SG Inserts and Other Questions:

Robert Herndon said:
@SG John and others...

Should the bridge and tailpiece inserts on my proposed SG build be flush or recessed????

If recessed, what tool do I need???

I have access to a drill press, so locating and drilling the bridge posts is easy, but if I need to cut a recess, I need some technical advice.

@SG John - How do you recommend cutting the "open book" out of a blank headstock shape???

Thanks, Amigos....
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For recessed shoulders it’s quite easy. I always use Forstener bits or Brad point drills. Do the larger shallow diameter first. After you have the depth you want, it easy to locate the smaller drill from the dimple left by the larger drill.


As for the open book. Make a drawing, then template from your Les Paul. Screw the template to the blank head using tuner holes as locations for the wood screws to hold it in place. Run it around a pattern bit in a router table. Finish it of with rasps, files, and sand paper. Don’t forget to get your rough shape close to your finished size, or you’ll tear it apart with the router. Especially at the top corners.
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
Also, in case Ray doesn't know it, I only wish I had his level of skills he's honed thus far regarding guitar body, necks, hardware, wiring, pots etc. I am skilled with my wood tools as far as conventional furniture, house framing and trim goes, but I am way at the bottom of the totem pole as far as perfected my skills of building and setting up a guitar just right. Bea, Ray, Sg John, all have great skills in the completing of a guitar build process. Kudos to all of you.
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Thank you. You have included me with some very impressive company. I am flattered.
 
SG John said:
For recessed shoulders it’s quite easy. I always use Forstener bits or Brad point drills. Do the larger shallow diameter first. After you have the depth you want, it easy to locate the smaller drill from the dimple left by the larger drill.


As for the open book. Make a drawing, then template from your Les Paul. Screw the template to the blank head using tuner holes as locations for the wood screws to hold it in place. Run it around a pattern bit in a router table. Finish it of with rasps, files, and sand paper. Don’t forget to get your rough shape close to your finished size, or you’ll tear it apart with the router. Especially at the top corners.
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I would have thought that the recessed bushings had no shoulder. Is that the case?
 
SG John said:
For recessed shoulders it’s quite easy. I always use Forstener bits or Brad point drills. Do the larger shallow diameter first. After you have the depth you want, it easy to locate the smaller drill from the dimple left by the larger drill.


As for the open book. Make a drawing, then template from your Les Paul. Screw the template to the blank head using tuner holes as locations for the wood screws to hold it in place. Run it around a pattern bit in a router table. Finish it of with rasps, files, and sand paper. Don’t forget to get your rough shape close to your finished size, or you’ll tear it apart with the router. Especially at the top corners.
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Thanks, John!!@!!
 
RVA said:
Thank you. You have included me with some very impressive company. I am flattered.
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@RVA ,

I have been in your shoes cutting my teeth and going through the learning curves on a great number of "one off" projects where the materials were ungodly expensive, and I only get one shot at the outcome I want.

Stuff like building Entertainment centers for Hifi equipment, New Plasma TV's when they first came out,, and my memory has it that the 3/4 inch Cherry Plywood was over $100 per sheet and 1/2 inch was maybe $90, and the 1/4 inch ply for the backs was $75 a sheet. Then there was milling up all the trim pieces out of raw cherry in the rough so that it all smooths out like glass and then assembling everything from floor to ceiling and constrained by the 2 walls on either side. The unknown in the equation turned out to be a sag in the ceiling sheetrock. This type thing makes for a squeeze not to damage the piece or ceiling, and also a bit of trickery with the trim to make look right etc.

So, no matter what you have encountered in your builds, I am right there with you following along and knowing that the areas you can fight to get right can be many. Glad you are getting the processes figured out and it was good to see your bridge all mounted!!!

Keep it going and make a work of playable art. your wood choice, shaping and capping the double cut is truly a beautiful piece even before the finish coats go on.
 
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