Les Paul kits

cena

What is the best kit to buy for a d.i.y guy. Has to be cheap enough.

martinedwards

depends how much of a purist you are.

if you HAVE to have a set neck, then you'll need a set neck kit.

painting/finishing is the hard bit.

any of the kits will build a decent guitar so long as the person building it knows what they are doing, but you might want to swap out the electrics......

Ol' Donie

Slightly off topic, but referred to in the previous post.

What paint do you use on a guitar?

I have a 12 string acoustic that i like, but dont like the look of.

Sorry if this is hijacking the thread.

666irishguy

Ol' Donie wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but referred to in the previous post.

What paint do you use on a guitar?

I have a 12 string acoustic that i like, but dont like the look of.

Sorry if this is hijacking the thread.

I done up an old bass and a strat using a brand of spray paint called Plastikote. I put it on carefully and in thin layers over a few days and made sure there were no marks or dents etc in the paint. I waited a few days for it to be hard and dry and then buffed it with car buffer compound by hand. Looks pretty good and it has been 6 months and it still looks the business. That's a low budget way of doing it. There are infinite methods of painting a guitar with purpose made paints and other methods like stains.

Ol' Donie

Cool, thanks. Where would i get that spray paint?

666irishguy

Ol' Donie wrote: »

Cool, thanks. Where would i get that spray paint?

You can get it in a lot of hardware stores, it seems to be a fairly common brand but I have found it to be by far the best spray can paint to use, as it comes out of the can very evenly, dries to a good finish and will take the buffing unlike a lot of other brands I tried to spray the bass with before I did the strat. If you can't find it in the shops near you, you can get it online at handyhardware.ie. A bit expensive from them, but it is worth it. Two cans should be more than enough to cover a guitar back and front.

Ol' Donie

Brilliant.

Thanks a milion.

martinedwards

standard spray paint from B&Q bargain bin. anything will do, but make sure the primer matches the overcoats. use the primer to fill any little dimples (as you'll already have filled and sanded out any real dings)

wet and dry with super fine paper between coats (well, every 3 or 4 coats anyway......)

il gatto

I would be wary of spraying an acoustic. Especially Plastikote, which I think is fairly tough stuff. You need the sound board to resonate. There's loads of sites dedicated to building guitars and the like. I'd have a quick google before spraying it. Some sort of stain and a light laquer might be better.

Ash.J.Williams

martinedwards wrote: »

depends how much of a purist you are.

if you HAVE to have a set neck, then you'll need a set neck kit.

painting/finishing is the hard bit.

any of the kits will build a decent guitar so long as the person building it knows what they are doing, but you might want to swap out the electrics......

pretty much nail on head there, most les paul kits are bolt on, i'd say to build a set neck you would need a lot of talent and maybe some help from a luthier! I'm not one for rules, but the set neck is les paul tradition!
There's a brand called "Vintage", well built guitars which go very cheap 2nd hand, if I was diy'ing a les paul, i'd get something like that and strip it bare.

martinedwards

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

pretty much nail on head there.

NO NO NO NO NO NO

bolts or screws for necks

not nails.

never nails......





:P

endacl

martinedwards wrote: »

NO NO NO NO NO NO

bolts or screws for necks

not nails.

never nails......





:P

Especially those twisty nails with the slot in the head. They can be a bugger to hammer in!

Ash.J.Williams

this nail idea is starting to sound appealing!

martinedwards

please.....
no.

I'm a fan of breaking rules in instrument design

for instance an explorer shaped acoustic bouzouki......

with 4 soundholes on the top edge rather than one on the front.......

REALLY!!!!



but PLEASE, no nails!!

Ash.J.Williams

martinedwards wrote: »

please.....
no.

I'm a fan of breaking rules in instrument design

for instance an explorer shaped acoustic bouzouki......

with 4 soundholes on the top edge rather than one on the front.......

REALLY!!!!



but PLEASE, no nails!!

that's impressive