R6 Jaeger Make Over

[ourmaninthenorth]

I'd have gone in search of the golden fleece, just as you have.

Instead of wailing and moaning, you've shown the minerals to make something happen.

I for one am cheering this bugger over the line. I hope it resonates the plaster off the wall.

Hold firm Argonaut.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

I think this is going to be a really nice replica of a 56 Les Paul. You could pay more for some of the stuff Gibson is putting out right now, but you are not going to get this one on one level of workmanship and accuracy to detail. For the dot is Steve Craw's Historic supposed to be a 56? Most all 56's are where I mentioned earlier. Same thing for years after apart from some flying high.

 

[ADP]

I would have found a real one and laid down 12 g's cash. Chances are high the deal would be made. And the logo would be in the right spot.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

Not gonna find any half decent real 56's for 12K. The last few half decent ones I looked at online were 75K and up. To get a real one in this condition would be well over 100K.

 

[ADP]

Well when you spend real cash things are different. At least in my experience. I digress. Enjoy the journey of tone. If the end result is great that's what matters

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

Here is a cool pic to see how dark this 56 was to begin with and where it ended up.

 

[Revolver1]

Nice shot Subliminal and very interesting. I kind of forget the back is also subject to fading. I like the way its slightly darker towards the rear.

 

[Revolver1]

I do appreciate what you're getting at ADP but another point to consider as Subliminal mentioned, prices on Historics at least here in the UK have risen dramatically since 2018. In 2018 you could pick up a Historic for around £3800. Most are around the £6000 mark now. And then if you look at some of the Murphy Lab ones or the Brazilian Board options your getting into the region of £10,000. What about the Jimmy Page double neck?

And its still going to have all those little differences that have been exposed in this thread. Like the air gap under the end of the fret board.

Granted, my guitar will never be a 50's guitar because its not made from 50's wood. Florian pointed out to me that the shape is slightly off as well but I suppose it would vary from guitar to guitar anyway because of the hand made aspect. But it's still not quite right. I guess Gibson need to have a few tell tail signs otherwise a historic could potentially be passed off as an original.

Not taking anything away from anyone who has made the investment but on the flip side I'd rather have this over the Braz Board offerings from Gibson and this one now has a Brazilian Board from the 1920's

I have a Murphy Lab and I honestly love it but it's not in the same league as the two guitars I saw in Florians Work Shop finish wise. So if you factor in the rectification of some of the construction aspects as well it's not that crazy....

At least that's what I tell the Wife.... hahaha....

I'm also grateful for everyone's contributions to this thread and have enjoyed the discussions immensely.

 

[ourmaninthenorth]

I'm upping the ante on my contribution, this is a threepennyworth comment.

So you've got 5 bags in a guitar that's dead, and gathering dust under the bed - to say nothing about the headache that such a waste would entail, quite frankly it'd do my head in.

Then you'd have to go out and spend considerable scatter on it's replacement, say another 7 upwards - invariably a US sourced guitar for reasons already mentioned - with it's attendant randomness and risk. Entirely possible you could end up with another chunk of driftwood.

You'd need a bigger bed to put that one under alongside it's gormless cousin..

Or you could, for the same sort of dough, go the way you've gone.

I think it's the smart move.

When the Argonaut finally arrives, and you plug into something cooking, and you belt that first chord and the plaster falls of the ceiling, all thoughts of folding will evaporate like a thief in the night.

C,mon the Argo!!!

 

[Revolver1]

Exactly that ourman!

 

[MarcB]

C,mon the Argo!!!

“Let’s go Argo.. let’s go!”

 

[gitmohair]

Not being provocative but out of interest what would you have done?

Sold it and moved on, TBH.

 

[ADP]

I don't think buying international on the Internet is as big of a deal as people make it out to be. I've shipped many Les Paul's and even amplifiers around the world. Needless to say, I am very lucky to live in the United States of America.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

Sold it and moved on, TBH.

Bad karma passing a headache onto someone else.

 

[Revolver1]

I don't think buying international on the Internet is as big of a deal as people make it out to be. I've shipped many Les Paul's and even amplifiers around the world. Needless to say, I am very lucky to live in the United States of America.

Yeah, it's not really that big a deal these days just that if you have to return something you've paid to ship it twice and you won't be getting that money back. It's all at your expense.

Most people you deal with are great but there are very occasionally people that will take advantage of the fact your on a different Continent.

And the other one is import duties which I cant for the life of me figure out. I've had stuff come in with no charge at all and then got stung on other things, there seems to be no pattern or logic to it. I think they make it up.

If you buy a guitar worth 12g they won't let that go, its going to be an expensive import % to be paid.

 

[Revolver1]

Selling it's just not even an option, I couldn't do that to someone.

Besides, I mean how would that even work? Within a couple of days they'd realise it's a dog and be calling up to return it or want a huge chunk of cash back. Pointless exercise....

 

[Revolver1]

Monday morning has come around fast enough and we're back on with another update. This is going to be awesome, resuming with the logo repositioning...

" I made a template copy of the 1954 headstock for the position of the logo. With the exact distance from the D - string ferrule and angle. In the second picture you can see it applied on the headstock before removing the logo.

It's astounding how "vintage correct" the headstock outline / shape is. It differs maybe a tenth of a millimeter in width. You can't even see that with your eyes, you maybe can measure it with a caliper. I will get this difference corrected when finally sanding your Les Paul before pore-filling. Then I remove holly veneer... "

 

[Revolver1]

It's coming along nicely...

" I carefully cut the trussrod access, this is more difficult to do than you may think! I glue the holly veneer on with hot hide glue. "

 

[Revolver1]

I said to Florian it's nice to see a bit of Sun in the picture above and how nice it's been here the last couple of days. He said it Snowed like hell there yesterday. Beautiful scene....

 

[Revolver1]

So here's a question I've been thinking about this Weekend. Some of you more knowledgeable types may be able to answer for me.

So how do they get the colour on the back? Is it a stain with clear coat or is the lacquer tinted? What about the pore filler, I've often wondered.

Is it done the same way now or was it different back in the 50's. What about the actual chemicals used, the same or different?

I'd love to know.