New build question.

[LPTDMSV]

You'd be aiming low to compete with the Custom shop.
Fair to say Gibson reissues don't come close to the minutiae involved in a real 50's replica.

Gibson Custom Shop cover quite a range - they go from around the $4,500 mark and not looking much different to the main factory up to the Tom Murphy ones at $9,000+ and then up to many times that if you want a scratch-for-scratch replica of some famous guitar. I can't ever imagine buying one new, though.

 

[ARandall]

All of them still fail the minutiae test though.....irrespective of cost. I mean the aging they use is razorblade. Most boutique builders here at least go for cold/hot cycles like an original would have gone through in real life.

As to 'deviations from a burst, the main ones I find are the fact Gibson make a tenon with a lip, which no vintage guitar had; plastics are not accurate - including binding; they can't even do an accurate logo or the position of it on the headstock; the nitro and dyes (and maybe the filler too given the bleed issue) are not the same.

Many of these are conscious choices - as warranty is a particular issue in some aspects. But these are all things small builders can choose to do right.....as well as more fundamental aspects like wood species, some glue choices, the carve, hardware and of course actual accurate PAF clones.
You go the whole hog in the accessories/hardware and you're probably up for over $2k just there.

 

[LPTDMSV]

... more fundamental aspects like wood species ...

Using the same species as 1950s, ideally, but even if that was not possible the main thing I would be really be seeking if ordering a guitar for that kind of money, that the builder was choosing pieces of wood based on their resonance, tap-testing, etc.

Co-incidentally, someone posted a long video from Alex Dovnar / 8-Bomb Dr Nitro today, which makes many of the same points as you do about the small and large differences between the Gibson product and what an individual luthier could do

https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/secrets-of-a-vintage-1959-gibson-les-paul.452475/

 

[ARandall]

Tap testing is essentially pointless for an electric. Given the average blank has 50-60% removed from it and in almost random ways, nothing can be gleaned from how it will react in its final form.

 

[nuance97]

Tap testing is essentially pointless for an electric. Given the average blank has 50-60% removed from it and in almost random ways, nothing can be gleaned from how it will react in its final form.

I agree...mostly it’s a good weight that matters