Is there any UK builder who does 50s Les Paul replicas?

Danielsguitars

making a replica and in the style of are 2 completely different things imo

Anyone who's any good will make a Lp style guitar but having access to real ones to get specs, tones, looks and feel etc is another thing too

This really depends on what you really want, vintage ones have things that would really annoy some people while others love it, like inlays that are shrunk so you see gaps around the inlay, fretboard wear, paint that's faded I mean the list goes on, even down to screws and a widows peak, the small things are what they like, assuming it plays and sounds as it should 

FelineGuitars

We make a very well regarded Lp styled guitar in our Lion model

They handle well, sound fantastic and eclipse most other offerings (so I'm told)
But they are far from a slavish copy, even when from the front they look like the classic design
Weight wise we stick to a 8lb - 9.5lb range
The all access neck joint is a real playing bonus

We focus on strength, rigidity, stability and full frequency response

Fretwork and appointments are flawless if not pure vintage 

Danielsguitars

My weight range is between 8.5 and 9lb ish with no weight relief, can't deal with over 9lb personally

hotpickups

jimmyguitar said:

https://i.imgur.com/C7LCkkP.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/10unyJ6.jpg
My Stig Burst from Guitar Avenue, love it to bits!

Nice

Danielsguitars

hotpickups said:

jimmyguitar said:

https://i.imgur.com/C7LCkkP.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/10unyJ6.jpg
My Stig Burst from Guitar Avenue, love it to bits!

Nice

Phil harris showed me a stig burst at a guitar show no idea who builds them though, Phil was playing one of my guitars which was good 

Danielsguitars

This was faded with analine dyes that fade and leaves the cherry under the poker chip and pickguard

http://i.imgur.com/emUz4RS.jpg

mixolyd

These pics remind me of finding a bunch of old Sunday Sport issues in the forest up the road as a 14 year old.  Very stimulating.

jimmyguitar

customkits said:

This was faded with analine dyes that fade and leaves the cherry under the poker chip and pickguard

http://i.imgur.com/emUz4RS.jpg

Yes, mine has that, very cool.
https://i.imgur.com/1caF8sr.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6dHzaZO.jpg

Cols

jimmyguitar said:

https://i.imgur.com/C7LCkkP.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/10unyJ6.jpg
My Stig Burst from Guitar Avenue, love it to bits!

Dear God, that's gorgeous.  I now have a terrible attack of GAS.

gordiji

FelineGuitars said:

We make a very well regarded Lp styled guitar in our Lion model

They handle well, sound fantastic and eclipse most other offerings (so I'm told)
But they are far from a slavish copy, even when from the front they look like the classic design
Weight wise we stick to a 8lb - 9.5lb range
The all access neck joint is a real playing bonus

We focus on strength, rigidity, stability and full frequency response

Fretwork and appointments are flawless if not pure vintage 

Nice to see a shallow break angle over the bridge without a top wrap. Just like on my PRS stripper.

mixolyd

@customkits ;

Are these analine dyes the difference between the old Gibsons that fade beautifully and the last last few decades manufacture which tend not to?  335’s tend to be particularly uninspiring compared to the old ones, not having fancy flamed tops like LP’s.

Danielsguitars

mixolyd said:

@customkits ;

Are these analine dyes the difference between the old Gibsons that fade beautifully and the last last few decades manufacture which tend not to?  335’s tend to be particularly uninspiring compared to the old ones, not having fancy flamed tops like LP’s.

Imo the reason why I like the looks of old ones the most is because not only do they fade into various colours that look just bloody fantastic to me but the tops are very understated which is much better looking to me
using non politicized nitro so it'll age the same way with narural checking is another big difference between modern stuff now, even if Gibson say it's nitro it's not the same stuff as the old nitro, I think they might do a thin nitro top coat over like a poly base, it takes longer to do nitro, this is just so they can say it's nitro, 

The red fading and laquer that ambers that alters the colour also depending on how much blue is in the cherry it fades to the browner side, you also sometimes get almost like a greenish tint

The original cherry was very strong then it fades fairly quickly and continues to fade until you get a lemon drop

The darkbursts and tobaccobursts were either sprayed by the guys that sprayed that colour on other models or it was used to cover mineral streaks or imperfections, as they fade you can see them in the maple

It takes a fair bit of messing about to get close to the colour you want, I just spray it where I think it'll get close and leave it to do its own thing, none of them are the same and that's what I like 

Same thing with the cherry filler that fades, looks great to me

I have regular access to a real 58 to compare to and it's very different to modern guitars, only a very small percentage had any real flamed tops and I'm not really into them anyway

335's had quite plain looking tops imo and that's the way I'd make one, I've looked at a beautiful 59 that was immaculate but fairly plain same sort of top on a friends 63 small block 335 

highly flamed tops are definitely not for me, they're too perfect 

Danielsguitars

This is a 59 335, fantastic guitar in near mint condition

http://i.imgur.com/ZNo4Hfq.jpg

Danielsguitars

And finally a 58 burst in this trio, lovely looking understed top

http://i.imgur.com/j4ZCNyj.jpg

ellwood

customkits said:

mixolyd said:

@customkits ;

Are these analine dyes the difference between the old Gibsons that fade beautifully and the last last few decades manufacture which tend not to?  335’s tend to be particularly uninspiring compared to the old ones, not having fancy flamed tops like LP’s.

Imo the reason why I like the looks of old ones the most is because not only do they fade into various colours that look just bloody fantastic to me but the tops are very understated which is much better looking to me
using non politicized nitro so it'll age the same way with narural checking is another big difference between modern stuff now, even if Gibson say it's nitro it's not the same stuff as the old nitro, I think they might do a thin nitro top coat over like a poly base, it takes longer to do nitro, this is just so they can say it's nitro, 

The red fading and laquer that ambers that alters the colour also depending on how much blue is in the cherry it fades to the browner side, you also sometimes get almost like a greenish tint

The original cherry was very strong then it fades fairly quickly and continues to fade until you get a lemon drop

The darkbursts and tobaccobursts were either sprayed by the guys that sprayed that colour on other models or it was used to cover mineral streaks or imperfections, as they fade you can see them in the maple

It takes a fair bit of messing about to get close to the colour you want, I just spray it where I think it'll get close and leave it to do its own thing, none of them are the same and that's what I like 

Same thing with the cherry filler that fades, looks great to me

I have regular access to a real 58 to compare to and it's very different to modern guitars, only a very small percentage had any real flamed tops and I'm not really into them anyway

335's had quite plain looking tops imo and that's the way I'd make one, I've looked at a beautiful 59 that was immaculate but fairly plain same sort of top on a friends 63 small block 335 

highly flamed tops are definitely not for me, they're too perfect 

Do you have a link to some of your work, or a site? 

Dodge

jimmyguitar said:

https://i.imgur.com/C7LCkkP.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/10unyJ6.jpg
My Stig Burst from Guitar Avenue, love it to bits!

Dare I ask how much they are?

jimmyguitar

Dodge said:

jimmyguitar said:

https://i.imgur.com/C7LCkkP.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/10unyJ6.jpg
My Stig Burst from Guitar Avenue, love it to bits!

Dare I ask how much they are?

Less than a Gibson True Historic! 

hobbio

I dunno about UK luthiers, but I think there's a company in the US that does a decent job. I hear they might even be having a closing down sale soon too!

brooom

Sorry @hobbio, but I have no clue which company you're taking about. Also I've already started checking some of the UK builders, because as we can all clearly see from this topic. There are some very good ones out there.

But if you're talking about Gibson itself, then I already have an historic, thanks.

hobbio