Project Refin: 1961 Les Paul

[CBRmatt600]

As coincidence would have it, another early SG came into my hands this weekend. This time, something rather special, a 1961 Les Paul/SG. This guitar belongs to a friend of mine who is a professional player, and it has been tucked away in the closet for years.

As you can see, it has been refinished before. Someone had routed for a third pickup and then changed their later and filled it with a mystery material and painted the whole thing black. Pickups and electronics are missing and the pickguard has been cut, and the bridge and tail piece have been added using what seems to be metric sizes. Other than that, no structural issues and it is overall fairly clean.

the owner plans on playing this regularly, so we are going to make it right again by refinishing in Cherry. I will chronicle the process here which will likely span a couple months as I've got a busy schedule and the owner is going to be on tour for a bit.

 

[WBailey]

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[MWR]

Awesome! Looking forward to it! :dude:

 

[corpse]

The filler looks like two part epoxy. What's the neck like?

 

[Kris Ford]

Oh yeah, I'll be watching this one!:yah

Doesn't look like it was *tooo* bad if put together...or is the black hiding MANY sins?

 

[CBRmatt600]

The filler looks like two part epoxy. What's the neck like?

The neck appears to be very clean, no breaks that I can see.

 

[CBRmatt600]

Oh yeah, I'll be watching this one!:yah

Doesn't look like it was *tooo* bad if put together...or is the black hiding MANY sins?

As as far as I can tell, that additional pickup route seems to be the only issue. It looks like it was filled with a piece of maple that was ether not flush to begin with, or has moved around over time. The lacquer on it is quite thick, so I am hoping that I don't find any surprises under it but you never know until it's all removed!

 

[madformac]

I'm subscribed. Look forward to seeing your results :salude

 

[CBRmatt600]

I got around to doing some work on the guitar this week. It's going to be a real beauty.

Neck pickguard was held on with double sided tape, nice.

Some sort of mystery filler material, plywood perhaps?

Got my hands on some real pretty reclaimed Honduran mahogany. Should work nicely in this guitar.

Stripped naked

The heel-lees neck on these early ones is real pretty

All of the black paint removed from the headstock that was making our inlay look so crappy.

A close up of the carnage

A dab of epoxy to fill some gaps that were knocked out the last time it was fInished. Once it cures and is sanded there should be a flush, pretty inlay left.


Overall a solid guitar, minus the mess in the pickup cavity. She's real pretty too. This is going to be one hell of a player.

 

[Jumping@Shadows]

Great project! These guitars really take a battering, and I've lost count of how many horribly abused examples I've seen, but this is really clean and solid and will come together beautifully :salude
Have you decided on a colour yet?

 

[thin sissy]

I love this thread! Keep us posted :biggrin:

 

[corpse]

Matt
So the top plug will be matching mahogany- right out there for all to see with that PG.
Having seen the last one, the bondo-save, I am sure you can tackle it.

 

[latestarter]

Great project! These guitars really take a battering, and I've lost count of how many horribly abused examples I've seen, but this is really clean and solid and will come together beautifully :salude
Have you decided on a colour yet?

I agree - this is a solid example and that middle piece will come up well with some careful work. Great to see the neck joint is clean.

 

[CBRmatt600]

The owner wants to go with cherry. I can't tell what it was originally because whoever painted it black stripped it prior to doing so. The grain pattern on the body is so pretty though, it will look great in cherry. I am plugging the two holes that were drilled for the tail piece, and filling the center of the pickup cavity. I will likely use a straight block of mahogany, and then re route the neck and bridge pickup locations.

 

[Kris Ford]

Looking great so far!!:salude

 

[corpse]

The owner wants to go with cherry. I can't tell what it was originally because whoever painted it black stripped it prior to doing so. The grain pattern on the body is so pretty though, it will look great in cherry. I am plugging the two holes that were drilled for the tail piece, and filling the center of the pickup cavity. I will likely use a straight block of mahogany, and then re route the neck and bridge pickup locations.

You'll have to move the still to set up the router.

 

[renderit]

I am enraptured. Proceed.

 

[CBRmatt600]

Inlay and headstock cleaned up with a little sealer over it to keep it clean

And nice clean lines. I actually used black ink to "Ebonize" the headstock. You can actually see the holly grain now, much nicer looking.

 

[CBRmatt600]

You'll have to move the still to set up the router.

Shhhh.....

 

[thin sissy]

I am enraptured. Proceed.

Great comment :biggrin: . I agree.