Contouring a Les Paul body

[Delberthot]

Hi everybody.

As you may or may not be aware, I'm having trouble getting used to the slab body on my Epiphone Les Paul so have it on the for sale thread either for sale or trade.

If no one buys it, I was thinking about creating contours on the top of the body similar to a P bass so that it makes it feel more confortable and then refinish it once I'm done.

This is one thing I've never attempted to do so could anyone tell me what the best tool to do this would be? A saw? A plane? Superman?

I'm happy about how to prepare it so that i can refinish it but don't know how to best approach the contouring so any help would be much appreciated.

[Al Heeley]

you need to be good with a Router and some scrapers, and a set of sanding disks. Have a look on project guitar forum for some how-to guides on contouring a LP top.

[Delberthot]

I'm not bothering about routing over all the edges, just the 2 main contours found on the top of a P bass body but I'll check out that website for some pointers


from reading so far it looks like I need a spokeshave

[url="http://www.screwfix.com/prods/89788/Hand-Tools/Wood-Chisels-Planes/Planes/Forge-Steel-Curved-Base-Spokeshave?cm_re=SEARCHPROMO%2d%5f%2dSPOKESHAVE%2d%5f%2d89788"]http://www.screwfix.com/prods/89788/Hand-T...KESHAVE-_-89788[/url]

Edited February 25, 2010 by Delberthot

[henry norton]

I don't want to come across too 'jobsworthy' but spokeshaves can be quite tricky to use - especially for the inside curve you'll have to do on the back. I'd recommend a [url="http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=23356&name=surform&user_search=1&sfile=1&jump=44"]round surform[/url] . You can easily carve the back and with a bit of care you can do the front too, all for less than a tenner (plus some sandpaper, paint etc.)

[Al Heeley]

router's not for the edges, its for setting the lower level of the contour around the perimiter of the body. It can help shave off an even 7 to 10 mm as the baseline for the 'lower level'. Then you can blend in between upper (around the pickups) and lower levels (the perimeter) with scrapers and sanding disks to get a nice smooth transition. Spokeshaves are pigs.

Edited February 25, 2010 by Al Heeley

[henry norton]

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='757618' date='Feb 25 2010, 10:45 PM']router's not for the edges, its for setting the lower level of the contour around the perimiter of the body. It can help shave off an even 7 to 10 mm as the baseline for the 'lower level'. Then you can blend in between upper (around the pickups) and lower levels (the perimeter) with scrapers and sanding disks to get a nice smooth transition. Spokeshaves are pigs.[/quote]
Delbert was probably talking about using a router to round over the edges - I wouldn't bother using a router to set a level for a contour, I'd just shave it away with a surform 'til it felt right.