Ever wished something would just go away?

[spellcaster]

Ever wished something would just go away? This is one of those guitars that I wish I'd never seen.

A friend brought me the husk of a Les Paul Junior and asked me to bring it back to life for his son. Just a neck and body...no pickup, no electronics, no hardware. A dogeared P90 hole had been crudely hacked into it, the bridge and tailpiece studs were gone and filled with drywall mud, and the body was partly stripped. I accumulated some parts and was just getting started when my buddy showed up and said he was going to need it for the kid's birthday (three weeks away) instead of Christmas. When I explained the time considerations involved in just the finishing process he agreed to have me do a temporary assembly, get it playing well, and he'd bring it back to me to finish in about a month. Long story short, the guitar didn't come back to me and I was secretly relieved. I *don't* like Gibsons and I find set necks a pain in the butt.

The guitar came back tonight.....two and a half years later. My buddy decided to take the guitar to a friend of his, who's supposedly an acoustic luthier, to have a professional paint it in a booth. I'm not sure what the "pro" was up to, but at this point.....

1) The hardware, pots, and new P90 with the plastic still on the face are rusty.....not a bit.....not relic-level....I mean really, really rusty. They arrived piled in a tomato can.
2) The P90 rout seems to have been opened up even more and looks even cruder than before.
3) The "pro" thoughtfully removed the ground wire for the bridge which was an absolute pain in the ass for me to install the first time around.
4) Last but not least, he removed the studs for the bridge, drilled out huge holes and plugged them. Now it's impossible to tell where the bridge was located,

If this wasn't for this particular friend, I'd just say go away, but I feel obliged to solve it. It's a lot bigger project than it was the first time!

I'm a little out of my depth right now. I've never had to locate a tune-o-matic bridge on a body with a set neck and I'm getting ready to research it online. If anybody here's done it and has insights to share, I'd appreciate it. This intimidates me in a way Fender-based stuff doesn't.

I'll try and post a picture tomorrow. Welcome to my nightmare....

[etechstan]

You are a great friend!

[die Bullen]

good grief this is something we all hate to see- a nice guitar that was butchered, brought to a "pro" and butchered more. I don't want to see the pix but want to at the same time

[spellcaster]

Lol, I know what you mean, die Bullen.....It's like driving by a bad accident and feeling that morbid curiousity...."Just how bad is it?"

Well, I just opened the case when I got home from work and it isn't any better than I remembered....



At some time in it's life, it's had a Bigsby B5 mounted, and also appears to have had a stop bar tailpiece. I had fitted it with a pigtail tun-o-matic so all those holes are filled.....Unfortunately, the original bridge bushings and holes have been plugged too...



The pickup rout mods looked like they'd been done with a jack-knife when I first got it. I cleaned it up enough that it looked tidy with the dog-eared P90 mounted. It appears the last guy who had it did some fresher hacking. I found his notes in the storage pocket of the case and it seems like he had plans to install an active EMG humbucker. Needless to say, that's not going to happen. In the meantime, it sure is ugly....


I think I'm going to put this thing back in the case and enjoy the long weekend. Isn't it ironic that this turkey showed up on the Canadia Thanksgiving weekend?

[die Bullen]

looks pretty sad Spellcaster but I think you could work with this to restore it- will take a lot of time though I am afraid

[anfontan]

Hmmmmmmmmmm, maybe you can hide it somewhere for the next 10 years and by then the kid and the dad will have totally forgotten about it-Hey its a possibility.............

[spellcaster]

You know, I could probably put off starting this for a few months anyway, but as long as I know it's there it'll be a dark cloud on my horizon. I've spent a couple of days behind the computer learning how to do this bridge installation (placement being the biggie) and I think I'm ready to tackle it. And, I just now got off eBay.....Bought a Gibson brand 1995 tune-o-matic bridge, studs and anchors, and stop bar tailpiece for just over 60.00 (shipped). Also visited a friend today and made arrangements to use his commercial drill press to drill the anchor holes in the body....My table-top press isn't quite big enough to reach, and getting the holes perfectly straight is too important to try free-handing it. So, in about three weeks when I get the parts, I'll fly at it.

Only thing worse than doing a job you don't like is doing it twice..... (whine-mode off)

[die Bullen]

Only thing worse than doing a job you don't like is doing it twice..... (whine-mode off)

ain't THAT the truth

[Fussel62]

Only thing worse than doing a job you don't like is doing it twice.....

So right, Spellcaster! That guy must be a very close friend of yours, if you go through hell in order to fix that ruined piece of wood for the second time! Isn't guitar rape an offence in the U.K.?

[spellcaster]

Actually, I'm not in the UK....I'm on the west coast of Canada, on Vancouver Island. But you're right, what happened to this LPJR is a crime. My buddy came by last night and we talked again. The nice part is that there's no time pressure to get this done super-fast. I'm expecting the bridge and stop bar I ordered to arrive in about a week or two, and that's when I'll really get into it. My job tends to be somewhat seasonal, as I work outside and temperatures will probably come into play soon, so I'll probably welcome having some projects to keep me going. Trying to think positive about this, but my heart sinks every time I open the case.