My upgraded Les Paul Tribute A+++

EFLOW · Apr 25, 2018

This Les Paul Tribute is an amazing guitar, it is very resonant, neck profile is 60' s. I made some modifications on this little Gibson :

- Buffing finish
- Blank '59 Historic truss rod cover
- Black plastics and 5 ply pickguard
- Historic switch tip and black poker chip
- Nickel metal jack plate
- Gold knobs
- Gibson ABR-1 bridge

I made a faux binding and I love the sesult.

I have a set of black M96 pickup rings not installed yet

AA00475Bassman · Apr 25, 2018

Nice guitar love the black plastic !

EFLOW · Apr 25, 2018

PS :

Buffed finish and the "faux" binding add to the over all appearance of the Les Paul Tribute.

EFLOW · Apr 28, 2018

Nobody ... ??

MAD 69 · May 2, 2018

I recently bought a Nickle jack plate - did you put your underneath the "vintage" one? Did you need to use longer screws?

EFLOW · May 3, 2018

Screws are the same, if you buy a Gibson spare part it come with screws.

MAD 69 · May 3, 2018

Ok cool, I want to put the nickel plate underneath the plastic plate, was concerned the screws wouldn't be long enough, haven't opened the package yet...

tiller2 · May 3, 2018

Eye-catching look, EFLOW--the gold, the black, and the crisp white. Very neat work and well done! Enjoy your snazzy LP.

Cyphex · Jun 21, 2018

That’s a really impressive result! Always loved the look of a goldtop with black parts

eace2 Just out of curiosity, how did you make the faux binding? Just sanding down the paint with some clear paint on top? I have a 50’s honeyburst Tribute with the need for some faux binding

EFLOW · Jul 13, 2018

I scraped the gold paint with a cutter blade mounted on 2 cards and applied 2 clear coats with a small paint brush made for scale models.

MAD 69 · Jul 15, 2018

Did you ever swap pickups? The 490/498 couldn't come out fast enough (not sure if your year has them?) Put a set of Seymour Duncan Whole Lotta Humbuckers in bridge and neck, it smoothed out my tone. I used black and removed the covers, I'm thinking of blacking it out also.

EFLOW · Mar 29, 2020

I installed the WIZZ M-69 pickup rings, very nice.
This is crazy how a $850 Les Paul became a sexy guitar with a little job.

The 490T humbucker is not very good, I think I will upgrade with a 498T or with a Seymour Duncan '59 SH-1, if you have good ideas ...

Enootebos · Apr 3, 2020

Wow! I also have a goldtop 60's tribute and made it glossy, putted mini humbuckers in and smoothed the fretboard, it's a great player and sounds amazing. But mine doesn't have that binding on the body..Was that a differend edition or so? cheers!

EFLOW said:
This Les Paul Tribute is an amazing guitar, it is very resonant, neck profile is 60' s. I made some modifications on this little Gibson :

- Buffing finish
- Blank '59 Historic truss rod cover
- Black plastics and 5 ply pickguard
- Historic switch tip and black poker chip
- Nickel metal jack plate
- Gold knobs
- Gibson ABR-1 bridge

I made a faux binding and I love the sesult.

I have a set of black M96 pickup rings not installed yet

ZZ Not · Apr 3, 2020

Nice looking guitar, I think your upgrades worked out nicely. Do you have another photo with a better look at the faux binding?

I like the style of that case, it almost looks to have a Cali-girl shape. The thick padding and dual neck support are nice too. Seems to have a nameplate on the side but I can't make it out. If you have more info or pics it would be appreciated.

Bdzombie · May 6, 2020

I also have a tribute GT and have wondered about buffing the stain finish..... like does it make it glossy like higher end ones?

S a m · May 6, 2020

Enootebos said:
Wow! I also have a goldtop 60's tribute . . . But mine doesn't have that binding on the body..Was that a differend edition or so?

No, the OP carefully scraped off the edge of the goldtop finish with a razor blade to show 'white' maple. Then, he says, he applied clear-coat with a handbrush.

It's safe to say that there are a millon ways to get that job 'almost right!'

Bdzombie said:
I also have a tribute GT and have wondered about buffing the stain finish..... like does it make it glossy like higher end ones?

Most of the time matte finishes are sprayed with 'matte-ifier' chemicals. That means the finish goes on with micro-pits (or micro-bumps, I forget which) that yield the matte effect. The manufacturer doesn't have to spend as much time wet-sanding, and no time gloss-buffing. Some people like it and some people don't.

I've buffed a couple of those to a nice semi-gloss. They tend to lose some lustre over time. I've never wet-sanded before buffing -- it might yield a high-gloss result, but I would be one sneeze away from a guitar with a bare patch.

If your guitar has a matte finish and you want a guaranteed permanent high-gloss outcome, wet-sand the matte, spray gloss on top, wet-sand, buff and compound the gloss coats. Or pay a pro to do it.

My upgraded Les Paul Tribute A+++

EFLOW

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AA00475Bassman

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MAD 69

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