Replica Les Paul rebuild

barnsleyboy

BillDL said:

barnsleyboy said:

I'll be following this with a great deal of interest to see how the repair turns out. If only to assess whether or not something similar could be done to this wood butchery that Andy's guitars in Denmark Street carried out for me.

My heart still weeps!

Is that a sunburst Fender Flame or Esprit?

It's a sunburst Flame - still got the original receipt £299 including Fender original hard case!

ThePrettyDamned

GSPBASSES said:

Been there done that, drill coming out of the body where you don't want it too.





Apart from those little cock ups, it would've been a lovely guitar, it now sits in the corner of the workshop in disgrace.

@GSPBASSES is this up for being sold? Looks great... 

ThePrettyDamned

Amazing repair wez. It's impressive how much planning went in!

Wonder who the original builder was. A shame they couldn't use their own name. 

WezV

back to that fretboard I removed earlier


It's a bit pale, and a bit swirly in the grain, but it may well be the only bit of the guitar with some genuine vintage Gibson provenance... so worth saving

But i want it darker.   Normally, I'm a fan of Fiebing's leather oil for this, a mix of black and dark brown.... but it will colour those old inlays  (can be really useful on shiny new celluloid inlays ).   Normally I like it as it won't raise the grain or warp the wood, and gives predictable results.

For this I went with a wetter traditional wood darkening method since I can allow it all to dry out before gluing it onto a neck.  I don't like this method on complete necks though.  You start by brushing on strong black tea.  let it sit for a bit, then brush on Iron Acetate (wire wool dissolved in white vinegar) 

once dry it gets a light oil

This is the board stripped down and cleaned up showing just how pale it is


and after.  Still nicely grainy... but dark

paulnb57

Interesting method, I actually liked the original colour, but each to their own…

WezV

paulnb57 said:

Interesting method, I actually liked the original colour, but each to their own…

there is always one

PhilKing

ThePrettyDamned said:

Amazing repair wez. It's impressive how much planning went in!

Wonder who the original builder was. A shame they couldn't use their own name. 

The original builder was a guy called Naill McDunough in Bradford, who was putting replica's together in the early 90's.  He even silk screened the 'Les Paul Model'.   However there was a major problem with the neck which twisted and bowed and it became apparent that the truss rod was stuck too.  At the time Niall was not available and so Will Scott in Pembroke took the guitar and re-necked it.  He also sliced off a piece of the back of the body to lighten it (as the original was very heavy).  It was originally a faded burst, but I had Will make it Tobacco Sunburst, as the dark back helped hide the joint of the piece that covered the holes.  He also put slightly wider binding on it to give a bit more width to it (the original fingerboard is from a late 60's SG).

WezV

Hopefully this will be the last new neck it gets

Was the fretboard on the original neck, or an addition from Will?

PhilKing

It was on the original neck.  It was one that Niall had rescued from an SG that was beyond repair!

WezV

PhilKing said:

It was on the original neck.  It was one that Niall had rescued from an SG that was beyond repair!

i'm just hoping its not the fretboard that is cursed

WezV

truss rod fillet and headstock ears are all glued in place



I'm just waiting on some new neck binding now.  I'm trying to get a nice colour match with the body, but it also needs to be 2mm thick to get the full neck width required. also means i won't be adding nibs to this one

I made a headplate out of maple construction veneer

WezV

Tenon is cut, just some final fitting around the heel to do.

ThePrettyDamned

Gotta say, that fretboard looks lovely. I quite like a bit of swirly stuff on a board, and that one looks great.

On the wood bleaching - is that something you might do before, for example, applying a stain or dye to a body? I'm thinking of, for example, some of the more outlandish classic PRS finishes (pinks, greens, blues) that I can't imagine would have gone well on a yellowy-toned top.

But then I'm not sure it would play well with a water-or-alcohol based stain. 

WezV

The bleach works for exactly that.   Maple is rarely perfectly white, you pay a lot more for it when it is.   The bleach really helps with primary colour staining 

ThePrettyDamned

WezV said:

The bleach works for exactly that.   Maple is rarely perfectly white, you pay a lot more for it when it is.   The bleach really helps with primary colour staining 

Awesome. Really useful advice, I've mostly used wudtone in the past and had decent-to-good results (my red strat is gorgeous, although the finish does wear) and I'd like to try dyeing/staining the guitar, then sealing with shellac and finishing with a rubbed on poly (or similar). I really want to try building a glossier finish and spending time flatting back and polishing up through the micro fine grits. Not sure how realistic a goal it is, but watch the making and modding space soon... 

Knowing I can bleach if wanted is very helpful. 

PhilKing

It's looking really great Wez.  Even though I know there was a great big hole in the top, you really can't see it unless you stare at it a lot.

ThePrettyDamned

PhilKing said:

It's looking really great Wez.  Even though I know there was a great big hole in the top, you really can't see it unless you stare at it a lot.

It could easily pass muster as a natural inconsistency in the wood. 

Actually, as I've been watching a lot of wood staining tutorials I've realised just how much some companies "get away with" in terms of inconsistencies in sanding and staining. If you didn't know what it looked like before the stain, you wouldn't know that they over-sanded one area where there is now less stain, you'd just chalk it up to the wood. This is similar in a way - it doesn't draw attention at all. 

roberty

Amazing work as always @WezV thanks for sharing this 

WezV

The annoyance of matching  "cream" binding

The photos actually show a closer match than IRL.



The thin piece is the original that didn't survive the fretboard removal.   Then we have 3 creams.



The one that looks close is a bit more yellow in real life.  The original has that pinkish tinge.

There are more options I can try  but not in the right thickness.   

I should be able to get close enough so the finish takes care of the rest.  Worse case is I have to rebind the body, but I would rather not if I don't have to.

SteveRobinson

The stuff from Tonetech is quite pink-hued, and comes in up to 2.3mm thickness.

I can send you a small piece for matching if you'd like?