Tony's Faded LP

This one was destined to be black for quite awhile. When i picked it up from Tony, it had a snapped headstock and a some deep gouges across the top. It's a early 2000's faded Les Paul, really great guitars but the burst paint jobs looks a bit like clown makeup. The plan was to spray the top black, fix the headstock and add a phase switch.

The split was fairly favourable, a long break that had more than enough grain to make a strong bond. There was a lot of blow out around the two E tuners though and we were going to have to replace the headplate. I hate working with the fibreboard stuff gibson uses now, it's a great material just not for planning, sanding or inlaying. I didn't have any holly so some thin american maple i had in the scrape pile will do.

I squared the face after the glueup and remove the old veneer and then routed a squared section to replace the bulk of the damaged area around the tuner holes. I didn't go to too much trouble to try and match the grain because i know this guitar will be played and likely have another break at some point. Also the sides are the only part you'll see once the plate is on.

I stripped the top and gradually sanded back the cap till all the gouges were out. I was tempted to try filling them but decided against it, there's always a chance that whatever you fill it with is going to sink back and then you're left with an ugly looking paint job. I stained the top to give myself a good base and then sprayed some black nitro. Scrapped back the binding and then clear coats!

The final product looks pretty mean, a black LP Standard is definitely a favourite and the uncovered neck pickup on this thing sounds wicked, the phase switch is particularly helpful with a nice fuzz.