Guitar Collector Forum

Note from Admin: I have split this from Shashing's earlier Topic (here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=316 ), to give it a wider audience!


Yes, please!!

That's exactly the sort of thing we need more of here, it'd be great if you can share the story of your restoration with us as it develops.

I'll second that - sounds like it could be interesting. What's the Gibson?

Right on, the parts are being shipped as we speak so it should be started soon. The guitar is a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Special by the way, it's been stripped of it's finish and all the hardware is missing so it'll be a big restoration job of my dream guitar

As for the controls on the silvertone, the knobs are V-V-V-T the control plate has an on/off for each pickup and the little black switch on it's own there is.. as best I can figure a boost switch, it works really well surprisingly. Yes, the tremolo is a pretty crude one lol but it holds tuning pretty decent with light vibrato for what it is. The saddles might need replacing if i wanted to make it play well again though, one is missing the screw and another was replaced completely by the previous owner with a piece of wood pretty clever but not the most stable.

Thanks for the greetings too I'll be sure to post stuff and help whenever I can. I'm just getting my feet wet with the whole vintage guitar collecting thing but it's something I'm really passionate about. Some great collections on here too.

Sounds like a cool project. And an ambitious one for a beginner.

Starting with a refin isn't the best for most collectors, but I guess you'll be aiming for an 'as new' look rather than it looking like a 50 year old vintage guitar. Where did you find the body? Are you getting the genuine Gibson vintage hardware for the year, or...?

Good luck with it, and take your time. I'll be watching with interest.

This one is definately gonna be a player alright as opposed to a 'sit in the case under the bed for the next 50 years' that's what it seems to be thus far, so why change it right? Unfortunately I'm not made of money so I cant afford to spend hundreds of dollars on period correct parts, 100-200$ is a bit much for a single tuner, no? My plans for it are sort of a vintage/modern mix that I love, you'll see what I'm talking about once it gets started but it will be vintage looking with a bit of a modern twist, should be fun.

Hey cool, thanks for putting this topic up for me I guess I might as well post some pictures of the guitar as it stands now to give everyone something to look at. The guitar-squeemish might want to look away right now as this might cause some a little emotional pain

Here's the full shot


Logo inlay fully intact. She's been redrilled a couple times for different tuners over the years, but everyone's got their scars right?


What's this, a Gibson without a broken headstock in it's entire 50 years?


Close-up of the fretboard, the frets are in INCREDIBLE shape, perfectly straight, level, and smooth all the way down. Neither I or the seller can tell if they're original, if not than whoever did the refret deserves a giant pat on the back, leaving the binding nibs intact on these things is not an easy task.


And last but not least the perfectly original, un-modified control cavity which seems to be pretty rare


And here are my two favorite ideas for the guitar. They're done on an sg but you get the idea.



Those are my top two at the moment, I was also thinking a nice honey burst or a Gibson styled sunburst from yellow to red.

Let me know what you all think, ideas, inspiration, how badly you want to castrate whoever stripped this thing I'll update this at every step of progress.

Wow. You've set yourself quite a task there!!

Looks like its in great shape for a 50 year old guitar and you're lucky it hasn't been re-routed. The frets look amazing. Did you see it before it was stripped, or did you acquire it in this condition? I can't wait to see how it turns out - be sure to let us know of progress. Will you do it all yourself (paint job?) or do you have pro help?

Good luck with the project.

Ziggy

Thanks, and yep its a big one alright lol. I did buy it in this condition but it still has a little area of the original tv yellow paint on the back of the headstock I'm going to preserve. And I will be painting it by myself, this will be my 8th guitar refinish so it's starting to become habit
I'll be using my airbrush setup in my paint room to do the burst, provided I use it for the final job but it probably won't be until around spring time when it warms up a bit for the clear to go on. I'm sure it could be done, I just don't want to rush it at this point with a guitar like this.
The neck will also be given a tung-oil finish as opposed to a painted neck. So not your average vintage Gibson in the end but I'm taking my dream guitar and building it back from the ground up to my exact preferences

Good luck with your project and be kind to this old girl.

Thank you, and she'll be treated very well here also,

update!
So most of the parts arrived today.




And here's a mockup with the parts sitting on top.


The tuner holes were drilled by the previous owner to 7mm.. no idea why, but they are now redrilled to the 9mm required. I'll tell ya right now, drilling into the head of this thing nearly gave me a heart attack at my young age, so I don't recommend any of you that might have heart conditions try this any time soon All's well though, headstock is ready for paint but the body will have to wait until I figure out a way to pull those pesky studs out of the body. The threads are not in the greatest of shape at the moment so it's thinking cap time