Studs and leaning tailpiece

[Bouldergold]

Looking for information on early Les Paul's with wrap around tail.
What is the story with the " leaning studs "?
Did they put metal bushings in place to solve this problem?
When did the bushings start?
Any info would be appreciated.

 

[hogy]

Looking for information on early Les Paul's with wrap around tail.
What is the story with the " leaning studs "?
Did they put metal bushings in place to solve this problem?
When did the bushings start?
Any info would be appreciated.

For some reason Gibson used short (1/2") bushings on those, even though the holes are typically factory drilled for full 1" bushings. The correct fix is to pull the short bushings without damaging the finish, and install full length ones in their place. This fixes the lean and most often nothing else is needed. If the leaning short studs have already cracked the wood (more common in Juniors than Standards), that needs to be addressed, obviously.

I have posted my procedure for the repair here:

Leaning tailpiece posts on pre '57 Les Paul Juniors and Goldtops

Here's a little info about '56 and earlier Les Paul Juniors. It applies to most, if not all pre Tune-a-matic bridged Goldtops as well. Almost all of them have tailpiece studs that are leaning forward from string tension. The stud holes are wallowed out. In the most severe cases, the stud on...

www.lespaulforum.com

 

[JIMI55LP]

Just remove tail piece and strings and get the studs straight up with the studs screwed into the 1/2" bushings. make a flat plate with a hole for the stud to pass thru and screw into the bushing until it gets to the top of the finish and remove the stud and put another spacer between the plate and the top finish that ha a larger hole the the bushing can fit thru and tighten the stud again pulling the bushing out of the mortise. The treble side will have the ground wire so make sure it is in place at the bottom of the mortise curled and running up the side before installing the replacement 7/8" or 1" bushing. When I did both of my 1955 Specials, I found the mortise was deep enough from the factory to take a 7/8" bushing without having to drill deeper. I bought my 7/8" bushings from pigtail, which at that time was the best reproduction bushing available without buying a vintage original bushing? If yours does need deeper drilling, I used a 1/2" forstner bit to deepen the mortises on a 56 JR. that wasn't deep enough and just removed the ground from its soldered connection on the wire sheilding and from the mortise and marked the depth I needed on the shank of the fortner bit before drill pressing to know where to stop. That JR. was tilting so bad that the mortise was smashed at the top of the pickup side wall of the mortise and I steamed it with a wet face cloth (terry) to swell it back to where it needed to be and after it dried it was still mushy, spongy soft. I then wicked thin ca glue into the pickup side of the mortise and the backside about a 1/2" down which stiffened the walls to make sure the new longer bushing wouldn't tilt or get hung up on those spots when the new bushing was pressed back into the mortise. The new bushing is pressed 3/8" deeper into fresh unsmashed mahogany and that alone really insures it not tilting, but test the side walls before installing just to be sure if you need to wick with ca? Ca glue is "super glue" but you will want to use thin ca glue to be sure it wicks into the smashed crushed mahogany. After you've made these improvements and are sure the walls are both true and solid, you'll reinstall the ground wire as it was passed thru to the pup route and reinstalled same as original and soldered to the wire shielding. The new bushing should press into the mortise straight and true with the stud screwed into in about 3/8" to verify it is going in straight and true and not too deep. When those 1/2" bushings tilt, they just pivot in place and smash the walls forward and aft and that needs to be firm after steaming them back to original shape. In many cases the top may have chipped off towards the P90 and if you have that piece you'll want to reglue it or make a piece to replace it if it's not available to reinstall? This is just for looks, and I always make an effort to not show the repairs been made.