1960 Burst Restoration

hoss · Nov 20, 2018

This conversion shows great craftsmanship.

marshall1987 · Nov 20, 2018

StSpider said:
BTW I just came up with a reasonable explanation for the guitar ending up as a custom. If you look at the pictures when the guitar was finished in lemon or stripped I see way too many mineral streaks for gibson's aesthetic standards at the time. As cool as they are, we all have heard that Gibson would use only the most pristine and "perfect" looking pieces of maple for see-through finishes.

This one looks kind of borderline, because the big streak on the bottom near the controls can easily be hidden or minimized by the burst pattern, but there are several other minor streaks on the left side.

Maybe someone though the top looked good enough (and in fact it is extremely pretty IMO), but someone else decided that it wasn't "perfect" enough and ordered it to be covered in black and finished as a Custom.

Gibson could just as easily paint the top black, or cherry, or gold, if the maple was not acceptable for sunburst.

ourmaninthenorth · Nov 20, 2018

There are innumerable examples of mineral streaked tops from this era, the evidence doesn't support the "perfect top only" urban myth.

Examples?

Have a quick flick through one of my favourite sites -

http://www.burstserial.com/site/

:salude

T.Allen · Nov 20, 2018

More discussion about this guitar in these two threads.

https://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?198339-1960-Les-Paul-Custom-with-Maple-top

https://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?201439-Sunburst-60-Custom&highlight=custom+maple

deytookerjaabs · Nov 20, 2018

Tom Wittrock said:
And many of us would like to know what it was when it left the factory, and when it left the factory.
That serial number is a non-original stamp, so it is nothing to rely on.

I'm just taking the story at face value *positive thoughts, positive thoughts, positive thoughts* my shrink insists, yeah, there's still a mystery there.

Flat-Foot · Nov 20, 2018

Jumping@Shadows said:
Hi all, the LPF has always been receptive to vintage Les Paul restoration threads, and as this guitar came from our very own LPF member ‘Stoker’, and has been discussed before, I thought some would be interested in the full process.

I really enjoyed following this on instagram. Thanks for sharing your work with everyone, even though it comes with some negative feedback.

EpiLP1985 · Nov 20, 2018

Flat-Foot said:
I really enjoyed following this on instagram. Thanks for sharing your work with everyone, even though it comes with some negative feedback.

PGV is one of the main reasons I still use Instagram. Between him, Greg Koch, and JB, I get a kick out of that platform in particular.

Flat-Foot · Nov 20, 2018

EpiLP1985 said:
PGV is one of the main reasons I still use Instagram. Between him, Greg Koch, and JB, I get a kick out of that platform in particular.

It's the only social media platform I can stomach. There is way more good stuff than bad on there.

StSpider · Nov 20, 2018

ourmaninthenorth said:
There are innumerable examples of mineral streaked tops from this era, the evidence doesn't support the "perfect top only" urban myth.

Examples?

Have a quick flick through one of my favourite sites -

http://www.burstserial.com/site/

:salude

Yeah I'm familiar with burstserial. I hardly see bursts with streaks as prominent as this guitar. As I said, I think it' kind of borderline, looks great, but IMO atypical for a vintage burst.
As for finishing this guitar in anything other than black, Goldtop would have been an option but I guess there was no custom order issued for one (AFAIK all goldtops after 58 were custom orders).

MeHereNow · Nov 20, 2018

StSpider said:
Yeah I'm familiar with burstserial. I hardly see bursts with streaks as prominent as this guitar. As I said, I think it' kind of borderline, looks great, but IMO atypical for a vintage burst.
As for finishing this guitar in anything other than black, Goldtop would have been an option but I guess there was no custom order issued for one (AFAIK all goldtops after 58 were custom orders).

Strange..

iI could find numerous "prominent" dark mineral streaked bursts in the first 2 pages of Burstserial's "Burstfaces" section.
Not at the edges, but right in plain sight on the top.
And that's only from the first 2 pages of the 1959 collection.
Some examples:

latestarter · Nov 21, 2018

Tom Wittrock said:
And many of us would like to know what it was when it left the factory, and when it left the factory.
That serial number is a non-original stamp, so it is nothing to rely on.

Agree with the unknowns, but the binding sure looks like it left the factory as a Custom.

AA00475Bassman · Nov 21, 2018

If I've learned anything on this Forum never say never when it comes to Gibson !

toxpert · Nov 21, 2018

Any such thing as an “employee guitar” during this time period?
Mix and match to personal preference...

J.D. · Nov 21, 2018

I'm still not seeing anything here that would confidently identify this as a 1960 body. I'd genuinely like to understand how it was determined to be a 1960 body and not a later body.

deytookerjaabs · Nov 21, 2018

toxpert said:
Any such thing as an “employee guitar” during this time period?
Mix and match to personal preference...

Guys built stuff, for sure. Usually you'd get a unique marking/stamp versus a serial if it was something special which was different from an employee getting an authorized/warrantied model that would have a serial. An employee "original" meant they had to buy the materials on their own dime and it wasn't really a Gibson per se. The company doesn't want you to put their name on some crazy idea you built for yourself.

From my limited recollection the one-off employee stuff is rarely something as subtle as a hidden capped body. I'd say, the possibility of someone ordering a maple capped custom intentionally back then is pretty low simply because that's an era when most dudes didn't have a clue what wood their electric guitar was made of! Usually custom order stuff was pretty blatant like a unique color, or CC pickups, or special engravings etc for a professional in the biz.

Who knows though, someone could have told the white wood guys "let's try this" then they just finished it like normal to meet quota without the dealer even knowing. ??? (that is, if it is a '60)

StSpider · Nov 21, 2018

MeHereNow said:
Strange..

iI could find numerous "prominent" dark mineral streaked bursts in the first 2 pages of Burstserial's "Burstfaces" section.
Not at the edges, but right in plain sight on the top.
And that's only from the first 2 pages of the 1959 collection.
Some examples:

First of all, keep in mind that streaks can get darker over time. Second, these are not as prominent as the one we're discussing, or as dark in person as they look to be in the photos: the streaks are as dark as the outer edge of the burst, and the photo is taken to emphasize the contrast / flame as much as possible, which will make the streak appear darker. Number 3 is an exception but I thing that guitar had some infiltration going on and I'm pretty sure it did not leave the factory like that.

latestarter · Nov 21, 2018

I had overlooked the fact this had had the neck resized somewhere along the way...which in my view opens the door further for modification. Good solution with the fillet too. And +1 for calling it a fillet. :biggrin:

El Gringo · Nov 21, 2018

This is a most curious guitar that has me interested to find out the real story ? I seen the photos from the link that were provided above when it was a lemon like burst with 3 pickups( which I liked it in the lemon burst and I liked the figure as well ) and I did see the mineral streaks which to me were nothing to get kicked out of bed for as I have seen this before and it is not an issue in my eyes. As TW I believe mentioned that the serial # does not look original it makes me wonder what it is and once was. I am most confused as I believed at first that it has to be a 68 and forward Custom but then seeing the grain of the maple top and the 3 pickups is a head scratcher for sure . This is a clear example of the mystique and aura and charm of all things GIBSON for me ! The only thing that bugs me about this guitar is the neck issue .

Arnold M. · Nov 21, 2018

great craftsmanship but I liked the guitar much better as it came from the factory, now it's just another fake burst

EpiLP1985 · Nov 21, 2018

Arnold M. said:
great craftsmanship but I liked the guitar much better as it came from the factory, now it's just another fake burst

I think the better term here would be "faithful recreation". Historics fall in this category, especially when they are sent to HM (who do wonderful work). There is an entire market looking to seek out that very specific kind of guitar. You never see someone lambasted for getting thier R8, R9, etc. modded by HM.

This is just my $0.02 (take it with a grain as I am not a Burst owner, vintage owner, etc.) but the guitar was not in it's original condition when J@S got it. Remember the color? That was not the original finish. I would have wanted to convert it as well as the orange'y color it had was not aesthetically pleasing. Could he have blacked it out again and restored it to it's "as-left" factory condition? Of course, but AFAIK from the development of the story and the progress of the conversion from J@S's Instagram account, he had selected this as a personal instrument.

The wonderful thing here is that there is a crossover between what you do professionally and for your hobby. I've seen countless instruments flow through J@S's Instagram feed for other people. Some restorations, some conversions, etc. Yet this was one he picked out as his own and he did what he wanted to and he did what he thought would make it the guitar he wanted.

You can argue about the merits and the technical details, but there is no disputing this fact: It's his guitar and he did a damn fine job reaching the desired end goal.

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