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How to recognise refinished Les Paul?


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I bought recently a 1985 Les Paul, which is a beast guitar! But one thing bothers me, is my guitar refinished or not? I don't know what ways I could use to find out is it refinished or not.

 

All I can say is that side bindings look original, and there is typical yellow-ish color.

 

Every advice is welcome!

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Hello and welcome.

 

Pictures would help a lot :)..

 

If a guitar has been re-finished well and you aren't aware of the original specs or what colour it should have been it would be hard to know...

 

You can post some pics on here (using Photobucket or some other image hosting site) or you could send the pics and serial number to Gibson customer service and see if they have info on it (which they should)... They will tell you what colour it should be...

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Yellowish binding isn't uncommon. Sometimes the dye from the paint used bleeds into the binding. Older LP''s have yellowish binding...might even be the sun.

Definitely. Clear coats may become yellowish due to age and light. Repairs and refinishes can also be detected using ultraviolet lamps.

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I bought recently a 1985 Les Paul, which is a beast guitar! But one thing bothers me, is my guitar refinished or not? I don't know what ways I could use to find out is it refinished or not.

 

All I can say is that side bindings look original, and there is typical yellow-ish color.

 

Every advice is welcome!

If you are going to ask the forum, pics are a must. There is no way to judge the guitar without them.

 

I can say a little about it, but it doesn't apply to your guitar.

 

Spotting a re-fin can be easy, or hard. If a guitar has been refinished long ago, or closer to the time it was new, it's hard to use "age" to figure it. Also, the "type" of finish. If it is very close to the same finish Gibson used WHEN YOUR GUITAR WAS MADE, it would be harder to tell.

 

Also, many guitars have not been refinished, but touched up in areas.

 

If it matters to you, we need clues. If you can't tell and you want us to see what you can't, we need to see the guitar.

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