Gibson 1957 Les Paul TV Special Restoration

Neil

Absolutely beautiful.

A TV yellow single cut Special is my favourite  guitar.

Well done on bringing such an iconic guitar back to life.

ICBM

Beautiful work.

I should never have sold my one… .

That's not it - I did wonder when I saw the thread title. Mine had a serious and badly repaired - although physically strong enough, not pretty - headstock crack from before I bought it.

It's interesting to see the neck on that one while it was stripped - it looks like the headstock is one of the 'good ones' where the grain follows the curve of the headstock at least to some extent, which makes it a lot stronger.

Other "relic-ers" should take note too... less is more. That looks just right because it's not overdone.

IvisonGuitars

Wow, many thanks for the kind comments chaps! It is much appreciated.

One bit of geekery I did forget to post was that after weighing the guitar before and after stripping, I managed to remove 2oz of poly finish!

I'm very happy with the aging, I'm very much in the less is more/subtle camp. Most of the vintage guitars I've owned or played have a few dings and some lacquer cracking. However, if I were to do it again, I'd leave the forearm wear off. It's a bit much compared to the rest of the guitar IMO.

SidNewton

That looks fantastic Neil. Another guitar I would love to own along with a Junior (which I still haven't sorted out). Your posts aren't helping one little bit.

Monstronaut

Fantastic, the finish looks as good as any TV yellow I've seen. 

Rave

That's how a vintage guitar should be refinished. Top job!

usedtobe

That's fabulous! What a transformation!

ICBM

miserneil said:

One bit of geekery I did forget to post was that after weighing the guitar before and after stripping, I managed to remove 2oz of poly finish!

I once stripped a '77 Strat and took off about half a pound! I forget the exact figure - and to be accurate I can't remember if that included improving the forearm contouring as well, which I did - but the thickness of the finish on those is ludicrous.

miserneil said:

However, if I were to do it again, I'd leave the forearm wear off. It's a bit much compared to the rest of the guitar IMO.

I agree actually, but at least you stopped there .

Give it a bit of time and some genuine wear and it will blend in better - I think it's partly that the rest of the finish is still quite shiny. You've nothing to be ashamed of compared to most of the laughable belt-sander jobs out there though .

StuartMac290

That is just stunning! Top work

IvisonGuitars

ICBM said:

miserneil said:

One bit of geekery I did forget to post was that after weighing the guitar before and after stripping, I managed to remove 2oz of poly finish!

I once stripped a '77 Strat and took off about half a pound! I forget the exact figure - and to be accurate I can't remember if that included improving the forearm contouring as well, which I did - but the thickness of the finish on those is ludicrous.

miserneil said:

However, if I were to do it again, I'd leave the forearm wear off. It's a bit much compared to the rest of the guitar IMO.

I agree actually, but at least you stopped there .

Give it a bit of time and some genuine wear and it will blend in better - I think it's partly that the rest of the finish is still quite shiny. You've nothing to be ashamed of compared to most of the laughable belt-sander jobs out there though .

@ICBM ;Totally agree. The finished pics were actually taken in January straight after the final polish. Since then it's had 40 odd gigs under its belt, some UV exposure and some 'real world' sings so it's starting to look quite convincing :-)

But, I must admit, after I'd done the forearm wear I thought "ah, too much..." and got a bit of a sinking feeling, but it's all good, just got to wear the rest of it away with gigging to match! :-)

roberty

Superb! 10/10

I'll weight in and say I'm not usually into relics, but IMO it's entirely appropriate here and tastefully done

Ossyrocks

Nice one Neil ! 

I liked that guitar last time I played it and it was silver. It looks absolutely great now.

Rob.

Danielsguitars

Because of you I've now cut a blank out to build one of them, one of my favourite guitars

JookyChap

Awesome, although it left me a little disappointed.

I really look forward to the 'Here it is on the roof of the outdoor lav' shots

IvisonGuitars

JookyChap said:

Awesome, although it left me a little disappointed.

I really look forward to the 'Here it is on the roof of the outdoor lav' shots

@JookyChap ;Ahh, well you see, I've gone 'pro' now and got a UVB set up in the garage for a MG-esque multiple ageing approach... ;-)

mburekenge

Glorious! Great work.

mikeyrob73

That is simply stunning, quite possibly my favourite guitars ever thoseand that is very well done. 

St_Hubbins

Who purchased this beauty in the end? It still haunts my dreams!

blueskunk

What a guitar that is. Magnificent work !