Duane_the_tub
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Some of you have heard the story of how I had a deal all lined up for a 50s Les Paul husk and started amassing parts to restore it, only to have it sold out from under me. Once it fell through I was left holding some really nice vintage and repro parts. Part of me wanted to sell them all and forget the whole thing happened, but another part was really curious. I had thought a lot as I sourced the parts about what the finished guitar would feel like, play like and sound like. Of course the 60-year-old wood was where all the mojo was, right? How close could the rest of the parts possibly get me?
Among my current herd was an ideal candidate for such a project: An R9 that had supplanted many others as my keeper reissue Burst. Fantastic neck and top carves, just a really great playing and sounding LP that also doesn't hurt to look at. It's a 2018 (so all True Historic specs, not that it mattered much for the sake of this project) finished in "Red Pine Burst" VOS, 1/10 from a year-end run right in Henry's twilight with the company. Here is a baby picture from when it was new:
The lynchpin of this project was the electronics. I have been kind of unlucky throughout my Burst journey with vintage pickups, having gone through a few sets of PAFs (at significant expense) and Patent #s that were very much underwhelming tone-wise. I swore I wasn't going down that rabbit hole again, especially after having decent luck with some of the boutique winds. My plan was to put my favorites, Stephens Design HDs, in for the meantime and possibly upgrade to PAFs later. Then, I had a stroke of luck.
The guy with the husk also had a set of early Pat # pickups, which he said came out of a very early SG that had sustained a catastrophic neck pocket fracture and was beyond salvation. He said they were really sweet sounding, low-winds (bridge just under 7.5, neck 7.3). Score.
The harness didn't come cheap. Some of you probably saw it in the classifieds here, and its price tag. It's not every day you get your hands on a complete, unmolested harness in perfect working condition with pots that date to the summer of '59, so I bit the bullet on that one.
With the heart of the guitar lined up, I wanted to make sure the hardware wasn't going to be an Achilles heel. I was in negotiations with one of the top restoration parts dealers for a vintage, no-wire ABR but it was going to cost me big money and I was hesitant to pull the trigger. I spoke to a well-respected Burst expert and he told me to try a Faber first - the tonal difference would probably be imperceptible, and it would literally cost 1/30th of the money. A fellow forum member gave me a good deal on one. With an assist from Philadelphia Luthier on the brass posts and wheels, I was into an entirely new bridge assembly for relatively small change. EDIT: It's got a vintage ABR on it now, thanks to the same esteemed forum member who sold me the harness.
For tuners I went with Grover PAF Rotomatics, my personal favorite. I splurged a bit for a set from 1959. There is a guy out in Portland who is the best source for old tuners if anyone is ever looking for the perfect vintage set for a project. I know the Grover vs. Kluson thing is debated to death, but I like everything about these and really do think they make the guitar sound better.
I was much more interested in tonal upgrades than aesthetics, but I did have some cool plastic parts collected that put a nice finishing touch on the project. Bartlett rings are still my favorite; I know there are some other good choices, but these look so killer and the baby puke smell is just a bonus.
The switch ring is vintage (late 60s) and looks better to me than the stock one, especially with the real deal '59 tip and washer.
It all came together this weekend and is now finally done.
Honestly, I loved the guitar before and was a little worried about messing with it. In hindsight that concern was unwarranted. This thing is incredible now. Obviously there's going to be a newlywed phase after such a project, but I'm seriously struggling to find the adjectives here. The pickups are phenomenal, with that "human voice" character that I have rarely found: they sing, they cry, they moan, they growl and snarl. They really sound alive. They don't overpower some of my amps the way a few of the hotter boutique winds I've tried did; they provide a sweet foundation on which to build sound with volume, overdrive, etc. They're remarkable.
One aspect of this project that I do regret a little is that I kind of wish I had done one thing at a time, so I could identify and appreciate how each individual part of the upgrade contributed. Right now it's hard, because everything is so different. It's like a different guitar. My buddy laughed and said, "it's probably just the new strings."
I couldn't be happier. Thanks for reading.
UPDATE (Where the project stands as of 4/1/21):
Guitar: 2018 Gibson Les Paul 1959 Standard Reissue “R9” in Red Pine Burst (1/10)
Pickups: Gibson Patent Number (’62-’65) pickups with Stephens Design covers
Wiring: Gibson vintage (1959) wiring harness/jack/switch. Pot codes date to 35th week of 1959 (134935)
Knobs: Gibson vintage (late 50s) gold bonnet knobs/pointers
Bridge: Gibson vintage (late 50s) no-wire ABR bridge/thumbwheels
Tuners: Grover vintage (1959) PAF Rotomatic tuners
Switch Ring: Gibson vintage (late 60s) switch ring
Truss Rod Cover: Gibson vintage (late 50s) rolled TRC
Pickup rings: Bartlett M-69 V2 pickup rings
Tailpiece: Custom-milled tailpiece by Steve Hague
Pickguard: Mojoaxe aged PGH17A guard with vintage bracket
Bridge posts: Philadelphia Luthier Supply brass posts
Among my current herd was an ideal candidate for such a project: An R9 that had supplanted many others as my keeper reissue Burst. Fantastic neck and top carves, just a really great playing and sounding LP that also doesn't hurt to look at. It's a 2018 (so all True Historic specs, not that it mattered much for the sake of this project) finished in "Red Pine Burst" VOS, 1/10 from a year-end run right in Henry's twilight with the company. Here is a baby picture from when it was new:
The lynchpin of this project was the electronics. I have been kind of unlucky throughout my Burst journey with vintage pickups, having gone through a few sets of PAFs (at significant expense) and Patent #s that were very much underwhelming tone-wise. I swore I wasn't going down that rabbit hole again, especially after having decent luck with some of the boutique winds. My plan was to put my favorites, Stephens Design HDs, in for the meantime and possibly upgrade to PAFs later. Then, I had a stroke of luck.
The guy with the husk also had a set of early Pat # pickups, which he said came out of a very early SG that had sustained a catastrophic neck pocket fracture and was beyond salvation. He said they were really sweet sounding, low-winds (bridge just under 7.5, neck 7.3). Score.
The harness didn't come cheap. Some of you probably saw it in the classifieds here, and its price tag. It's not every day you get your hands on a complete, unmolested harness in perfect working condition with pots that date to the summer of '59, so I bit the bullet on that one.
With the heart of the guitar lined up, I wanted to make sure the hardware wasn't going to be an Achilles heel. I was in negotiations with one of the top restoration parts dealers for a vintage, no-wire ABR but it was going to cost me big money and I was hesitant to pull the trigger. I spoke to a well-respected Burst expert and he told me to try a Faber first - the tonal difference would probably be imperceptible, and it would literally cost 1/30th of the money. A fellow forum member gave me a good deal on one. With an assist from Philadelphia Luthier on the brass posts and wheels, I was into an entirely new bridge assembly for relatively small change. EDIT: It's got a vintage ABR on it now, thanks to the same esteemed forum member who sold me the harness.
For tuners I went with Grover PAF Rotomatics, my personal favorite. I splurged a bit for a set from 1959. There is a guy out in Portland who is the best source for old tuners if anyone is ever looking for the perfect vintage set for a project. I know the Grover vs. Kluson thing is debated to death, but I like everything about these and really do think they make the guitar sound better.
I was much more interested in tonal upgrades than aesthetics, but I did have some cool plastic parts collected that put a nice finishing touch on the project. Bartlett rings are still my favorite; I know there are some other good choices, but these look so killer and the baby puke smell is just a bonus.
The switch ring is vintage (late 60s) and looks better to me than the stock one, especially with the real deal '59 tip and washer.
It all came together this weekend and is now finally done.
Honestly, I loved the guitar before and was a little worried about messing with it. In hindsight that concern was unwarranted. This thing is incredible now. Obviously there's going to be a newlywed phase after such a project, but I'm seriously struggling to find the adjectives here. The pickups are phenomenal, with that "human voice" character that I have rarely found: they sing, they cry, they moan, they growl and snarl. They really sound alive. They don't overpower some of my amps the way a few of the hotter boutique winds I've tried did; they provide a sweet foundation on which to build sound with volume, overdrive, etc. They're remarkable.
One aspect of this project that I do regret a little is that I kind of wish I had done one thing at a time, so I could identify and appreciate how each individual part of the upgrade contributed. Right now it's hard, because everything is so different. It's like a different guitar. My buddy laughed and said, "it's probably just the new strings."
I couldn't be happier. Thanks for reading.
UPDATE (Where the project stands as of 4/1/21):
Guitar: 2018 Gibson Les Paul 1959 Standard Reissue “R9” in Red Pine Burst (1/10)
Pickups: Gibson Patent Number (’62-’65) pickups with Stephens Design covers
Wiring: Gibson vintage (1959) wiring harness/jack/switch. Pot codes date to 35th week of 1959 (134935)
Knobs: Gibson vintage (late 50s) gold bonnet knobs/pointers
Bridge: Gibson vintage (late 50s) no-wire ABR bridge/thumbwheels
Tuners: Grover vintage (1959) PAF Rotomatic tuners
Switch Ring: Gibson vintage (late 60s) switch ring
Truss Rod Cover: Gibson vintage (late 50s) rolled TRC
Pickup rings: Bartlett M-69 V2 pickup rings
Tailpiece: Custom-milled tailpiece by Steve Hague
Pickguard: Mojoaxe aged PGH17A guard with vintage bracket
Bridge posts: Philadelphia Luthier Supply brass posts
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