Attempt to get close to a '59 burst replica

lapdawg · 2014-01-20T22:38:01+00:00

Over the past few years I have built a few amplifiers and made even more cabinets, mostly repro's of Fender & Marshall amps. I done a reasonable amount of research & reading about amps & their construction but... I've always wanted to build some guitars. The closest I've come to building in all my years of playing is making lefty nuts for my string flips. Guitar building, as I am finding out is a different in some very fundamental ways. Most importantly: The amount materials needed, The levels of accuracy needed The amount of work and detail involved The number of tools & jigs needed Impatience is my biggest weakness, so that’s my personal challenge. My fascination with Gibson, especially the 58-59-60 bursts, means that this project can't be anything else. I have done a lot of reading on the construction of the 58-59-60 bursts. This is territory for obsessives & endless debate. I initially started out with idea that I would like to build a few completely accurate ’59s. The first thing I've decided is to build a few of them. 2 reasons for this: If I mess something up, then all my eggs are not in one basket. Secondly, with the jig building, lumber sizes etc. Its just not worth the effort to make one guitar. Through all the reading I have done, I have seen a lot of DIY build threads that just die. I promise I won’t do that. If I mess up, I’ll post it. That ambition of “completely accurate” has changed with a bit of discovery, most importantly: the availability of Brazilian rosewood, Honduras mahogany (Swetenia). The price & ethics that go with this are both a problem for me. The price of repro bridges, switches, fret-board inlays etc. is extreme. I am not sure that a first build will justify that outlay. These decisions need to be made as I go. Pickup rings that are "repro" can easily cost R2 000 with shipping & duties to add. Ridiculous. I've bought plans which I think are mostly accurate. They were supposedly modelled on 3 bursts that the drafter had access to. There are one or 2 details that haven’t 100% added up for me & some info that is missing. I have worked out my adjustments to these and think I have a good idea of what to do. I've bought African mahogany & sapele for the necks. I have been unable to find any info or sources for featherweight African mahogany, but I know it exists. It won’t be playing a part in this build. I have read that some of the bursts had sapele necks. I have ordered 2 pieces of tiger maple – eastern red maple. This was mostly what was used on the bursts. I want to make as much as I can, within reason. I will definitely do all the woodwork. I’m going to make & wind my own pickups. Obviously, tuners, tailpiece, bridge etc should be bought. I think it makes economic sense to make things like hide glue, fish glue & some of the plastic fittings. I've started with making the body templates & will post those later.

Charlie4

Arjun Menon wrote Hell's bells! Can we get a PG rating on this thread?

Seriously though...this is pure awesomeness lapdawg! :goodtimes:

+1.

Probably one of the coolest threads this forum has seen imo.

Jayhell

I get all excited when this thread shows up in my 'Unread Posts'. I wish I had the skills to attempt something like this.

Brilliant!

Chocklit_Thunda

Jayhell wrote I get all excited when this thread shows up in my 'Unread Posts'. I wish I had the skills to attempt something like this.

Brilliant!

Haha I AM planning on attempting something like this! Maybe in December..... But I don't think I could compare! This thread is inspirational!

Really great job so far lapdawg!

Chabenda

singemonkey wrote
Arjun Menon wrote Hell's bells! Can we get a PG rating on this thread?

This thread is rated Peter Green for '59 'burst content.

+1

So, what is the opening bid on the first one on the market.?? ?

lapdawg

singemonkey wrote
Arjun Menon wrote Hell's bells! Can we get a PG rating on this thread?

This thread is rated Peter Green for '59 'burst content.

I've gotta gush a bit here. Peter Green's playing gets me every time. One of my reasons...

lapdawg

I've given the tops a light 600 grit sanding to flatten the sealer coat. As soon as the weather clears up I'll spray the bursts and start with the clear coat layering

I've got 3 squares of maple that I have used as test strips. The curl is quite different to the LP tops. The curls are much smaller The LP tops are more tiger-stripe.
Anyway, they still serve as good test strips. I done all 6 sides & need to choose 3. Could I have your votes?

Dark Burgundy

Burgundy

Bright Cherry

Cherry - Honey (I think this is typical of a partially faded cherry)

Honey/Amber

Tea

I'm leaning towards dark burgundy, cherry - honey & tea.

Chocklit_Thunda

I vote 1 dark burgundy, 1 honey and 2 tea ?
That teaburst colour is AMAZING

Psean

Looking fantastic! I like the burgundy and tea. Not a fan of the redder ones like the cherry.

ezietsman

Tea
Honey/Amber
Tea

?

rikus

Lovely!!

Tea and Amber/Honey (Dark Burgundy if I have to choose a third).

Sean

Psean wrote Looking fantastic! I like the burgundy and tea. Not a fan of the redder ones like the cherry.

+1

Tea top of the list for me, then honey/amber

peterleroux

The bright cherry looks a bit clownburst-y. All the rest look good, with the more subtle ones being the best. Dark burgundy and tea are the ones that catch my eye the most

lapdawg

Everyone likes the tea. To me its very reminiscent of Page's bursts, especially in their more faded days - 1 & 3 I think.
I held the cherry-amber against pics in a few books I've got & I think I've got a good match to the "old" cherry bursts. I say old because some of those 70's cherry bursts were too much. They always remind me of a Humble Pie album cover I saw... (sies!)
The burgundy is a hard one to mix well. Its even harder too photograph, but it will give a nice darker burst. Maybe Kossoff, Beano & a few others from around about that time.
I suppose most of them started out much darker, but the iconic image takes a lot from faded colours.

Those are my 3 right now. It also seems there's a much higher degree of consensus than I though there would be - both online and a few people that have physically seen the strips.

BTW: I've been waiting to buy "The Beauty of the Burst" - on some of the forums it is THE book about the 50's bursts. It's well assembled and the pictures are great - at least that's what I thought. When I started trying to understand the dyes & colours, I quickly realised that this book is useless as a reference because the pics/colours/saturation are photoshopped to death. Very faded yellows become dark orange etc. Compare some to the "real" pics on burstserial.com.
shoppingList.delete(BotB);

singemonkey

Same vote as EZ.

lapdawg

peterleroux wrote The bright cherry looks a bit clownburst-y. All the rest look good, with the more subtle ones being the best. Dark burgundy and tea are the ones that catch my eye the most

Agreed. I took this piece & gave it a day of sunlight. Look what happened.
Before:

After:

This has no clear coats or UV protection. The nitro is still gassing (curing) so that may also be a factor. It may also just be that the red aniline is super-prone to fading.

I sprayed the bursts yesterday morning & put the honey-cherry in the sun as soon as it was touch-dry - I was concerned that I had gone too dark. In 20 min the red was gone. I had to re-burst it. I never expected that rate of fade.

Shibbibilybob

Wow those look amazing! all of them.
I can't believe how fast that colouring decayed in the sun. Really interesting.
Personally I like the tea finish above the most. But I think any one of them would look incredible on a guitar. Really impressive.

singemonkey

If you can do that, I'd highly recommend doing a full cherry burst, then sun-fading it before fixing. You'll get a super-subtle 'burst that will preserve colour under the pick-guard, knobs etc. if you put them on before fading to get the 'authentic' faded 'burst look.

lapdawg

singemonkey wrote If you can do that, I'd highly recommend doing a full cherry burst, then sun-fading it before fixing. You'll get a super-subtle 'burst that will preserve colour under the pick-guard, knobs etc. if you put them on before fading to get the 'authentic' faded 'burst look.

Oops...too late... There's still a lefty to finish though.

The burst spraying is done. Unfortunately I missed good daylight to get some decent pics that realistically show the maple's figure& the colours. These pics will do. I still need to finish scrapingthedindings and start the clear coats. They'll get 4-5 clear coats. Vintage instruments used fewer coats. The nitro must then be left for a month to fully shrink before fine sanding and polishing. I'll start with the pickups and wiring during that time.

I have also found a source for a serial number printing kit. The font in this kit is as close as could be possible to the original font used by Gibson's rubber stamp. More about that later.
Tea:

Burgundy:

Honey-Cherry:

Psean

lapdawg wrote

Tea:

WOW....

Stoffeltoo

Plukit Dawg! That looks damn good! I am no guitar builder and all three look equally sexy in their dresses just as they are. Well done man. "Sigh!" not for sale heh?

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