[The John Lennon Les Paul Junior project]

Hello Rabs!

 

Great job!

 

Those Lollar CC's sound truly awesome!

 

Enjoy it!

 

Cheers... Bence

Thanks man... and yes the guitar when it was plugged in was LOUD.. louder than any or my other Les Pauls... Mind you in the video above when its being played unplugged its damn loud acoustically.. Also I changed the capacitor to allow more out and man this guitar is bright with a rounded sound from the highs through to the bass. I wish it was my guitar :)

[The John Lennon Les Paul Junior project]

What a fantastic end-result, Rabs!

 

Magnificent work!

 

 

So does the CC get mounted to the body from underside - hence the back-plate?

 

P.

Hmm, well no... We did talk about that when we first started discussing the project.. And for me the idea of going through the back was unnerving to say the least...

 

You see the CC pickups are really meant for archtops and the originals come with a large plate which would go inside the body and attach with three screws on the top and I had NO idea of how that ever attached to a solid body guitar.. So when we researched the pickups we found a more Tele like shaped pickup and decided it would be safer to go through the top.. So what I had to do was drill like a channel inside and under the cavity to make the pickup flush to the hole (if you see what I mean :))...

 

So the back plate was just for the aesthetics to make it a proper replica (sort of ;))

[The John Lennon Les Paul Junior project]

Wonderful news Rabs. So you have got your first guitar on your CV and it's bye bye IT.

 

Best wishes for the future.

Thanks man... and god I hope so.. I don't think I could ever stand to go back to that stupid industry again... :)

[The John Lennon Les Paul Junior project]

As a further taster of the end video heres Clark playing it for the first time :) (unplugged sadly)

 

[The John Lennon Les Paul Junior project]

Well done Rabs, I like the way it turned out. BTW what was the total time to finish the project?

Cheers man :)

 

Well the actual time when I was working on the guitar, I had a few delays while waiting for hardware and tools to be delivered AND I had to work in the hottest heat wave we have had for a while which slowed me down a bit I think it took about 15 days, then 3 weeks to cure and then another couple of days to finish it.

 

There were a few steps I left out of this thread as I just wanted to keep it light, I will do a full build video when I get the footage of it playing through an amp :)

[The John Lennon Les Paul Junior project]

I tip my hat to you my friend,your expertise and obsessive attention to detail is incredible,Clarkus will certainly look and sound even moreso the part of John Lennon when Them Beatles do their Madison Sq. Gardens part of their shows-you are a true artisan.I would love to see one of their performances because they have obsessive attention to detail in replicating every aspect of The Beatles' performances.To those who weren't around in the halcyon days of The Beatles and those who were there are want to relive them Clarkus and company are doing a great service and now you are also part of that great service.Take a well deserved bow guys.

Thanks so much for those kind words..

 

And yes I was really impressed with them when I was doing my research at the beginning. The have all the wigs, costumes and guitars but they also have the mannerisms and the sound. Pretty cool. And im really happy to have been a part of it all

 

Heres some video someone has posted from the Philharmonic hall just a few days ago.. It shows the detail they go into (mostly :))

 

and they also did a world tour with Beatles Mania with some great stuff I too take my hats off to their efforts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnywFyhJDgY

[The John Lennon Les Paul Junior project]

Excellent project! Love the way that turned out.

Thank you kind sir :)

 

And yes this project was perfect for what I have learned about building so far. I was VERY thankful to be given the opportunity to do it :)

 

And I was happy with the end result.. All we had to go by for the colour of the guitar was that old low res video that's on youtube which makes the finish look like a pale orange.. BUT everything I had read said it had more of a natural finish..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-bwKOpI5IE

 

The only picture that gave me that clue was this one which is such a shame its in black and white, but you can clearly see that the grain is showing.. So I had to make a colour up :)

[The John Lennon Les Paul Junior project]

And here its done and drying before I lacquer it

 

Then time to get my spraying gear on ;)

 

Then I sprayed it with 15 coats of nitro

 

Then after 3 weeks curing time I buffed it up

 

Then I did all the wiring and put it all back together again and voilà :)

 

And here is Clark aka John with his finished product (and his Madison Square jacket and glasses) :D

 

 

If your interested you can find out more about Them Beatles here http://www.thembeatles.com/ Apparently the guitars first gig was the Friday just gone at the Liverpool Philharmonic headlining Beatles Week :D

 

As I say, I will have a full and more detailed video up soon WITH the guitar playing :)

 

Well I hope you enjoyed.. More on my own builds very soon :)

 

Heres a quick vid when Clark played it for the first time

[The John Lennon Les Paul Junior project]

And now the build (I will keep this light)..

 

So heres the guitar before... Very nice to play and HEAVY for a Junior

 

and heres the pickup.. its a big sucker :)

 

So the first thing I did was design and make a cavity for the pickup in question.. The idea being that most of it is hidden under the pickguard and the top of the pickup is flush with the top of the cavity

 

Then I removed and plugged the wraparound bridge bushing holes (using mahogany dowels I made myself :))

 

Then I drilled for the new tune o matic and stoptail and the toggle switch

 

Then the wiring channels from the toggle switch all the way to the control cavity

 

Then I stripped the whole thing down

 

And stained it to what I thought was the best colour

 

More below

[The John Lennon Les Paul Junior project]

Hello all.... I just couldn't take it any more.. I have just done this project which was finished and delivered a few days ago, sadly (and stupidly)the footage I thought I took of the guitar being played through an amp wasn't there when I checked it DOH!!! so I have had to ask for some when the owner gets a chance. When I get that I will do a full build video with the guitar playing at the end but I just have been really wanting to share this so I thought Id do a quick thread about it.

 

First the story.. I have to firstly thank our own Pippy as he recommended me for this. Basically one of the forum members Clarkuss I think his forum name is posted a thread in the Les Paul section about wanting to mod a Les Paul Junior into a John Lennon LPJ. So after the recommendation (thanks so much Pippy :)) myself and Clark talked via email and we went over the project details. The next thing I know I had a 1958 LPJ Reissue and a Lollar Charlie Christian pickup arrive at my door.

 

Now in case you don't know... John's LPJ started out life as a sunburst LPJ model. Which I think can be seen on one TV performance.

 

Then he had it modded with a Charlie Christian pickup and had the wraparound bridge replaced with a tune o matic/ tailstop and sanded it down to an unknown colour where it was used in the famous Madison Square garden gig in 1972

 

Then later it was refinished again in cherry red which Gibson did a short run of re-issues I think in about 2006 that looks like this

 

 

Now Clark is part of a Beatles tribute band called Them Beatles and the whole reason he wanted this guitar was to do some of the songs from that Madison Square gig in their show. Now they are a tribute band that go the whole hog and dress up in all the right cloths and have the right guitars etc.. So he wanted it with a natural finish and a thin lacquer to replicate it.

[Gibson Ripper Rebuild.]

I also watched the 15min one .. Great job man, on all counts

[Gibson Ripper Rebuild.]

Looks great man

[Gibson Ripper Rebuild.]

Such great work there.. Impressive sir :)

[So what IS the deal with the Gibson Starburst]

Is this one?

[Gibson Ripper Rebuild.]

Looks sweet man ... Good job (as always :))

[Gibson Ripper Rebuild.]

Thhhhats better...

 

Wow.. that's great work man.. I bow to your luthieryness :)

[Gibson Ripper Rebuild.]

A quick run down of all I'll be doing on this.

 

.Sort the controls and pickups.

.Buff out the finish.

.Fix a bent tuners.

.Replace the rusted bridge bushings.

.Replace the pick guard.

.Put it all back together.

 

The goal is to try to not fix what ain't broke and stay as original as possible. I'm going to try to salvage those pots. Should be fun to watch...

What about those frets? Will it be playable with those so corroded?

[Gibson Ripper Rebuild.]

Damn.. now that's what you call brittle.. Was it mouldy damp then heat?

 

And yeah.. I will watch your re-build :)

[Gibson Ripper Rebuild.]

That looks freakin awesome man.. Like the black trim and hardware on the natural finish

[500T and 496R Your Opinions]

I have a 1960 Classic and love the pups and the guitar... It SCREAMS when it wants too and can actually be mellow with the right settings. It has the best range in terms of sound than any of my other guitars.. You get all the Highs, Mids and Lows and it only gets better with age

 

I can undertsand why people think they are too much but for me they are great.. Also I used to think my Classic was a solid body before I came on here.. But it weighs so much I dont undertsand how it cant be lol :)

[The Studio club]

Solid advice.

 

I played a LP Studio at my guitar shop, and while the strings they had on there were kind of old and cruddy, I did enjoy the sound. The only problem I had with it was that the neck was a little fat, but this model has a 60s profile neck instead of a 50s, so I think I'll be OK there. Plus, this model has a coil-split as well. The way I see it, this is almost guaranteed to be better than what I'm currently playing.

 

I think I'll take the plunge.

 

And yes to the 60s necks.. My first ever LP (back in like 92) was a studio but with a 50s neck.. When I went to get my next one I just tried a bunch and didnt even know what it was called but I got it as I liked the neck so much. It turned out I got a Classic 1960 Re-issue (which when you dont know looks just like a Standard to you). And man I havent looked back since.. ALL of my Gibbys must have a 60s neck its the most important thing to me.

 

So yeah. let us know how you get on man.

 

Things too look for..

Really rough fret edges which has been a big complaint with guitars that dont have neck binding..

Inntonation.. That each note up and down the fret board is in tune and not buzzing (but that could just be a bad setup that is again a big complaint and can be easily fixed, but should really be done by every guitar shop before they get sent out)

Apart from that just check the neck is straight and that all the knobs and switches work and you should be ok :)

[The Studio club]

Thanks for the quick reply. Any clue how it sounds? None of my local shops have this specific model and youtube videos aren't that easy to judge by.

Actually havent got a clue :)

 

It says these are the pickups

Electronics

Neck pickup: 490R

Bridge pickup: Burstbucker Pro

 

Which is quite an unusual combination that ive not actually seen before.. BUT they are both great pickups so id imagine it sounds pretty darn good...

 

The thing with guitars especially Gibsons as they are hand finished, is that each one sounds ever so slightly different depending on how its set up and how resonant the particular piece of wood is that went into making it.. So the only way is to try it relly...

 

In saying that, most Les Pauls I have played have been very resonant.. Its the playability of the guitar that is important and is what makes me choose one over another, even if they are they same model and colour. It all comes down to your personal taste really. If your purchasing online, then you take that risk really... Better to try and find one you can play in my view, but there are many members on here who do order online and have no problems.. So thats down to you :)

 

Good luck.. and of course we want to see pics of whatever you end up with.. Happy hunting (thats half the fun anyway ;))

[The Studio club]

I'm looking to purchase on of these myself. Can anyone tell me if this deal as good as it looks or if its too good to be true?

 

Gibson Les Paul Studio Deluxe

Looks like a damn good deal to me... It seems that Gibson is having a sake on at the moment to clear the pre 2012 stock.. So is a really good time to buy right now (unless one of the new models take your fancy)..

 

But studios are great guitars.. and that one has a lovely top

[Club of Standards]

Heres my slightly modded 2008 Standard.. It was just screaming for these changes :)

 

The errm After and Before shot

 

 

And the close up with its brothers :)

[The Official What Are You Listening To Right Now Thread...]

BB King :)