• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

Modern Gibson USA Les Paul Natural Aging / Fading-5yrs Difference

yeltneb

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2016
Messages
40
Hi All, I thought some people might like to see how a modern (2016) guitar can age as I was super curious about this when I bought mine. The hardwear was all changed from chrome to nickle pretty soon after I got it. It's been played pretty much every day and hung on a wall with exposure to a reasonable amount of direct light. It has all sorts of dings on it and the laquer and hardwear is pretty dull. It started out as a 2016 LP Traditional in Ice Tea but has had everything apart from the tuners changed for vintage correct stuff - yes I know some people will think this is a bit dumb but it was kinda 'meh' out of the box and has a great deal of sentimental value (long story) so I could never sell it and get a custom shop guitar instead. Anyway, the first picture was taken yesterday and the second was taken moments after I unboxed it in 2016. The light in the second picture is a bit darker but I have a lot of other pictures from when it was brand new and it's an accurate representation of the colour.
New.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • Old.jpeg
    Old.jpeg
    75.4 KB · Views: 58
Last edited:

yeltneb

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2016
Messages
40
Yea, one thing that's interesting / cool is how much it's faded from where my arm sits which looks like wear through friction. This surprised me as I assumed you'd have to wear through the laquer before the colour of the paint underneath would change? Anyway here's a couple more shots. The one in the chair is 2 months after I bought it and the other one is also from yesterday. You cant' really tell but the laquer is super dull - kind of like a VOS finish but obviously a bit more varied due to the high / low wear areas.

WhatsApp Image 2021-04-14 at 12.43.50.jpeg

WhatsApp Image 2021-04-14 at 12.43.28.jpeg
 

dumeril7

New member
Joined
Apr 20, 2021
Messages
2
Beautiful guitar and a great idea for a post! If you have the time and inclination, I'd love to see a photo with the switch ring and/or the pickguard removed. That would eliminate variance in the lighting/exposure of the before/after photos.

D7
 

yeltneb

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2016
Messages
40
Beautiful guitar and a great idea for a post! If you have the time and inclination, I'd love to see a photo with the switch ring and/or the pickguard removed. That would eliminate variance in the lighting/exposure of the before/after photos.

D7
That's a coold idea - I'll do that when I next get the chance
 
Top