BCR Greg Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Broken in 1978, now ready for new life... The headstock from a destroyed 2002 Les Paul Standard, and the lines showing what material will be removed. My fancy headstock leveling fixture. Be jealous, it's classy. Beginning the route to the fingerboard. Cutting the angle by hand.
BCR Greg Posted June 27, 2012 Author Posted June 27, 2012 The new part stripped of paint, and getting some 50's mahogany to thicken the neck area. The body before. Blech. "Goof Hiders", a wonderful factory way of covering shit work. Unmolested electronics.
BCR Greg Posted June 27, 2012 Author Posted June 27, 2012 Since the new style neck had a different truss rod, I needed to fashion a spacer to allow the old rod to work with the new wood. A little corian to the rescue. Test fit. Shaping on my handy sander. Almost..... The parts ready to be joined....lots of work not shown but you can get the idea... Our swanky spacer in place, perfect!
Turdus Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Simply amazing Greg... I've always wondered how well a truss rod works after a headstock break.
BCR Greg Posted June 27, 2012 Author Posted June 27, 2012 A custom caul to support the area and on go the clamps! Clampitty doo dah. Using Grandpa's rasp to remove material for my reinforcement ridge. This goes here to add strength. More clampitty doo dah.
specialk Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Great work and excellent pictures, Greg! Thanks for sharing.
BCR Greg Posted June 27, 2012 Author Posted June 27, 2012 Clamps off, ugly on. Time for some coffee and another of Grandpa's rasps.... Old tools rule. Scraped and ready for sanding. Sanded and ready for grain filling. There is no way to enjoy this part. Mahogany has open grain, so I use an Australian Timbermate grain filler to even out the surface of the wood before spraying. Filler sanded, ready for lacquer. 3 coats, and nothing smells as good as fresh coffee and nitro lacquer together. NOTHING.
BCR Greg Posted June 27, 2012 Author Posted June 27, 2012 15 coats, ready for wetsanding and buffing. Headstock ready for wetsanding and buffing. Somebody pummeled the bridge when he guitar was used as a weapon.... Removing 30 plus years of southern humidity damage, and leveling the freshly reinstalled inlays. Yummy.
BCR Greg Posted June 27, 2012 Author Posted June 27, 2012 Headstock during assembly. Completed, looking amazing. LOTS of hand buffing and finish restoration later...... Here's our patient, ready to go home. The view from behind. This guitar had been owned by a troubled man, and I SWEAR that his departed spirit helped me with this job. When I strung it up, it was ALMOST PERFECT, and I only had to lightly tweak the truss rod to get it there. This is the best sounding and feeling Deluxe in my nearly 40 years in the guitar industry. I hated to see it go.
hamerhead Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Well done, Little Buddy. That looks f**king awesome. You have mad patience.
tbonesullivan Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Ahh. I remember seeing that one there. Definitely another great repair. I just keep hoping I never am in the situation where a guitar I own needs this kind of treatment.
Steve Haynie Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Wait a minute... Did you just put a left handed headstock on a right handed guitar?
Ted Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Going from one picture to the next my anticipation levels just get bigger, and bigger, and BIGGER and then to see the final result is like ecstasy.Sir Greg, Not only are you a Master Craftsman, In a previous life you must have owned a burlesque cause your presentations-whether in a single picture, or in series are delivered with such flare for the dramatic! Bravo, Bravo Master!
kizanski Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Awesome!Is that the one that was thrown down a flight of stairs?
zenmindbeginner Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Mind numbing... I M dumbfounded fo shizzle.
Never2Late Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 It sounds as good as it looks.....I was lucky enough to be at BCR when Greg 'plugged-in'....OH MY.
BadgerDave Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 I wish I was as good at anything as you are at doing that!
Studio Custom Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 It looks great, but it seems like an awful lot of work to restore a Norlin era LP.
BCR Greg Posted June 28, 2012 Author Posted June 28, 2012 It was done out of love for the brother of the new deceased original owner.
gorch Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Very nice work. Proofs the goodness of stressed necks, however. Now looks much better than the tires it was layed on.
bambino68 Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Greg.. You are master at your craft.That is an amazing job....Cheers....
Question
BCR Greg
Broken in 1978, now ready for new life...
The headstock from a destroyed 2002 Les Paul Standard, and the lines showing what material will be removed.
My fancy headstock leveling fixture. Be jealous, it's classy.
Beginning the route to the fingerboard.
Cutting the angle by hand.
46 answers to this question
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.