Poor Man's Copy of Bonamassa' "Skinner Burst"

[olwanger]

Hi Everyone;
It was brought to my attention that I have been a member here for 4 years with no posts and for which I apologize!I do a lot of reading and browsing but don't post a lot.Anyways,I thought I would share with you a project guitar of mine I have been working on.As it also has S.D. pickups in it I guess that makes it relevant to this forum.
As a big Bonamassa fan but also a person of limited fundage(lol)I went about making my poor man's copy of Joe' beloved "Skinner Burst"-a real '59 sort of honey burst.
It started life as a 2006 Epiphone LQ LP.The LQ series were made by Epiphone at the Fujigen plant(where the Elite/Elitist series were made) under Gibson license and meant solely for the Japanese market as unlike most of the Elite/Elitist' they had the regular Gibson open book/mustache head stocks.
They only made them for a couple of years so they're fairly rare.I got mine in trade for a Tak Matsumoto Elitist I had.
As with the Elites and Elitist' they have real mop fret inlays,long neck tenons(like the Historic'),bone nuts,etc.But unlike the others they featured full nitro finishes thinly applied and solid tops-no laminates-and usually have more 50's like profile necks.
Mine is honey burst and because of the nitro the finish is beginning to age nicely-especially the binding.
Here are the mod's/upgrades I have made so far:
-aged Kluson tuners
-.015 & .022 Vitamin Q pio tone capacitors
-S.D.Joe Bonamassa Signature pickups
-Amber switch tip
-Faber Hybridge aged(brass saddles and Titanium saddles)and steel studs
-Faber '59 aluminum tailpiece with locking studs-also aged
Planned upgrades(soon):
-RS Guitarworks Premium Vintage kit
-Switchcraft switch and jack
-Aged amber switch tip
-Fake58 replica tuners(like Joe's)
And here she is-I call her Norma Jeane.
I only have four guitars-counting one I have for sale-but when the upgrades are all done I doubt I'll be buying anything else for a long time to come-can't afford it and I seriously doubt I could ever get back the money I put into it if I were to try and sell it, and even if I did I also seriously doubt I could find as good playing and sounding guitar for the money= she's a keeper.
Cheers all!

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Poor Man's Copy of Bonamassa' "Skinner Burst"

Nice! Norma Jeane's a beaut!

How ya likin' those JB sig pups?

 

[Wattage]

Re: Poor Man's Copy of Bonamassa' "Skinner Burst"

Sweet, good first post!

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Poor Man's Copy of Bonamassa' "Skinner Burst"

Those are outstanding guitars. In terms of fit and finish, they're notably better than most of what Gibson is turning out now IMO. I have one of the Les Paul SGs, made in 2001 at Fujigen. As you noted, the headstock was changed (and also the electronics) for the U.S. market, and that was the Elitist line (very briefly called the "Elite" line). Aside from the headstock shape and electronics (better on the Elitists), the construction was absolutely identical. I know that because I had the Elitist version of the same guitar. It got stolen, and I replaced it with the MIJ Epi.

They were also near identical to the poly-finished Orvilles.

My only complaint about the SG is that is has a stop tailpiece, which is terribly wrong for a Les Paul SG. I'd prefer a sideways vibrato, and I'd easily settle for a Vibrola. But with those holes there, it'd take a refinish to do it up right.

I know some Orvilles were made with lacquer finishes, but I didn't know the Epis ever got made that way. Mine definitely has a poly finish. After my electronics swaps, a nitro finish is the only thing that a Gibson can claim over this guitar (and I really mean that). As I said, exactly like an Elitist except for a few details. A perfect, thin poly finish, which has a slight yellow tint that can be seen on the edges of the binding.

I've thought about selling mine, but the fact of the matter is that nobody knows how good they are, so there is no market. I may as well just hang on to it.

Your guitar is a real beaut. Here is mine next to my '68 and a '12 Special that I sold:

 

[olwanger]

Re: Poor Man's Copy of Bonamassa' "Skinner Burst"

Nice! Norma Jeane's a beaut!

How ya likin' those JB sig pups?

I love them.I had high expectations from the git-go and after laying out near four bills for them I admit to being very anxious as to whether they would live up to their hype and my expectations.But when I plugged into my Blackstar Mini Stack I was very impressed.They are not wound particularly hot- mine at 7.62 & 8.07-square dab in traditional Paf range-but you at first swear they must have been wound much hotter the way they hit and react with your amp.Very clear,clean and articulate while warm,very well balanced and focused at the same time.They have just the right amount of ooomph to push your amp a bit and so articulate they force me to be more mindful and precise in my playing.
Kick in just a bit of OD,maybe a tad of delay just enough to get that slapback effect then dial back the tone controls a bit to around 6 and you get that warm brown Bonamassa tone.
When I finish my mod's and upgrades I feel I'll have a guitar that looks and sounds very close to the real deal-not perfect as only a good '59 could do that-but close enough for me to bring a big smile to my face.Already family members are commenting on how much better I'm sounding and playing.Tried to tell them but to them it all sounds like tech mumbo jumbo and they can't relate it.Oh well,I tried(lol)!

 

[olwanger]

Re: Poor Man's Copy of Bonamassa' "Skinner Burst"

Those are outstanding guitars. In terms of fit and finish, they're notably better than most of what Gibson is turning out now IMO. I have one of the Les Paul SGs, made in 2001 at Fujigen. As you noted, the headstock was changed (and also the electronics) for the U.S. market, and that was the Elitist line (very briefly called the "Elite" line). Aside from the headstock shape and electronics (better on the Elitists), the construction was absolutely identical. I know that because I had the Elitist version of the same guitar. It got stolen, and I replaced it with the MIJ Epi.

They were also near identical to the poly-finished Orvilles.

My only complaint about the SG is that is has a stop tailpiece, which is terribly wrong for a Les Paul SG. I'd prefer a sideways vibrato, and I'd easily settle for a Vibrola. But with those holes there, it'd take a refinish to do it up right.

I know some Orvilles were made with lacquer finishes, but I didn't know the Epis ever got made that way. Mine definitely has a poly finish. After my electronics swaps, a nitro finish is the only thing that a Gibson can claim over this guitar (and I really mean that). As I said, exactly like an Elitist except for a few details. A perfect, thin poly finish, which has a slight yellow tint that can be seen on the edges of the binding.

I've thought about selling mine, but the fact of the matter is that nobody knows how good they are, so there is no market. I may as well just hang on to it.

Your guitar is a real beaut. Here is mine next to my '68 and a '12 Special that I sold:

You have some nice guitars going on there!
Yeah,Fujigen had it going on for sure.There weren't many put out with nitro finishes I know-as you said usually poly.It didn't really matter much as the build quality was so good-too good for Gibson the story goes which led to their premature demise.
The LQ stands for lacquer(nitro)and to my knowledge the only Fujigen made guitars made back then in nitro was the LQ models(only made for 2 or 3 years I think),and SOME of the Orville by Gibson(ObG)models.That made Gibson exec' I've heard too nervous.I've only seen four LQ's in my life including mine and of them only two for sale including mine.The only thing many Historic' would have over mine I feel is nibs(fret edge binding)and many of the older Historics have now had refrets and so they no longer have that either.Sure there are Historics out there for $4-16,000 that would have prettier monster flame tops but even when all my mod's are done I'll have maybe $2K in the guitar.
Btw,I have also owned in the past three Elititist' and every one of them were good enough sound and playability wise to go toe to toe with most Gibson's and probably best many of them.I wish now I had been able to hold onto every one of 'em.
I have a very knowledgeable friend who lived in Tokyo for several years.During that time he amassed a sinfully large collection of primo mij guitars and became an authority on them.He once sent me a Burny just to help alleviate some of my GAS.At the time I was going through a rough period and couldn't afford much(ha-I still can't).Anyways,he got it in his head he wanted to own a Historic but he went and tried quite a few before he found one good enough as he was so spoiled by the quality of the Japanese guitars.I have another friend went through the same before he bought his R8-he tried out like 8 or 9 of them as there was so much quality variance among all the R8's he tried.
Anyways,I've rambled on too long here but it's great making new friends with like minded thoughts and interests.
Cheers!

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Poor Man's Copy of Bonamassa' "Skinner Burst"

I love them.I had high expectations from the git-go and after laying out near four bills for them I admit to being very anxious as to whether they would live up to their hype and my expectations.But when I plugged into my Blackstar Mini Stack I was very impressed.They are not wound particularly hot- mine at 7.62 & 8.07-square dab in traditional Paf range-but you at first swear they must have been wound much hotter the way they hit and react with your amp.Very clear,clean and articulate while warm,very well balanced and focused at the same time.They have just the right amount of ooomph to push your amp a bit and so articulate they force me to be more mindful and precise in my playing.
Kick in just a bit of OD,maybe a tad of delay just enough to get that slapback effect then dial back the tone controls a bit to around 6 and you get that warm brown Bonamassa tone.
When I finish my mod's and upgrades I feel I'll have a guitar that looks and sounds very close to the real deal-not perfect as only a good '59 could do that-but close enough for me to bring a big smile to my face.Already family members are commenting on how much better I'm sounding and playing.Tried to tell them but to them it all sounds like tech mumbo jumbo and they can't relate it.Oh well,I tried(lol)!

Wow, sounds fantastic man.