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Gibson Les Paul Conversions

Subliminal lanimilbuS

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Sep 28, 2023
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363
If someone posted a nice one I was going to ask who did the conversion. Have seen a lot of post pics threads so I thought is was fair game.
 

bursty

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Dec 25, 2012
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564
not saying these are legit but I did a search and came up with these ....... cheers .......






 

ADP

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Jul 16, 2015
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Lay's Guitar Shop in Ohio is the best.
 

S. Weiger

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Nov 25, 2002
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1,772
not saying these are legit but I did a search and came up with these ....... cheers .......






Amazing what one can achive with what seems only a small effort.. :)
 

brandtkronholm

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Dec 3, 2006
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2,751
Amazing what one can achive with what seems only a small effort.. :)
I believe the acronym is LMGTFY.

That being said, I recently had some time with a ‘56 -> ‘59 conversion and it was … very disappointing. It was heavy, clunky and awkward. Alas.
 

Subliminal lanimilbuS

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Sep 28, 2023
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363
That is kind of the premise for my post. I want to see the good ones that people are playing and are liking. Just to see if there is any relation at all to year and such. I have played a couple that were very light. Neither had the tops replaced and the early one no neck reset. Both had full everything to burst apart from the plastic. There is something just so warm and smooth with those original pafs. Not really worth having one without them.
 

S. Weiger

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Nov 25, 2002
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1,772
That is kind of the premise for my post. I want to see the good ones that people are playing and are liking. Just to see if there is any relation at all to year and such. I have played a couple that were very light. Neither had the tops replaced and the early one no neck reset. Both had full everything to burst apart from the plastic. There is something just so warm and smooth with those original pafs. Not really worth having one without them.
IMO, a conversion with a replaced top is nogo. For me at least, if I was in the market for one.
Just sayin..
 

S. Weiger

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Nov 25, 2002
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1,772
BTW if you do a member search for Jumping@Shadows & scroll his postings, you will find he has done A-mazing conversions.
Dunno if you can search within his posting only, but it's really worth the effort to find his very well documented work.
Or do a "search this forum" for threads posted by him :)
 

AA00475Bassman

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Apr 26, 2016
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3,777
Heres a 57/59 I bought 1974 really shows how they used floor droppings for the top , back at this time these conversions were pretty much considered fake basterds in this time period the only thing that let the cat out of the bag is the three piece top & and no serial number . thumbnail_IMG_3161.jpg
 

bursty

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Dec 25, 2012
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564
Heres a 57/59 I bought 1974 really shows how they used floor droppings for the top , back at this time these conversions were pretty much considered fake basterds in this time period the only thing that let the cat out of the bag is the three piece top & and no serial number .
you may refer to that top as, "floor droppings" but I see that top as having tons of character :D
 

jimmi

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Oct 8, 2012
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2,078
If someone posted a nice one I was going to ask who did the conversion. Have seen a lot of post pics threads so I thought is was fair game.
My two. ‘55 and ‘54. Both original center or near center seam 2 pc tops. The ‘54 was converted by the original owner in ‘65. Very old finish with almost none left on the neck.4BFDDA0F-0D95-47C9-B7BE-398954E4E75F.jpeg4C6ABB83-58F5-4992-8CED-545314B4F39A.jpeg
 
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Subliminal lanimilbuS

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Sep 28, 2023
Messages
363
My two. ‘55 and ‘54. Both original center or near center seam 2 pc tops. The ‘54 was converted by the original owner in ‘65. Very old finish with almost none left on the neck.View attachment 24289View attachment 24290
I like the color and top on your bigsby guitar. I won't get into my horror story from 2017, but since we are talking about tops. There were two 1953 Les Pauls for sale in a city about 4 hours from me. Both had the body tops sanded off of them. One was a plain top. The other, however, was something I had never seen before. It had the most beautifully flamed top that I thought was one piece at first. There was a 1/2 inch strip on the edge of each of the lower bouts. A well done burst would have made them almost impossible to see. My horror story being the reason I missed out on them and the price, which I won't mention.
 
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