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1956 Les Paul basket case Conversion.

Jumping@Shadows

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 11, 2003
Messages
1,330
Lovely! It sounds magnificient. 👍
Is the amp a mid 60's 18w Fe
Thanks man! You never know how these will turn out, as they’re most often unplayable when I receive them, and it was extremely gratifying to hear what this old girl still has to offer.

The amp is a absolutely killer £250 local classifieds score, of an 18W-ish dual EL84 homebrew combo using all mid ‘60s RS transformers, and NOS Marshall/Vox parts- no idea who made it, or why they had access to a full complement of such parts, but it’s a magical amp I love dearly!
 

Hamerfan

Active member
Joined
Dec 20, 2004
Messages
791
I really don‘t get it.
Why do all the ‘56 to ‘52 husks have to become a sunburst humbuckered mongrel of a ‘59? Why can‘t the remain what they always have been?
 
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S. Weiger

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 25, 2002
Messages
1,744
I really don‘t get it.
Why do all the ‘56 to ‘52 husks have to become a sunburst humbuckered mongrel of a ‘59? Why can‘t the remain what they always have been?
It's the closest thing you'll ever come to a real 58-60 Burst, obviously.
-Without forking up $200K - $400K..

In this case, all important appointments for a 'burst conversion are already there "for free" so to speak, except burst finish & routing for humbuckers.
Guitar is from 1956, meaning:

- factory ABR bridge/ Stoptail
- factory correct neck angle
- no trapeze holes / stud holes to deal with

When you have such a nice figured top revealed, the (already) stripped guitarbody literally cries for burst finish, as J@S wrote. I'm with him 100% on this, especially when the burst finish is done so expertly as in this case.
Since it will always be a refin no matter what finish you apply, you can never make it factory stock again anyway.
So the routing for 'buckers is really no big deal in this case IMO.

YMMV.
 

corpse

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 9, 2007
Messages
4,876
I really don‘t get it.
Why do all the ‘56 to ‘52 husks have to become a sunburst humbuckered mongrel of a ‘59? Why can‘t the remain what they always have been?
It comes down to the extensive labor involved- and the issue of "voting with your dollars". Please don't take this a I can say it but are you going to do it? JAS tirelessly hunts these things down and reclaims them- I just don't see the demand for reworked 52's.
 

El Gringo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
Hard to argue with the results you achieved as it is a stunning finish and a really nice top underneath the original gold . Is that a mineral streak running from the neck pickup volume to the pickguard ? Great job !
 

DANELECTRO

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Messages
6,318
I really don‘t get it.
Why do all the ‘56 to ‘52 husks have to become a sunburst humbuckered mongrel of a ‘59? Why can‘t the remain what they always have been?
Once the original finish is gone, you can never get it back. Although you can restore the guitar back to an original look, it can never be original again. I would not promote converting an all original example, but if I had a boogered-up husk on my hands, I would convert it into a guitar that I want rather than feel compelled to revert it back to the "look" it once had.
 
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