A while ago, I had an online conversation with a dude on a YouTube comment area about belly cuts on a Gibson Les Paul. Well, I thought it was a conversation, until I realized that he had no interest in my opinion. At that point I just agreed with him, because life’s too short.
There’s a lot of that going around, especially in politics, where both American tribes vilify each other and no one listens. Sigh. Despite 13 years of mandatory public education, a lot of people are still dumb as hell. I don’t blame K-12. I blame people. Get offa my lawn!
I just got a StewMac Telecaster kit (Christmas present.) I need to make a decision: should I do a belly cut and a forearm cut, or leave it stock like it is, blocky and uncomfortable to play?
After watching 18 different videos on YouTube about how to do this, I’ve decided I’m going to do the cuts. It’ll make a good video and if I ever want to do it, now’s the time, while the body is still just rough-sanded wood.
Coming to the decision was easy – I like comfort. I’m a “sit down” guitar player. A lot of guitarists scoff at the concept of sitting while playing, but in the musical world outside of rock, it’s pretty normal to sit. Think orchestra. Standing is more interesting to watch on stage, but my live act is a one man band with computer drums and bass tracks, and half of my songs are on keyboards, with the other half being on guitar. I’ve considered standing up for the guitar-based songs, just to provide some visual variation, and I might do that. But I’m also 55, and I’m not able to stand in one place for hours. My back and my feet will complain, quite loudly.
So for those reasons, the Tele body is going to get a belly cut and a forearm cut.
After watching everyone else do it, my plan is to use a rasp and a small electric sander. I’ll do the lines in pencil first. I’m sort of anxious to get started on this – I like doing that kind of work, even though my skills are sub-par at best. Still, if I take my time, I should be able to achieve good results. That’s how I took the finish off the neck of my Epiphone Les Paul, and how I also took a little more wood off to change the neck profile.
The bigger issue is that I don’t own a real workbench – I have an old flat wooden desk that I use, and I suspect that I might have difficulties clamping the body to the desk. I really need an actual workbench. Oh well. This website makes a little bit of money – maybe I can spend some of that on one. Once I have enough saved up, that is – the site doesn’t make “that” much.
