Hidden treasure - uncovered!

[TomW]

That looks brilliant :o

[WezV]

I'd love to know what price Gibson pays for their wood, compared to the extra they charge.

So would i

a top like that thick enough to carve  a lp out of would probably set me back at least $100 - although some guitar wood sellers will put it up a lot higher than that.

i bet gibson are not paying anywhere near that much.

[Johnny Mac]

Lovely looker! Hopefully my Feline LP will have a lovely finish like that, it's a 5A maple flame top with a honey burst  8)

[horsehead]

Most Les Pauls I'd take the plate off, but that looks sooooo bad ass I'd leave it on

[38thBeatle]

That does look very very good.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Lovely looker! Hopefully my Feline LP will have a lovely finish like that, it's a 5A maple flame top with a honey burst  8)

Your stripes are thinner JM, but yes a lovely finish like that would be cool

Back in the day the flame top wasn't really made a fuss over (other than by owners who liked the look).

As it happens the LP standard wasn't supposed to have a maple top
Back in the day LP Customs were all mahogany - carved top but no maple
Gibson messed up on Les Paul's specs (according to Les Paul) and gave the maple cap to the cheaper guitar and left the custom all mahogany when it was supposed to be the other way round.

Customs kept the all mahogany construction till the late 60s

[Twinfan]

I've always fancied an all 'hog LP Custom but I don't think Gibson make them any more.  May have to have one custom built at some point.

[viking]

I've read that there are dishonest folks out there stripping '50s goldtops, refinishing them and selling them as sunbursts.

.I own a 53 LP model,it had to be a Gold Top w/P90 but it's a cherry sunburst (almost orange) with original PAF's ! Thanks to those changes i was able to afford it at the time ! :D But the sunburst is not as beautiful as that one...(top is 3 pieces,i think).But the sound (tone) is unbelievable ... 8)

[sgmypod]

am now gasing for another Lpaul type guitar

[LazyNinja]

I've always fancied an all 'hog LP Custom but I don't think Gibson make them any more.  May have to have one custom built at some point.

Tokai makes LP customs with all mahogany body. There's a dark cherry one on ebay right now.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2007-TOKAI-MIJ-LC-85-CTM-Mahogany-Top-Wine-Red-NEW_W0QQitemZ330125218668QQihZ014QQcategoryZ112670QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[mecca777]

I'm wondering whether the tiny little mark that sits about 0.75" below the pickup selector switch was counted as enough of a flaw in the top that they sent it for a solid finish instead?

In any case, I'm glad that the owner had the courage to uncover it, because that looks like pretty much the perfect Les Paul Standard in my opinion. For some reason, I love the tight "holographic" ribbon flames often seen on PRS, Music Man and Hamer guitars, but not on a traditional Les Paul.

[WezV]

I'm wondering whether the tiny little mark that sits about 0.75" below the pickup selector switch was counted as enough of a flaw in the top that they sent it for a solid finish instead?

If it was refinished by gibson because of a flaw it would have had to have been much worse than that - there quality control isnt exactly brilliant.  
I suppose that could be a CSI clue as to where a possible  larger flaw may have been

Its most likely that any flaw that may have been there was taken care of during the strip down and refinish - or that gibson had some entirely different reason for doing this that we will never figure out  - but i bet it comes down to money

[hunter]

i suppose we'll all be spending the weekend trying to see through our solid coloured guitars now, eh?

I don't have any