Deconstruction - Reconstruction Part 1 - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

fjminor · May 30, 2012

This is Part 1 of a 3 part thread that details an historic project that I decided to take on just so I can have a Gibson Reissue my way.

I have always wanted a Brazilian Fretboard on my Historic, but 1) was not willing to shell out the $$$$$ for it,
2) The tops on most of the Braz boards are not my cup of tea. So I started to think the only way to get what I wanted
(besides the original Bursts) was to take on a project which required a total makeover that required a retop. However,
only one Luthier in the States - Dave Johnson - was willing to retop the guitar with wood that I procured, so he got the job.

I was going after a certain look. I had two of my favorite Bursts in mind for this project. The African Burst and Pearly Gates.

I loved Pearly Gates, and Gibson did a great job recreating such a wonderful guitar, but was amazed that Gibson could only produce
one Pearly Gates Reissue that matched the top to the original Pearly and it was with BG 099. The Boz pulled the lucky straw on that bad boy.

The African Burst is my favorite Burst, and if I had to pick one to pursue if I had unlimited funds, it would be the African Burst. So Ronnie - if you
are reading this - when I win the lottery we must get together and discuss the African Burst. In the mean time, I thought I would procure the wood
to do my best to re-create a reissue of the African Burst.

I mean there is plenty of Curly Maple around - how hard can it be to match the wood to Pearly and the African Burst.?

Ok... now for The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

fjminor · May 30, 2012

The Good.

I selected 3 8.5 lbs and under Gibson R8 Guitars. One I purchased from Vintage58, and again thanks Chris for a great transaction.
The other 2 were purchased from Mark Bishop, and as always, it is a pleasure doing business with Mark. I wanted to keep costs
down with these guitars so used and plain tops were scouted. 2 were slated for Pearly Gates, 1 was for the African Burst.

fjminor · May 30, 2012

The Bad.

I now give Gibson a lot of credit when it comes to picking and working the Curly Maple tops. I thought it would be so easy, actually I really
was looking forward to this part of the project - picking out the tops. But is was the hardest and most difficult part of the project so far.
My budget was blown after 2 trips to CurlyMaple Paul in the heart of PA. All of that wood and I did not yield one flipping top. The wood that looked
fantastic on the surface, once split, matched and planned was an entirely different piece of wood. This was very fustrating. I started to source
wood from other dealers and came up with some pieces that, although not 100% what I was after, was happy enough that the pieces will make these
guitars look great

Some other tops that I have stored for other projects:

fjminor · May 30, 2012

The Ugly.

I was really worried on getting the right Brazilian Fretboard for this project. I wanted very dark, possibly with some red streaks, but definitely wanted
real dark Brazilian boards. I scouted EBay and I hit paydirt - I scored 2 huge pieces of old Brazilian Board, I figured I can cut enough pieces for 20 guitars. I
enlisted help from my Brother (who also helped me cut all of the Curly Maple).

We started to cut into the 'Brazilian Rosewood Board' and the dust was red - like blood red. My Bro, who has worked with all kinds of wood, started to say something
along the lines that this wood looks like Purple Heartwood. As we finished cutting through all of the 2 boards, we produced enough fretboards for 15 guitars.
But in taking a closer look and smell of this wood, I was very convinced this was not Brazilian Rosewood and I was duped on Ebay and did not get Brazilian Rosewood.

I sent 3 fretboards to Dave who later confirmed this wood was Brazilian - Brazilian Kingwood that is, and I also took the wood to the Philly Guitar show
in which Tom Bartlett of Bartlett Woodworking who also confirmed this wood as Kingwood. By this time, I had purchased 3 real Brazilian Rosewood fretboards from
Madeira Inc. of Portland Or. who deals in only CITES Certified Brazilian Rosewood Tonewood, and the scratch and sniff of this wood was proof enough for me
that I finally had true Brazilian Rosewood.

All of this was for naught, as Dave had the Brazilian Rosewood boards covered and promised the darkest boards possible for all 3 guitars.

Here are some examples of the Brazilian Kingwood -

Beano Geno · May 30, 2012

Interesting stuff...I'm looking forward to seeing more as this progresses. Good luck!!

c_wester · May 30, 2012

Thats super cool keep us updated!

shred · May 30, 2012

Yes... This is pretty cool..

DoubleBoogie · May 30, 2012

fjminor said:
Some other tops that I have stored for other projects:

This wood is amazing!!! :dude:

corpse · May 30, 2012

That kingwood looks like the real deal. Wow- crooks everywhere.

cryptozoo · May 30, 2012

Man, I like the look of those two R8s. Those would be tough for me to send in to get stripped.

MapleFlame · May 30, 2012

This will be a great project and they are in the right hands. I can't wait to see the progress pics. Thanks for detailing all the plans. I too have 2 projects in the works with Dave.

Todd Louis · May 30, 2012

WOW more:3zone

Greco · May 31, 2012

Phew, You were lucky there. Better just chuck all that horrible old kingwood in the the trash.

While we're here - why not just get a replica? It seems you have already spent at least $4-5K on the guitars, that's without all the wood and enlisting DJ. Buy some mahogany and you're already half way to a decent replica or 3 anyway.

fjminor · May 31, 2012

Thanks all for the encouragement, I will provide updates for part 2 and 3 as Dave provides updates to me.:salude

fjminor · May 31, 2012

Greco said:
Phew, You were lucky there. Better just chuck all that horrible old kingwood in the the trash.

While we're here - why not just get a replica?

Maybe I should have stated the Brazilian Kingwood differently, as it is very beautiful wood. But the EBayer sold it as Brazilian Rosewood which was a blatant lie. I will be putting the Brazilian Kingwood on sale correctly on EBay.

A Gil Yaron replica interests me. But my main concern with this project was control over the wood selection, specifically the tops and the fretboards. Even more importantly for possibly resale was the fact that each guitar will legally have Gibson on the headstock.

Cogswell · May 31, 2012

This is going to be amazing.
Can Kingwood be used as fretboard wood? I understand wanting a guitar w/historically accurate woods, but for some other project- is it usable? Because, as you say it is beautiful wood.

fjminor · May 31, 2012

Cogswell said:
This is going to be amazing.
Can Kingwood be used as fretboard wood? I understand wanting a guitar w/historically accurate woods, but for some other project- is it usable? Because, as you say it is beautiful wood.

Thanks Cogswell. In researching Kingwood, there are some Luthiers using Kingwood for fretboards and necks. Honestly when doing a tap test comparison of Brazilian Rosewood vs Brazilian Kingwood, both woods had their own tone when tapped.

Greco · May 31, 2012

Cogswell said:
Can Kingwood be used as fretboard wood?

Yup.

sapi · May 31, 2012

Very interesting! All the best bro, it's going to turn out good!

tdarian · Jun 1, 2012

I'll be following along too.

Deconstruction - Reconstruction Part 1 - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

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