naf456 Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 (edited) Hi , Nathan here. And my les paul came today (well 10 minutes ago actually ), And already I'm creating this thread! Anyway, Have taken some picks of the guitar at it's current state : I bought it on ebay, for £60 with the neck - I mite beable to get a cheaper project guitar , but it's ebay and after watching in for 5 days , I was abit overkill when it came to the last 40 seconds. The description didn't state what wood it was made out of - Found out it's made out of Two slices of unknown wood and a slice of plywood. (yeah, I suppose it's not a Gibson ) The neck looks cheap - the nut was made out of plastic - overall though it feels good in the hand. The actual body is chipped quite abit - almost like a monkey took a wretch to it when taking out the furniture. The plans I had where to spray it matte black with a black pearl celluniod binding. Luckly the neck doesn't have binding - as I heard it's a right pain in the ass to replace the binding in necks. I'm looking at getting a pair of iron gear volt picks ups - taking a metal theme to the guitar. all the furniture is going to be black. I'm not sure whether plywood is worth it? I mean obviously the guitar wasn't worth anything in the first place if the original Luther didn't care what wood it was made out of. I'm unsure whether to chuck £60 down the drain. Edited November 16, 2012 by naf456 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob123 Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Its probably a 2 peice body with a veneer cap for the top shape. LOTS of companies do that, even for their some of their more expensive models (ESP and Schecter do for sure). Sand it down, see what its made of in my opinion. Better to learn on 60 pounds then 600+, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naf456 Posted November 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 I've sanded down the front and back of the body and a bit of the neck. It's definitely plywood - It actually looks pretty sweet - All the different colored wood strips going through the body. The front I believe is maple - not sure. it's light in colour, should have some pics soon. I had bit of a worry when looking at the pickup holes - their obviously cut out wrong. I literally have 1/2 a mm on each side until the pickup hole whole would be visible when the pick up rings are installed.Hopefully when I get the rings they should be alright. I have changed my mind with the colour - it's going to be a aqua / sky blue matte / satin with a tanned natural back and sides with a natural neck. oh , and the binding which I thought was paint is actually binding - for a plywood guitar it certainly has bling. I am going to sand down the binding on the front ridge of the guitar as it's only 1/2 a mm thick. The actual binding however - looking at pearl white? It looks uneven when taking a look around the body So I may have some work to do. There it also black binding around the neck - which again I thought was painted on but is actually real. I haven't made up my mind what I'm doing with that yet. I may take it off , stick on some light wood binding - unsure. All in all , it looks pretty snazzy. A problem I have got is that some areas on the front have been what looks to been burnt by the sander - it's a darker colour and alot more smooth then the unburnt areas - I've tried to sand it out but it just ain't? It may be the wood. On the back , since it's ply , some different colour wood is coming through the foreground wood and it looks pretty ... unprofessional. I'll upload some pics soon to show you what I mean... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naf456 Posted November 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2012 Here are the burn marks I have? not sure what it is really: Clear view of the plywood and binding - strange why the manufacture/luthier put black binding on a black body... Here is the pick up wholes up close - I may have a problem if the whole is too big - the screws may just fall down the whole The back - sanded pretty poorly This is the nasty crack I have got on the cut away - I think I may just sand it down then repair it The truss rod seems to stick out abit. I'm not sure this is normal - doesn't seem that way on other guitars - it doesn't seems to want to be pushed down so I may have to carve the nut around it which will be fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelvock Posted November 19, 2012 Report Share Posted November 19, 2012 Those darker, smoother areas are tell tale signs of sanding sealer, you sure they won't sand out? It is some tough stuff to get rid of and they may be low spots? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.