NGD - Gary Moore Les Paul Standard Signature

Jeff_H

Jeff_H

Dean Hardtail Fanologist
So, it arrived at about 3:30 this afternoon. I had to let it sit in the case for a while since it was 42 degrees at my house and I didn't want the nitro to crack. Upon opening the case the guitar is even better looking than in the pics. The flame has a 3D quality that just doesn't show up in pictures. In addition to it being pretty, it is in great shape. Not a mark on the top, sides, neck or headstock. There is a small area of worming on the back that the seller described as a few small scratches on the back that are really hard to find. Fortunately, they are just lightly in the lacquer and will buff out if I choose to do it. It really doesn't bother me.

So, here are the specs for the guitar:

Les Paul Standard - full size body of 2 1/32" vs. the Studio at 1 13/16"
One Piece Mahogany Back and Quartersawn One Piece Mahogany Neck
50's Neck Profile
Lemonburst Nitro Finish
Burstbucker Pro Pickups
Granadillo Fingerboard
Tone Pros Kluson Tuners, Locking Nickel Bridge and Tailpiece (it's pretty shiny and looks chrome to me. We'll see)
Orange Drop Caps and CTS Pots
No Body or Neck Binding

I haven't been able to plug it into the Marshall yet, but I did plug it into my Boss GT-6 with headphones. This gave me a good feel for how the guitar plays and feels, but not the actual tone of the guitar. I can get that tomorrow. The important thing is that I love the way it plays and feels so far. I need more time with it, but so far it's great. The neck is a true 50's profile, which I'm not used to, but this neck carve fits my hand well and doesn't seem to hinder my playing..... so that's a big bonus. I can't say the same about the neck on my blue USA Dean Hardtail, which has a neck that feels like a 50's neck. That one doesn't fit my hand at all.

I obviously need more time with it to really get to know it, but we're on the right track. It has a nice resonant tone unplugged and it needs new strings. Some pure nickel strings should only make it sound better. I'm still in the honeymoon phase, but I already feel like it will be a great player and a hard guitar to put down. Tomorrow it gets stripped down, cleaned and polished and new strings. I'm putting on all matching amber top hat knobs and I'll order locking Kluson tuners. I'm also going to put the pickguard on.... but not right now.

Here are a few indoor pics of it hanging on the wall with my other nice guitars.



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Re: NGD - Gary Moore Les Paul Standard Signature

Looks great and more importantly it sounds like you’re a happy bunny, congrats on that beauty!
 
Re: NGD - Gary Moore Les Paul Standard Signature

Killer

Oh man the Greeny mismatched knobs is part of the charm!

And I'm begging please don't drill into that top to put a pickguard on it......
 
Re: NGD - Gary Moore Les Paul Standard Signature

That's awesome how they put his neck pickup backwards like Gary had.
 
Re: NGD - Gary Moore Les Paul Standard Signature

Wattage said:
Killer

Oh man the Greeny mismatched knobs is part of the charm!

And I'm begging please don't drill into that top to put a pickguard on it......
Click to expand...

I'm starting to agree actually Scott. I don't love the color of the new knobs and I do want to keep it true to what it is. I'm waiting on the pickguard because I'm not sure I can drill into the top. Some of the 2015 LP's came with a pickguard that attached via the pickup mounting rings.... no drilling. It's not a part that Gibson sells, but they do come up for sale from time to time. I'm going to research and not be in a hurry, but I just love a pickguard on a LP. I have to fight that.

I'll still likely drop my SD custom shop Greenie set in this. The neck pickup is reversed in this set, but it's not out of phase..... so it's jut for looks.

Thanks to everyone for reading my thread, as I know there are a ton of NGD threads. I don't have any buddies down here who are into guitars at all, so all of you are my friends and family to share things with.

Jeff
 
Re: NGD - Gary Moore Les Paul Standard Signature

whew there is still a fighting chance! hehe

Burstbucker Pros are OK but if you have the Greeny set that is a must!
 
Re: NGD - Gary Moore Les Paul Standard Signature

I forgot to mention this is the first guitar I've had that has been plek'd. The finish and feel of the frets is outstanding.... very smooth. Also, the fret ends are very smooth and you don't even feel them when playing. The fingerboard edges are also already slightly rolled, which makes the neck feel even better.
 
Re: NGD - Gary Moore Les Paul Standard Signature

Small revision. Wattage was right, I'm going back to the mismatched knobs on this one. If it was a regular LP, the all amber look would be better. Even though it's a Gary Moore Standard, my initial aim was not to recreate his guitar in every detail. I bought it because I fell in love with the top and the grain of the back, combined with the unbound fretboard. However, the more I think about it the more I like keeping it true to what it is, especially if I end up putting the CS Greenie Set in it..

One thing I would like to change is the chrome hardware. Not sure why they chose chrome over nickel, but I like nickel better. However, it already has a locking Tonepro's Nashville bridge and Tailpiece so is it worth that expense just to have nickel? It's about $100 to replace both. If I did it, I would replace the Nashville with their ABR conversion as well. Alternatively, I would like to have the Callaham bridge/tailpiece, but it's double the cost of the Tonepros stuff, but worth it IMO. That kind of upgrade may have to wait until I'm working again.

Oh, and I'm still damn tempted to put a pickguard on this..... but I do hate to drill into the top. But for me LP's really need a pickguard.
 
Re: NGD - Gary Moore Les Paul Standard Signature

Jeff_H said:
Small revision. Wattage was right, I'm going back to the mismatched knobs on this one. If it was a regular LP, the all amber look would be better. Even though it's a Gary Moore Standard, my initial aim was not to recreate his guitar in every detail. I bought it because I fell in love with the top and the grain of the back, combined with the unbound fretboard. However, the more I think about it the more I like keeping it true to what it is, especially if I end up putting the CS Greenie Set in it..

One thing I would like to change is the chrome hardware. Not sure why they chose chrome over nickel, but I like nickel better. However, it already has a locking Tonepro's Nashville bridge and Tailpiece so is it worth that expense just to have nickel? It's about $100 to replace both. If I did it, I would replace the Nashville with their ABR conversion as well. Alternatively, I would like to have the Callaham bridge/tailpiece, but it's double the cost of the Tonepros stuff, but worth it IMO. That kind of upgrade may have to wait until I'm working again.

Oh, and I'm still damn tempted to put a pickguard on this..... but I do hate to drill into the top. But for me LP's really need a pickguard.
Click to expand...

When I got my LP, there was no guard installed. I was going to have my local shop do it when I brought her in for a setup.
The tech said.....”I can put the guard on but remember, once I drill a hole into that guitar there’s no taking it back.”
So, needless to say.....there’s no guard on my LP.
IMO, I like them better without the guard. At least with a flame top like that!! You don’t want to cover that up.
 
Re: NGD - Gary Moore Les Paul Standard Signature

Gtrjunior said:
When I got my LP, there was no guard installed. I was going to have my local shop do it when I brought her in for a setup.
The tech said.....”I can put the guard on but remember, once I drill a hole into that guitar there’s no taking it back.”
So, needless to say.....there’s no guard on my LP.
IMO, I like them better without the guard. At least with a flame top like that!! You don’t want to cover that up.
Click to expand...

I have come to agree that drilling into this top would be a very difficult thing to do. That feeling may change on down the line, but for now I am moving forward without drilling it for a pickguard. Maybe I just need to buy another LP to put a pickguard on? That sounds reasonable to me.....

Red_Label said:
Awesome! I have always wanted a GM LP. Very cool!!!
Click to expand...

Thank you. You've given me a great idea to complete my overhaul of this beauty.

muttznmongrelz said:
Simply beautiful! Congrats.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much. I've been looking for a LP for a while now. If you'd told me I'd buy a GM LP with no neck or body binding at the start of my search, I'd have told you no way in hell. However, I fell in love with the wood on this guitar. When it got here, I absolutely fell in love with the feel of the neck without those nubs. The fret ends are so smooth and so un-LP like. Amazing.

BlueSnMettle said:
Any updates, Jeff?
Click to expand...

Actually, yes there are my friend. Red_Label gave me a great idea for adding a pickguard to my LP without drilling. You can see his post on adding a pickguard to his LP for details, so I'm really excited to try it. Also, I broke down and ordered the Callaham replacement ABR-1 and tailpiece. I'm excited to get them installed. I'll have to send the guitar out to have the saddles notched properly, but it shouldn't take too long.

So, locking Kluson tuners, Callaham replacement bridge and tail, a no drill pickguard and lastly a set of Custom Shop Greenies should complete my upgrades to this one. Oh, and back to the mismatched knobs too.

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments and advice on making this guitar into something special.
 
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