Pearly Tates

[ptate]

Well, betcha can guess which Gibson I'd buy if I could afford one......Pearly it is. Anyway, bought an Epi Plus Top (ahem) "project" a couple of weeks ago; this was the neck (bastard told me it was a crack...Oh aye..! :

And this was the body (with my Shaw PAFs in place and a "test" bridge/tail (note very bad sanding job by previous owner!):

This is it today, with head reshaped and attached (big job (wait for the pics) and my "Pearly" type paint job drying :

No intention to make an exact copy, but a relic tribute to the guitar. Being fitted out with the Shaws and ALL Fake58 gear (bar a forty year old set of Grovers I had lying around.

Keep you updated on progress........

 

[Darctic]

That is Awesome mate !!!!!!! I love the Paintjob!

 

[56Bluesboy]

Look'in good so far.

 

[ptate]

Cheers gents,

Its a cellulose finish done with aerosols, so I'm even happier with it as it's my first burst and headstock repair (why start small eh?). Brought the grain out well and you really get the 3D effect.

Peace.

 

[tom1965]

Way Cool !!!!

 

[Drew224]

can't wait to see it finished.

 

[snaredrum]

make it better faster!

 

[epidee]

Looks good. Looking forward to photos. Let us know how you reattached the head.

 

[Phildog]

Hey!!! Is it just the photo, or are those frets in really bad shape. Love the work so far!!!

 

[ptate]

Cheers for the positive comments guys.

When I get time, I'll post a few more, but the (extremely badly shaped head - What a great previous owner) was re-attached by routing out the neck, from the second fret, right the way through to the first tuner hole on the head. I shaped two pieces of mahogany to fit and glued them in place.

Another piece had to be added at the rear of the "volute" area, as did two more at the side and base of the head area (told you it had been butchered).

Once fixed in place and stained, you can hardly tell (I am not "ghosting" the fix).

Since then, I have fixed a '59 RI plate over the front of the head and am in the process of finishing it (amber laquer over the logo to "gold" it).

Frets are actually perfect, it's just the photo and the neck is as straight as a dye.

 

[ptate]

As said, I'm not a luthier, so I'm more than happy with what I've managed so far.

Here are a couple of pictures of the head repair. First is the routing and filler piece to the volute area (dark patches are just unsanded thin patches of mahogany dust filler to shape). I could have got slightly closer to the truss rod with the cutting (angle of picture makes it look out off scale), but just didn't have the balls . Still, it's plenty strong enough with all the additional wood.

And this is the first coat of stain (still wet) with circles highlighting the pieces I had to add to get it to shape (you can just see the edge of the new faceplate).

Peace.

 

[Eggy]

Another musical instrument brought back from the dead. Good work fella !!

 

[Mike's_LP]

Very nice work, man!

 

[medic24]

I think you've done some very nice work there so far! Keep the pics coming!!!

 

[Dkr84]

Looks great!

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

that's looking great.

 

[i am wet]

killer!

 

[ptate]

Thanks very much guys it's appreciated.

Here is the start of the trouble (when it was unpacked...!!):

When I inspected it properly and had a bit of a "pull/push" of things, this section (in red) snapped off like a dried twig, exposing the truss rod......Great). You can see the quality of the previous owner's shaping (ahem) work on the head too.

Here is the "volute" piece stuck in place and drying, just before I started to shape/sand. The area highlighted in red is the crack (reglued) from the piece that snapped off (above):

Peace.

 

[SlashAppetite]

Well done on a very good job.

 

[ptate]

Thanks for all the great comments.

Here is the head with a few coats of clear on it. They need to dry for a week or so, then I can sand, buff and polish (you can clearly see the wet laquer):

And the front (with '59 RI overlay). Obviously had to cut a new nut ledge and am installing a Gibson tusq unit (only 1mm wider overall on string spacing). It's going to be relic'd so I'm not too arsed about a perfect finish. The end of the fretboard will need sorting slightly, but that can be fixed without it being too much of a problem:

Peace.