Most butchered Vintage Gibson- show me

[Tangerine]

Seeing some of these makes me want to cry.

[retrobob]

Oh man! that hammered goldtop! Thats a crying shame!

[joshhohensee]

Originally Posted by Danelectro

"This neck ain't goin' anywhere now."


1952 Goldtop modified by the wife/GF

The top one is the one I was waiting for. It makes me laugh.

The second one just makes me sad. What a waste. And are you guys sure it's a 52? I didn't think they routed all the way through the control cavities. I thought they started that in the 60's. I also thought the "route" for the switch was actually a drilled hole from the output jack straight through to the switch cavity, not a square route. I'm just splitting hairs anyways. What a shame.

[jimi55lp]

Looks 52/53 to me. Even some 54s had the ground channel route that led nowhere. My 52 is routed all the way to the maple cap, if thats what your asking.

[retrobob]

Originally Posted by Danelectro

How about a PAF equipped banjo?


Vintage Chambered prototype?




Copper is so easy to work with...








How about this 50's Junior that was re-shaped into this lute-like form. I must have deleted the original eBay photo of this guitar, but this image is one that I Photoshopped the guitar photo into the hands of a fine young lad.





"This neck ain't goin' anywhere now."


1952 Goldtop modified by the wife/GF

I think this is some stuff that came through our local repair shop.

[Danelectro]

I did a little butchering myself back in my high school days. This is my 1957-ish Junior that I bought in 1976 for one Ben Franklin. The pickup cavity had been chiseled out and a Patent # pup installed, plastic had been replaced, and it was stripped of its finish. I really wanted a Les Paul with a neck pickup, but this was all I could afford. I figured its original value was shot anyway, so I put my shop class skills to work and routed for a neck pickup, enlarged the control cavity, routed a switch cavity, and finished it in lacquer. I was proud of how well the finish came out when I did it, however after 35 years its showing its age. In hindsight, it would have been a better idea to restore it to its original P90 glory, however at the time this made a lot of sense.

[captain tightpants]

No way, Dano, you get a pass on that. It's just too damned cool!!

[Luckynumber3]

Originally Posted by Danelectro

I did a little butchering myself back in my high school days. This is my 1957-ish Junior that I bought in 1976 for one Ben Franklin. The pickup cavity had been chiseled out and a Patent # pup installed, plastic had been replaced, and it was stripped of its finish. I really wanted a Les Paul with a neck pickup, but this was all I could afford. I figured its original value was shot anyway, so I put my shop class skills to work and routed for a neck pickup, enlarged the control cavity, routed a switch cavity, and finished it in lacquer. I was proud of how well the finish came out when I did it, however after 35 years its showing its age. In hindsight, it would have been a better idea to restore it to its original P90 glory, however at the time this made a lot of sense.

That thing is sick! I totally want one of those!

[Danelectro]

Basket case custom Custom...

[thexmadxtopxhatter]

As bad as it is, I bet BCR Greg could make it good as new

[Thumpalumpacus]

Dano, that ain't butchered. That's done the best you can, and if it ain't pro-level, your love is still showing in it.

I'd rock that sonofabtich, myself. Without apologies, too.

[nbeersiii]

Originally Posted by Danelectro

How about a PAF equipped banjo?


Vintage Chambered prototype?




Copper is so easy to work with...








How about this 50's Junior that was re-shaped into this lute-like form. I must have deleted the original eBay photo of this guitar, but this image is one that I Photoshopped the guitar photo into the hands of a fine young lad.





"This neck ain't goin' anywhere now."


1952 Goldtop modified by the wife/GF

I hope you didnt have todo much time for killing her or them. You said wife/GF was it both or what. That is unacceptable period.

[theNARDdog9]

"This neck ain't goin' anywhere now."


Now thats what I call a bolt on!! haha this one makes me laugh everytime..some of the others are so sad

[Bottleneck]

Any guesses as to the casue that brought that undeserving fate to the Black Beauty? Water damage maybe?
The pic of the rear side looks like a bullet went through it. Maybe the Nuge was the previous owner ;-)

[MagPel]

Yes, that was my first thoughts aswell, that someone shot it in the back. But would that really kill the neck like that? Maby it got "Pete Townshended" into something pointy. There are other impact marks around the hole.

[Bottleneck]

Originally Posted by MagPel

Yes, that was my first thoughts aswell, that someone shot it in the back. But would that really kill the neck like that? Maby it got "Pete Townshended" into something pointy. There are other impact marks around the hole.

Yeah, looks like it was finished off with a good overhanded smash.
I keep looking back at the BB and thinking, "Crime scene photo" :-(

[HeeBGB]

I can play this game.

First up we have an early 50's junior. This is how it came to me.





AND how it currently looks!





All work was done by Lays guitar!

[HeeBGB]

Next we have a 53 Standard.





AND as it is today






All work was done by Dave Johnson

[58 special]

As I scroll past the casualties I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[LPPILOT]

Oh......the pain of it all.... its like walking though a trailor park on the way to Walmart

[barsinister]

Originally Posted by nbeersiii

I hope you didnt have todo much time for killing her or them. You said wife/GF was it both or what. That is unacceptable period.

THANK GOD Im single..after looking at that???I mean Really...

[LPPILOT]

[61LPSG]

You know...I logged on while my wife was making supper, but now I have no appetite.

[61LPSG]

I would take this one in a heartbeat....bet it sounds ballsy.

[61LPSG]

I would take this one in a heartbeat....bet it sounds ballsy.:applause


My favourite is this one from one of the threads:




I seriously love this mod even if it sacrilegious and probably lowered the value by a boatload. I would kill for this guitar.[/QUOTE]

[stratdragon92]

Originally Posted by Luckynumber3

That thing is sick! I totally want one of those!

i've been thinking about trying something like this with an epi bolt neck junior. it looks awesome!

[ctkarslake]

Originally Posted by HeeBGB

I can play this game.

First up we have an early 50's junior. This is how it came to me.





AND how it currently looks!





All work was done by Lays guitar!

God bless Lay's Guitar Repair! Totally living up to it's name and reputation!
They are truly a great bunch down there, the only place I bring my guitars.
Long live Mr. Dan Shin...love...respect.

[Jerry Hayes]

This is my contribution to this thread. I got this guitar 7 or 8 years ago as a "basket case", literally.... The guitar (wood only) was in the case with no tuners, pickups, switches bridge, tailpiece, etc. Everthing was totally removed from the guitar and was in a brown paper grocery bag and there was only one pickup in there........ I bought it from a guy who'd had it awhile and he gave it all to me for $300 cash. I took it to a repairman I knew at GC and he put it all together for $80 so for $380 I had a nice old Les Paul...........

Since I was having to have it rewired I opted for a different scheme. At that time I had another "Gothic" Les Paul that someone had rewired with only one master volume and tone control working both pickups so I had this one wired the same way. The bottom two knobs were still there but they activated two pull pots with a phase switch in front and a coil tap on the rear pickup in the back. He used the only original pickup at the neck and a Gibson pickup at the bridge which was able to be tapped........

The tuning pegs on it now are new as I used the old ones for a couple of years and they were pretty well shot. The newer ones are of the same type and style. I added a Keith/Scruggs banjo tuner on the 6th string for dropped D stuff.......

I drilled a new ground wire hole through the top into the control cavity and removed the stud tailpiece and added an old Bigsby Palm Pedal which raises the pitch of the 2nd string from B to C# and the G string to A... (I have 7 guitars with this type of string bender on them)......

Somewhere back in time, somone had refinished the guitar (very poorly) and the serial number was missing but the guitar guy said that by the original pots & electronic he thought it might be a 69/70 vintage. The frets were like new and he said it definately had had a refretting recently and a very well done fret job as they were perfect....

The top looked like that dark finish LP in one of the previous posts which had a lot of wear so I scraped off the old finish on the top only, sanded it a little and applied an oak stain. I then sprayed the top with a clear finish from a spray can.....

In it's original form, this guitar would probably be worth some serious bucks but I don't care as this guitar along with my main Telecaster are my favorite gigging instruments. I love low action and this guitar has it in spades with no buzzes anywhere. It's even got twang. I play a lot in country bands and I can pull the coil tap switch and this thing sounds better on old Johnny Cash or Waylon Jennings things than my Telecaster does. There ain't enough cash to buy this "thing" as I love 'er so much.............Here's some shots of her........JH in Va.

[hecube]

Originally Posted by MagPel

There are some "fun" examples in the crimes against les paul Vol1 and Vol2 threads.


My favourite is this one from one of the threads:




I seriously love this mod even if it sacrilegious and probably lowered the value by a boatload. I would kill for this guitar.

I actually like this one

Here's my own 59 MM which I bought completely stripped. There was additional routing required in order to fit the humbucker, the P90, the tuning pegs and the side-jack.

[Aria]

not really most butchered, but the pre-owner made some operations