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New member and new Les Paul Std. plus top in Honeyburst

RobinOttawa

By RobinOttawa
in Epiphone Electrics

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RobinOttawa

RobinOttawa

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Hi, I have been reading for a while and have been Epiphone-less until last week. I was in a local Music Store and saw what I thought to be one of the the nicest Epiphone Les Paul Stds I had seen in Honeyburst. I recently got rid of a Gibby LP that I had totally refinished in a faded CSB, and always regret not having one when I get rid of one. I changed a few things to how I had them on my Gibby Std just because I liked the look and feel, and some things like carving a new bone nut are an improvement over the plastic stock item.

For no other reasons than personal aesthetics, I change the tuners to Gibson green key style I had at home, carved a bone nut, added pointer washers, added a amber/orange switch tip, changed the knobs to gold bell knobs, and dulled the chrome parts and screws as well as the tuners (nickel). I should actually be more specific in saying that the ferric chloride took the chrome off, revealing the nickel plating underneath. First time trying it, reasonably happy with the outcome. Everything else I had at home in spares boxes.

Anyway here are some pics. Thought I'd post as everyone here seem to pretty good folk. I also post periodically on The Gretsch Pages.

Pretty happy with the new guit. Plays pretty darn close to my last Gibby LP.

 

Rob

 

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RSDx

RSDx

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Welcome to the forum - that is one beeeeeautiful honeyburst - really nice top on that, and you've made it look even sweeter[cool] I love my honeyburst......only thing I might suggest is you remove the pickguard [thumbup] I might've left mine on, but.....can see more of the top w/o it, and I couldn't get used to the noticeable color difference betwixt the pguard and the rest of the plastics....mine is/was incredibly white in comparison.

Enjoy your new guit and enjoy your time here - lots of knowledgeable and friendly folks here, and it's usually a quite civil place, as internet forums go [thumbup]

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RobinOttawa

RobinOttawa

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Thanks all. Glad you like it. It's a very nicely put together guitar. The Gibson LPS I got rid of in January was nice guitar, but it had some things that bothered me like cut/razor marks on the binding where a scraper slipped I presume and some finish issues (before I refinished it, that is). Also the colour of the plastic that Gibson is using on the non-historic models ranges from pinky to peachy tan. The pickguard, pickup rings and binding were this colour- very annoying. I'm not sure I would ever pay full pop for a Gibby again when I can get a guitar like this for 20% of the price and this quality.

I have a Gibson Les Paul Jr and a Custom Shop '61 reissue SG VOS with Lyre vibrola and this guitar is right up there with those.

 

Rob

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Guest icantbuyafender

Guest icantbuyafender

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GORGEOUS

 

I think she could stand to go streaking! (lose the guard, and the selector swith washer)

 

Here's my members of the naked lester club

 

nakedlester.jpg

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sdjjadk

sdjjadk

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Welcome aboard!! You have a sweet looking L.P. there. I've always liked that color on a Les Paul.

Also I noticed you wrapped the strings over the stop bar. I've never tried it, does it make much of a tone difference?

 

 

 

Shawn

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Guest icantbuyafender

Guest icantbuyafender

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That's one amazing looking guitar #-o

Congrats!

 

I'll assume you mean that comment toward my bunch.

 

:D

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gl297

gl297

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That is a beautiful guitar. I think since you did such an excellent job on aging everything else, you should see if you can find an "aged" pickguard and selector switch ring. I think LP's look much better with them on the guitar. The pickup rings look to be darker than the pickguard already.

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mbrooks0711

mbrooks0711

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I think since you did such an excellent job on aging everything else' date=' you should see if you can find an "aged" pickguard and selector switch ring. [/quote']

 

Large pot of coffee and a few hours will do the trick from what I've heard. Pretty sure that's what anybody who's selling "aged" pickguards is doing anyway.

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RobinOttawa

RobinOttawa

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Thanks everyone for the kind words. It's tough to say, but I think the top wrap does offer more in the sustain dept. What I mean is that I am currently without a stop tail guit to compare to- my SG has a Lyre and my Junior is a wraparound bridge.

As far as the pickups go, I thought for the first time I'd use at least one of the Epi pups. I left the bridge pup in place and replaced the neck with a 490R I had on the bench as the Epi neck pup was a little muddy to my ears. The 490R is louder then the Epi bridge pup, so some height adjustment was in order to get a nice balance. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with the stock bridge pup, though.

I think my next job will be to eventually replace the wiring with some cloth covered slightly heavier gauge stuff and replace the pots with CTS and add an orange drop cap (I'm not paying the outrageous prices I've seen for Lux caps). Not trying to turn it into anything other than what it is- just an improved version- Did pretty much the same to the Gibby I had.

I just have an idealized image in my head as to how an LP should be whether it be Gibson or Epiphone. I love to tinker as much as I love to play.

 

Rob

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RSDx

RSDx

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Large pot of coffee and a few hours will do the trick from what I've heard. Pretty sure that's what anybody who's selling "aged" pickguards is doing anyway.

I dunno ...... I've left my pickguard in a pan of coffee with the grinds as well, for several days - does nothing, at least on my original guard material. I've even tried lightly scuffing with a Scotchbrite pad to see if the discoloration would take, but no go. I've tried tea, as well ..... dang, this Epi Chinese plastic is invincible. Of course, ymmv, as I have heard of people "staining" them this way - just didn't work for me ...... and that's probably the main reason I hated the stock guard is it is so "white" compared to the rest of the plastics and binding. I'm not anti-pickguard, just like stuff to match a lil better, especially straight from the factory.

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RobinOttawa

RobinOttawa

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As I had mentioned, I kept the stock bridge pup and swapped the neck for a Gibson 490R. I figured that the best baseline for judging the bridge pup would be to gut all of the stock wiring, pots and caps and replace them with new stuff.

I was able to get some cloth covered wiring, some orange drop caps (.47) and Gibson pots. I actually wanted CTS pots, but no one in town seemed to have them.

I can read a wiring diagram and solder ok, but I kind of get lost when it comes to certain colours for certain connections (jumpers, hot neutral, etc.). It all just starts to look like freak out spaghetti after a while so trying to code goes out the window for me.

However, looks cool, worked a treat the first time, and much more importantly, sounds miles better than before. I'm pretty sure I'll keep the Epi bridge pup for a while.

 

Rob

 

IMG_0817.jpg

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