Gold Top Les Paul start to finish

[Patrick from Davis]

Awwwwwwe yeah
Patrick

 

[dmraco]

Tonar...it looks good.  Be sure to post a close up when some clear is on.

Was that the re-ranch aerosol?

 

[Cagey]

It's pretty already, and it ain't even done! Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

The plan is to do the mahogany natural and I will be using ReRanch "Les Paul Original Gold Top Gold" for the top.  I would question the validity of calling it that but it is what is going to be used since I will not spray metallic powder through my rig.

Here are the finish details.
Patrick

 

[dmraco]

The plan is to do the mahogany natural and I will be using ReRanch "Les Paul Original Gold Top Gold" for the top.  I would question the validity of calling it that but it is what is going to be used since I will not spray metallic powder through my rig.

Here are the finish details.
Patrick

Yep.  Aerosol.  Not bad stuff.  I have used some of there Fender colors before.  I always like to keep a rag with a little lacquer thinner on it to keep wiping the spray tip on the can.  They get a nasty build up and can throw a hunk so paint on to the finish.

 

[Day-mun]

Not to get the cart before the horse, but whatcha gonna be putting in there for pick-ups, Patrick? When I think gold-top, I think P-90's, but those look like HB routes... P-rails or Phat-Cats, perhaps?  (nudge-nudge) :laughing7:

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Ken at Roadhouse made me some customs.  Going for the PAF vibe.  I got them without covers on them.  I have loved the chaotic off kilter surf pop of the Pixies, and this is my pseudo Joey Santiago guitar, but how I wanted it done.  So no covers on the pickups.  Tonar has a guitar with real PAF's so it was a real thrill to hear them, I now sort of have a reference tone in my head.
Patrick

 

[Tonar8352]

Here are some more progress shots. The first is it hanging with just the color coat, next is with a coat of clear and last with the binding scraped. Notice how deep the top dish is on this guitar, that is very nice!!!!!!!

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Sigh.  This certainly makes the rest of the afternoon at work pleasant.
Patrick

 

[bagman67]

 

[dmraco]

That sure is nice.  Color looks good.  Gibson has so much variation on gold top color that no one should question its shade.

I must admit that scraping binding gives me the chills.  I am totally intimidated by it.  When I visited the Martin guitar factory a few years ago I was amazed how fast the workers did it.  A woman was scraping an entire acoustic, both sides in about 30 seconds.

Tonar I must admit it gives me some pleasure to see you have a bit or orange peel that you must deal with.  Your finishes turn out so nice I just thought you "scared" the lacquer into laying flat.  Nice work!!

 

[Cagey]

Scraping isn't as tough as you might imagine. You have to be a bit careful, but you can help yourself a little bit. When I did the L5S in my sig, I made this little widget...

...which let me set a depth of cut so it would harder to slip and slice too far into the surface or something.


This is a setup shot; that's not how you'd hold the thing or the direction of cut it appears to be. I just wanted to show how the thing would work in practice. You can see where there's some scraped binding and some still left with paint overhang...

Doing it that way, I pulled it off successfully on my first binding job. Folks like Tonar and those at the Martin factory you visited probably do it freehand with a single-edge razor blade while gossiping with their neighbors. One of those "practice makes perfect" things where people learn to do complex things second nature.

 

[dmraco]

I like you contraption Cagey.  Seems logical but I could see me screwing something up.  You are correct about Martin. Single blade free hand.  She made it look so easy.  They barely looked.  All by feel. 

 

[Nando Vallart]

Da man killing on his job again!

 

[Tonar8352]

I pulled tape today so we have a two week wait and then I can wet sand and rub it out. I'm very happy with the way this baby has turned out. I love the look of this piece of mahogany with the gold top, I hope it sounds as good as it looks!

 

[Cagey]

Gorgeous!

 

[bbl4ck]

That is truly a looker :glasses9:
I can't wait to see her rubbed out!
:kewlpics: :rock-on:

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Looks great, can't wait.  This weekend is starting very well.
Patrick

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

Simply beautiful!

 

[Tonar8352]

This guitar tuned out very nice. The gold top looks exceptional and the mahogany is beautiful. I may be seeing Patrick at my front door very soon.

Thank you all for tuning into this thread and the kind words, this was a fun guitar to do.

One comment for you that plan on using ReRanch metallic finishes. I get the best results by shooting the color coat so it buries the wood after it is sealed and level sanded with clear, then I shoot two coats of clear and level sand it one last time at which point I do another light color coat and then three final coats of clear. I get good color coverage and there is no mottling in the color. It looks very good!