Les Paul Broken Neck Repair EP5

Welcome to the Next Project!
Finally the project is back on the front burner and getting some color!
00:00 - lights, camera, action
00:03 - intro
00:31 - sanding, you’re welcome
01:35 - a good place for an upgrade
02:27 - stain in the neck
03:39 - sealed for safety
04:40 - sanding
05:41 - i see red
07:45 - clear protection
08:01 - sand, tape, spray
10:29 - sand, sand
11:30 - polish, polish
12:31 - shinier shine
So much going on.
Sanding right off the bat, gotta get my sanding fix. Prepping the guitar for polyester sealer.
So nothing too fancy, just getting it smooth were it should be.
Two coats of PresTec 28x50 Sanding Sealer. I believe this is made by Simtec, mostly sure about this.
It goes on thick, covers really well, two coats is plenty. Let is dry over night (24h ours) and start sanding, again.
Now sanding is more critical. 220, 320 and finish sanding by hand with 400 grit papers. Any scratches left will show in the color coats. So, gotta get this right.
Time for adding color, but I don’t have enough time to two-tone the guitar in one day. So, I mask off everything that isn’t going to be painted red, maroon, burgundy, merlot…color.
Cleaning prep and sprayed on 4 coats of automotive base coat color.
This was followed by two coats of automotive urethane clear.
Off to do other tasks for a day or so.
When I get back to the guitar, it is time for more sanding!
The fresh clear is sanded back smooth and pretty. The top and binding is taped off and made ready for the black base coat to be sprayed.
The same painting process is repeated, color then clear. The guitar set aside for a couple days while other things are getting done.
Back to the guitar and more sanding!!!
Everything gets sanded out with Super Assilex papers. These are dry sanding papers, rather new to me and seem to be working pretty well. All the shine is sanded away to a glassy smooth matte finish.
The buffer it brought out and the re-shine process begins.
The guitar is looking really good. Is it perfect, well probably not, but it is way better than it was, and it’s looked pretty cool.
In the next episode we will be putting it back together, doing the fretwork and setup… we’re almost there.
Thanks for hangin’ with me through this episode.
I hope you’re enjoying the project.
Take care of yourself and those around you!

[@lyricbread]

The neodymium magnet idea is genius! ❤

[@theNextProject]

ha, that's easy for you to say. Rare Earth for me, Bwahahaha! Hope all is well man, thanks for watching and hope that guitar is rocking for ya! Let me know if you need a dropbox link or some other file transfer thingy. Be safe and take care!

[@patrickkeenan6331]

The red is GORGEOUS.

[@theNextProject]

Patrick, thanks for watching! Yep, it's looking good and getting close to being done. Be safe and take care!

[@martinlouden9005]

It's beautiful John. What a great series of videos. No doubt that guitar is far better now than when it left the factory. And I love the magnet on a stick idea to hold the guitar whilst painting it. I'm definitely going to steal that idea! Thanks John.

[@theNextProject]

Hey Martin, thanks for watching! The guitar is going to be a sleeper, unless someone knows, it look pretty much stock. All the little changes will hopefully make it all worthwhile. As for the magnet. I'm still trying to find the right mix. As seen in the vid, its a NeoDyni...whatever N52 rating. About 1.26" in diameter, so it's pretty big. Only fits the first and second fret area. So, I'm looking as some smaller format magnets with high-power, and will maybe have 2 or 3 smaller magnets all hooked together and straddling fretwire - if that makes sense. If you find a great solution, please share it. I accidentally did this, wasn't even thinking about painting... Be safe and take care!

[@tarnishedknite]

Amazing finishing work, that red is gorgeous.

[@theNextProject]

Steve, thanks for watching! Glad you're liking the project, and it seems everyone is diggin that red. I like it too, be safe and take care!

[@oldmanzen6682]

As always, nice clean work. And that magnet trick... you clever bastard. I'm going to try that. Great colour choice.

[@theNextProject]

OMZ, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! I'm still trying to find the right NeoMagnets. The one used here is an N52 (strong), roughly 1.26" in diameter, 1/4" thick. Doesn't really fit between the frets well beyond the second fret or so. I'm messing around with some smaller high-strenght neoMags, hoping to straddle the frets, having 3, 4, 5.. magnets all sitting on the fingerboard. Let me know if you find a super strong mag that fits the bill. Be safe and take care!

[@Hans_914]

Another great video and that color is really popping! Thank you for delivering well done content. Stay Safe!

[@theNextProject]

Hans, thanks for watching! Thank you very much, glad you like the vid. Yep, the color seems to be to everyone's liking. I'll keep doing what I can, stay tuned. Be safe and take care!

[@Hague9975]

That looks amazing, I love the colour, nice work

[@theNextProject]

Hague, thanks for watching! It's finally coming together. Be safe and take care!

[@FulcrumsEdge]

That deep red top looks stellar, excellent choice.

[@theNextProject]

exploit, thanks for watching! Yep, that red, maroon, burgundy, merlot... is a pretty cool color. I've noticed it's what a call an "outdoor" color. It really pops in bright light, rather subdued with interior lighting. Cool. Be safe and take care!

[@EbonyPope]

@@theNextProject What kind of color did you use? Poly or Nitro?

[@MuseumsBloke]

What a pretty shiny thing you’ve created. The colour combo looks really sweet - guess the hours of sanding and masking-off paid off. Good. Job.

[@theNextProject]

MuseumsBloke, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! Hours, and hours... sanding, taping... lather, rinse, repeat. I'm pretty happy with it at the moment. It may not be perfect, but it's better than it was and it easy on the eyes for sure. Hope all is well for you, be safe and take care!

[@faunaiberica]

I think it is one of the best works I have seen on the net and only comparable to some I have seen in person, because at the end the guitar is not only better built but also more beautiful. You have changed the neck wood and it is inevitable that it will sound at least slightly different (it doesn't have to sound worse and it may sound better). Congratulations for such an impeccable job, at least so far.

[@theNextProject]

faunaiberica, thanks for watching and the kind words! Really great comment, helps me understand what is going on out there. I do watch the work of others on the net, but really don't see much along this line of work. So, thank you for your observation. Greatly appreciated, be safe and take care!

[@TheGuitarCurator]

Looking good! I'm a huge fan of that red. I always like a deep red more than a bright red.

[@theNextProject]

Curator, thanks for watching! This is a pretty cool color. It really pops when in outdoor light, a bit subdued with interior lighting. Good color either way. Take care!

[@hurdygurdyguy1]

Ooooh, shiny!!! So much sanding (I have to confess I fast forwarded a bit ... aka a lot 🤣... okay, I did go back to listen to your entertaining narration 😉)) ... it's looking way cool shiny!!! 👍

[@theNextProject]

Fast forward was a requirement for this video. I wanted to fast fwd through all the actual work. I like doing this stuff, but gotta be honest, sanding is not my favorite. Nope. Hope you are doing well. Take care my friend!

[@LetMeBurn.Workshop]

That look gorgeous!

[@theNextProject]

LetMeBurn, thanks for watching! It's getting there, sloooowly. Be safe and take care!

[@toddhansson1613]

Great colour choice for the front. Didn’t mind the matte finish after first sand.

[@theNextProject]

Todd, thanks for watching! This color is getting a lot of positive feedback, and the matte finish idea seems popular too. Maybe I'll toy with the matte finish on other upcoming projects, it could happen. Hope all is going well for you, be safe and take care!

[@jimclark7917]

Very nice job!

[@theNextProject]

Jim, thanks for watching, take care!

[@laurababiarz7672]

Beautiful!

[@theNextProject]

Hey Laura, thanks for watching! Are you calling me beautiful - oh... the guitar, right. Be safe and take care!

[@ranman58635]

Good to see ya. Later John.

[@theNextProject]

Hey man, thanks for watching!

[@hannuhanhi183]

This is unbelievable just a couple of days ago I was wondering if I should paint my next guitar with the same color than my motorcycle. Guess what, yours is a close match to Suzuki Candy Academic Maroon. Great color. Parallel universe strikes again 😁

[@theNextProject]

Hannu Hanhi, thanks for watching! Very cool parallel universe stuff! This is definately an "outdoor" color too. It really pops in outdoor lighting, a bit subdued inside and still looks great. Good luck with your motorcycle. Be safe and take care!

[@geemac7267]

Very nice!

[@theNextProject]

geemac, thanks for watching! Much appreciated, take care!

[@Furtheronmusic]

Looking good

[@theNextProject]

Graham, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! Hope all is well, take care

[@veguitars]

Wow, what an awesome finish 😊 I know how much you like sanding but could you make an in depth tutorial on finishing? Especially for people like me who can't use spray finish for lack of space but still are after a high gloss finish like this beauty? Thank you so much. I enjoy every next project 😊 Cheers V

[@theNextProject]

Volkan, thanks for watching! LOL, yes sanding is one of my favorite things. I should have chose a different hobby. A tutorial on finishing, that's an interesting thought. I'm not sure how I would go about such a video, as the process and outcome may vary somewhat depending on the paint materials being used. I'm using automotive basecoat/clearcoat system. Depending on what materials you would use, there may be different process steps needed. As an example, some spray can coatings won't have the same final gloss. There are some catalyzed spray can finishes that will be very glossy, very hard and can be polished however. Hmm, I'll have to give it all some thought. Thank you for the comment/question, and I'm glad you're enjoying the projects. I hope they help in some way. Be safe and take care!

[@veguitars]

@@theNextProject I find your projects helpful, always ! I was thinking of stained tops with wipe on high gloss poly. The poly has lower VOC and can be applied In doors :-). Thanks for giving it a thought. Really appreciated :-)

[@fernandoferrere2805]

nice colour !!!!

[@theNextProject]

Fernando, thanks for watching! Yes, the Red, Maroon, Burgundy, Merlot is a good looking color. Hope you are doing well, take care

[@achimdg6335]

Great work, as always. I just love to watch you doing this work, I wish I could do such things in my spare time, heck, I wish I could do this in my working time! One thing actually confuses me: I didn't know Semtex was a sanding sealer, I thought that was something else.

[@theNextProject]

Achim good to hear from you man, and thanks for watching! Glad your enjoying the work. I'd like to have more time to do this stuff too, but I gotta pay the bills. Maybe when I retire. The sealer I'm using is Simtec Coatings Easy Sanding Sealer 28x50, but in this case it's packaged under the PresTec brand. I'm not sure if this stuff is available in your area, maybe a different manufacturer altogether would have something similar. Hope you are doing well. Take care!

[@achimdg6335]

@@theNextProject dang, you didn't get the Semtex-joke. Semtex is a plastic explosive.

[@theNextProject]

Blew right past me.... Sorry, I'm simple, very simple. : )

[@hueffel987]

Hello John, this is an episode to my liking. I celebrated this episode with a good glass of wine. The guitar looks fantastic. By the way, I was thinking about the method of fret leveling under string tension. That certainly makes sense, but why use a truss rod that has the curve of the neck? I mean tensioned strings are straight. Take care, my friend

[@theNextProject]

Jens, good to hear from you and thanks for watchin! That's very fitting to celebrate in such a way. The truss rod method is to create sanding beam that has the same curve as the neck relief while under string tension. The curve is pretty minimal, but seems to help the sanding beam (truss rod) hit primarily the high frets, while under tension. So while the strings are straight, the neck relief is an imperfect concave arch. Probably a bit flat on either end and possibly with some other contortions happening to the wood while under compression. It seemed to work pretty well with the crude test I did. I'm doing more testing with this method over the next couple weekends. Testing going forward will have the frets "flat leveled" first, then strung up and touched up under string tension. Testing a revised homemade leveler too. Hope that helps, let me know if I made things more blurry. Could be the wine... ha. Be safe and take care my friend!

[@GoudVis56667]

sanded back black stain neck with an oil finish and matt burgandy would be killer modern les paul. Im gonna google that greenpaper or pad, It left a nice finish for matt as far as I could see.

[@theNextProject]

Goud, thanks for watching! I had considered an oil finish on the back of the neck, but I'm juggling so many tasks and projects right now, I opted for a straight forward solution. I agree, matte finish would be pretty cool. I'm wondering if my un-professional paint area would support shooting matte finishes. Kinda worried my spray area isn't steril enough, too much dust and crap floating for that perhaps. Hmm. As you mentioned, I may be able to sand back for a matte finish. Only concern is burnishing wear causing a semi shine to come back. Oh, the sandpapers I used are: Super Assilex Flexible Sanding Sheets Job-PAK, Lime K-1000 Super Assilex Flexible Sanding Sheets Job-PAK, Peach K-1500 So far, I really liking this paper, however is it more expensive that traditional wet/dry papers. That said, I'm still using my first 1/2 sheet and on my 3rd guitar. So it seems to last a looong time. Good luck with your projects, be safe and take care!

[@GoudVis56667]

@@theNextProject All matt finishes rub out shiny with time even the high end production stuff like ESP uses. I see a test video coming up of you spraying some test pieces with matt and gloss and scuffing it back with that fancy japanese sandpaper of yours. Sanding a gloss neck down with 800 paper and some time gives a super fast and fantastic looking finish so why not use it on a body. Not sure about the normall prices of the Super Assilex but Aliexpress poped up real quick so ill be snooping around for a good deal haha.

[@steveroberts]

Fabulous

[@theNextProject]

Hey Steve, thanks for watching! Gettin' there : )

[@m.a.bushling]

Wow, that is looking pretty

[@theNextProject]

Bushling, thanks for watching! It should be a looker again soon. Be safe and take care!

[@m.a.bushling]

@@theNextProject Soon?! It's a stunner as it is! Love your stuff, thanks for sharing it!

[@stealingtomorrowband]

Awesome!!! Only 1 disappointment from me... You need to work on and show us bassists some love!!! Lol. Excellent job as always looking forward to the next project... If it wasn't a 12+hour drive I'd bring my 2 basses to you to get some attention.. Have a great day I'm heading to work!!!;

[@theNextProject]

Bun, good to hear from you! How did you know that I have a small bass project coming soon, how did you know? The bass project will hopefully be a quick one. Making a new pickguard and wiring in an on/off battery disconnect. So "hopefully" there won't be any surprises. I am also collecting parts for the 5-string bass build. Not sure when it will happen, but the parts big is starting to look promising. Hope all is well, have a great day, take care!

[@Markleford]

Love that color, and your care with the binding really made it pop so pleasantly! Speaking of not being a factory and having quotas, how DO you manage all the projects that you're juggling? Do you have a notebook with everything written down, including rough priority rankings to hit customer promised dates? Or do you try to keep it all in your head?

[@theNextProject]

Hey Mark, thanks for watching! I keep no records, no paper trail, no claim of having any knowledge of anything going on. I know nothing! (Hogan's Heros, Sgt. Schultz) Okay, seriously now. I have "real jobs" and "personal jobs". My priority is largely, who's paying. So, real jobs get taken care of first, my personal jobs get squeezed in when they fit. I let "real job" people know my work time is limited and jobs aren't turned around as quickly as a full-time shop. I try to offer reasonable timeframe/turnaround. Everyone (so far) understand and is cool with that. Since this project is my personal guitar, the due date is open. It will get done whenever. Keeping track of what has been done on each job is an ongoing challenge that I'm slowing working on as well. I have a couple notebooks, one or the other is typically lost, and I try to get that info saved on my computer as well. So, things really only look good on the surface. Under all that is chaos.

[@Markleford]

@@theNextProject Haha, I just imagine racks full of unfinished guitars in various states, possibly overwhelming! My issue with my solely personal project mods is I'll get them to a state where they're like 85% done, when they're functional again and FUN to play, and then I never finish them up because I spend all my time noodling around on them while watching others on KZbin complete their projects.

[@theNextProject]

I have those projects too. The close enough with good intentions collection. Also have plans to eventually circle back around, but that's a thin chance.

[@ver251209]

First :) . Guitar looks great.

[@theNextProject]

Thanks for watching!

[@wjewell63]

👍

[@theNextProject]

wjewell, thanks for watching! Be safe and take care!

[@ranman58635]

Nice but I liked the idea of translucent.

[@theNextProject]

My mouth was spittin' out words, my brain had no idea what was going on.

[@ranman58635]

@@theNextProject, lol, I couldn't imagine how difficult that would be. Thr best shine I can get is a 12000 grit one or some of my tru oil. FYI, Sam Deeks was told about your video and he liked it. Spreading awareness on this has been fun. I also like sharing idea's.

[@theNextProject]

Agree, I like sharing these ideas too. Even with a good process, eventually someone will say "hey, why don't we try this..." and then the process will continue to evolve. We can all learn and improve what we do. All good!

[@ranman58635]

@@theNextProject , yup, thanks for sharing.

[@EbonyPope]

What kind of color did you use? Poly or Nitro?

[@theNextProject]

EbonyPope, thanks for watching! This is automotive base coat/clear coat, a poly system. I haven't sprayed lacquer in a number of years. I'm not really a fan, but many people are.

[@JonRaffety]

A comment or two.... 😂

[@theNextProject]

Perfect, perfect. Thanks for watching, and the comments (two) too. Take care!

[@JonRaffety]

@@theNextProject You (Two) Too john! 😄 on a serious note, where did you get the Neodymium Magnet???

[@theNextProject]

I found them on Amazon. Search this: 2 Pieces of CMS Magnetics Neodymium Magnets Dia 1.26" x 1/4" Grade N52 w/ #10 Countersunk Hole I'm looking for other N52 mags that fit between the frets better, so the next time I try this trick, I'll likely have better fitting magnets. Maybe something like this: Super Strong Neodymium Magnet N52 1" Cube Permanent Magnet No mounting hole, so I'd need to epoxy a handle on it or something. Invent on the fly! Hope this helps!

[@JonRaffety]

@@theNextProject Awesome!!! Thanks so much! wish i had it BEFORE i cleared my LP style guitar! oh well.

[@ranman58635]

I'm here to vent. I am livid. Remember the 6000 dollar Taylor I am fixing? Well, I'm not an official tech for them so they won't send me shims unless I'm part of the club. So, I gotta shim it myself with my creativity. At first I added hight to the bridge but the neck angle is still bad. So, I'll un bold the neck and make spme shims that I've never made. Thinking some folded shielding tape will do. 😆 it's 1500 to do their class to figure out if I got what it takes. Do they do internship? What anout the low guy? No, he's screwed. Oh and you have to be the original owner or they'll ignore you. More and more I see this world is only for the eleits. This is why I started fixing guitar's, it's too expensive to pay for what I need. Rant over! Oh and i do work for free and i give guitar's away regularly.

[@theNextProject]

Hey Man, sorry to hear this. I agree, a lot of things are getting the squeeze one way or another. The right-to-repair issue has been going on for some time, issues like you're facing are ramping up to. Many companies that preformed a service just a few years ago, now refuse to do those service items unless "bigger picture" work is done. Rediculous. I recently attempted to have some front brake rotors for my truck resurface/machined. Completely got the run around. Either the tech would tell me the rotors weren't for my truck, or they were unserviceable. Both statements were false. I think/assume, many companies want to keep all work in-house, or use new parts. As for Taylor not selling shims, I wonder if there is a workaround. I don't know what material they use for shims, is it wood, or metal shim stock? You can buy metal shim stock online, or as I've done use feeler gauges, or if the desired thickness is a beer can. I take a break, then make a shim. Sorry for the stress. Hang in there, be safe and good luck with your project!

[@ranman58635]

@@theNextProject lol, good information. That's the way I let go of stress. Vent it out. Anger is ok, just what do we do with it. That's what matters. This seems good to me and you handle me well my friend. My buddy has recently been diagnosed with cancer so I'm taking a break and going g to Utah to be with him in the beginning of next month for a week or two. I feel he's not telling me the whole story. Really appreciate the chats cause I needed it. My health is good now so I can travel and see the country. My friend's wife left him and the same day, his boss died. Ouch!

[@ranman58635]

We are definitely seeing the world change! Serve, that's what I do.