BKP Mules playing Comfortably Numb Solo

[Philly Q]

Well Indy, the japanese just make as much as possible with any wood they can get cheap enough. If theyr out of 'asian' mahagony they just keep on building with whatever is available, they even used to stain basswood.

Then there is still the process of selecting proper tonewoods and maching them together, which any luthier will agree on more or less, is not something of a mayor consearn to the japanese.

I hope there aren't any Japanese guitar builders reading this thread.  :roll:

[Twinfan]

Great looking Orville too.  Did you know it's a Photo Flame????

Errm, sorry to doubt you, but when I bought it it had a huge chip out of the lacquer on the edge of the top and you could see the maple clearly underneath. My luthier repaired it and did a superb job!

Sorry matey - I mean the top is maple but the flame bit is a photo.  I only know because I've seen a couple of guitars with EXACTLY the same top as yours.  Which is impossible.

I wasn't very tactful was I?  Many, many apologies.  A rushed post over lunch   :oops:

[Twinfan]

The top is maple and has a very nice fotoflame trick done to it, sounds just like the 'real' thing though, most 90's MIJ flame guitars were like that.

Err, that's a very sweeping statement.  I've heard of Orvilles with photo flame, but I'm not aware of any other MIJs with them?

Dont mind TF too much though, hes just found out his Les Pauls are basswood, which is quite embaressing after bragging about them here.....

Yeah, my Gibson's a right pile of cr@p just like yours  :P

[treefella]

Welcome Treefella, hope you dont pay too much attention to the natives..... :lol:

The top is maple and has a very nice fotoflame trick done to it, sounds just like the 'real' thing though, most 90's MIJ flame guitars were like that.

Dont mind TF too much though, hes just found out his Les Pauls are basswood, which is quite embaressing after bragging about them here.....  :oops:

 :twisted:

Thanks for the kind words and I don't know whether the top is a fotoflame or not but it sounds 'just like the real thing' because it is! Orville and Orville by Gibson guitars were made in the Fujigen Gakki guitar factory under license from Gibson and sold under the name Orville (Mr Gibsons first name). They were built between approx 1988 and 1998 and were constructed to the EXACT spec of the 1959 Les Pauls with a long tenon neck joint and mahogany body and that is why they sound so f****** great and sustain so well. Just check out the reviews of Orvilles on www.harmonycentral.com and you'll see that most owners (who also own or have, like myself, owned Gibsons) reckon they're as good if not better than their American counterpart.

[Philly Q]

Just check out the reviews of Orvilles on www.harmonycentral.com and you'll see that most owners (who also own or have, like myself, owned Gibsons) reckon they're as good if not better than their American counterpart.

If you have a search around the forum you'll find loads of discussion of ObGs, Japanese Les Pauls and MIJ guitars generally.  There are lots of fans here!  :D

[treefella]

Great looking Orville too.  Did you know it's a Photo Flame????

Errm, sorry to doubt you, but when I bought it it had a huge chip out of the lacquer on the edge of the top and you could see the maple clearly underneath. My luthier repaired it and did a superb job!

Sorry matey - I mean the top is maple but the flame bit is a photo.  I only know because I've seen a couple of guitars with EXACTLY the same top as yours.  Which is impossible.

I wasn't very tactful was I?  Many, many apologies.  A rushed post over lunch   :oops:

I'm still inclined to disagree with you and here is my reasoning. The guy who played the solo I uploaded liked the guitar so much that he bought an identical (almost!) one from the same seller in Japan. Here are pics of the two side by side and although similar, the markings display quite individual characteristics.

[Twinfan]

They both look great!

Here's one for sale that looks very similar to yours, with the flames slipped a bit.  Check out the "double stripe" going through the bridge volume pot, and the stop tail piece on yours  ;)



And see this one, which has the same flame as yours:



And this one, again the same as yours.  The "double stripe" is a dead giveaway:

[treefella]

They both look great!

Here's one for sale that looks very similar to yours, with the flames slipped a bit.  Check out the "double stripe" going through the bridge volume pot, and the stop tail piece on yours  ;)



And see this one, which has the same flame as yours:



And this one, again the same as yours.  The "double stripe" is a dead giveaway:

I have to concede, the second one is pretty much identical to mine. what the hell, I still think it looks and sounds brilliant!

[Philly Q]

Just out of interest, are those "doppelflamers" all Orvilles, or other MIJ brands too?

what the hell, I still think it looks and sounds brilliant!

I'm sure it does!  :)  I've never read anything to suggest a flame/figured  top sounds any better than a plain one.

[Twinfan]

Orvilles and Epiphone Japan Phil.  Same factory  ;)

Sorry Mr treefella  :(  If it's any consolation, I've recently discovered that my "solid flame top" Signature LP is in fact a laminate (or photo?) top on two or three pieces of maple cap  :(  Still sounds and plays awesome though, and interestingly enough it was made in the same factory as your Orville LP......

[Philly Q]

Orvilles and Epiphone Japan Phil.  Same factory  ;)

That makes perfect sense - my Japanese Epis have a very similar construction style (if that makes sense) to the ObG I used to own.  And of course there's the Gibson connection.

[il˙ti]

How can you tell it's a photoflame? Other than scr@ping off a piece of course. I mean in general, not the guitars in the pictures.

[Twinfan]

I don't know ilyti.

I was curious, so I had another look at the two guitars you posted treefella.  I think they're the same photo flame, but flipped:

[Scotty477]

Yup.

I've just found out my Korean Epi LP is basswood with an alder cap and a birds eye maple veneer......

[treefella]

Seems like we've sparked off quite a little debate here!!