How Thick Was The 50's Gibson MOP Logo

[gtrmaker]

There seems to be a few people out there doing early vintage LP conversions and I'm interested to know how thick the 50's Gibson logo is once you've removed it from the holly overlay so that you can relocate it. I'm sure someone has measured some or maybe even has a logo out of a guitar right now that they can measure. Your help is greatly appreciated!

[Ole'Lefty]

Around .050-.060 on what at least appear to be some new old stock. That is also typical in the general industry. o'l

[gtrmaker]

Originally Posted by Ole'Lefty

Around .050-.060 on what at least appear to be some new old stock. That is also typical in the general industry. o'l

The problem with NOS inlay material is that it has not been inlayed and thicknessed to a final dimension. The inlays were done before the holly was glued to the headstock so the inlay thickness would equal the holly thickness and .050-.060 is way too thick. It's very difficult to measure the holly, but when a person has removed the Gibson inlay it's very easy to use a caliper to measure the MOP thickness.

[Greco]

Originally Posted by gtrmaker

The inlays were done before the holly was glued to the headstock

How do you know this is true for 50's Les Pauls?

[gtrmaker]

I've seen pre-inlayed 50's holly veneers from the Gibson factory from the 50's with the inlays installed and tape used on the back to stabilize the inlay during storage and handling. Also there have been photos posted of pegheads on early 50 LP conversions where they've removed the logo and sanded down the overlay. In those photos you can see clearly that the inlay was not routed into the mahogany but instead sat on top of the mahogany.

Here's a photo of a '52 showing just a little overlay material left around where the logo was. Once all of the material is removed down to the mahogany then the Gibson image will be gone.

[gtrmaker]

Originally Posted by Greco

How do you know this is true for 50's Les Pauls?

Since you asked, do you have knowledge or a reason to believe otherwise that you will share with everyone?

[Greco]

I was thinking of posting the same photo in this thread however, had decided against it because Mapleflame's project had been messed with in the headstock area and I don't get how there is black "stuff" all over the top of the headstock on the mahogany after the holly has been sanded away. He said himself the "the headstock veneer was trashed". It does not seem to be an example of a 'regular' 50's logo route. I wasn't trying to bust your balls, just trying to get to the bottom of the process and wondering where the info came from.

Example:

This photo shows the logo has been cut around with a precision not required in 50's Les Paul building at the time and some sort of nasty glue added. Most seem to have a route which is basically a rectangle with the 'G', 'b', and 'n' cut around. I'm not even convinced that that logo is original. Small i dot, something weird going on with the O. Compare it to the other pics I posted in another thread....