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Gold Top greening gallery

MapleFlame

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 3, 2005
Messages
14,044
Picture032.jpg
 

NBlair930

New member
Joined
Jul 16, 2001
Messages
460
TW59,
Can you explain the unique "extreme wear" on your gold top by the pickup selector ring? I see the other well worn GT's have slight wear in the same area but nothing like yours. I love it. I am trying to imagine what, other than being played hard for 50+ years, (e.g. jewelery? shirt sleves, etc.) could cause same to such a high degree.
 

1970goldielux

New member
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
65
This is my favourite guitar in the world. Not just this forum but anywhere in the world. (Though The Mutt is a close 2nd) I prefer this to any burst. And I know nothing about it.

917_p43060.jpg
 

1970goldielux

New member
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
65
Here is mine. The OP wanted to see how the later ones aged. Pretty well I think. I went over the cutoff date by a few months. This is a 1970 with Throbaks.

Goldtop2002.jpg
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
This is my favourite guitar in the world. Not just this forum but anywhere in the world. (Though The Mutt is a close 2nd) I prefer this to any burst. And I know nothing about it.

917_p43060.jpg

If you are ever coming to a Texas show, let me know and maybe I can bring G.I.Paul to show you.
It is fun in person. :)

:salude
 

gypsyseven

Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
767
My 2002 R6 is already getting a little greenier, but it's probably too early to get it on pics...
 

avereste

New member
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Messages
377
Why do goldtops wear out much more than burts?
And I'm not talking about the greening, but about the finish missing.
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
Why do goldtops wear out much more than burts?
And I'm not talking about the greening, but about the finish missing.

The metalic finish is very different.
Much thicker and cracks differently.
Plus, it corrodes.
 

cgriff

New member
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
16
here's what Gibson says about the old gold finish:

"Despite being universally referred to as “gold,” the tint added to the mixture of clear nitrocellulose lacquer and reducer in order to produce the metallic gold effect is actual a bronze powder. This bronze powder doesn’t dissolve in the lacquer, rather its tiny reflective particles are suspended in it.

Get up close to a genuine Goldtop and you’ll see not only the deep, almost three-dimensional luster this produces, but also the refracted light and reflectivity of the bronze powder flecks themselves. The overall effect is a kind of iridescence, with a deep, lustrous gold hue apparent in a straight-on view of the body, and a greenish-bronze tint when you view the guitar at a slight angle or tilt it to roll the light off the carved arches in the top.

Over the bronze-tinted coat is sprayed a clear coat nitrocellulose lacquer, which is prone to further “greening” with age—a “flaw” that many makers sought to eliminate in the 1970s and ’80s with the use of more stable polyurethane and polyester finishes, but which is widely accepted as part of the natural beauty of many vintage guitars, as well as many contemporary reproductions. "

http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/Gold-Mining_-Gibson_s-Glorious.aspx
 
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