52/59 LP Conversion

[Blakey]

Need some opinions please.......... I'm really seriously tempted by this, I saw it about two weeks ago at a shop in Oxfordshire UK, it looks, sounds and plays amazing. Has some original parts including long mag PAFs, '59 loom with matched pots, ABR-1 and 5-latch brown case. It has had the neck angle reset and re-topped with correct wood, work carried out by one of the UK's best luthiers apparently!
It's a great guitar with history!
Your thoughts please ladies and gents..........

1952 / 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard Conversion - Vintage & Modern Guitars

2006 Gibson Jimi Hendrix Psychedelic Flying V #165

www.vintageandmodernguitars.co.uk

 

[DutchRay]

Very pretty guitar but 35K for a re-topped guitar is a bit too much for me.

 

[Blakey]

I was trying to work out the value of the parts which must account for some of the asking price, then maybe make an offer?
There was another one around not quite as pretty which was 30K and it had been re-topped and had a repaired head.......?

 

[brandtkronholm]

Need some opinions please.......... I'm really seriously tempted by this, I saw it about two weeks ago at a shop in Oxfordshire UK, it looks, sounds and plays amazing. Has some original parts including long mag PAFs, '59 loom with matched pots, ABR-1 and 5-latch brown case. It has had the neck angle reset and re-topped with correct wood, work carried out by one of the UK's best luthiers apparently!
It's a great guitar with historyView attachment 18890!
Your thoughts please ladies and gents..........

1952 / 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard Conversion - Vintage & Modern Guitars

2006 Gibson Jimi Hendrix Psychedelic Flying V #165

www.vintageandmodernguitars.co.uk

Nope.
No way.
Pass.

 

[garywright]

T-bird

 

[Wilko]

Retop is a no go for me.

 

[gmann]

Is the retop like a very thin veneer or what?

 

[Big Al]

what. A whole new top. A retop. New wood.

 

[thin sissy]

I get that selling a "burst" is more of a selling point than selling a goldtop. But IMHO an original topped goldtop (or another solid colour) is way way waaaay more attractive than a retopped vintage guitar. It baffles me that someone would remove 20% of the wood of a vintage guitar, and then sell it for more than an original?

With that said I'm sure this is an awesome guitar! But I would like to see a discount for the replaced wood, not an upcharge.

 

[Blakey]

I get that selling a "burst" is more of a selling point than selling a goldtop. But IMHO an original topped goldtop (or another solid colour) is way way waaaay more attractive than a retopped vintage guitar. It baffles me that someone would remove 20% of the wood of a vintage guitar, and then sell it for more than an original?

With that said I'm sure this is an awesome guitar! But I would like to see a discount for the replaced wood, not an upcharge.

There’re two sides to that debate I see what you're saying. However, assuming you DID try to keep the existing top and wanted a sunburst and not a gold top, to accommodate the humbuckers you’d need to route out some more wood and insert a visible infill to lose the old P90 routing. It’s most likely going to have a three piece or non-centred two-piece top. Keeping the original top, the neck angle reset will be more of a challenge to carry out and difficult to make the end of the fretboard look tidy when it's painted. You would have to have a good luthier carry out this work, an average one could lose the mojo or worse still trash the guitar altogether. In the past I’ve thought about having it done myself but to start your own project, how long will it take to find a donor guitar with some issues and at what price? I have been looking. Who do you trust to do the work and at what price?

On the website there are pictures of this guitar before the conversion (in the store the seller had a history file of the previous ownership) you can see the original maple top was a 3-piece, re-finished in red which showed up three different shades of red because of the saw angles of the wood. It would probably never have looked good as a sunburst finish then. The pictures also show it already had some humbuckers in it, at the time this must have been the ideal candidate for a re-top! I’ve looked at a few conversions, this particular guitar I have to say is definitely the best so far, it sounds and feels like an original, (I have owned a few originals, I miss owning one but they’re so much ££$$). There is a couple of videos of it being played on the Vintage and Modern website, see the original link I posted. The value is what I’m trying to establish, the description from the seller is that the top is old stock Eastern Red Maple, it does have a great contour job! I want to make a realistic offer? I’ve looked at the price of the parts so the “husk” is the anomaly….. is it worth 20k?

The fact that the work’s done and it’s ready to rock, it may be worth the roll……?

 

[thin sissy]

Sounds like you want it, so if you have the dough, go for it

 

[charliechitlins]

Don't support guitar butchers.

 

[poor man's burst]

The finish is a mess.

 

[brandtkronholm]

...you can see the original maple top was a 3-piece, re-finished in red which showed up three different shades of red because of the saw angles of the wood. It would probably never have looked good as a sunburst finish then. The pictures also show it already had some humbuckers in it, at the time this must have been the ideal candidate for a re-top! I’ve looked at a few conversions, this particular guitar I have to say is definitely the best so far, it sounds and feels like an original, (I have owned a few originals, I miss owning one but they’re so much ££$$). There is a couple of videos of it being played on the Vintage and Modern website, see the original link I posted. The value is what I’m trying to establish, the description from the seller is that the top is old stock Eastern Red Maple, it does have a great contour job! I want to make a realistic offer? I’ve looked at the price of the parts so the “husk” is the anomaly….. is it worth 20k?

The fact that the work’s done and it’s ready to rock, it may be worth the roll……?

Pics - or it didn't happen.

 

[Big Al]

Hokum and balderdash. It ain't nothing more than a mutilated vintage guitar and it is not a Burst. Dream on, it is smoke and mirrors.

 

[AA00475Bassman]

I fail to see any value in this remnant guitar .

Resale at what price ?

54 GT , 54 - 56 custom with no repairs or explanation ?

 

[Blakey]

WOW. Ok thanks for your help.

 

[Blakey]

Pics - or it didn't happen.

As you wish......... '58 and '60. Then '59 with '59 TV Junior. Last one is a '58 V with Tweed Bassman. Someone had to be the custodians in the past, they're not a myth.
There's a lot, lot more but they'd need resizing for this platform.

 

[DutchRay]

Nice pictures! I'm guessing you didn't pay $35K for any (or all) of them. I remember the early 90's, I was offered a '58 Burst for $12.5K which was about what I was earning a year at the tender age of 20. Those were the days!

 

[Phatfrank]

I think the price is pretty much what similiar conversions go for. And the seller is a very honest and fair guy, so wouldn’t be worried about this one. looks amazing!