extremely confortable to play, and very nice to look at.

I'll try to take some pictures tonight and get them posted, but my main goal here is not to show off. Mostly, it's a suggestion --- if you have a guitar from many builds ago that didn't quite come out the way you wanted, at some point pull it out and fix the mistakes. Not just so that you will have a nice guitar, but because it makes you realize just how far your skills have developed.

I'm looking forward to getting home tonight and playing this guitar some more!

Sure could use that edit button!

another example of that old adage about experience being a great teacher. we seem to be seeing a lot of them tonight.

congratulations on an apparently highly skillful and satisfying repair/rebuilding job!

Kelby,

That must have been a satisfying experience. Makes me think about shaving down the back braces on my first and tweakin the neck angle just a tad.

I want that edit button too...   for my builds!

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I still have my number 2 and one of these days she's gonna have some cosmetic surgery!

Kelby,
I'm glad you are happy with it now...

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

WTG -Kelby. I'll bet we all have a guitar or two
or five that we would like to go back and fix or just tweak a bit! I know my 1st acoustic needs a lot of attention.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755