Terry Morgan 59 Reissue

DamianP

I've done structural repairs on a number of '50s Les Pauls.  None of them were made of Khaya.  All of them were Honduran/Brazilian.

You don't need microscope to tell the difference.

Interesting that people who now make '50s inspired Gibson type guitars from Khaya now tell us that Khaya is what they used back in the day.  

Khaya is much cheaper and more easily obtained.  That IS a fact.

GSPBASSES said:

Just to clarify the wood I have used in the past is Cedrela from  Africa. I always put in brackets after Cedrela  "Spanish Cedar". This is more so people can identify with the type of  wood  as opposed to the exact wood. South American  Cedrela  has not been available for many years I believe it was one of the first mahogany type woods  to be banned  from being cut down and exported .  Fortunately Africa has no such ban on this wood at the present time.  I believe the name  Spanish cedar derived from  South America Cedrela being used by Spanish guitar makers many centuries ago.  I do not actually use Cedrela  any more for the construction of solid body guitars,  my only used for this now is for making kerfed linings.

Both are available last time I checked.  Brazilian is more expensive though.

richardhomer

DamianP said:

I've done structural repairs on a number of '50s Les Pauls.  None of them were made of Khaya.  All of them were Honduran/Brazilian.

You don't need microscope to tell the difference.

Interesting that people who now make '50s inspired Gibson type guitars from Khaya now tell us that Khaya is what they used back in the day.  

Khaya is much cheaper and more easily obtained.  That IS a fact.

So - the fakers are faking it....

At least if you buy a modern Gibson, you know it's not made out of the right stuff.

DamianP

richardhomer said:

DamianP said:

I've done structural repairs on a number of '50s Les Pauls.  None of them were made of Khaya.  All of them were Honduran/Brazilian.

You don't need microscope to tell the difference.

Interesting that people who now make '50s inspired Gibson type guitars from Khaya now tell us that Khaya is what they used back in the day.  

Khaya is much cheaper and more easily obtained.  That IS a fact.

So - the fakers are faking it....

At least if you buy a modern Gibson, you know it's not made out of the right stuff.

Right is what works.

I don't subscribe to the Jackanory school of guitar making.

GSPBASSES

WezV said:

Spanish cedar is the Terry Morgan 59 burst of the wood world.

Its not actually Spanish, or a cedar.   Its from south America and is part of the mahogany family 

Sorry @WezV the penny just drop. It might be because I've been sniffing all the wood in my wood store, seeing if I could tell the difference between African mahogany, Brazilian Mahogany, Indian Rosewood, Rio Rosewood, Baked Maple, un-Baked Maple, Rocklike, Ebony etc. 

richardhomer said:

DamianP said:

I've done structural repairs on a number of '50s Les Pauls.  None of them were made of Khaya.  All of them were Honduran/Brazilian.

You don't need microscope to tell the difference.

Interesting that people who now make '50s inspired Gibson type guitars from Khaya now tell us that Khaya is what they used back in the day.  

Khaya is much cheaper and more easily obtained.  That IS a fact.

So - the fakers are faking it....

At least if you buy a modern Gibson, you know it's not made out of the right stuff.

I like it !!!     So - the fakers are faking it....

At least if you buy a modern Gibson, you know it's not made out of the right stuff.

Did I miss something, I don't remember anybody saying anything about the price of Khaya or its availability. 

I didn't say the forgers were telling us that Gibson was using African mahogany on the 58 59 Les Pauls. Gibson are the ones telling us they were using African mahogany. 

I was only commenting on information that is available. If you do not believe Gibson fair enough. I would not like to say one way the other to be honest. I've also repaired a lot of early Gibson's, and I can't tell you they were made of South American mahogany or African mahogany, at the time it was no interest to me. I would just look for a piece of mahogany to match the colour and if possible the grain pattern and use it. 

How many guitar repairers does it take to repair a 59 Gibson?

10, one  to get on repairing it, while the other 9  spend the whole day debating whether it's African mahogany, or South American mahogany.

Danielsguitars

I've cut several blanks out of old khaya old honduran, old Brazilian from David dyke, some other african mahogany that was over 30 yrs old but looked different to my other khaya, I think it came from a boat builders and it was great wood and fairly light

I also went to timberline recently and they had some khaya neck blanks that looked so close to honduran in appearance, I even put it next to the honduran body blanks they had and you wouldn't really know

Point is its splitting hairs tonally imo and i say good wood is good wood, my main concern is the weight, I like lighter weight blanks as I think they sound better to me

stuagu

customkits said:

I've cut several blanks out of old khaya old honduran, old Brazilian from David dyke, some other african mahogany that was over 30 yrs old but looked different to my other khaya, I think it came from a boat builders and it was great wood and fairly light

I also went to timberline recently and they had some khaya neck blanks that looked so close to honduran in appearance, I even put it next to the honduran body blanks they had and you wouldn't really know

Point is its splitting hairs tonally imo and i say good wood is good wood, my main concern is the weight, I like lighter weight blanks as I think they sound better to me

I read that as david icke... which wouldve been taking this thread from the sublime to the ridiculous!  

Plukky

CloudNine said:

customkits said:

Apparently Spanish cedar was used on some early 52's 

I think they used both types tbh or whatever they could get hold of

  Thought maybe the Spanish Cedar would be identifiable, it smells amazing. It is a type of mahogany as far as I know, but it definitely smells a lot different. Suppose that could fade over many years, not sure.

I bought this earlier in the year. McInturff Carolina Standard. It is Spanish Cedar, weighs 8lbs on the dot, Florance Voodoo 59 pups, just an unbelievable single cut. I have owned a few Historics and played loads when I was searching for one a few years back. Also had the Huber and Collings versions but this is a level above all of them. No way could go back to a Gibson LP after this. All the good aspects of an LP intact, all the annoying bits taken away. Tone is the best of any I have played personally.

Never played one of these top secret replicas, but would be interested to have a go. I definitely wouldn't want to pay the prices they go for though..

A fine guitar, whoever let it go must be nuts! 

Strat54

Am I allowed to say I noticed this for sale with another dealer, who I think is a member here? Nice looking guitar but not one of those ones that screams 'Want it'   

fretfinder

Strat54 said:

Am I allowed to say I noticed this for sale with another dealer, who I think is a member here? Nice looking guitar but not one of those ones that screams 'Want it'   

Is it definitely the same one? I wonder what the asking price will be...?!

lustycourtier

fretfinder said:

Strat54 said:

Am I allowed to say I noticed this for sale with another dealer, who I think is a member here? Nice looking guitar but not one of those ones that screams 'Want it'   

Is it definitely the same one? I wonder what the asking price will be...?!

£5995 from memory *EDITED*

Ossyrocks

lustycourtier said:

fretfinder said:

Strat54 said:

Am I allowed to say I noticed this for sale with another dealer, who I think is a member here? Nice looking guitar but not one of those ones that screams 'Want it'   

Is it definitely the same one? I wonder what the asking price will be...?!

£8995 from memory

Knock 33% off that and you'll be somewhere near.

So, True Historic, or this? I know which I would choose.

Rob

Strat54

Can't be sure its the same one cos Mark didn't post the pics, which can't blame him after all the grief. Bit of a coincidence though. It was posted as £5995 but when I looked later it said P.O.A. 

guitars4you

Strat54 said:

Can't be sure its the same one cos Mark didn't post the pics, which can't blame him after all the grief. Bit of a coincidence though. It was posted as £5995 but when I looked later it said P.O.A. 

I haven't sold it - but it is the same guitar - I don't need to sell it and am content to keep it - had a few interested inquiries via FB at a price that I would accept and RH knows this price - I believe he has interest in it from a 3rd party overseas, but at the time I was not aware he was going to post details on his facebook site - Have had additional interest today from a fellow FB member but at this stage it can stay with me - But watch this space

IvisonGuitars

Is he 'brokering' it for you Mark?

guitars4you

miserneil said:

Is he 'brokering' it for you Mark?

no - but he did have a potential customer overseas - he came over yesterday to have a look at it and that is the last I knew until his posting on face book - I do have an additional interest, via a fellow FB member, from today, but at the moment I still own it and have not listed it commercially for sale and more than content to keep it

IvisonGuitars

guitars4you said:

miserneil said:

Is he 'brokering' it for you Mark?

no - but he did have a potential customer overseas - he came over yesterday to have a look at it and that is the last I knew until his posting on face book - I do have an additional interest, via a fellow FB member, from today, but at the moment I still own it and have not listed it commercially for sale and more than content to keep it

Right....!?

Best of luck with the FB member   

Bridgehouse

Every time I open this thread to read new content I feel like I've slipped onto the dark web, or the twilight zone!

WezV

Bridgehouse said:

Every time I open this thread to read new content I feel like I've slipped onto the dark web, or the twilight zone!

Try to keep up.  It stopped being about a guitar a few pages ago and switched to human trafficking.

its Terry Morgan himself that's for sale now.




at least I assume that's what they are talking about given the prices  and morality questions

Bridgehouse

WezV said:

Bridgehouse said:

Every time I open this thread to read new content I feel like I've slipped onto the dark web, or the twilight zone!

Try to keep up.  It stopped being about a guitar a few pages ago and switched to human trafficking.

its Terry Morgan himself that's for sale now.




at least I assume that's what they are talking about given the prices  and morality questions

To be fair, I lost the plot a good few pages back - I'm only coming back now to see if it ends in a 'Lost' style cataclysmic plot let-down..

richardhomer

WezV said:
its Terry Morgan himself that's for sale now.

Does he come with all the 'case candy'? In particular, Orville Gibson's birth certificate?

Incidentally the Gbson logo on this is visible on Facebook for all to see....