Greetings Everyone

[CubCall]

Hello,

My son gave me a Les Paul Quilted maple top kit for Christmas, God bless him! I have assembled guitars before but not to this level so will be seeking out information as I go.

Please bear with me as I ask the newbie questions.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

[FrankenWashie]

Hello and welcome CubCall, that's a great kit and should be a fun build for you. What are your plans for it?

[Fretworn]

Welcome CubCall

[stan]

welcome, great kit, heaps of LPs built here, so plenty of help

[CubCall]

Thanks everyone for the welcome messages. Very nice.

My current plan is to dye it a red colour using Karijini as a colour for the quilt at least. The quilt looks great so I want it to really stand out. Maybe a brown for the back and neck. I will not use the hardware and electronics that came with the kit. There are a few good replacement choices for hardware for example, Grover, Tonepros and Gotoh. My son was after gold hardware and I think that would good with a red flame, cream pickup mounts and white binding.

There are a few vintage wiring kits around (ready made or do it yourself) that I have used on other guitars and they work well. As for pickups, there are quite a few choices around including Gibson, Lindy Fralin, Seymour Duncan and Brierley so that will be a harder decision.

I will replace the nut with a bone or similar quality nut. Any ideas on how to do this?

First choice is the design for the headstock which I will start working on today.

[Andy40]

Welcome CubCall, fatastic kit and great choice for a colour...I should know Check out some Tonerider ACII's they are fantastic pickups in the LP kits.

[Brendan]

Welcome along CubCall - replacing the nut is pretty straightforward - easiest way is to cut down the length of the plastic nut with a hacksaw or other fairly thin saw say 1/2 way to 2/3 of the way, grab a pair of pliers and then crush the two sides together. It should be enough to unseat it. Glueing in the new one is easiest done with 1-2 drops of superglue or other glue - just needs to hold it there while there are no strings on as once the strings are in, string tension should hold it down.

Making a new nut is where the art is - with the right tools, it's pretty straightforward, without them - much more complex.

[CubCall]

Welcome along CubCall - replacing the nut is pretty straightforward - easiest way is to cut down the length of the plastic nut with a hacksaw or other fairly thin saw say 1/2 way to 2/3 of the way, grab a pair of pliers and then crush the two sides together. It should be enough to unseat it. Glueing in the new one is easiest done with 1-2 drops of superglue or other glue - just needs to hold it there while there are no strings on as once the strings are in, string tension should hold it down.

Making a new nut is where the art is - with the right tools, it's pretty straightforward, without them - much more complex.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated

[CubCall]

Welcome CubCall, fatastic kit and great choice for a colour...I should know Check out some Tonerider ACII's they are fantastic pickups in the LP kits.

I did check out the Tonerider pickups but ended up getting a decent deal on second Brierley humbuckers on eBay