""Rare"" Epi Les Paul Custom

[gaelkuo]

Some guys may saw my thread of " The top of a custom"...
The top of the black custom?

Now i have some new pics updated. After sanded down the clear coat, black paint, Zakk Wylde bullseye paint and maple veneer...this is what you see .

I bleached the mahogany top and tried to stain it to be liked ice tea or yellow lemon lolor. I also keeped the original primier coat from the back, side and maple neck, and then will directly polish these.

Please tell me what do you think??

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[The_Sentry]

oOOoohhhh....nice.

I was of the opinion that as far as Epi LP's go, they put a little bit extra into the ZW sigs. Now that's a guitar I can get into! (that bullseye is gone! )

PS: On the backside next to the cutaway.....what happened there, or is that just the camera?

[Nikkolette Moore]

Your Epi project is KEWL..and i am actually impressed by the new SLASH goldtop Epi Les Paul..it has some very desireable features that are bound to make it a great rig, but only 2000 will be produced..and at $1500..why not a Gibson?

[Nikkolette Moore]

Another MLP site point to ponder for detail neurotics..see the darker colored headstock up to about fret 3? thats a neck/headstock glue joint i believe is called a scred joint..is it weaker or stronger than a 1 piece, does it affect tone, will it crack...so much to obsess about..

[LeSpAuLsTaNdArD23]

that's a weird finish! to me it is at least! nice!

[Akahito]

Surprisingly pretty wood. How many pieces is it? Hmm... I could sand down my Custom and stain it some cool color too. Nice project! Do you have any in-between-phases pictures?

[franciscog_chin]

what happent to the simbol in the back, and the serial number?

[steadyriot]

I don't like the color but it is indeed a lovely top for something that had a big ass sticker on top of it!

[LEFTY LES]

Originally Posted by franciscog_chin

what happent to the simbol in the back, and the serial number?

Spell check bro, spell check

[Akahito]

I'm getting more and more intrigued by the thought of refinishing my guitar. gaelkuo, you obviously went about stripping the finish just by sanding, am I right? I'm wondering what other methods yielding good results are there for stripping a poly finish. Chemicals? What chemicals? Where can I get the ones I need, and what should I be looking out for?

I've been drooling over desert burst for a long time, but prefer the regular LP burst pattern over the shape contouring burst of the DB, so I'm thinking of going with something along these lines:

[_pete_]

Originally Posted by Nikkolette Moore

Another MLP site point to ponder for detail neurotics..see the darker colored headstock up to about fret 3? thats a neck/headstock glue joint i believe is called a scred joint..is it weaker or stronger than a 1 piece, does it affect tone, will it crack...so much to obsess about..

It's called a scarf joint. It's said to be stronger than a one piece neck.

[gaelkuo]

Originally Posted by The_Sentry

oOOoohhhh....nice.

I was of the opinion that as far as Epi LP's go, they put a little bit extra into the ZW sigs. Now that's a guitar I can get into! (that bullseye is gone! )

PS: On the backside next to the cutaway.....what happened there, or is that just the camera?

That part that has lighter color is just the primier coat was worn through. Will spray a bit clear lacquer on it. I also sanded the serial number off. Since it's a project guitar and serial number has no meaning to me.

[gaelkuo]

Originally Posted by Nikkolette Moore

Another MLP site point to ponder for detail neurotics..see the darker colored headstock up to about fret 3? thats a neck/headstock glue joint i believe is called a scred joint..is it weaker or stronger than a 1 piece, does it affect tone, will it crack...so much to obsess about..

I've heard most of the Epi les paul got this kind of joint...what ever it called.. Maybe it's easier to work and save some wood. I don't think it's weaker but it looks ugly without solid finish to me.

[gaelkuo]

Originally Posted by Akahito

Surprisingly pretty wood. How many pieces is it? Hmm... I could sand down my Custom and stain it some cool color too. Nice project! Do you have any in-between-phases pictures?

Thanks.

I think it has two pieces of mahogany top and two pieces of mahogany body glued together. You can see some pics from my last thread " The top of the black custom" . But due to i am busy in these days and only could spend a little time day by day. so i didn't take pics of the process.

[lifele55]

Looks great gael

Awaiting final pics now...

[gaelkuo]

Originally Posted by Akahito

I'm getting more and more intrigued by the thought of refinishing my guitar. gaelkuo, you obviously went about stripping the finish just by sanding, am I right? I'm wondering what other methods yielding good results are there for stripping a poly finish. Chemicals? What chemicals? Where can I get the ones I need, and what should I be looking out for?

I've been drooling over desert burst for a long time, but prefer the regular LP burst pattern over the shape contouring burst of the DB, so I'm thinking of going with something along these lines:

Wow...it's cool that you already got a 3D drawing of your plan. LOOKS pretty Nice!!

I did only use electronic sander and sand papers to strip the finish. I have to say it was really tough and took me more than 10 hours to carefully sand all the damn poly off.(My another Tele style project only took 4 hours).

Chemicals like paint stripper is easier and faster, but it's toxic and dangerous. And it will ruin the plastic binding. Heat gun is another way. But it need some experiences of heat control or you will char the wood.

[Akahito]

Originally Posted by _pete_

It's called a scarf joint. It's said to be stronger than a one piece neck.

...At the joint. The reason Gibson necks are prone to breaking is that the wood grain runs across the headstock at an angle, instead of straight in line with the piece, as the headstock is cut and shaped to have an angle. Wood is strong along the woodgrain, mahogany especially so, thus it is used as neck wood in bass guitars a lot: With the wood grain aligned with the piece, you can tow a car with a piece of wood as thick as a regular pencil. Against the wood grain though, even a moderately light blow is enough to cause something as thick as a guitar neck to break under tension.

The idea with the scarf joint isn't that the joint made the wood stronger, it's that the imminent blow each guitar will always get to the neck at least once, is less likely to come at a bad angle across the wood grain causing breakage. It's technically no stronger... just playing with better chance of surviving the blow.

One piece necks have been overglorified for their superior tone: It's previously been more of an indicator of whether or not the rest of the guitar is also well made, what is moreso the cause of the good sound instead of the one-piece neck. All Fender guitars feature one-piece necks with a back reinforcement strip, and there are better and worse sounding guitars among them. The design of the headstock enables this with less chance of breakage, with the cost of uneven string tension across the nut - hence Fender's use of string trees to help balance out its effect on tone and playability.

Originally Posted by gaelkuo

Wow...it's cool that you already got a 3D drawing of your plan. LOOKS pretty Nice!!

I did only use electronic sander and sand papers to strip the finish. I have to say it was really tough and took me more than 10 hours to carefully sand all the damn poly off.(My another Tele style project only took 4 hours).

Chemicals like paint stripper is easier and faster, but it's toxic and dangerous. And it will ruin the plastic binding. Heat gun is another way. But it need some experiences of heat control or you will char the wood.

Thanks for the tips. I don't want to ruin the binding, so I guess I'll be looking into heating and some careful sanding. I REALLY REALLY like how the back and sides of your guitar looks now.

I've found 3D modeling a really neat way of getting a better idea of what works and what doesn't. I'm a very visual person, and albeit it doesn't affect my ultimate choices, it certainly has a word in almost everything else I do. And I feel better with stuff that looks the way I want them to. I do the same thing to everything: Drums, bass, guitar, whatever. All instruments I've picked on sound. But straight after that's taken care of, I've taken careful measures to make them look as much me as possible.

[gaelkuo]

Originally Posted by lifele55

Looks great gael

Awaiting final pics now...

Thanks~~you will see but i think it will still take maybe a few weeks.

Here are my plans: lots of job to do and damn...it's so funny.

1. High gloss poly finish on the top.
2. Polish the body and side to satin.
3. Change PU mounting rings, jack plate from black to cream color.
4. Change the vol. & tone knobs to some vintage style. Still looking for it.
5. Fade all the gold hardwares to natural worn look.
6. Fret and fretboard care.
6. PU MOD.

[KISSArmySoldier]

Love the color, DEFINATELY unique!

[mojotop]

Hey gaelkuo,
your project reminds me at a Gibson Norlin-era LP custom I saw a while ago. It was an all natural mahogany-lookin´ guitar with a super-thin, slightly ambered nitro-coat. Definately a custom-finish, definately a killer-look (sorry, no photos)! Not sure about the yellowish color of your project-guitar, but thats a question ´bout taste. Keep on! Show some big images of the finished jewel!

[Tenacious T]

Me likes....look forward to seeing the finished project.