1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

[arath060]

Just bought a Les Paul studio for $230, and decided to give it a cleaning. What was inside was kind of odd:

It's a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the neck labelled DP100. As for the bridge pickup, I am stumped on what it is, don't know if it's a Duncan or a Gibson or just some piece of junk, but at some point it DID have a cover:

The tuners on the back are Schallers except the one thats busted, its a Gibson Deluxe with a shorter key:

The bridge is a Nashville style stamped Made in Germany, again probably Schaller. The insane checking/orange peel on the neck and back is kind of leaning towards a refinish at some point during it's life. The tone pot for the neck is frozen. No movement at all even after a drenching in contact cleaner w/ lubricant.

Any suggestions, tips, etc would be appreciated.

[Wattage]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

$230? Damn long as the neck is good that's a nice score.

I'd rip everything off and out then clean the whole damn thing. Some 4/0 bronze wool (or steel wool if you can't get bronze) and a good fretboard oil clean the board and polish the frets.Take that bridge to a shop with an ultrasonic cleaner and get it cleaned up. Local jewelry shops will usually do it for you while you wait for a few bucks if they're not busy. Get a multimeter on that bridge pickup see how it compares to the neck, hotter one goes back in the bridge position.

[Diego]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

I might be crazy, but do I see rust on the upper frets? That's not good man.
You sure the neck isn't warped or something? It looks like it's been exposed to humidity.
I see the bridge and screws are kinda rusty, but that's no biggie. It's the neck that worries me a bit here.

Hope it all goes well and that you end up with the steal of the year!

[arath060]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

The neck seems straight and the frets are just REALLY grimy, some polish and cleaning the fretboard will shine them right up. Feels better than my Epiphone '56 Goldtop which is my 2nd favorite to my Gilmour Stratocaster. The silk-screened Gibson and "Les Paul Model" logo have literally been stripped/scraped off the headstock, I have some decal paper which might allow me to fix that if I can find the logo template online.

Upon closer inspection the Super Distortion is an F-Spaced model, and the lead wire was replaced at some point (by replaced I mean twisted together and dabbed with liquid electrical tape) Of course it has a break in the coil so fixing it is now out of the question in my case. The bridge pickup gave me a resistance of 2 OHMS so that's probably junk too, and the neck tone pot is completely stuck. Overall it needs a HUGE overhaul.

Thankfully I can repair most of this mess so it won't cost me more than what I paid for it.

The plan for it now is to give it a good sanding on the maple cap (for some reason this does not have the horrible clear finish on top), and strip off that garbage clear on the neck and back (might try a heat gun), sand, prime, paint with a Gold aerosol on top and keep the back natural. I'll probably buy a set of Gibson deluxe tuners since they'll bolt directly-in instead of being forced to plug, redrill, and install bushings. The wiring harness will be CTS & Switchcraft parts. I'll keep the black plastics since I'm going for something similar to Snowy White's old '57 Goldtop. An ABR-1 conversion will be needed too and can be done easily with those posts sold by Philadelphia Luthier Tools along with their ABR-1 bridge (I've used their conversion on my Epiphone and it works flawlessly). I've already cleaned up some of the plastics and begun sanding. Once everything is done, the last bit will be selecting the pickups. I'd like to do something related to PAFs since I rarely play with lots of distortion and like a more blues/classic rock sound. If anyone has some recommendations that won't burn holes through my wallet then please do so!

Looking at Stew-Mac & Philadelphia Luthier Tools for relatively everything needed to make it decent, here what I'll need:
- Pickguard for Gibson Les Paul, black / white / black $16.77

- 8 Humbucker Mounting Ring Screws, Nickel $1.84

- Wiring Kit for Gibson® Les Paul® Guitar, Standard pots and chrome toggle switch $36.14

- ColorTone Metallic Aerosol Guitar Lacquer, Antique Gold $19.89

- ABR-1 Bridge Nickel $23.99

- Nashville to ABR-1 posts $11.99

Any help or tips would be appreciated since I have never done a refinish before and I've been using single coils for a majority of my years as a guitarist. If anyone has some old/used parts in good condition I can use shoot me a PM as well.

[arath060]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

I went and cleaned up the frets:


Much of the hardware is severely pitted, the bridge and tailpiece will most likely be swapped:


The plastic parts were cleaned up to remove most of the scratches, the switchplate is really the worst of the lot:


If anyone can source a treble side Schaller tuner like the ones on the headstock that might save some struggle.

[Wattage]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

Looks like you have a very workable plan.

Not sure if they're still around but NYBCO made a gold rattle can that pretty much nails Gibson goldtop. Tape off the edges with green painter's tape and do light even coats. Make sure to start and finish the spray off the surface of the guitar and don't swing back and forth in an arc, stay parallel to the face of the guitar.

What kind of pickups are you looking to go with? Not sure what Snowy had in his.

I'd be hesitant to go after it with a heatgun on the headstock, if there is a repair hidden there you don't want to loosen up any glue. Sand lightly until it's gone would be my recommendation, no need to compound anyone else's mistake.

[arath060]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

I think snowy had the original PAFs in his. In a number of interviews I think he says it all original, so chances are I'll be looking for a PAF replica or something similar. Not sure what the best options are.

Let the sanding begin:

[arath060]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

Finishing up the satin/gloss on the back, looks great! Its a million times better than before:


The only thing that looks a bit shabby is the headstock as I didn't want to mess with it. Also the waterslides I made came out transparent so instead of a gold logo I got a shadow effect instead. Will have to buy a proper slide online.

[Wattage]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

Unless you have a dye sub printer it's pretty tough to get the waterslides you want.

Looking good so far

[arath060]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair



I took the base plate, screws, and one bobbin from the super distortion and I attached it to the bobbin from the bridge pickup. The output makes me curious as to what this will sound like.

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

Nice little project you got going on there!

8.65, either its a low output 'lets just call it PAF style' pickup, or one coil is broken

[arath060]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

I found a set of pickups:

[arath060]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

While I wait for paint, I'm keeping it together, here's some hardware installed:

[Diego]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

Bossing it!

[arath060]

Re: 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio repair

Stringed up and playing! Needs some little adjustments, but otherwise plays awesome. The Dimarzio PAFs are truly different.