Any Les Paul owners with a ruler out there

[Tdale]

I'm going to build a Les Paul, and have som problems finding out how thich the top should be, to be able to make the correct contoured body.

Stewmac sells 1/4" quilted maple, but that's not thick enough I think.

Does anyone know what the difference in thickness a Les Paul top is, measured at the center at at the edge of the body?

Tommy

[kec]

I believe the maple cap (top) should be at least 3/4".

[titanicslim]

Tommy

Ken is right. I have made a life-long study of the beasts and the total thickness tends to be really close to 2 1/2 inches, all through the fifties to now. If you assume the top (if the top is a separate hunk of maple) begins at the lower line of the top binding, I've seen them as thin as 9/16" and as thick as 3/4" finished.

Anywhere close to these limits will fall within the range of the AB-1 bridge, assuming the standard neck angle, but you'll want to start with a maple blank about 3/4" joined and planed on one side. It will be a lot easier to work if you stay away from sugar maple ("hard rock" maple) and use bigleaf or red maple. European is wonderful to carve, but usually more expensive.

One word of advice: as you carve the top contour, have a good light source in the direction of the peghead and place a straightedge laterally across the top at several locations, checking the shadow it casts on the contours you are carving. That way you will be able to see irregulatities and plane them into a fair curve.

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions!
Dave

[drhulsey]

Warmoth lists top thickness at 5/8-3/4" on their LP bodies.

[paulster]

I think you're looking at about 5/8" after carving. I've just eyeballed my R9 as you can see the join between the mahogany and maple in the cutaway as it has thin binding and it looks slightly thicker than 1/2".

[Edit]

Just been and checked out the notes on this at the Les Paul Forum and there seems to be a consensus around 5/8" or 9/16". As they were hand sanded it was probably 5/8" which may have ended up down at 9/16" if the carve took a bit of effort to get right. This is based on comments on 1958-60 bursts rather than modern ones.

[Tdale]

Thanks all!

Tommy

[titanicslim]

Tommy

I forgot you were in Norway! In that case, I would certainly use German maple. Especially for a first instrument. It is just a lot easier to carve, and you can get some beautiful wood for not much money. Unless you have a good source nearby, call Manfed Gleissner in Bavaria:

http://www.gleissner-tonewood.de/Englis ... ntact.html

He's a great guy and has some wonderful wood.

Dave

[mchauck]

Hi...3/4 is a good thickness to start with. I have found that Ebay is a great source of high quality maple for tops. It is a bit pricy sometimes, but I have no other source around here. I use African mahogany on the backs and usually do some cavity routing before I install the top. If you use a quilted piece, be careful with the plane. It must be VERY sharp. The finish thickness is usually around 5/8"

Regards
Brian