OK, so this might be number 4 on the simultaneous build list, but with a difference - one that most of the wood working purists may be disgusted by ..
It's 3D printed.
For the record, it's not my design, it's using a design at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1068688
What the final product could look like:
Why?
I like 3D printing though I'm not a 3D nut nor am I good at it. I just like producing functional things. Also.. because I can?
I'm using this design because I'm not entirely convinced about the result and making my own design is a lot of work. I don't mind work if I know I can achieve a result.
But it's a Les Paul?
The shape of the body is yes, but be damned if I'm going to put that name on something with single coils.
Mods?
I'm going to fill the cutout for the trem and use a hardtail instead. I tend to think that PLA isn't that strong of a material to cope with the neck tension + additional tension from a tremelo.
Budget?
$50 - basically two rolls of PLA + the cheapest half decent neck I can find. Maybe $80 - I might hit up Pit Bull and see if they have any less than perfect seconds/returns floating around when I'm about ready. . Everything else is coming from what I have laying around. I don't expect this to be anything more than a conversational piece that works rather than something I'm going to want to actively play. I can't imagine that it's going to have any particularly fantastic tonal or sustain qualities.
Challenges?
Heaps. Firstly the design has a number of pieces that quite simply don't fit on my print bed, so I've had to carve them up. Getting them to match up might be.. interesting.. It also adds more points of failure. I've already had to learn some new things to get the parts cut down to printable size.
The pattern adds a pretty complex surface area to sand and paint. I've also dumped a logo on the body that has fine enough detail to make life quite simply miserable trying to tidy up.
I mentioned that I don't think that the PLA material is necessarily strong enough to handle this much tension. My backup plan should the centre look to be too weak will be to replace that section with some timber - whatever I can find that's reasonably strong and replicate the plastic design straight on wood. I'd prefer to avoid this, but it's a backup plan.
Current status:
Lower tail printed successfully (about 30 hours print time) and semi sanded. Back plate currently printing as the roll is low and each of the major pieces requires about half a kg (1kg rolls) of filament. Once the back is done I'll swap rolls and get on the upper tail. I don't like having the printer sitting there doing nothing, so I'm likely to push on with getting all the parts printed fairly quickly. Getting them sanded and assembled is a long way down on my priority list. That's something I'll potter away at as time permits.