Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

[Darg1911]

Over the past couple of days, my lowly 70's Tribute got a makeover. Inside and out. I had already pulled the PCB a week or two ago and installed pots and rewired the switch. But, I cant leave well enough alone. I had a set of double creams in the parts bin that I wanted to install but I needed cream rings, jack plate, switch ring and new knobs. They came in a few days ago so I opened it up again and installed the pickups and trim. Still unable to leave well enough alone, I decided to swap the volume pots for some vintage tapers. But, I also got a bug up my arse to shield this guitar. It (shielding paint) worked wonders on a Godin dual bucker guitar that buzzed like mad so I figured, why not. On Friday afternoon I tore it open again and I finished up yesterday. Took parts of 2 days because I decided to shield it with copper foil tape. Hadn't used it before and it was not a whole lot of fun. I have a few wounds to show for it but it worked like a charm. At least 80% of the hum/buzz is gone without touching the strings or bridge. Is/was it worth it for a Tribute LP? Why not. It might not be much of a looker but it's a real good player.

Original stock pickups were Dirty Fingers and trim was black. She's plain Jane but I think the cream looks much nicer than the black :



I applied the copper foil in the switch, pickup and control cavities and the undersides of the covers. I usually use the paint, this is the first time I've used the copper tape. I think it came out OK all things considered.

Photo of shielded control cavity with CTS/Mojo 500K vintage taper volume pots, standard 500K CTS tones, .022 paper caps:

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

Looks great,man!!!

 

[Farkus]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

I think that looks fantastic!

I have to ask you though, now that you've done it both ways, when you do another guitar will you use the tape or paint for noise reduction?

 

[VinceT]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

+1 for the cream pups and trim - looks quite lovely. Copper tape, making paper cuts seem like a distant dream.


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[blakejcan]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

What are you going to do with those dirty fingers?

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

I think that looks fantastic!

I have to ask you though, now that you've done it both ways, when you do another guitar will you use the tape or paint for noise reduction?

Thanks.

I think it would depend on the guitar. An expensive LP or something that holds value, definitely the tape. It would be a bear to get some of it out of the channels but it's removable. Otherwise, I would probably use the paint on a guitar that's tough to shield because of the wire channels. And, the tape on the easier ones. Carbon paint has worked really well for me too. Probably could use a combination. Maybe I'll try it some time.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

What are you going to do with those dirty fingers?

They don't fetch a whole lot so really not looking to sell. They're also a lot of fun. They'll probably find there way into something. I'm always tinkering.

 

[blakejcan]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

Well I'd grab them if you're interested

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

That les paul looks nice with the cream parts! Why not add a guard to keep dressing it up?

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

Well I'd grab them if you're interested

If I change my mind I'll try and remember to give you a heads up before posting/listing. Pretty sure a set just went for 79 bucks on fleabay.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

That les paul looks nice with the cream parts! Why not add a guard to keep dressing it up?

Thanks.

Not a huge fan of pickguards but I don't hate them if the guitar comes equipped. I'll admit though, I think it would look nice on this Tribute. I'll have to give it some thought.

In the meantime I'll probably obsess over the fact that it still has a black nut. And, I would probably remedy that with one of the aged Graphtech's but I think that this guitar falls in the manufacturing period in which Gibson must have gotten a good deal on glue and pretty much cemented the nuts into the slot. Then again, it's not like I've tapped it to see if it will come loose so maybe it's not welded in. It doesn't bind and stays in tune so I think I'll try and get over the OCD.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

What r teh p/ups?

Again,looks killer!

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

Thanks Rand-O.

They were wound by a small winder but I think they were one of his standard winds. Not wound custom to my spec. I think I remember who the winder was but not positive.
Not sure I would want to post it anyway considering the color
They were originally in a Dean EVO FT. I've had them for, probably, over 10 years.
They're PAF-ish. Sound pretty nice.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

Cool!

Wasn't sure if they were "them",or what.
Had an old Gotoh PAF-ish thingie way back(also Double Cream) that was an excellent neck p/up,main reason for asking.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

Saw that a seller had some Gotoh double creams on ebay maybe a year ago. Supposedly new old stock. Not dirt cheap though.

 

[daan]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

That looks great!
I used to use the copper tape on all my guitars (The Mrs used to do stained glass, so I have MILES of tape) and I think I'm still bleeding in a couple places. Now I use the paint because it seems WAY easier to apply, and I can't hear a difference between the 2. (Well, unless I didn't get the tape on everything...)

 

[daan]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

Saw that a seller had some Gotoh double creams on ebay maybe a year ago. Supposedly new old stock. Not dirt cheap though.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/G-M-59er-Al...500392?hash=item3f72a73528:g:LMYAAOSwnHZYbtG9

I have a set of these in a Hondo LP, (one of the actual set-neck ones from the 70s) they're MILES better than the stockers, and sound suprizingly close to the "36th Anniversary" set in my other Hondo... so for 1/3 the price, I kinda wish I had bought these instead.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

I thought I'd given up on cheap pickups after going through a few of the GFS offerings many years ago. I have/had several sets of pickups from small/custom winders as well as Duncans and Dimarzio's. But I bought a set of Artec "59's" a while back and they sound really good. Could be the covered version of those Guitar Madness pups for all I know. Although the Artecs have a nickel base plate. Also an impulse buy on a set of gold covered RH factor pickups for an import Dean Cadillac. It doesn't get played much and I've had it for years but never swapped the mediocre, at best, stock pickups until I stumbled upon those gold covered pups. Those sound really good. Makes it worth taking out of the case a little more often and fighting the headstock heavy beast.

There is a winder who sells on ebay. I bought a set of his non-staggered, 5/2 single coils a couple years back. They are in a Godin "strat" right now. They sound great.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/jazn2/m.htm...1JYAAOSwVyRXT0Zc&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

What Caddy you got?

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Gibson Les Paul Tribute gets a makeover

It's a Korean white/gold Cadi Select.