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Step 1
Have a custom Les Paul built for you by visiting either Warmoth.com or Ed Roman's Guitars and selecting each piece of hardware you want on your custom Les Paul. You can also choose to build the guitar yourself, in which case you can save a lot of money by purchasing used parts.
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Step 2
Select the style of the Les Paul body and the wood that it's made out of. Most Les Paul bodies are a "standard" style; however, there is an option to have a cutaway on both sides of the body instead of just one. As for the wood, most guitar bodies are made from alder; however, ash, maple or walnut can be used, though they are a little more expensive.
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Step 3
Choose your personalized guitar neck. The Les Paul has a standard rectangular headstock; however, neck radius, fret inlays and the wood the fretboard is made of are all options you can customize. A 9½-inch neck radius is the most common; however, the radius can range from 7¼ inches all of the way up to 16 inches. The size of your hands and what feels most comfortable to you is what you need to know before choosing the perfect size.
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Step 4
Select the pickups, which are perhaps the most important part of the Les Paul. Pickups are the magnets inside the guitar that pick up the sting vibration, which is responsible for actually making the guitar's sound. P-90 pickups are the most common Les Paul pickups; however, you can use humbuckers or pay a little more and get EMG pickups, which are considered by many to be the best pickups for the Les Paul.
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Step 5
Finish the customization of your new Les Paul by selecting the paint job, or lack thereof. This can be as simple as a single color for the entire guitar, a combination of many different colors like a 3-tone sunburst, a personalized design or you can choose to leave the original wood color and cover it with a clear protective laminate.
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Step 6
Put your Les Paul together yourself by first attaching the neck to the body by screwing it in place with the neck plate and four screws that come with it. Next, screw in the pickguard. If you do not know how to solder, you can buy a preloaded pickguard that already has the pickups wired and soldered together. Finally, install the strings by attaching them to the tuner pegs located on the guitar's headstock.
