NGRD (New Guitar Refinishing Day) - 2012 LP Traditional Mhog
Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2023 10:54 pm
Purchased in May and finally got it back from the shop after a massive makeover.
2012 Les Paul Traditional Mahogany Satin - Ebony
These are supposed to all have VERY slim 60's profile necks (.8" at the 1st fret and .875" at the 12th), but I scored one that went out with a '59 profile neck. I called Gibson customer service and verified its authenticity and was told that I "got very lucky to have one with those neck measurements."
.86" at 1st fret
.99" at 12th fret
Changes as follows:
1. Put on my preferred drop in locking tuners (Gotoh SD90-MG-T thumbwheel) with conversion bushings
2. Swapped out the stock chrome bridge and tailpiece for a locking Pinnacle nickle plated aluminum set (including the tailpiece studs)
3. Put on Dunlop nickel straplok buttons
4. Put on an amber switch tip
5. Put on vintage repro gold top hat knobs (embossed letters, not painted) with knob pointers (aka thumb bleeders)
6. Seller no longer had the stock pickups (57 classic plus bridge, 57 classic neck) or the pickguard and bracket, so I picked up both. The set of black Fishman Fluence pups that the seller "upgraded” the guitar with were sold to the shop that installed my new (stock) pickups
7. Refinished the top in 57 Chevy tropical turquoise (the real stuff that is used to restore actual 57 Chevy's)
8. Nitro gloss the top after painting completed
9. Spot paint back, sides, & neck as needed, followed by full Nitro gloss (so no more Satin).
The idea here was to have a really sharp looking blackback LP with a tropical turquoise top and the entire guitar looking like a modern day 50's Standard...with upgrades!
The only area that falls short of looking like it came new from Gibson like this is the fact that the binding doesn't show the full thickness when looking at the guitar directly from the front...it's a middle ground between an Epiphone and a Gibson in that regard. Not as thin as most Epi's, but not as thick as Gibson's. It can be tough to show the full binding on a refinish. I don't fault the shop who did this most excellent work.
PICS (I did what I could with my iPhone...MUCH better in person):
[
2012 Les Paul Traditional Mahogany Satin - Ebony
These are supposed to all have VERY slim 60's profile necks (.8" at the 1st fret and .875" at the 12th), but I scored one that went out with a '59 profile neck. I called Gibson customer service and verified its authenticity and was told that I "got very lucky to have one with those neck measurements."
.86" at 1st fret
.99" at 12th fret
Changes as follows:
1. Put on my preferred drop in locking tuners (Gotoh SD90-MG-T thumbwheel) with conversion bushings
2. Swapped out the stock chrome bridge and tailpiece for a locking Pinnacle nickle plated aluminum set (including the tailpiece studs)
3. Put on Dunlop nickel straplok buttons
4. Put on an amber switch tip
5. Put on vintage repro gold top hat knobs (embossed letters, not painted) with knob pointers (aka thumb bleeders)
6. Seller no longer had the stock pickups (57 classic plus bridge, 57 classic neck) or the pickguard and bracket, so I picked up both. The set of black Fishman Fluence pups that the seller "upgraded” the guitar with were sold to the shop that installed my new (stock) pickups
7. Refinished the top in 57 Chevy tropical turquoise (the real stuff that is used to restore actual 57 Chevy's)
8. Nitro gloss the top after painting completed
9. Spot paint back, sides, & neck as needed, followed by full Nitro gloss (so no more Satin).
The idea here was to have a really sharp looking blackback LP with a tropical turquoise top and the entire guitar looking like a modern day 50's Standard...with upgrades!
The only area that falls short of looking like it came new from Gibson like this is the fact that the binding doesn't show the full thickness when looking at the guitar directly from the front...it's a middle ground between an Epiphone and a Gibson in that regard. Not as thin as most Epi's, but not as thick as Gibson's. It can be tough to show the full binding on a refinish. I don't fault the shop who did this most excellent work.
PICS (I did what I could with my iPhone...MUCH better in person):
[
