Author Topic: Hidden treasure - uncovered! (Read 5695 times)

Twinfan · « **on:** May 25, 2007, 01:00:13 PM »

Just seen this posted over on the Les Paul Forum and thought it might interest some of you!

* Guy owns a '57 reissue Goldtop Les Paul
* Sees flamed maple through the gold paint
* Feels like a change and decides to have the top refinished in faded sunburst

Why did Gibson decide to cover this top up? The guitar came back looking like this :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

LazyNinja · « **Reply #1 on:** May 25, 2007, 01:22:27 PM »

Wow that's gorgeous :drool: :o

You'd think they would use plain tops for solid colours. Maybe this one got mixed up at the factory?

WezV · « **Reply #2 on:** May 25, 2007, 01:31:38 PM »

maybe there was a flaw in the finish/wood and gibson decided it was more economical to add a solid colour and sell it as a gold-top rather than spend the time completely stripping and refinishing the guitar.

Philly Q · « **Reply #3 on:** May 25, 2007, 01:39:59 PM »

That's exactly what happened in the old days, apparently. I've read that there are dishonest folks out there stripping '50s goldtops, refinishing them and selling them as sunbursts.

It does seem weird that they'd still do it today, though, when manufacturers are so keen on keeping costs down.

That's a really nice guitar, isn't it? They did a lovely job refinishing it. :D

blue · « **Reply #4 on:** May 25, 2007, 01:54:18 PM »

i remember seeing a Hamer Standard (explorer shape) in a collector's articlle in a guitar magazine. it was originally black but when the owner had it stripped he discovered a spectacular flamed maple top underneath!

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

Twinfan · « **Reply #5 on:** May 25, 2007, 02:09:13 PM »

It's one of the nicest tops I've ever seen. I'm not a fan of perfectly symmetrical and aligned stripes - the character on that one is fantastic...

horsehead · « **Reply #6 on:** May 25, 2007, 02:30:21 PM »

how...beautiful....I love guitars

Kilby · « **Reply #7 on:** May 25, 2007, 02:42:18 PM »

From what I have read, it's a not uncommon event, Tom Hall (owner of Rickenbacker) said it's usually plainer wood that gets used for solid colour finishes.

If they are doing a run of highly figured guitars and and they have to produce a plain colour guitar in the middle of that batch, the odds are that they will just finish the figured top with the solid colour, as they try not to have bodies sitting around unused. Eggle and a few other builders have said similar things in the past

Theres a couple of wonderful fancy maple tops discovered under solid colours over at http://www.patrickeggleguitars.org/

Rickenbacker as mentioned often do the same.

Rob...

Philly Q · « **Reply #8 on:** May 25, 2007, 02:44:01 PM »

Quote from: blue

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

Ooops. Plywood. :(

WezV · « **Reply #9 on:** May 25, 2007, 03:05:26 PM »

That sounds quite likely - its all about keeping the production flow going. But i am not sure that would be as much an issue for Gibson. Patrick Eggle and Rickenbaker are relatively small businesses that may get a custom order in half-way through a production batch - then it makes sense to alter the colour of a production model. Gibson are a much bigger factory with a dedicated custom shop that probably would be less willing to make changes in the middle of a production batch - but i could be wrong, there are loads of unusual and confusing guitars out there because factories have a few spare bits left over

Quote from: Philly Q

It does seem weird that they'd still do it today, though, when manufacturers are so keen on keeping costs down.
:D

Its cheaper and quicker to cover mistakes with a solid finish than it is to fix them properly like would have been done when it was refinished. Especially when you consider that gibson employs 'finishers' on its production line rather than 're-finishers', re-finishing can take a whole different set of skills and needs more training. Its a better option than sending the guitar through the bandsaw when it has a slight cosmetic flaw.

Also dont be fooled into thinking Gibson payed much money for that maple top

Mr Ed · « **Reply #10 on:** May 25, 2007, 03:20:28 PM »

That. Is. GORGEOUS!!

Yet further proof that Gibson are morons.

Kilby · « **Reply #11 on:** May 25, 2007, 03:23:35 PM »

Quote from: WezV

That sounds quite likely - its all about keeping the production flow going. But i am not sure that would be as much an issue for Gibson. Patrick Eggle and Rickenbaker are relatively small businesses that may get a custom order in half-way through a production batch - then it makes sense to alter the colour of a production model.

Also dont be fooled into thinking Gibson payed much money for that maple top

Heh, ric are wierd at the best of times (they refuse to do custom models) plus the 2 year wait (probably in their case anyway it's more a case of somebody damaged an instrument in the final stages and they have to rush a replacement through).

A few of the companys I prefer (such as Hamer) probably have the same issues of production delays cost more than the wood.

Possibly another issue is probably the cost of the finishing process adds more to the guitar cost than the actual wood does.

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

Twinfan · « **Reply #12 on:** May 25, 2007, 03:40:56 PM »

Another pic of the same guitar:

dave_mc · « **Reply #13 on:** May 25, 2007, 05:03:30 PM »

haha, that's nicer than most of the LP standard tops i've seen... :lol:

noodleplugerine · « **Reply #14 on:** May 25, 2007, 05:15:23 PM »

Amazing lol.

That's one of the nicest Tops I've ever seen lol :S