[slpd]

I just got off the phone with the digitising company and they said £250 for the scann.

So what do you guys think??

[frankpaul1]

That's pretty expensive. Also, I thought we were looking for a historically correct carved top. So not just any Les Paul will do.

[slpd]

That's pretty expensive. Also, I thought we were looking for a historically correct carved top. So not just any Les Paul will do.

Currently I am doing the research such as finding the cost and problems that might arise, during the scanning process.

The price I mentioned seems reasonable for the UK, I asked somone else and they said £800

Also I know where vintage guitars are do you??

I also have some neck cross-section molds from a vintage LP which might consider digitising.

[frankpaul1]

Also I know where vintage guitars are do you??

I know a couple of vintage guitar owners, but it was merely a reply to the person saying we "just need a Les Paul". Since the current carved top is a lot different from the vintage correct one.

[CyborgCNC]

So that is about 360 or so US....

I am more than willing to contribute to the project, if others here are willing to pitch in a bit. I am also willing to do all the CAD work, to convert this file to whatever people need.

So, SLPD, you said you do have a guitar, or you would also need to find someone with one?

[scooterville]

Hey Guys,

I am willing to throw in cash as well. If all of those that feel the burning hearts desire to own a piece of HISTORY will stand together we can make this project possible. Everyone share to form a team effort.

[turmite]

That's pretty expensive. Also, I thought we were looking for a historically correct carved top. So not just any Les Paul will do.

I don't think that is expensive at all. I know a place here in the US that uses laser, and the price will approach $700 based upon a small project I had done.

Could someone please show me with pics what the difference between one of the "desirable" LP's and one of the lesser desirable?

I might also be willing to get in on this, but I want to make sure it isn't one of the carved top profile that I don't like, and therefore the question about the pics.

Mike


ps for reference....I like the very smooth transition clycoid top as opposed to the one that has something akin to a flat border and an abrupt radius going into the arched top portion.

[ihavenofish]

ps for reference....I like the very smooth transition clycoid top as opposed to the one that has something akin to a flat border and an abrupt radius going into the arched top portion.

that should be every les paul ever made by gibson or epiphone (or the better clones). the differences are all in the precise curve used, which as i said has been a function of the person sanding. if they are lazy one day, the top is a few mm thicker in spots. its still all the same general curve. on the '59 reissues, gibson needs something to market, so this year they took a real one and scanned, it and claim its now "correct". of course its not really true, and not much if any more correct than last years.

this is what the top looks like straight off the router (or the old patern carvers):



all the pattern you see there is from the ball end mill. on this particular model they just didnt sand it down smooth (among other things). from the look, i think they use a 1" ball nose or possibly larger, traversing left to right, with about a 1/2" stepover.

from there you buzz it with a plam sander for an hour or 2 guaging the top by eye - or with a template if you are set on matching a scanned model as close as possible.

i suppose if you have time to burn you could put the stepover ar 1/16" and get a smooth top right off with only minimal sanding afterwards, but again, its not necessarily going to mean its a more "correct" '59 top. especially after adding the finish.

ill post my result when i get around to scanning, but it may not be for many months. too much other crap to do

[GooCart]

By now I have measured three original bursts and one '53 GT and they all had a flat pickup plane, the bursts pickup plane are wider than the GT, but they are flat or almost flat as in one of the bursts I've measured. In this thread I have donated a file where the top is based on modern Les Pauls and they all, apart from some anniversary R9 I've seen, have a curved pickup plane, just like the one ihavenofish posted.

I'm convinced that there are 50's les paul with a curved, rounded pickup plane, but for me the flat pickup plane is one of the most important design feature that distinguish the burst.

[ihavenofish]

By now I have measured three original bursts and one '53 GT and they all had a flat pickup plane, the bursts pickup plane are wider than the GT, but they are flat or almost flat as in one of the bursts I've measured. In this thread I have donated a file where the top is based on modern Les Pauls and they all, apart from some anniversary R9 I've seen, have a curved pickup plane, just like the one ihavenofish posted.

I'm convinced that there are 50's les paul with a curved, rounded pickup plane, but for me the flat pickup plane is one of the most important design feature that distinguish the burst.

looks curved to me. i dont think ive ever seen a gibby LP with a flat spot under the pickups, though ive never seen a 59 in person. got a photo that shows it clearly?


the new "correct" '59 reissue:

[GooCart]

It's quite hard to see on a pic, but if you look at the pickup rings on many, many bursts you'll see that they are flat, not bended like a modern les paul. If I may quote John Catto from another forum regarding the top carve:

"That's how it should be. Curved decks are for production standards and Historics with a lousy top carve

Joking aside it's surprising how flat the late 50's guitars can be. Check out this pic, at the bridge pickup it's dead flat and extends as such well past the pickup rings, at the neck it has just the faintest whiff of a curve on the bridge side which is accented just a bit by the ring shrinking and pulling up."

The pic John talks about is missing so I'm showing you this instead. If you look at the pickup rings you'll see that they actually are flat.