1996 Epiphone Les Paul Gold Top Upgrade / Resto (UK)

[Carl Davey]

Hi guys, my first post here but I though I should share my little project having gleaned much of the information relating to my plans from threads already shared here.

Back in 1996/7 I bought a brand new Epiphone Les Paul Gold Top which was on offer at my local music store, R&B Music in Aberdeen. From memory I paid £360 for it having taken on a job through my school summer holidays which allowed me to save up and pay for it. I was either 14 or 15 at the time and was playing in bands with kids from school. The guitar saw a lot of action for a few years (it replaced a terrible Squier Strat) and was my main guitar until my interest drifted to cars. I then started earning decent money and bought a few more guitars (mostly Epiphones including a prized 'Noel Gallagher' 1983 Riviera in Wine Red).

As the Gold Top is coming up for 20 years old I though I'd treat it to some upgrades; in part out of emotional attachment but mostly to add a bit of credibility. I'm not looking to build a Gibson clone but am taking inspiration from Gibson players. This video of Squire playing his old '59 'burst was the driver for digging out the Gold Top. Obviously Squire took much of his inspiration from Page during that era and my inspiration is reflected.

Pictures! So the guitar had been hanging on various walls for the best part of probably 10 years. Not only has it accumulated more than its fair share of dust and grubby marks but there's an annoying buzz from the A and D strings, most likely as a result of some 15 year olds (me) attempt to lower the guitars action.







Patina on selector switch.



Chip in lacquer on headstock.





Does anyone have any idea what tuners these are? Im not mad about how baldy they've been installed so they're up for being swapped out. Suggestions on a postcard please.



Serial number info.



Grubby marks on rear of guitar.





Strings off.



Nut fell out.



Fret wear.



Nobs, pick guard and bridge off.



Tone/volume and 3-way covers off.





Jack removed, shown with Switchcraft replacement.



Pots and 3-way removed, looking cleaner already!



Pickups out.





First stumbling block. Truss rod cover screw rounded out by the afore-mentioned 15 year old.



Plans so far are:

Seymour Duncan WLH or 59 pickups (nickel covers)
Page wiring mod, 500k pots, orange drops and Switchcraft 3-way
Switchcraft Jack
TUSQ Nut
Fret grind / polish
Truss rod / action / intonation setup
Tuners TBC

Plan is that this recommissions my previously unusable Les Paul, leaves me with a credible (for an Epi) guitar and I pick up some new skills along the way.

 

[lpplayer]

Nice! Everything on the list will make it a tone machine for sure.

No offense with this, but do you have a hard shell case? May want to consider that too- by the looks of it I get the feeling this axe has been standing in a corner unprotected!

 

[lpplayer]

Tuners- no idea who made them, but I have the same ones on my 98 Epi SG. Lots of options out there for replacement if that's what you want. Or, you can just clean and lube these- my experience is well installed and stretched strings depend on a properly cut and lubed Nut- rather than tuners.

 

[JohnnyN]

Welcome to the MLP
That's a beautiful Gold Top hidden under the dust.

As for the tuners I guess they are made in Korea like the guitar, but probably too early to be Wilkinson. The alignment is proof of its' Korean origin

Similar type are made by Kluson, Grover, and Gotoh. Some are sold under the Gibson brand too - Gibson Deluxe tuners.
I think the key holes in the head are 10mm on that Epi, but you better check before ordering. I bought my Klusons at WDMusic in UK.

Sounds like you have a good upgrade plan. I hope it turns out to your pleasure

 

[Blackstar73]

I had those tuners on a 1999 Standard a few years back, held tuning like a rock. Beautiful looking Goldtop.

 

[Carl Davey]

Thanks for feedback on the tuners gents. I am keen to keep them so will probably just elongate their mounting holes so their alignment can be tweaked. Yes it has a case now and it's place on the wall has been taken by a 2014 Alpine White Custom Pro that was signed by the guests at our wedding in May.

 

[Drako]

I'm currently doing up a '97 cherry burst from the same factory as yours Carl. It's eerie how similar they are although yours looks a bit tidier than mine - the neck pup cavity in mine in particular is full of untidy glue in mine.

Really recommend Axerus (they're based in Hull) for your wiring and bits, mine came the Monday after ordering on a Friday night, and very nicely packaged.

I've ordered '59s - they seem to be tricky to get with the nickel covers over here but loads of US ebay sellers are offering them for the same price or less as UK RRP plus buying the covers separately (also no need to pot this way).

My frets also display similar groove patterns to yours, although I haven't noticed any real issues with playing, does this indicate that a professional polish or re-fret is needed? So far my only plan for that is to sand them a bit with wire wool to get some gunk off 'em and shine them up a bit.

 

[Carl Davey]

A modest update...

Treats!



New soldering iron arrived so I removed all the electrics apart from the bridge earth. Also tried to clear out as much glue residue as possible from the cavities.







Trued up the neck as best I could with no tension on it.



Very lightly ground down the frets although a fair bit had to be removed to level the G-B-E area on the first three frets photographed earlier.





Ended up buying a radius block and to be honest I wish I'd done the whole job with this. Also wish I'd masked off the fretboard.



Frets polished up with sandpaper and micro mesh - 14 steps for each fret! Then oiled the fretboard with lemon oil.



I mentioned I wasn't sure about the tuners and after shopping around a little bit I lavished the cash on some Grover Rotomatics. I started filing open the tuning peg holes but in the end I drilled them 0.5mm at a time halfway from each side up to 10.0mm which has resulted in a nice snug fit.





Managed to compromise on their orientation without having to drill any extra holes or file anything.





Currently waiting on some copper tape arriving to allow me to earth the body cavities before installing the electrics.

Keeping track of spending I've spent £222.33 on tools, £72.27 on sundries and £297.91 on guitar hardware.

 

[rem22]

Thanks for the story and the feedback.
It always makes me smile when people say the MIK are so much more well built than chinese, especially when you look at these tuners.
I mean come on, I get a guitar like that brand new ? Wtf ? That's really sloppy, to say the least.

Nice guitar tho. once you do all you planned to do !

 

[masterdebradwick]

Can't wait to see it finished!!! Nice!

 

[IRG]

Looking good, great tutorial.

 

[dave]

I had a '96 GT just like it. I miss it for sure.

 

[irie]

man great build so far, cant wait for your next update.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Thanks for feedback on the tuners gents. I am keen to keep them so will probably just elongate their mounting holes so their alignment can be tweaked. Yes it has a case now and it's place on the wall has been taken by a 2014 Alpine White Custom Pro that was signed by the guests at our wedding in May.

Cool! This belongs in the "Epi You'll Never Get Rid Of" thread.

Great job so far of taking your ugly duckling and turning it into a beautiful swan! Nothing bonds you with a guitar like doing all the work yourself.

 

[HotDan!]

She seems to have aged quite gracefully and your upgrades will certainly bring her back into the limelight. Nicely done so far. Excellent wall replacement too! Welcome and glad to have you...

 

[rem22]

wow I did not realize the first time all the good photos that were on this thread.
Awesome job; that's really excellent !!

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

looking good

did you Crown the frets? they're very squared looking.

 

[93LPStudio]

Love the Goldtop she looks fantastic after all these years ! Love the write up and all the pics as well, very nice. I am curious as Malikon asked cause that was my initial thought as well, did you you crown the frets after you leveled them?

 

[musicmaniac]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Tazz3]

Very awesome stuff where did u get that page wireing set up from I wish I could do this stuff

REPLACE THOSE BUSHINGS WITH THE STEEL ONES FRom

Here

http://www.faberusa.com/product/faber-metric-tailpiece-bushings/