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1955 special to '59 conversion

RickN

New member
Joined
Feb 12, 2002
Messages
7,143
you never know my fantasy might be your reality...

Whew - you really are a Fantasy Island resident. :hee

FLICK, ol' buddy, you certainly seem to be impressed with your own resume. :rolleyes: :lol For all your purported 'mad skilz', I don't see your name on the short-list of people that the people in this particular community would turn to for a conversion, retop, etc. That's a pretty short list, and you're not on it. :ganz (Wait a minute... maybe you are and I just didn't get the revised list this week!) Since the nature of this conversation was about people who DO perform conversions and the like, throwing up some quack in DC as evidence of why the 'short-list' guys such as Lenz, Mirabella, Johnson, Mueller, et al, should be obligated to provide step-by-step photos is just more completely irrelevant B.S. I've never been to Scott Lenz's shop (but will in the next week or two), and I do know Terry and Dave well... but I'll bet you've never been to their shops either. So whatever horror stories you may have heard or experienced are most likely not from those gentlemen. :ganz You've got an axe to grind, for some reason.

The people who do this kind of work, and have a long and well-established reputation for their work, don't have any obligation to provide pictures to make you feel better. If you don't do your homework in advance, and feel apprehensive enough to need your hand held the entire way, that's your problem. You're trying to turn your problem into their problem. It's my guess that the people who do use the short-list guys to do their work typically don't have your problem. And this "Chicken Little" alarmist attempt of yours is actually getting amusing... so keep it up! Many of us are getting a good laugh at your expense.

And for the rest of quacks around here who are giving people with conversions a hard time for not posting pictures they may have... well, they have no obligation to post pictures even if they have them. If they choose not to post them, I guess that pretty-much says that it's none of your f*cking business and giving them a hard time online because of their choice to not post them is more of the Harmony Central mentality that has floated over here in the last few years. :rolleyes:

Now, let's all plug into our PODs and play some real rock & roll! :headbange :wail
 

geddins

New member
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Messages
1,743
IF I had a guitar to convert :fc , here's what I would do:
1. Come to forums like this and ASK questions.
2. Ask for references from the luthier in question.
3. See examples of his past work.
4 Talk to him in person or on the phone...not email. I think this is the most crucial step. Making sure you CAN be in lockstep with him, and that he understands your "vision" for the outcome. Pictures would be "ok"...but they're too easy to fake.

FWIW, I put up a (non-Gibson) guitar on Ebay last night. I took 23 pictures in all. From setting the guitar up to photograph to the time I had the pics ready to post it was 2 hours......I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to this stuff...but IF a luthier is shooting "progress pics"...he's gotta KNOW that the pics have to look GREAT; or else he's gonna lose some credibility...so he's gonna take LOTS of time to make sure they come out as he wants...which is going to add a ton of time to the project, IMO.

It's more than likely a moot point for me, but hey....I gots opinions too :applaude

BTW...the conversion in question looks great to me!
 

SheltonGuitar

Active member
Joined
Jul 6, 2005
Messages
1,720
I have a good friend that's doing some L.P. work for me, and I trust him beyond words. I'd only want pics to compare before and after.

For example:

Before openning the wine box...
08-1207436264T.jpg


...and after openning the wine box.
08-1209179400T.jpg
 

57special

New member
Joined
May 27, 2002
Messages
142
Can you let me know who did the work or email me if you prefer? I'm in Toronto, so a Canadian luthier would be ideal.

Hold on - looks like it was Brian Monty in Montreal? - My reading skills need improving...

Cheers

nigel.lall at rogers.com.

You could try The Peghead in Hamilton.
 

BCR/Greg

Les Paul Forum Member and Host of Guitar Shop
Joined
Jul 21, 2001
Messages
2,802
+1 for the Peghead. Tell Mike that I said Hello!
 

v-verb

Active member
Joined
Jul 16, 2001
Messages
1,515
My conversion should be done in a couple of months. Have 2 pics that I'll post shortly...
 

Chef Greg

Active member
Joined
Jan 17, 2002
Messages
6,611
MODS-- can we kill that link in post #81 ? That's backstage stuff --
 

v-verb

Active member
Joined
Jul 16, 2001
Messages
1,515
I sure hope he gets plenty of pictures, because....damn!!


:worm :rofl :worm

not many pics - just to see that it's moving forward.. Curious to see how it will look. In anycase it started like this:

gib56lpjr-project.jpg


and morphed into this:

Jrburst002.jpg
 

JIMI55LP

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 28, 2005
Messages
1,588
I understand having faith in the skills of the luthier, but photo evidence of the work done on such an involved project would be pinnacle if I was considering buying a Special or Junior converted to a Standard. It's not that I want to extract or learn luthiers secrets, just that I'd want to know with no confusion what was done to make this right. If you've ever looked at vintage auto restorations, the photo evidence is the thing that helps the buyer understand that the work done was acceptable. We all agree refins and conversions are not the prefered thing when it comes to vintage guitars, but who of us here would not want to see photo evidence of how this man with the GREAT reputation did this neck joint that most of us knows is extremely difficult at best. Don't you all agree that trying to sell this guitar in the future would be tough at best with no photos to support the work done? I believe the 55' Special conversion is very nice looking, but feel the neck joint alone is a large mystery. I know how I would have done the neck joint and long tenon, but I'd need to know how antone else did it, if I was considering buying this. No photos in digital or film, "That dog doesn't hunt"!
 

v-verb

Active member
Joined
Jul 16, 2001
Messages
1,515
More shots of my build process...I didn't get this done to sell, just to brig a dead piece of wood back to a guitar I'm looking forward to playing and enjoying for hopefully a long time..
JrBurst001.jpg

JrBurst002-1.jpg

JrBurst003.jpg

JrBurst004.jpg

JrBurst005.jpg
 

FlamingTop

New member
Joined
Nov 23, 2006
Messages
361
Looking good Nige! that board is looking mighty tasty :) I do hope that heel is going to be shaped a lot further LOL
 

v-verb

Active member
Joined
Jul 16, 2001
Messages
1,515
Hey Es! Post 96 is the most recent update. I think it's shaping up nicely so far. I'm hoping the finish and the old Gibby pickups (with vintage long magnets) I get put in will spice it up a bit!

Cheers

nigel
 
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