erikbojerik Posted January 28, 2006 Report Share Posted January 28, 2006 I found this on the LPF, done by a guy in Olympia, WA....thought you might enjoy. No play-by-play to go with it, but enough pics that you can tell what's going on. http://vintagecheckout.smugmug.com/gallery/808920 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MzI Posted January 28, 2006 Report Share Posted January 28, 2006 very cool, I think he could have done the top dye a bit different to bring out the figure more but then again thats what the actual gibson lp's look like MzI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted January 28, 2006 Report Share Posted January 28, 2006 looks awesome, liked the original color, but this is pretty cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted January 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2006 The original (1952) color was a goldtop. Looks like somebody butchered it pretty well at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted January 28, 2006 Report Share Posted January 28, 2006 It's sad to see that the guitar was pretty well butchered up before he got it. Finished product looks amazing, though. That old mahogany body probably sustains for days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyHetfield Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Looks nice from a distance but i'm not to sure about the large gap between the neck pickup and the fingerboard tho a nice pictorial guide tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted February 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 The gap between the neck pickup ring and the fingerboard doesn't look much different from photos of 59 bursts I've seen, but I'll have to check my copy of BOTB. The owner confirms that the tailpiece is slightly angled...not certain if that is true to 59 specs or not. In one of the photos you can see that the builder laid down a pencil line for the tailpiece, so whatever angle is built in there was probably done intentionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitone Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 I'm only half way through looking at these images and the question I'm thinking is: "Why tear down a great old guitar and not just build one from the ground up?" Seems that he did more work the way he did it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAI6 Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Doesn't look like it started out like a "great old guitar". It looked like it was just about ready to be used as firewood... What I don't get is, why do you go through all that work to restore an old guitar to its original glory, just to relic it when you're finished............? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanKirk Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Cool! I'm in Olympia as well. There seems to be alotta cool builders in this area that are helpful to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Doesn't look like it started out like a "great old guitar". It looked like it was just about ready to be used as firewood... What I don't get is, why do you go through all that work to restore an old guitar to its original glory, just to relic it when you're finished............? Well, duuuuhhh, so you can pass it off as a real '59 and eBay it for ten times the price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stolysmaster Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 (edited) Doesn't look like it started out like a "great old guitar". It looked like it was just about ready to be used as firewood... What I don't get is, why do you go through all that work to restore an old guitar to its original glory, just to relic it when you're finished............? I was wondering the same thing...doesn't make much sense to me to put a massive "ding" or "scrape" in the finish after doing such a beautiful job of restoring it. To each his own, I guess. Does anyone know what kind of machine he used to do the carve on the top? I'd sure like to have one of those. I'm really pretty scared of doing that part after I build my body. I've never carved a top before, and after looking at many "in progress" pics from others, I'm tempted to try it with a spoke shave. Is there one preferred way to do it over other methods? Edited February 2, 2006 by Stolysmaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted February 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 You gotta understand, to the LP aficionado an all-orignal '58 or '59 suburst (or a '60 to a lesser degree) is the Holy Grail of guitars. Gibson initially made LP sunbursts only for those three years (1958-1960, around 1600 of them total) and didn't make them again until 1968, so those first 3 years are the cat's meow of Les Pauls. That's one reason (there are 10,000 others) why an all-original '58 or '59 can now go for something like $300,000. Trained ears will tell you these Les Pauls have a totally different sound from anything else produced since. Undoubtedly some of this is mojo, some of it is hype....I'm no Eric Johnson, but I've played 2 original 50's sunbursts, and they ARE different from my '83 Custom, no doubt about it. The next-best thing is 50's wood re-topped and re-finished in sunburst, which is what you see there. The guy did a really good job on the finish, even going to the length of making the burst more red underneath the pickguard and switch ring (simulated fading). There is a closet industry dedicated to taking 50s goldtops and either refinishing them or re-topping them. That is fine if you start with something already partially trashed (like that one), but rumor has it that perfectly nice 50's goldtops are being sacrificed to convert them to sunbursts (a crime if you ask me). If that keeps up, the 50s goldtops will eventually be more scarce than the sunbursts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted February 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Verified by someone who should know....the slightly tilted tailpiece is accurate for a late 50's Les Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted February 3, 2006 Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 As far as tone goes, a gold-top with P90's beats the holy hell out of a flame top with buckers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stolysmaster Posted February 4, 2006 Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 As far as tone goes, a gold-top with P90's beats the holy hell out of a flame top with buckers. As far as tone goes...they're different! I don't agree that one sounds "better" than the other. I like 'em both! By the way...how does one beat the "holy hell" out of something anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted February 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 Soapbar a P90 lover....who'da thunk it? I've never played a P90 Les Paul, and I've promised myself not to until I build one this year. It won't be a goldtop, it won't be a burst....it will be lights-out! Which is why I found that pictorial so interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 My first guitar teacher had a late 50's les paul special. What a sweet, sweet guitar. There is definitely voodoo in those late 50's gibsons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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