Gibson 1956 - 1960 Les Paul Standard Conversion under £12K

guitars4you

Just stumbled across this on Reverb - https://reverb.com/item/12675427-gibson-les-paul-standard-1956-1960-cherry-burst-conversion - It immediately made me think of @jumping@shadows ;

Ossyrocks

I've heard of this guy. The one above started life as a '56 Junior! That's a pretty big leap to it becoming a burst.

designerseye88

Yeah they are alot of money for what you get. Especially considering the non original parts that would be needed to convert a junior into a burst. Id rather buy a hacked up 52 or 53 and convert it. 

Neil

Started out as a Junior??

With all of the conversion required may just  have well started from scratch.

Seems ridiculous to me, but what do I know?

designerseye88

When they run out of juniors to convert will they move onto single cut melody makers? 

Bridgehouse

designerseye88 said:

When they run out of juniors to convert will they move onto single cut melody makers? 

More likely they will convert pre 58 Doves, Songbirds and J-200s..

Danielsguitars

i can't see how they've done it and kept the right thickness because of the roundover, I'd hate to do that to one personally, much better to go back to as close to original imo

Juniors aren't exactly cheap anymore 

springhead

I'd rather have the Junior than that.  Bizarre bit of butchery.

fftc

What a crock!

richardhomer

This kind of thing seems rife - Sharon Osborne levels of plastic surgery inflicted on a defenseless old guitar....

IvisonGuitars

Such a shame. It's rife though. A guy contacted me on eBay once wanting to buy a '57 Special I had listed to convert it to a 'Burst...I told him the error of his ways, obviously.

Strat54

Lay's are one of the most respected and oldest established refinishers of guitars in the world. 

IvisonGuitars

Strat54 said:

Lay's are one of the most respected and oldest established refinishers of guitars in the world. 

Well, I’d say they’ve ‘jumped the shark’ with this one...

ICBM

customkits said:

i can't see how they've done it and kept the right thickness because of the roundover, I'd hate to do that to one personally, much better to go back to as close to original imo

Not only that, but the neck joint raises serious questions - the Junior has a full-width tenon with a substantial lip on the body, so if that's been shaved away to bring it to to flush with the neck it must be paper-thin, even if a new piece has been fitted on the inside to make the mortice narrower - that will probably substantially weaken it.

Danielsguitars

ICBM said:

customkits said:

i can't see how they've done it and kept the right thickness because of the roundover, I'd hate to do that to one personally, much better to go back to as close to original imo

Not only that, but the neck joint raises serious questions - the Junior has a full-width tenon with a substantial lip on the body, so if that's been shaved away to bring it to to flush with the neck it must be paper-thin, even if a new piece has been fitted on the inside to make the mortice narrower - that will probably substantially weaken it.

Yes you're right i forgot about that which is difficult as I'm making 4 LPs now with vintage spec tenons, you wouldn't shave it just move the centre line back to where it would normally be on standards and allow around 8mm of side wall in the cutaway 

I think you'd have to put a whole new piece in the mortice then route back it on the centre, there's also the depth of the tenon and on original bursts it's around 38mm deep and 38mm wide, original juniors aren't that deep so you'd have to shim the bottom of a junior tenon

Anyway complete nonsense and far better to have one made or go vintage player grade goldtop 

Rabs

You would be way better off getting a 2019 Traditional. Really nice this year.
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2019/USA/Les-Paul-Traditional-2019.aspx#LPTD19HSNH1

fftc

Rabs said:

You would be way better off getting a 2019 Traditional. Really nice this year.
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2019/USA/Les-Paul-Traditional-2019.aspx#LPTD19HSNH1

You would be way better off buying 5 2019 Les Paul Traditionals, a American Elite Strat and a pizza and a pint!

darthed1981

I'd rather have an Epiphone and £11,500 in the bank.

Seriously though - 12k and it's not even close to original?

Dan_Halen

How wonderful. Vintage Gibsons are being hacked up and turned into burst clones to make a few quid. The result of this - 1 less vintage Les Paul Junior in the world and exactly the same number of real bursts.

guitars4you

Dan_Halen said:

How wonderful. Vintage Gibsons are being hacked up and turned into burst clones to make a few quid. The result of this - 1 less vintage Les Paul Junior in the world and exactly the same number of real bursts.

True - Only 643 original 59 bursts ever built - And only around 1000 + still in existence !!!!!!!!!!!!!

designerseye88

Dan_Halen said:

How wonderful. Vintage Gibsons are being hacked up and turned into burst clones to make a few quid. The result of this - 1 less vintage Les Paul Junior in the world and exactly the same number of real bursts.

Apparently they only use Juniors that can't be restored. But I think there's a few chaps on here that could restore a junior in any condition.