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LPJ Refinish


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So last year, Gibson introduced the LPJ Model Les Paul. This is their new entry-level Les Paul - one step below an LP Studio. Construction-wise, they are essentially the same as a studio save that the necks are maple, and the finishes are a cheaper satin nitro. In other words, Gibson sells a legitimate, well-playing Les Paul for a little more than half a grand. Not bad. I've wanted a proper Gibson Les Paul since before I could even play guitar, so this new model caught my eye very quickly.

...except that they're horribly ugly. Well, not ugly, per se; just not to my taste. The overall styling definitely targets the sort of "indie rocker" niche, as evidenced by their promo photos, and honestly, in that context, they look pretty great. But I didn't want a modern, indie Les Paul; I wanted a classic rocker.

So I did what any self-respecting gearhead would do - I refinished an LPJ to look how I wanted.

I found a seller on eBay who regularly has gibson husks (neck and body - no hardware) for pretty reasonable prices, and bought myself a red LPJ. Here she is on my kitchen table workbench:

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In person, the finish isn't actually that bad, though for some strange reason it does smell like a cherry popsicle. Here's the back:

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At this point I'm already drooling over the grain on the mahogany back. Its three pieces, and that top piece (the one with the switch cavity in it) is just gorgeous. Can't say much about the maple cap, yet. The finish is just too obtrusive.

...enter the acetone.

After two hours and at least as many rolls of paper towels, I am left with this:

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...which is great, because I really always wanted a pink Les Paul. (not really ... though now I kind of want to try a pink burst)

At this point I went and bought myself a palm sander and went to town with ... 200 grit I think? Might have been 250. It's been a while.

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And then finally:

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Look at that plain maple top. Just look at it. I think I'm in love, and I haven't even started tru-oiling it yet. Tru-oil was, in fact, the next step. I had a couple of false starts before I figured out how thick to apply the stuff, but as I got going, she started looking like this:

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Here she is drying with some friends:

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When I finally got enough coats on and waited long enough for it to cure, I hit it with micromesh to give it a nice gloss. It ain't nitro, but it looks pretty good. Finally, I slapped some hardware on there -plastics and a bridge from GFS, a tailpiece from Stewmac, and tuners from Rondo. I had to learn how to notch a TOM bridge, which turned out to be easier than I expected - just a lot of careful measuring and re-measuring.

And finally:

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That's an EMG 81 ( B) and 85 (n) that I pulled out of my old Schecter, whose frets are so bad it is unplayable.

Here's another shot, hanging with some friends again:

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Conclusion:

It would be pretty cool if Gibson sold the LPJ with a plain clear finish on it, but until then, DIY is more fun anyway.

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Thanks guys.

I can understand not being into the plain top. I originally intended to do an amber stain, but I fell in love with the plain maple once I got the finish off, and decided to leave it. It helps that I'm a bit of a Tom Scholz fan.

If I do another, though, it will be an oceanburst top with cream plastics and zebra pickups. I saw a video of a guy doing a burst by hand on a huge chunk of figured maple and now I really want to try it. Maybe I'll buy some scrap maple and give it a go. Got plenty of tru-oil left...

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