Metropoulos Forum

I've had a 59 Les Paul burst replica in the building stage for years and it's finally nearing completion. I sourced some 80 year old mahogany wood from Larry Wysocki for the body, and the top is an eastern flame maple. It's got the repro Historic Makeover inlays, Brazilian Rosewood fretboard. It's built with the long neck tenon, and hide glue was used to put it together.

I decided to go with an "unburst" lemon finish so it will just have hints of red/brown around the edges of the top (that's the next painting step this weekend).

The electronics in the guitar are two Gibson PAF pickups (real ones), .015/.033 Sprague Bumble Bees, with 500k CTS pots (old spec w/brass shaft, etc) and wired to 50's wiring specs. Finishing out the guitar will be a bone nut, no wire ABR-1 bridge, a lightweight aluminum stop bar tailpiece with the longer bushings and steel studs for the stop bar, as well as patent pending Grover machine heads from the 50's. The neck profile was duplicated from my 1959 Les Paul Junior.

Been a long time coming (and paying for this beast!), but I should have it in my hands early next month after the nitro cellulose lacquer has finished drying/curing. Some Iphone pics...I'll post more when it's about to be assembled/wired, and after it's done. I am not divulging who the builder is, so please don't ask.

January 2013
http://www.scumbackspeakers.com/jimspics/replica-1.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

July 2013
http://www.scumbackspeakers.com/jimspics/replica-2.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.scumbackspeakers.com/jimspics/replica-3.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks beautiful, Jim. You don't need to divulge the builder, I would recognize those feet anywhere....

rgorke wrote:Looks beautiful, Jim. You don't need to divulge the builder, I would recognize those feet anywhere....

LOL, me and my size 13 feet...they do stand out, don't they? LOL

Giggidy.

Jim, do you have a contact for Larry? That top maple looks really great. Very difficult to find.

vanhalen5150 wrote:Jim, do you have a contact for Larry? That top maple looks really great. Very difficult to find.

The top didn't come from Larry, just the old mahogany. The top came from back East somewhere.

Larry informed me that he's no longer offering up this wood, as it's now very rare, and extremely expensive (figures, right?). He's inclined to just keep it for himself and the custom guitars he's now doing.

So I'm of absolutely no use to you, sir. Then again, this wood was procured 7 years ago, so things change, and I guess getting it did, too. Sorry!

Jim

No problem. I have a pretty good supply of extremely old mahogany from some of the old shipyards here in Nova Scotia. Some is thought to be over 100 years old. Maybe even late 1800's.

Its just getting tought to find a good matched maple top with good fiqure. It also cost an arm and a leg. I tell people what a 5A matched top cost just for the wood and they convulse...

One like yours would easily run $200-$240 for just those 2 raw pieces.

Looks killer BTW!

You are correct. That top was $200 plus 7 years ago. Probably closer to $250-300 now.

Hey, you don't have to have your top look awesome...but WTF, right?

Very very nice looking build there Jim. I just bought an Orville from Japan that has a bad ass Flame Top. But, it appears to be a Foto Top or laminate Flame Top.

Scumback Speakers wrote:I've had a 59 Les Paul burst replica in the building stage for years and it's finally nearing completion. I sourced some 80 year old mahogany wood from Larry Wysocki for the body, and the top is an eastern flame maple. It's got the repro Historic Makeover inlays, Brazilian Rosewood fretboard. It's built with the long neck tenon, and hide glue was used to put it together.

I decided to go with an "unburst" lemon finish so it will just have hints of red/brown around the edges of the top (that's the next painting step this weekend).

The electronics in the guitar are two Gibson PAF pickups (real ones), .015/.033 Sprague Bumble Bees, with 500k CTS pots (old spec w/brass shaft, etc) and wired to 50's wiring specs. Finishing out the guitar will be a bone nut, no wire ABR-1 bridge, a lightweight aluminum stop bar tailpiece with the longer bushings and steel studs for the stop bar, as well as patent pending Grover machine heads from the 50's. The neck profile was duplicated from my 1959 Les Paul Junior.

Been a long time coming (and paying for this beast!), but I should have it in my hands early next month after the nitro cellulose lacquer has finished drying/curing. Some Iphone pics...I'll post more when it's about to be assembled/wired, and after it's done. I am not divulging who the builder is, so please don't ask.

January 2013
http://www.scumbackspeakers.com/jimspics/replica-1.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

July 2013
http://www.scumbackspeakers.com/jimspics/replica-2.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.scumbackspeakers.com/jimspics/replica-3.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Jim, just don't try to leave the country with your guitar without the proper documentation or it'll become part of the mass pile of "confiscated" woods that the govt. now owns (including Gibson woods).

Hell, it's still not done. Weather here has seriously delayed completion, so I won't be worrying about taking it overseas any time soon.

Scumback Speakers wrote:Hell, it's still not done. Weather here has seriously delayed completion, so I won't be worrying about taking it overseas any time soon.

I was kidding you, even though the CITES issue is just another step towards Nazism.

Lefty Lou wrote:I was kidding you, even though the CITES issue is just another step towards Nazism.

Yeah, I hear you. Nothing like too much government intervention.

Lefty Lou wrote:

Scumback Speakers wrote:Hell, it's still not done. Weather here has seriously delayed completion, so I won't be worrying about taking it overseas any time soon.

I was kidding you, even though the CITES issue is just another step towards Nazism.

rgorke wrote:

Lefty Lou wrote:

Scumback Speakers wrote:Hell, it's still not done. Weather here has seriously delayed completion, so I won't be worrying about taking it overseas any time soon.

I was kidding you, even though the CITES issue is just another step towards Nazism.

Precisely!