chroniclivin Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Hi i'm new to this forum so please bear with me, i am interested in picking up a vintage 1951 Gibson L-48 from a guy but it has been repainted gold... does that really drop the value of it? they go for like 1000-1500 on ebay i just don't wanna get ripped off i know this is a awesome guitar... just neeed some advice, thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I would think that it would drop the value 30-50%...from the value of an original finish L48 ....depending on the quality of the refinish! It is not going to be a vintage 'collectable' anyway. Therefore, it is a used guitar. Pay accordingly, is my advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 A pristine L-48 of this era will sell for around $1000 top dollar. For a major alteration such as a paint job (not just a refinish) would definitely fall into the 50% category. All else being fine, no cracks, breaks or repairs, you're looking at a $500 guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 The above advise I also agree with. But really, it is going to come down to much more than just the fact it has been "repainted". As was stated above, how is the rest of the guitar? Does it need any repairs/work? Has it had any breaks or repairs fixed? What is the quality of the repairs? What kind and quality of finish does it have? L5LARRY is pretty up on this stuff, prices and all. I tend to trust the 1000 figure for what he says they are selling for. But, that still seems low for what it is. Not saying they would sell for more, but rather, 1000 is a 'players' price, as opposed to a 'collecters' price. So again, the actual condition and facts. IF everything was done TOP NOTCH, with a nitro finish, and made to be like 100% new and of high quality, I could still see MAYBE much higher than 500 AS A PLAYER, but not the full value of 1000 you could get another for. If the work done is bad, and it is hiding other issues like a break, or really is a bad finish or done in a ploy finish, It might be a stretch to be worth 250. It would be easy for the repair or restoration cost of what exist to exceed the value of what it would be worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 A Paint job is a paint job....A refinish is a refinish. There are different degrees of quality. But it can NEVER be ORIGINAL again.... I would assume that a sunburst L48 refinned in gold would be worth less than one that was refinned in sunburst.../!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chroniclivin Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 thanks guys that was VERY helpful, i cried a little when i saw it, such a shame, the original sunburst looked great, oh well i guess i'll have to stay on the hunt, i'm gonna offer real low and see if he bites, once again thanks fellas very informational. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfox14 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I restored a 1954 ES-125 that was painted gold. Horrible job. Was able to remove all the gold paint and found the original sunburst finish intact underneath. I would recommend doing the same, but wouldn't pay more than $400-500 for the L-48. Check out pix at: http://www.fox-guitars.com/Repair___Restoration.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I restored a 1954 ES-125 that was painted gold. Horrible job. Was able to remove all the gold paint and found the original sunburst finish intact underneath. I would recommend doing the same, but wouldn't pay more than $400-500 for the L-48. Check out pix at: http://www.fox-guitars.com/Repair___Restoration.html Paul, what you did here really intrigues me. I have passed on several vintage guitars that had been over-coated in one way or another, either by paint or by a clear finish applied over an original 'burst. In most cases, the clear overcoat is probably some sort of polyurethane, as the average amateur who did this type of overcoat probably didn't even know that the original surface was nitrocellulose lacquer. In the case of paint, it could be almost anything. In the case of the ES 125, did you mechanically strip the paint off, or is there a chemical that is agressive enough to remove paint while leaving the lacquer beneath intact? I'm not asking you to disclose your trade secrets, but knowing there are practical, non-destructive ways to remove overcoats could cause me to look somewhat differently at some guitars I've rejected. In the marine industry, paint removal products containing other than the classic hyper-aggressive solvents such as methyl chloride have been developed to avoid damage to polyester or epoxy-based substrates, but I have no idea how vulnerable lacquer finishes are by comparison. In the case of the 125, did you know what type of paint finish had been applied, or was this a trial-and-error process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR56 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I restored a 1954 ES-125 that was painted gold. Horrible job. Was able to remove all the gold paint and found the original sunburst finish intact underneath. Check out pix at: http://www.fox-guitars.com/Repair___Restoration.html That's truly impressive, Paul. Seeing something like this helps to counter-balance some of the horror stories we see, where nice old guitars don't receive this kind of respect and TLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Ditto! Great work Paul. I did not know that you were into resto-work. Great job on the ES-295 Wannabe. One of my favorite things in the world to do, is take a nasty, grungy original guitar finish and make it look new! I have done many. It takes a lot of the right compounds and a lot of elbow grease. Very rewarding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfox14 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Paul, what you did here really intrigues me. I have passed on several vintage guitars that had been over-coated in one way or another, either by paint or by a clear finish applied over an original 'burst. In most cases, the clear overcoat is probably some sort of polyurethane, as the average amateur who did this type of overcoat probably didn't even know that the original surface was nitrocellulose lacquer. In the case of paint, it could be almost anything. In the case of the ES 125, did you mechanically strip the paint off, or is there a chemical that is agressive enough to remove paint while leaving the lacquer beneath intact? I'm not asking you to disclose your trade secrets, but knowing there are practical, non-destructive ways to remove overcoats could cause me to look somewhat differently at some guitars I've rejected. In the marine industry, paint removal products containing other than the classic hyper-aggressive solvents such as methyl chloride have been developed to avoid damage to polyester or epoxy-based substrates, but I have no idea how vulnerable lacquer finishes are by comparison. In the case of the 125, did you know what type of paint finish had been applied, or was this a trial-and-error process? Thanks for the kind feedback. NO stripper was used on the ES-125. Way too aggressive for this kinda job. I started out with some 80 grit sandpaper and even found that to be too aggressive. Did most of the paint removal with 100 grit sandpaper. I believe the gold paint was some sort of spray paint that did NOT adhere to the lacquer underneath very well, so it made sanding it off a little easier. However, it was a very time-consuming process. The orginal finish was only slightly damaged in a few spots that I was able to touch up. What was really cool was the logo was completely intact. Once the gold was removed, I sanded very carefully all the way from 120-400 grit & then wet sanded 600-1200 grit to finish it off. I did not overspray with any clear, so the original wound up pretty much as it was when the guitar was new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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