Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

M

millsart

New member
So heres sort of a crazy idea I've been throwing around....

I really would love a goldtop SG, which for one thing I've never seen made, and two, even if it was made, it probably wouldnt have P90's

So I'm thinking of maybe picking up a cheap Epi G400 in black, and respraying it as a goldtop.

Then, swapping out the smaller batwing pickguard for the larger style to cover up the holes and route it for a set of P90's, probably use my MIke Ness custom shop ones. Or totally fill in the old pup routings with scrapwood glued in and wood filler on the seems and reroute it for the p90's and get an ivory batwing style pickguard.

Then inlay a Clay Smith Cams "Mr Horsepower" decal and "Orange County" on it and bury that in the clearcoat.

The goldtop LP with p90's is such as classic look I'd just love to be able to translate that to the SG style body.

What do you all think ? Dumb idea ? Wouldnt really cost more than $300-$400 and some of my time.

Only downside would be the ugly Epiphone headstock thats just not the proper Gibson shape

Other options would be a cheaper Gibson or knockoff such as a Tokai, but then you've got just dot inlays and I dont know if that would look right either as the trapazoids are such an intergral part of the LP look.....


Obviously theres the P90 faded SG's that would make things much simplier but I just really dont want to go and respray a $900 guitar.
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

Diocletian said:
I don't think that's gonna look nice.
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LOL, I guess the question is do you think it looks nice as a LP though ?

Basically exactly like this, with same goldtop finish, same art, same pickups, same pickguard color and pup covers. Only difference being a SG body style

I've basically got that exact same guitar in my LP, but I really don't need to LP's and want to sell it. But I love the P90 sound and don't want to lose that, so thusly I'd like to get it in a SG shape so that way I've got more guitar variety.
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

I don't personally like the look of P-90's, but you could use Phat Cats I suppose.
The main thing for me is that the Goldtop Les Paul has binding, and is basically flat, whereas the SG is not.
I do like Goldtop Les Pauls, but I can't see this working very well. It's a good idea though, and if you like it, then you should certainly go for it. Even if you got an Epi G310 - cheaper, decent guitar (I had one and it sounded and played amazing with Duncans in it), and it has the big full size scratchplate you need, although you'd have to modify it a bit.
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

I like the idea, but whilst you're at it, why not cut off the excess wood off the head stock and re-shape it to look a little more authentic?
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

A few things if I were going to do this...

1) I personally wouldn't make it a gold top, but rather spray the whole thing in gold. I'm not sure an SG's lines lend to it having a separate top and back finish.

2) I also wouldn't want to put a crap load of work into a $400 guitar. Meaning, I would not do all this to an epi.

3) I don't think a gold SG would look good with P90s and a pickguard in the LP gold top style as cream P90's, I'm thinking, wouldn't look right with black guard on a gold guitar and a cream guard would just be too much. So, you could go black pups and guard (and stray away from the traditional LP goldtop look), or no guard. But, I have no idea what the routing on an SG looks like, so you might not be able to go guardless.

If I were to do this? I'd look for one of those SG classics with the P90s used, and do the treatment to that guitar (filling in the routes, repainting, the whole she-bang, possibly even have inlays put on the fretboard), but that is probably gonna cost more than you want to spend...
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

I think you're on the right track with an Epi G-400; it's a modest investment and you get Grovers, trapezoid inlays, and won't ruin the value of a Gibson. You can get a good price on a used G-400, so there's no point in settling for a bolt-on model.

You're thinking all gold, as 3'scompany said, you may struggle to get the front/back paint lines right on an SG body (although a dark back & neck would look cool). How good are your painting skills?

If you use a Gibson batwing pickguard, instead of the early '60's angelwing, there will be a screw hole or two showing, and may have to shape the pickguard around the neck to make the PU holes fit. A gold SG with a black batwing & black P-90's...that would be pretty sharp. No one else would have one of those.

P-90's are a great idea. I don't know why Epi doesn't make an SG with them, or Gibson seems reluctant to do so.

BTW, Epi has a limited-edition gold G-400, with HB's & an angel wing. I've seen a few for sale on eBay.
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

I'd go for the entire body being in gold-top gold. There's no good place to start/stop finish on an SG, IMO. Every one I've ever seen was masked at the bevel, and it didn't look all that sharp.

The batwing guard would be simpler, but might be a bit much. I prefer the smaller guard on the SGs, but recognize that would require filling routs. In either case, I think a creme guard would look better than a black guard.
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

I think that would be pretty cool, as long as you had a creme pickguard and cream P-90's, no reason why it shouldn't look good.
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

Why not pick up a second hand Gibson faded SG or something? Sand it a little, spray it with primer and then gold coat it.
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

Good point with the all gold idea guys, I was thinking it would be pretty easy to mask off, but your all right, with the bevels there just wouldnt be enough black to make it look very good. Plus its less work. I'll just mask off the neck and keep that black (necks are a pain to paint after all)

Black pup covers wouldnt look half bad, I'll have to try to mock it up in photoshop and have a look.

Cream pups and pickguards seem like such a classic look with a gold finish though. I guess at least with p90's its nice because you can easily swap covers
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

scottish said:
Why not pick up a second hand Gibson faded SG or something? Sand it a little, spray it with primer and then gold coat it.
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I dont think the fadeds have the inlays do they ? I know the jr's just have the dots.

I'd certainly prefer the Gibson headstock shape as Im not a fan of the tapered Epi style, but a LP or SG without the trapazoid inlays just wouldnt look right to me, so I suppose its a no win situation lol
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

Hmm, well I'll be darned, Epi did make a goldtop SG before (wonder if they are impossible to find ? I know ive never seen one)

Would of been a much cooler guitar with P90's IMHO (Actually I think P90's sound way better in a SG than buckers for some reason)

The pickup rings look rather ugly though dont' they ? Black pups with the cream guard might work pretty well.....

I guess even if I found one it wouldn't help me out as I'd have to refinish it after filling the bucker holes and reroute for the P90's, so no real advantage to factory goldtop finish I guess.....

Plus who knows what it would go for on Ebay, $600+ probably lol
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

ratherdashing said:
I'd say forget the stickers, and also just spray the whole thing gold. Other than that it's a really cool idea.

Also, I'd probably use an Agile Valkyrie as the base instead of an Epi, but either one would be pretty cool.

http://www.rondomusic.com/valkhcslim.html
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That Valkyrie is just an odd shape, bit like a Viper rather than a proper SG

I guess maybe Gibson files lawsuits over the body shape and thats why everyone else has to make them sort of "melted" looking ?
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

One of my front line guitars for a long time (I still use it from time to time) was a 1975 SG Standard that had been abused beyond belief. I bought it for $150 and rebuilt/refinished it. Keep your eyes open for a road worn real SG, and refinish it. It's possible to put P-90s in a guitar that had humbuckers in it, but you'll have to probably dowel the corners of the pup holes so you have something for the screws to seat in.
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

All gold, no OC sticker, Clay Smith is kool...hehe. The gold top is a tough color, it's actually bronze powder in clear. I think you could route for P90s and use a batwing guard on the stock Epi...
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

May I suggest taking the Gold just to the edge of the top Bevel and leave the sides and and neck Black. Black P90 covers and a Black guard with Black powdercoating to the hardware would be real tasty. Even with an Epi headstock.

The idea of a used SG Faded is a good one too. You might get lucky. While a lil more money Gibbers '67 reissue with P90s in 2007 was a nice guitar in the Guitar of the week thing.

Another all out version would be to all Gold it and put a Pearloid guard and Pearloid P90 covers on it with Chrome Tele style knobs and Chrome hardware.
 
Re: Make my own goldtop SG w/ P90's ???

Hahaha you said that is never been done but you have a pic of a real one??
 
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