Need A Les Paul refinished

[RoyB]

Do you know any details about what year the guitar is? from the separation in the top and waves it almost looks like someone veneered the top (poorly). Is your idea to do back to a burst or Goldtop?

I was thinking of just doing a solid black or maybe a see through black and from the pot codes it looks to be a 1991

The binding all looks good and the guitar itself plays and sounds great and actually stays in tune!! lol!

The crack and top can be repaired easy it it's going a solid color for sure. If you want to get a price from us contact refinishing@rsguitarworks.net and Scott can get you some details.

[proxmax]

I had my '73 LPC re-topped. It's was a bit of work, but worth it!

OMG - this is nice! congrats.

[kurtsstuff]

Here's some more pics..I'm thinkin Roy might be right about the crappy veneer job

As you can see in one of the pics...thats a jewelers screw driver where the top is

lifting and I could probably slide it all around it and get the edges to lift

also the pickup routes on the top look real suspect...I sent your guy an email with these pics

attached Roy!

[Brownsound]

Ed Roman will re-top that guit'r for ya! Lol!

Im sorry dont get mad at me Kurt!

[cynic]

If it's just going to be a player anyway and you like the sound and set-up, you could probably just rip the rest of the veneer off, hit it with a sander to smooth things out, shoot some clear over it and call it a day.

[kurtsstuff]

Ed Roman will re-top that guit'r for ya! Lol!

Im sorry dont get mad at me Kurt!

Oh great Brown one...You test me.....lol!!

If it's just going to be a player anyway and you like the sound and set-up, you could probably just rip the rest of the veneer off, hit it with a sander to smooth things out, shoot some clear over it and call it a day.

Thats what I'm considering...just leaving it as is and just pick paint chips

off between songs/sets...

[Stike]

How deep is that top separation. That does look like a shit veneer job.

[kurtsstuff]

How deep is that top separation. That does look like a shit veneer job.

it looks real thin and the binding is level with the wood underneath almost...might even be the original top

under there??

[RoyB]

a 91 would have been a plain three piece top on a Standard, so my guess is someone wanted a flametop and added the veneer. I think it's an easy save because a little heat will get that veneer off without too much damage to the binding or original top.

[proxmax]

do we talk here about a gibson standard?

[kurtsstuff]

Well...got the first quote in and...$1200.00 and 3-4 months wait....

Yeah....I'm thinkin it's beautiful just the way it is....lol!!

[kurtsstuff]

Good Eye RoyB...yup..shit veneer job...Started peeling some off

a little lip in places between the original top and the binding

but not too bad......here's the horror!!

[carfish7]

Blowtorch + beer bottle caps?

Animal print fun-fur?

Fractured mirror?

The possibilities are endless!

Z

[zenmindbeginner]

$1200 is if you do none of the work yourself. That binding will need to come off. Sand down the veneer until you have gotten past the glue. If you have a belt of orbital sander, your cost is nothing to do this. Next, buy a pre-cut and pre-routed Maple top and some binding from Stew Mac. At this point, all you have to do is buy a bunch of clamps to get the new top on the body. The top is already pre-routed for the binding and you can add that without too much work if you already have the channels routed.

You'll need:

1). a bunch of bar clamps

2). belt or orbital sander

3). Weld-On 16 (best), Aliphatic resin or hide glue

4). binding tape or rubberbands for setting the binding

5). A pre-cut and routed maple top

6). binding material

You should be able to do this for under $400 and as far as re-finishing just the body, Stike will easily help you out for most likely less than you'd expect.

Get yer hands dirty and save!!!!!!

[cynic]

The binding is way too thick on the new ones anyway, grab something really sharp and holding it at whatever the appropriate angle might be (cause I honestly have NO clue what I'm talking about ), scrape it down to level. Hell, after seeing this I'm already scouring ebay looking for something beat to heck like this so I can have the same fun!

The maple cap should still be intact and in "good enough" shape yeah? It's just a thin veneer that was glued TO the maple top isn't it? I mean, we're not talking about all this work for a Jay Turser right?

I'm with carfish, let's rough purdy this thing up. THIS is the guitar that should be passed around among the members here so each can "assist" with the refurb!

[RoyB]

$1200 is if you do none of the work yourself. That binding will need to come off. Sand down the veneer until you have gotten past the glue. If you have a belt of orbital sander, your cost is nothing to do this. Next, buy a pre-cut and pre-routed Maple top and some binding from Stew Mac. At this point, all you have to do is buy a bunch of clamps to get the new top on the body. The top is already pre-routed for the binding and you can add that without too much work if you already have the channels routed.

You'll need:

1). a bunch of bar clamps

2). belt or orbital sander

3). Weld-On 16 (best), Aliphatic resin or hide glue

4). binding tape or rubberbands for setting the binding

5). A pre-cut and routed maple top

6). binding material

You should be able to do this for under $400 and as far as re-finishing just the body, Stike will easily help you out for most likely less than you'd expect.

Get yer hands dirty and save!!!!!!

I think you are leaving out that the neck has to be removed to retop the guitar and that's a big pain in the ass. You can spend the money to "restore it", or just use a heat gun to remove the veneer, do some sanding then hit it with some spray can sealer ("Raw Power") and have a cool player for nothing. You get all the veneer off it can be refined for $350 (Top only).

[jisham]

Roy's the man and I'd trust any of my guitars with him if you decide to do something with it.

[Punkavenger]

Nows yr chance to pull a Mick Ronson!

[kurtsstuff]

LOL!!...some great suggestions!! I've peeled off some more and I "think"

I see some birdseyes!!??

[specialk]

Cool! Let's hope there is some buried treasure to be found there.

[zenmindbeginner]

I think you are leaving out that the neck has to be removed to retop the guitar and that's a big pain in the ass. You can spend the money to "restore it", or just use a heat gun to remove the veneer, do some sanding then hit it with some spray can sealer ("Raw Power") and have a cool player for nothing. You get all the veneer off it can be refined for $350 (Top only).

Why would the neck have to be removed? I know that it would be easier for the neck to be removed, but why on earth would it have to be removed?

[Stike]

I think you are leaving out that the neck has to be removed to retop the guitar and that's a big pain in the ass. You can spend the money to "restore it", or just use a heat gun to remove the veneer, do some sanding then hit it with some spray can sealer ("Raw Power") and have a cool player for nothing. You get all the veneer off it can be refined for $350 (Top only).

Why would the neck have to be removed? I know that it would be easier for the neck to be removed, but why on earth would it have to be removed?

On some of those LP's the mortise that the neck is glued into is narrower than the width of the neck. It's also be a total bitch to carve a top with the neck in the way.

[RoyB]

I think you are leaving out that the neck has to be removed to retop the guitar and that's a big pain in the ass. You can spend the money to "restore it", or just use a heat gun to remove the veneer, do some sanding then hit it with some spray can sealer ("Raw Power") and have a cool player for nothing. You get all the veneer off it can be refined for $350 (Top only).

Why would the neck have to be removed? I know that it would be easier for the neck to be removed, but why on earth would it have to be removed?

On all Les Pauls the fretboard is glued down to the top. There is no way you could do the job correctly with the neck still in the guitar. Plus trying to belt sand the maple off and get the guitar flat enough to glue a top to is the quickest way I can think of to turn a good Les Paul into firewood. I'm not trying to be a hard ass, but there is one way to do that job if you want to retop and that's the way the guitar was built from the factory, but again there is no reason in the world to remove the top, binding or anything else to fix this guitar. The steps I listed above I could do over a weekend and have the guitar playing before Monday. If you want to do some work on it remove the veneer and parts then send it to us or Stike for a refin.

[kurtsstuff]

I think you are leaving out that the neck has to be removed to retop the guitar and that's a big pain in the ass. You can spend the money to "restore it", or just use a heat gun to remove the veneer, do some sanding then hit it with some spray can sealer ("Raw Power") and have a cool player for nothing. You get all the veneer off it can be refined for $350 (Top only).

Why would the neck have to be removed? I know that it would be easier for the neck to be removed, but why on earth would it have to be removed?

On all Les Pauls the fretboard is glued down to the top. There is no way you could do the job correctly with the neck still in the guitar. Plus trying to belt sand the maple off and get the guitar flat enough to glue a top to is the quickest way I can think of to turn a good Les Paul into firewood. I'm not trying to be a hard ass, but there is one way to do that job if you want to retop and that's the way the guitar was built from the factory, but again there is no reason in the world to remove the top, binding or anything else to fix this guitar. The steps I listed above I could do over a weekend and have the guitar playing before Monday. If you want to do some work on it remove the veneer and parts then send it to us or Stike for a refin.

thats my plan...no retop..just pull the veneer, sand down and refin the original top

[kurtsstuff]

Got the veneer off....will post a pic when I get up....looks like a 2 piece top

on a 91??