'58 - '60 les paul woods?

[The Thruth]

so what kind of wood was on LPs?
honduras mahogany or something else?
1 piece or 2 piece bodys?

was neck angled from 1 piece or more?
ears was separate wood?

brazilian rosewood was all fingerboards?

what kind of maple for top (hard, soft)?

so much questions but i need to know for my next build, replica '59

[Kølabrennern]

You will find answers to some of those questions in this thread:

What woods is gibson using today?

[John Catto]

In no particular order

Always Brazilian Rosewood, Gibson used it pretty much exclusively up till about '66.

Inlays are Italian celluloid pearloid

necks were one piece with "ears" on the headstock.

Maple was locally sourced "Eastern" hard maple, note that Gibson used whatever they could get their hands on, it's seems that they had trouble finding nice looking maple that was suitable or perhaps at the right "price point", remember the Les Paul was a "cheap" guitar, they weren't dipping into their premium archtop supplies for it. Based on that I wouldn't be surprised by any anomalies that turn up.

Mahogany, this ones tricky. Tradition says they used Honduran but when Bharat Khandekar (well known UK luthier and vintage guitar expert) had a load of 50's Gibson wood samples tested by Kew Gardens NONE of it came up as Honduran at all, all of it was African Mahogany usually Khaya for the bodies and occasionally Sapele for the necks (darker, harder, stiffer), it appears that Gibson switched to Honduran in the early 60's. Something happened then that meant the African started getting hard to get. This happened to Martin as well who ARE forthcoming about it, 50's Mahogany Martins are African switching in the 60's to Honduran. Why do you think Gibson were already dealing with the Timber dealers who sold Limba??

[The Thruth]

Originally Posted by John Catto

In no particular order

Always Brazilian Rosewood, Gibson used it pretty much exclusively up till about '66.

Inlays are Italian celluloid pearloid

necks were one piece with "ears" on the headstock.

Maple was locally sourced "Eastern" hard maple, note that Gibson used whatever they could get their hands on, it's seems that they had trouble finding nice looking maple that was suitable or perhaps at the right "price point", remember the Les Paul was a "cheap" guitar, they weren't dipping into their premium archtop supplies for it. Based on that I wouldn't be surprised by any anomalies that turn up.

Mahogany, this ones tricky. Tradition says they used Honduran but when Bharat Khandekar (well known UK luthier and vintage guitar expert) had a load of 50's Gibson wood samples tested by Kew Gardens NONE of it came up as Honduran at all, all of it was African Mahogany usually Khaya for the bodies and occasionally Sapele for the necks (darker, harder, stiffer), it appears that Gibson switched to Honduran in the early 60's. Something happened then that meant the African started getting hard to get. This happened to Martin as well who ARE forthcoming about it, 50's Mahogany Martins are African switching in the 60's to Honduran. Why do you think Gibson were already dealing with the Timber dealers who sold Limba??

i'm very very happy with answers
Thanx guys you are great

[Inside Guy]

Hey John,

Have you ever heard that the mahogany on 50's LP's was Hondouran Mahogany grown in Mexico?

I have heard this more than once, and I have no proof (yet) but going back to what you said about African Mahogany, and Les Pauls' being a "Cheap" Gibson: If the LP used a less expensive Maple top, then I would suspect the same would go for the mahogany back. It would cost a lot less to use mahogany from Central America than to use Mahogany from Africa.

This leads me to the question of the study done by the UK Luthier. You informed us that he used Gibson wood samples in his study, but did he confirm that these pieces of wood were from the Les Paul Model, or were they unused pieces of raw lumber?

[John Catto]

Originally Posted by Inside Guy

This leads me to the question of the study done by the UK Luthier. You informed us that he used Gibson wood samples in his study, but did he confirm that these pieces of wood were from the Les Paul Model, or were they unused pieces of raw lumber?

The wood that was tested was samples saved from a lifetime of doing repairs on 50's Les Pauls. Wood from broken necks, headstock repairs, trashed bodies, conversions and so on

[The Thruth]

thanx guys,

what about body pieces? are all 1 piece?

[John Catto]

Originally Posted by The Thruth

thanx guys,

what about body pieces? are all 1 piece?

Yes other than the very occasional Junior and V's Explorers etc (not lp I know)

[The Thruth]

Originally Posted by John Catto

Inlays are Italian celluloid pearloid

is it possible to buy blank material ?
i know i have seen authentic inlay somewhere, but 185$ is too much

[jack briggs]

Originally Posted by John Catto

Mahogany, this ones tricky. Tradition says they used Honduran but when Bharat Khandekar (well known UK luthier and vintage guitar expert) had a load of 50's Gibson wood samples tested by Kew Gardens NONE of it came up as Honduran at all, all of it was African Mahogany usually Khaya for the bodies and occasionally Sapele for the necks (darker, harder, stiffer), it appears that Gibson switched to Honduran in the early 60's. Something happened then that meant the African started getting hard to get. This happened to Martin as well who ARE forthcoming about it, 50's Mahogany Martins are African switching in the 60's to Honduran. Why do you think Gibson were already dealing with the Timber dealers who sold Limba??

John,

With all due respect I don't buy this one bit. First off - dendrologists generally agree that the only way to identify wood species is with leaf and bark samples. Chemical analyses of woods are generally inconclusive. However, The only thing I have to back up what I'm saying is my sense of sight. Having worked with African (khaya) mahogany I know what it looks like. Certain characteristics are prominent and easy to pick out, such as the strong interlocked grain, which in Honduras mahogany usually only appears in perfectly quartersawn lumbers. African mahaogany will exhibit the interlocked grain in rift and often nearly flatsawn lumber.

Every old Les Paul that I have handled exhibited all the visual characteristics of Honduras mahogany. None have looked like anything else. African khaya has particular visual characteristics that are irrefutable to the trained eye.

This is my story, and I'm sticking to it!



Cheers,

[The Thruth]

hey guys where is the best place to buy brazilian rosewood?

[slash is god]

Originally Posted by The Thruth

hey guys where is the best place to buy brazilian rosewood?

illegal to buy or sell brazilian rosewood that has been lumbered after i think 1973, the species is near extinction.

[slash is god]

Originally Posted by The Thruth

hey guys where is the best place to buy brazilian rosewood?

illegal to buy or sell brazilian rosewood that has been lumbered after i think 1973, the species is near extinction.