Silverburst refinishing

absolutpepper

Hey,

So for about 15 years now I’ve been wanting an 84 silverburst les Paul custom but alas due to their rise in popularity (and price) it’s looking like it’ll never happen. So, I was thinking that an alternative might be to buy an Orville by Gibson and get it refinished in an aged silverburst with the proper teardrop burst. Now I like my silverbursts all yellow and greened out and as I understand it happened to the originals because the nitro clearcoat finish reacted with sunlight which led to it yellowing over time and while the silver paint underneath remained silver, the yellowed clear coat created this sort of greenish effect.

I was just wondering if it’s something that can be replicated today (as I’m sure clear coat is quite different now with more plasticisers, etc in it) so I don’t even know if it’s achievable. If it is I’d be interested to hear recommendations that people might have for folks that do refins that could produce a nice aged greenish silverburst.

thanks

webrthomson

calling @GoldenEraGuitars

absolutpepper

webrthomson said:

calling @GoldenEraGuitars

indeed…would be one of my first choices but I don’t think they’re doing stripping and refin jobs any more…however if @GoldenEraGuitars even has some advice on the possibility of whether it’s something that can be achieved that would be great

WezV

It's would just need spraying with an appropriately tinted top coat to match the years of natural discolouration.

The usual amber and light tints might not be quite right for the greener look these can have.  The sprayer should be able sort that easily enough.

T.Avon

I’ll take one as well if you work it out!

I had a ‘79 about 10 years ago, that had a pretty reasonable neck break at some point. It was a boat anchor and not fantastic sounding but looked really cool. Sold it for £1,600, think it might be worth a couple of quid more now!

skullfunkerry

I would think that @lamf68 would be able to help you with this

TTBZ

I bloody love a silverburst Custom too! I was going to get my SG refinished in Silverburst and @lamf68 quoted me a great price, but I wanted the grey silver rather than green which would clash with my cream binding, so I decided against it in the end. 

It might be worth holding out for the Adam Jones Epiphone which I think is meant to be out this year? I know it's not a Gibson but probably as close as you'll get without spending a small fortune.

Seziertisch

WezV said:

It's would just need spraying with an appropriately tinted top coat to match the years of natural discolouration.

The usual amber and light tints might not be quite right for the greener look these can have.  The sprayer should be able sort that easily enough.

And/or a sprayer with UV lighting in his repertoire 

DrBob

I’d deffo give @lamf68 a shout on this

LastMantra

A silverburst is good, a goldburst is better 

absolutpepper

Defo sounds like @lamf68 can do it so that’s good news. Just need to start looking for a reasonably priced Orville by Gibson

Iamnobody

How bothered about the detail are you. Most Orville customs will be a rosewood board. I don’t think it’d look as good against the silver burst as ebony. 

There’s a few ObG models with ebony boards though (I think). 

guitargeek62

DrBob said:

I’d deffo give @lamf68 a shout on this

I keep meaning to get my Greco over to him for the same reasons!

guitargeek62

Iamnobody said:

How bothered about the detail are you. Most Orville customs will be a rosewood board. I don’t think it’d look as good against the silver burst as ebony. 

There’s a few ObG models with ebony boards though (I think). 

This is true, I bought an ebony-boarded Greco instead with this very thing in mind

guitargeek62

@Lamf68 - is it easier for you to do two of these at once, a matched pair if you will? Maybe OP and I can sync up on timings  

Dan_Halen

Rich (@lamf68) did a silver sparkle-burst on a Jazzmaster for me (silverburst but the silver is sparkly... like me) and he absolutely knocked it out the park.

PVO_Dave

Yep - @lamf68 is your man for this. 

earwighoney

absolutpepper said:

Hey,

So for about 15 years now I’ve been wanting an 84 silverburst les Paul custom but alas due to their rise in popularity (and price) it’s looking like it’ll never happen. So, I was thinking that an alternative might be to buy an Orville by Gibson and get it refinished in an aged silverburst with the proper teardrop burst. Now I like my silverbursts all yellow and greened out and as I understand it happened to the originals because the nitro clearcoat finish reacted with sunlight which led to it yellowing over time and while the silver paint underneath remained silver, the yellowed clear coat created this sort of greenish effect.

I was just wondering if it’s something that can be replicated today (as I’m sure clear coat is quite different now with more plasticisers, etc in it) so I don’t even know if it’s achievable. If it is I’d be interested to hear recommendations that people might have for folks that do refins that could produce a nice aged greenish silverburst.

thanks

Have you considered having a body and neck finished to your specs?

Precision Guitar Kits do LP style builds, you could then have it sent to be finished to your liking. I imagine there are others as well. 

This is what I would do myself, as then I could choose a Mahogany cap instead of maple, have an ebony board, also choose your fretwire thickness and so on.

lamf68

guitargeek62 said:

@Lamf68 - is it easier for you to do two of these at once, a matched pair if you will? Maybe OP and I can sync up on timings  

No odds to me mate, it’s one of the few finishes I will bother doing these days! Glad there’s still people with a desire for an interesting colour.