Les Paul Refinish

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arthursilvia

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I am refinishing my Gold Top Les Paul 12 string. I am going for a transparent Amber color. I will post photos as I go along.
 

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Have you done this before?

If not STOP NOW...

If yes can you resize the pictures before uploading them.. Many here are on slow connections and they will take an age to load.
 
arthursilvia said:
Yes I have. I don't know how to resize photos.
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If you can work out how to take them from your camera and how to upload them here I'm sure you can work out how to resize them. At least just upload the ones that tell something of the story. Half of the ones you uploaded are just random shots.

People will be interested but you will drive them away if you clutter it up with large images..
 
No turning back now.

I hope the maple has nice grain underneath, this is kind of a crap shoot.
 

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wmalan said:
This is bringing tears to my eyes... :(

Isn't "refinishing" a guitar a crime against humanity???
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Nah. Les Pauls - especially newer ones without any vintage value - are probably the most modified by owner guitars on the market today. Everybody dicks with 'em. Whether it's pups, tone caps, pots, wiring schemes, neck profiles, finish... name it. There just seems to be this tremendous urge to make 'em "better" somehow. I admit I modified one of mine. '81 Custom in black that I stripped the top finish off and changed a bunch of stuff to recreate Mick Ronson's axe. I like it. It's pretty unique. This could go either way but if well done should be just fine.
 
The maple looks like a nice centered 2 piece. I was afraid it may end up like George Harrison's red Les Paul. The top coat peels right off, this doesn't seem good, except for me now. The gold coat is very stubborn, I wonder if it is even nitro.
 

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arthursilvia said:
Lacquer thinner didn't touch it. I think it may be poly of some kind. The fact that the top coat didn't stick well is another clue.
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No it won't. The flake and the precat carrier will inhibit it. They stop the build from disturbing the flake in the gold. I thought you'd done this before?
 
muttley600 said:
No it won't. The flake and the precat carrier will inhibit it. They stop the build from disturbing the flake in the gold. I thought you'd done this before?
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When I questioned if the gold coat was nitro or not you said it was. It was obviously not. The gold flakes are Crescent Bronze's #256.
 
arthursilvia said:
When I questioned if the gold coat was nitro or not you said it was. It was obviously not. The gold flakes are Crescent Bronze's #256.
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The finish is nitro, or a what Gibson now use which is a nitro precat with stacks of plasticizers in there. The flake is not the problem. It is the carrier for the flake and the plasticizers they now put in their high build lacquers. You said you'd done this before?
 
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muttley600 said:
The finish is nitro, or a what Gibson now use which is a nitro precat with stacks of plasticizers in there. The flake is not the problem. It is the carrier for the flake and the plasticizers they now put in their high build lacquers. You said done this before?
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If it was nitro the lacquer thinner would have melted it, that is why I suspect it is poly based. I am waiting for a response from Gibson, I have been corresponding with their repair shop.
 
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