Tip pleae - Gibson Les Paul, carved maple top - where to buy

[bluesfendermanblues]

Dear all.

Very sorry for this off (dumble) topic, but I would seriously appreciate your qualified help.

My old 1980 Les Paul Pro Deluxe needs af new carved maple top.
I dont have the skills to carve one myself.

I'm planning to get the old maple removed and glue a new top on the axe.
I bought it in 1980 when I was 17 years old and The reason for the restoration is, that it have had many lifes.

- It started out as a Gold top with p90 PUs
- 1986 Routed it for Humbuckers and installed a couple of 1980 HB std.
- 1987 Removed gold top and stained it black (stupid idiot)
- 1989 - I regretted the black stain and sanded (dbl stupid idiot) the top to get down to the bare and unstained maple wood and had it cherry sunburst'ed
1993 - I wanted to convert the guitar to original specs - stripped the paint/lacquer - and it has been sitting in the guitar case ever since.
2008 Now its time to do things properly.

Therefore, I as you for tips on guitarshops that do sell carved maple tops, that I can order and put on my guitar after having the old ruined top machined off.

I contacted warmoth, but they will only sell a whole body for 305 USD. They don't sell "loose" tops.

Any suggestions - other forums that I could ask, please help ??

[Guitarman18]

A little off topic here, but this should sort you out.

I've never seen maple tops pre-carved before, but you could try the following for maple top blanks, then get someone local to you to carve it. (It is a massively time consuming task, so expect to pay some well to get a good job done.

http://www.lmii.com/

http://www.stewmac.com/cgi-bin/hazel.cg ... OME&LOC=NB

European suppliers:

http://www.luthierssupplies.co.uk/

Not a particularly comprehensive web site, but I know that they have supplied Brazillian rosewood to PRS, so they have good wood:

http://www.craft-supplies.co.uk/cgi-bin ... od,2,,,Top

If you want some tips in guitar making, this is a gr8t site:

http://www.mimf.com/.

Usually the top is attached to the body before carving takes place, so that you have something to carve against.

Good luck, Paul.

[RevD]

If you want it original it would be back to p90's and a goldtop right? Any competent luthier could probably patch the routing and respray the goldtop for less than milling off the cap and recapping/carving and then painting a goldtop. I don't know exactly who to tell you to send it to, but I've seen guitars on the net repaired and resprayed that looked like new. Just a thought. Good luck with whatever you decide to do with it.

Regards,

RevD

[ic-racer]

I can't answer your question, but I used to read this forum a lot when restoring my Les Paul, maybe someone there knows.

http://www.reranch.com/reranch/

[Guitarman18]

RevD wrote:

Any competent luthier could probably patch the routing and respray the goldtop for less than milling off the cap

This is definitely the best way to go. Solid colours on guitars were often used to cover grain blemishes, or to disguise the number of pieces used to make up the top/body. Also you would still have the majority of the original guitar left!

[bluesfendermanblues]

Thanks guys, for quick reply - and once more sorry for being off topic.

I'll dwelve into the links you've provided. I already signed up for the forum at reranch and I'll contact local luthiers to check if one of them can do the job. You it was my first good guitar, so its kind of special to me , but you wouldnt regards it as a collctors item.

Thanks for your attention.

[Bananafist]

If you google Chris George guitars in the UK, you can see the sort of carved tops he can do. I know he prefers to build new guitars, but if you contact him he may be willing to put a new top on and carve it for you. His work is astonishing, and beautiful.

[Structo]

Unfortunately, ReRanch can not ship overseas. Only CONUS.
I am a member over there and there are a few Gibson guys that probably can answer your questions about products in Europe.
There is a handful of guys from the UK and they know where some nitro sources are.
It can usually only be shipped via ground.
I know the guys in Canada can't have it shipped there but sometimes they get a PO box in the states and drive across the border to get it.