My First Guitar

[Stomptown]

Brian's post about his strat inspired me to share a story (and guitar) of my own. When I was in high school I saved up some money for a guitar and as it turns out, a guy in my dads band was selling a 1972 les paul custom for real cheap; and I mean cheap! I ended up buying the thing for $300. Of course there was a catch!   As it turns out, the guitar was stolen and bashed up by the guys girlfriend who went psycho after he cheated on her. Luckily the guy was a cabinet builder and he was able to fix it up. He ended up painting the guitar white, which I always assumed he did to cover up gouges or something. As it turns out, he painted it because he initially thought it was stolen and made an insurance claim on it.

Anyway, the guitar was great for a first guitar. It looked pretty nice and the neck was well worn and comfortable. The only damage I could see was a missing piece of binding on the headstock and evidence of the guitar being smashed on the backside of the guitar. I did replace the pickups after being told they were microphonic, and regrettably, I sold the originals. I got a pair of Seymour Duncan's just like my favorite guitar player from Pearl Jam!

I recently decided I wanted to fix this thing up and the paint job was really starting do decay. I sanded it down and to my surprise, the guitar looked beautiful underneath. I got so excited I decided to sell my Les Paul Supreme (a guitar that never really fell in love with) and restore my favorite guitar. I cannot take credit for all of the work. I had the binding repaired by the guys down at 12th Fret in Portland, OR. They were amazing and stuck with their original price quote even after it turned into a nightmare for them! My friends dad is a jack of all trades and he took on the task of finishing the guitar. They wanted $700 at 12th fret and he did it for $40! It looks awesome too. I am in debt to him for sure. I basically did all the prep work and wired it up. Regardless I thought I would throw this up here even if it was a collaborative project.

I am basically done, but I do need to replace the bridge and haven't had the money. I guess I have the money but I keep spending it on pedals.  

Here are some before and after shots:

Me and my guitar in my younger days:



Here is what it looked like after I initially sanded it down. I almost left the remenant sunburst but decided to keep on sanding:



Here is the before shot of the neck with missing binding (as you can see, this thing has been in a smoky bar or two in it's day!):



After sanding:




After replacing binding:



Here is the finished product with all new hardware (I need to replace the bridge and the bridge pickup which I hate; its a Gibson Burstbucker and it's lame):



and a closeup of the body:


and the neck:



You can still see where the guitar was smashed at the bottom right. It looks like she swung it like an axe! Oh well, rock n roll baby!!!



And finally, back to the clubs where it belongs!

[DutchMF]

I'm not a big fan of Pauls (pun intended). at least not for playing one myself, but this looks dead sexy! Congrats on very nice job!

Paul

[juansolo]

Love to see things being restored to live to fight another day. Awesome!

[hammerheadmusicman]

Same boat as paul, not a Les Paul kinda guy, but the finish on the front of that is beaut!!

george

[Bret608]

This looks really sweet! This guitar was definitely worth the attention you've given it. I'm more of a Fender guy too, but I do like the sound of Les Pauls with more vintage-voiced, lower-output pickups.

[nzCdog]

Awesome!  So your favourite guitarist was Mike Mcready from PJ?  Awesome player... amazing tone, seeing him play live really inspired me.

Your refinish is excellent, the guitar looks far better... well done!   
And for the record... LPs are where it's at!!!

[stecykmi]

looking good. it's always nice to see maple tops without any flame pattern. the demand for flame maple is so high, people forget what regular maple looks like.

[slimtriggers]

looking good. it's always nice to see maple tops without any flame pattern. the demand for flame maple is so high, people forget what regular maple looks like.

Right on!  Personally, I can't stand quilts and flame tops.  They always look like a tart's handbag to me.  I'd much rather see a finish like this 'Paul.  It turned out great!

[pickdropper]

looking good. it's always nice to see maple tops without any flame pattern. the demand for flame maple is so high, people forget what regular maple looks like.

Right on!  Personally, I can't stand quilts and flame tops.  They always look like a tart's handbag to me.  I'd much rather see a finish like this 'Paul.  It turned out great!

I like flame tops and plain tops, but I really like the tart's handbag line.  That's funny.

And it really does look great after the restoration.  Very cool.

[lincolnic]

Great story, fine looking guitar!

[Chinchen]

Hell yes! Did you have fun binding? what kind of glue/technique did you use?
Great job.

[jeffaroo]

big fan of pauls and a big fan of diy guitar work
very nice work !
nothing like a big, fat, nasty humbucker pushing some fuzz !   

[wgc]

Very cool!  Check out the graphtech toms when you have some $$

[Diamond]

Wow, that guitar looks amazing! Great job! Weird looking bridge though. I bet it will look and play even better with a decent bridge. Is there a reason for flipping around the neck pickup compared to most humbucker guitars?

[Stomptown]

Wow, that guitar looks amazing! Great job! Weird looking bridge though. I bet it will look and play even better with a decent bridge. Is there a reason for flipping around the neck pickup compared to most humbucker guitars?

Lol. No it was a mistake but I haven't messed with it because I like the way it sounds. When I replace the bridge pickup I will pribably flip it to normal and see what difference it makes...

Yeah I really need to get that replaced! It's the last bit of old hardware. I just have to come up with the money buy one and have it slotted...

Wow, that guitar looks amazing! Great job! Weird looking bridge though. I bet it will look and play even better with a decent bridge. Is there a reason for flipping around the neck pickup compared to most humbucker guitars?