Aged yellow LP pickup rings

cm01

The body and neck binding on my Les Paul has yellowed nicely as it’s aged, which I really like, but the pickup rings and pickguard remain a creamish colour - I’ve searched online to try and find a good match for the yellow binding but I’m struggling - all I can find are bright yellow rings, so any leads gratefully received! 

WezV

it wouldn't look right with the yellowed rings.  The lacquer is causing most of the colour change, plus they would have been slightly different to begin with

cm01

Ah I think it would look loads better if the rings matched the binding - to my eyes it looks a bit odd as is .. but I suppose I won’t know unless I try it!  

ICBM

You need old DiMarzio rings - they’re about that colour. I may have a couple, I’ll have a look after the weekend.

Just ditch the pickguard - they’re awful things anyway , but the chances of finding one to match the rings is about nil.

cm01

Cheers - funnily enough I’ve just spotted these on reverb which might do the trick:

https://reverb.com/item/431740-dimarzio-les-paul-pickup-rings-carve-top-bright-yellow

EDIT: which have sold - missed that in my excitement 

BobHillman

Axesrus have some which are available in "creme" -

https://www.axesrus.co.uk/Gibson-Size-Humbucker-Rings-p/flatbasegibhbring.htm

Funkfingers

cm01 said:

Cheers - funnily enough I’ve just spotted these on reverb which might do the trick:

https://reverb.com/item/431740-dimarzio-les-paul-pickup-rings-carve-top-bright-yellow

EDIT: which have sold - missed that in my excitement 

The DiMarzio mounting surrounds are the same banana yellow colour as their Track pickup covers and humbucker bobbins. 

Fine on an Ibanez pointy but in questionable taste on a Les Paul.

You could take the reverse approach. Make the binding more closely match the pickup surrounds by scraping the clear top coats off. (Not recommended!)

Seriously. Put the guitar on a stand or wall hanger. View from fifteen feet away. How much colour difference can you now see? More importantly, how much will an audience care?

Philly_Q

FWIW, I think they look OK as they are and bright yellow would look cheap... but it's not my guitar!

ICBM

cm01 said:

Cheers - funnily enough I’ve just spotted these on reverb which might do the trick:

https://reverb.com/item/431740-dimarzio-les-paul-pickup-rings-carve-top-bright-yellow

No, you don’t want yellow ones - you want old 70s or 80s cream ones… not the same thing at all.

ICBM

Finally dug these out... hmmmm. Not as good as I remembered. The two DiMarzios (right) are about the right colour, except that they're actually noticeably differently aged, and also cracked and in generally poor condition. There are two Mighty Mites (middle) but the bridge one is too low for a Les Paul and they look like they're for a flat top; and the other two (left) are too pale and not much different to what you have, and not quite a pair anyway.

At best it just illustrates what I meant about old DiMarzio ones being what you're looking for - at least if you can find a matching pair in decent condition. I'd be happy to let you have any of them if you think they would be an improvement on what you have though.

fretfinder

WezV said:

it wouldn't look right with the yellowed rings.  The lacquer is causing most of the colour change, plus they would have been slightly different to begin with

^^ This. If you look at pictures of old Les Pauls, like in the book Beauty Of The Burst, the binding is almost always darker than the rings because of the aged lacquer, and the pickguard is almost always a different colour to the rings as well. So I agree with @WezV that it wouldn’t look right to have them all matching, and it certainly wouldn’t look like a vintage guitar. But hey, it’s your guitar and if matching is the look you want then go for it and good luck finding the right parts. 

elstoof

Stay well away from Customs or 355s if this bothers you, the neck and body binding are different shades. Matching the rings will be a nightmare

cm01

I’ve just been looking at pics of ‘58 and ‘59 Les Pauls and some R9’s and @WezV ;and @fretfinder you’re right!  In my mind mine were really mismatched, but they look exactly like an old guitar would.

@ICBM - I really appreciate you going to the effort of digging them out, but I think I’m just going to leave them as is for now - but thanks very much for the offer!

PAL

DiMarzio still make pickup rings so may be worth checking them out.