Part 1 Project intro: ua-cam.com/video/1cQbKGSheJI/v-deo.html Part 2 Taking it Apart: ua-cam.com/video/gigmqyfRGsY/v-deo.html Part 3 Fixing the NecK: ua-cam.com/video/8wxwrr67Ov0/v-deo.html Part 4 Fixing the Body: ua-cam.com/video/GUKOrzVh2Kg/v-deo.html Part 5 Binding the Body: ua-cam.com/video/GUKOrzVh2Kg/v-deo.html Part 6 Repairing the Fretboard: ua-cam.com/video/OMHQVgW61Ww/v-deo.html Part 7 Repairing The Headstock: ua-cam.com/video/wD-cymV7K-0/v-deo.html Part 8 Assembly: ua-cam.com/video/EGCwQmvomFI/v-deo.html Part 9 Final Finish: ua-cam.com/video/RQNzXZlogQE/v-deo.html
I’ve read comments about how so much restoration was done, it probably wasn’t worth it or there’s not enough of the original guitar left to justify the work. I total disagree. This was a labour of love and the guitar was brought back to life again to make music. It’s not a broom, or an axe or a ship. It’s a musical instrument and all that matters is that it will make music again
Yes, but it's a case of going too far, imo. Like a aging supermodel, who gets way too much plastic surgery instead of aging gracefully. Necessary repairs to restore playability and stability are one thing, but his guitar didn't need a whole new back. It's been robbed of all it's earned patina, and the life experiences that made it unique. Too each their own of course.
I'm in the process of building a Goldtop from a custom kit I purchased from Precision Guitar. Ive watched this video and others in the series a few times. It has been a huge help to me in my process. Thank you for sharing and all your excellent tips.
Bravo!!!!! Many years ago in’68I got my first Les Paul. It was a well used ‘56 someone had sprayed white with a rattle can. I stripped off the finish but butchered the binding in the process. Our local luthier fixed that and refinished it for me. He refused to shoot the gold top for health reasons, so we settled on walnut. It’s out there somewhere
I have been watching the entire process and bravo ! That thing was absolutely wrecked, especially how smashed in the body was, that was amazing to see fixed.
Please don't take this the wrong way because I too do projects like this that make me wonder about my sanity. For you this was a journey, a labor of love, and a test of your skills and you obviously are good at what you do , BUT.........just because something CAN be done does not necessarily make it a good idea. I personally would have given Sam Ash the $3,000 and just bought a brand new one and spent all that work time playing the new guitar, but that's me and you are you. Good job!
Some more “finished” shots would be cool but fantastic work!! Brings a tear to my eye seeing an old Les Paul being brought back from the grave to rock for another 70 years!
Unbelievable craftsmanship!!!! Wouldn't want to venture a guess at how much it cost to do this restoration. Without a doubt the most incredible restoration I have seen on UA-cam to date .
Glad you restored this fine old axe; didn't care for the "so fast, you can't tell what's going on" video style very much. I have to say, you're obviously very talented. But not everyone digs videos that make them dizzy if they try to see what's going on. Good fortune follow you, always; I hope you save many, many old smashed guitars - you'll heal a lot of smashed hearts. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
In-cre-dib-le job... My jaw was on the floor from 5th minute on... (also - just BTW, some years ago have purchased 5 Dawgtown pickups - 3 humbuckers & telecaster pair - they are INCREDIBLE. Plea say 'hi' to John! Very, very happy customer here!)
What a ton of work! Well done. I am impressed by your binding the fretboard. Doesn’t that interfere with the fret job in a big way? I like that the neck repair is invisible. I didn’t take notice about the nut install. What type did you use? Well a great job overall and the proof is how good the instrument sounds and looks. I can see why guitars rebuilt in this fashion cost so much. Your putting so much work and TLC into the antique. What a beautiful sound at the end. Thanks for all your love invested in the guitars you repair and rebuild.
Awesome video. Awesome and the guitar sounded wonderful. Thanks for playing it there. Thanks for fixing it. I would love to be the one helping you and learning from you fixing guitars I’m a Kansas City Chiefs fan too.
This is amazing! Great work by an extremely skilled luthier. I would love to see an hour and a half to two hour video...this moved SO fast I couldn't begin to comprehend what was happening without re-watching sections over and over. Absolutely fantastic repair job!!!
Love the resurrection in high speed. It sounds as good as it looks. That’s a five star repair. Is that enough smoke? To everyone at BigDguitar have a Merry Christmas
The God of ALL guitars… I have owned an Epiphone gold top Les Paul since 1996… the closest I’ll ever get to a proper Gibson! An absolutely brilliant restoration! 👍🏻
You are the man. And I would take that over a brand new 59 custom shop 10 G guitar from GIBSON. You just put history and sound back together and I'm overjoyed about it.
Hey Derek, good old-fashioned craftsmanship made you almost win the guitar building competition by an knch and made an absolute beauty from this wreck. I wish you and your family all the best for the upcoming holy days. Thx for sharing thid video Cheers Fred
Usually I knock myself out to save an instrument worth just a fraction of this ‘53. I imagine the reward is greater, but maybe you’re constantly considering what’s the least necessary restoration as well because of the inherent value. It takes a lot to put out something like this because certain choices can always be deliberated by a random viewer like me. But well done. I’d love to have been in real time asking questions about a number of things that I’ve never done personally. And of course I’m envious of some of your shop tools. Bravo!
Ummm that was incredible to watch at least for me. Only a luthier could love a guitar that much! Great video and your level of commitment should not be overlooked...... Thanks for this Cheers Doug 😎
Meinen Respekt vor ihren handwerklichen Fähigkeiten. Aus einem Stück zerbrochenen Holz wieder ein Musikinstrument zu bauen ist beeindruckend. Sehr interessantes Video, danke fürs zeigen 👍👍👍.
Thank you. This was hypnotic. Loved every minute of it. Skills and confident. Great to have them together. Have a great Christmas and wonderful new year. Good bless and be safe.
Thank you so much for this vid. Am having to replace the fingerboard on my beloved 1970 deluxe gold top. Wish you'd posted sooner 😀. No amount of heat and thin spatulas would get the board off cleanly so I ended up have to use a very sharp chisel as I was in danger of damaging the gold top. Great bit of craftsmanship, thank you
You are HIRED!!!! If i ever ( God willing) have a barn find or mess like that you're hired!!! Fantastic job on a beautiful guitar congratulations guys great work!!!!!
YOU are so amazing.. this is unreal! I remade a 72 that had been cut in half and the head stock cut off.. that was hard enough, but this.. this.. OMG. respect , brother.. lol
That was an epic journey. I've never seen anyone put mpre into a restoration than this. You're really talented. I have pragmatic questions as to why but I'll leave it there. Exceptional work. Wouldn't the 53 have a wraparound tailpiece?
Yes, a '53 would have had a combo bridge/tailpiece. Whomever originally converted it to a tune-o-matic put the tailpiece too far from the bridge. Too bad that wasn't corrected during the restoration. :(
Incredible. There's no way on earth I would have the patience, never mind the skill, to execute such a project. You must have a solid $10K or more in labor in that thing. Outstanding result, though.
The best restoration work I have ever seen. I would have preferred a few sound examples that were clean and undistorted to hear the real beauty of the guitar. Great video.
Part 1 Project intro: ua-cam.com/video/1cQbKGSheJI/v-deo.html
Part 2 Taking it Apart: ua-cam.com/video/gigmqyfRGsY/v-deo.html
Part 3 Fixing the NecK: ua-cam.com/video/8wxwrr67Ov0/v-deo.html
Part 4 Fixing the Body: ua-cam.com/video/GUKOrzVh2Kg/v-deo.html
Part 5 Binding the Body: ua-cam.com/video/GUKOrzVh2Kg/v-deo.html
Part 6 Repairing the Fretboard: ua-cam.com/video/OMHQVgW61Ww/v-deo.html
Part 7 Repairing The Headstock: ua-cam.com/video/wD-cymV7K-0/v-deo.html
Part 8 Assembly: ua-cam.com/video/EGCwQmvomFI/v-deo.html
Part 9 Final Finish: ua-cam.com/video/RQNzXZlogQE/v-deo.html
Your work is impeccable.
The older guitars are history and need to be preserved. That was an awesome job. They are truly works of art.
I’ve read comments about how so much restoration was done, it probably wasn’t worth it or there’s not enough of the original guitar left to justify the work. I total disagree. This was a labour of love and the guitar was brought back to life again to make music. It’s not a broom, or an axe or a ship. It’s a musical instrument and all that matters is that it will make music again
I mean, there's definitely most of the original guitar there. A neck-repair refin 1953 Les Paul is still worth 30k+
Yes, but it's a case of going too far, imo. Like a aging supermodel, who gets way too much plastic surgery instead of aging gracefully. Necessary repairs to restore playability and stability are one thing, but his guitar didn't need a whole new back. It's been robbed of all it's earned patina, and the life experiences that made it unique. Too each their own of course.
@@AnAbortiveRomance Yes you make a very good point.
Not everything should be weighed up against financial viability.
@@AnAbortiveRomance you saying youd rather let it be dead and un-playable with a broken headstock?
I'm in the process of building a Goldtop from a custom kit I purchased from Precision Guitar. Ive watched this video and others in the series a few times. It has been a huge help to me in my process. Thank you for sharing and all your excellent tips.
Bravo!!!!! Many years ago in’68I got my first Les Paul. It was a well used ‘56 someone had sprayed white with a rattle can. I stripped off the finish but butchered the binding in the process. Our local luthier fixed that and refinished it for me. He refused to shoot the gold top for health reasons, so we settled on walnut. It’s out there somewhere
I have been watching the entire process and bravo ! That thing was absolutely wrecked, especially how smashed in the body was, that was amazing to see fixed.
That was a tremendous amount of work put into resurrecting this instrument. How can the guitar gods not smile on such loving care?
Please don't take this the wrong way because I too do projects like this that make me wonder about my sanity. For you this was a journey, a labor of love, and a test of your skills and you obviously are good at what you do , BUT.........just because something CAN be done does not necessarily make it a good idea. I personally would have given Sam Ash the $3,000 and just bought a brand new one and spent all that work time playing the new guitar, but that's me and you are you. Good job!
Some more “finished” shots would be cool but fantastic work!! Brings a tear to my eye seeing an old Les Paul being brought back from the grave to rock for another 70 years!
Have you seen the 25/50 yet? Watched it last night, very impressive.
@@camilo1455 just did, it was magical.
@@boscocat4973 Big D knows guitars, huh. Magical, the word I was looking for, I guess. Couldn't be more impressed.
EXACTLY
Derek, all I can say is you work miracles, brother. Outstanding craftmanship. Thank you so much!
Good job. Enjoyed hearing Glen play it. That added a lot.
Man he is super talented.
Amazing job! That was a lot of work!
👏👏👏👏
I could watch these Les Paul restore videos all day
Amazing craftsmanship! Truly a labor of love. Every time I thought he was done there were like eleven more steps for each part.
Unbelievable craftsmanship!!!! Wouldn't want to venture a guess at how much it cost to do this restoration. Without a doubt the most incredible restoration I have seen on UA-cam to date .
Cost of materials - $100. Value of time, workmanship and effort - Priceless.
Well done! That piece of history was in good hands! I loved how you salvaged the headstock inlay! Great work Derek!
Wow! Unbelievably ambitious!! But excellently done and saved it to fight another day. Outstanding work
One of the best restoration videos I've looked at on line.
Glad you restored this fine old axe; didn't care for the "so fast, you can't tell what's going on" video style very much. I have to say, you're obviously very talented. But not everyone digs videos that make them dizzy if they try to see what's going on. Good fortune follow you, always; I hope you save many, many old smashed guitars - you'll heal a lot of smashed hearts. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
In-cre-dib-le job... My jaw was on the floor from 5th minute on... (also - just BTW, some years ago have purchased 5 Dawgtown pickups - 3 humbuckers & telecaster pair - they are INCREDIBLE. Plea say 'hi' to John! Very, very happy customer here!)
What a ton of work! Well done. I am impressed by your binding the fretboard. Doesn’t that interfere with the fret job in a big way? I like that the neck repair is invisible. I didn’t take notice about the nut install. What type did you use? Well a great job overall and the proof is how good the instrument sounds and looks. I can see why guitars rebuilt in this fashion cost so much. Your putting so much work and TLC into the antique. What a beautiful sound at the end. Thanks for all your love invested in the guitars you repair and rebuild.
Amazing work it was a pleasure! DB.
Wow, nice work man, there was a lot of work but it must have been enjoyable too? Thanks for video and very good guitar playing.
Just got finished. Man, that was a truly prodigious restoration, my friend! Wow is all I can say.
I am flummoxed and in awe. All of that (jam included) is magic!
Such a great job, Derek! You saved a classic for sure. So worth it to restore such an iconic guitar.
I had to watch this at 0.25 speed to see what was happening.
Otherwise great work. You are a very talented craftsman.
Awesome video. Awesome and the guitar sounded wonderful. Thanks for playing it there. Thanks for fixing it. I would love to be the one helping you and learning from you fixing guitars I’m a Kansas City Chiefs fan too.
This is amazing! Great work by an extremely skilled luthier. I would love to see an hour and a half to two hour video...this moved SO fast I couldn't begin to comprehend what was happening without re-watching sections over and over. Absolutely fantastic repair job!!!
It’s like the ship of Theseus. I’d say that what you’ve created is far more special than what you started with!!
This restoration cost lot of effort than build new guitar😵
Great job👍
It’s definitely worth it tho for a gold top
Thank You for giving new life to that very distressed piece of history. Proud of you. Gary Moore would approve! I'm certain..
Love the resurrection in high speed. It sounds as good as it looks. That’s a five star repair. Is that enough smoke? To everyone at BigDguitar have a Merry Christmas
Excellent job and she sounds great. I love those P-90's.
The craziest luthier on UA-cam. I have never seen someone do this much work on a guitar.
Excellent job.....
What a transformation. Great job.
That’s like 8,000 dollars of labour!
Great project and fantastic result!!
Haha. It was!
@@bigdguitars Joe Bonamassa might be interested in acquiring that '53 for his collection! !
@@blakjack3053 Joe only buys originals. This one is worth a fraction of what an unmolested example goes for
@@apo11o38 not always! Remember his guitar Lazarus!
@@juarezpinto8381 I thought he saved the finish on Lazarus and just threw a clear coat on top.... idk could be going big brain
1 minute into the video, must say, the fact you heat the blade instead of the fretboard to unglue it is a majestic tip, thanks.
Amazing patience and craft.
Man, you've got some crazy good repair skills. The guitar looks great! Thanks
Dang that must have been hard I watched the other video from a while back equally as scary. good job!
What a journey - great work as always. Love that Floyd inspired background track as well.
True demonstration of skills. This was way more complicated than your staining/dying videos. Much respect.
Amazing that’s just god giving talent to make it look so real the Gibson sig at the top I’m very impressed!!
The God of ALL guitars… I have owned an Epiphone gold top Les Paul since 1996… the closest I’ll ever get to a proper Gibson!
An absolutely brilliant restoration! 👍🏻
You are the man. And I would take that over a brand new 59 custom shop 10 G guitar from GIBSON. You just put history and sound back together and I'm overjoyed about it.
Hey Derek, good old-fashioned craftsmanship made you almost win the guitar building competition by an knch and made an absolute beauty from this wreck. I wish you and your family all the best for the upcoming holy days. Thx for sharing thid video Cheers Fred
Thank you my friend!
Yes you deserve big kudo's for what you did with this & the end result !! Awesome job !!
Wow and Remarkable! Thank You for letting us look over your shoulder! Best Regards and Best Wishes!
It's probably the most spectacular restore you've pulled off... yet... It looks beautiful and it sounds amazing!
thanks buddy hope all is well with you.
@@bigdguitars looking good. Happy 2021, D. Wish you all the best and fantastic health, peace and happyness and riches.
Fantastic restoration!!!!!
What a pleasure to watch and saw some techniques new to me, too.
They all have their own personality and Glen plays it like it's a long lost friend. Superb project.
So......we have the original knobs and pickup covers?
Thanks much for taking the time to video that, really enjoyed, and learned a thing or two! 8) --gary
Usually I knock myself out to save an instrument worth just a fraction of this ‘53. I imagine the reward is greater, but maybe you’re constantly considering what’s the least necessary restoration as well because of the inherent value. It takes a lot to put out something like this because certain choices can always be deliberated by a random viewer like me. But well done. I’d love to have been in real time asking questions about a number of things that I’ve never done personally. And of course I’m envious of some of your shop tools. Bravo!
Amazing video. Love watching you work.
I don't think a resurrection like this would ever happen to a Strat. Les Pauls are beautiful.
Ummm that was incredible to watch at least for me. Only a luthier could love a guitar that much!
Great video and your level of commitment should not be overlooked......
Thanks for this
Cheers
Doug 😎
Amazing job! It's really nice to see that a piece of history like that is back to life!
Would've loved to see the full build. Amazing work!
This video was truly watching a master in action. Wonderful.
Meinen Respekt vor ihren handwerklichen Fähigkeiten. Aus einem Stück zerbrochenen Holz wieder ein Musikinstrument zu bauen ist beeindruckend. Sehr interessantes Video, danke fürs zeigen 👍👍👍.
killer stuff loved the diggin in when you were playing nice job all around.
Amazing repair and tons of work. Great out come but I can't believe in the collectors world that guitar is worth 500 bucks
A restored Stradivarius will always be a Stradivarius. This is just the same. Great work!!
This is beyond craftsmanship.
I was having trouble watching this and then remembered I could decrease the playback speed. 🙄🤣. Respect. Job well done. 👍
I was impressed by the two soldering irons clamped to the straight edge, to remove the finger board-good idea!
Awesome restoration. Great work!
The was unbelievable & Incredible!
You are the guitar whisperer 👌
Thank you!
I love seeing a giutar come back from the dead, done a couple myself, so Fricking awesome to see. Well done bud your repairing skills are brilliant 👏
Thank you. This was hypnotic. Loved every minute of it. Skills and confident. Great to have them together. Have a great Christmas and wonderful new year. Good bless and be safe.
It's a true labor of love to bring something that beat up back to life.
That’s a lot of money in to power tools. Hand tools too. Great job 🎉
Great project! Congrats!
Wow!!! What an amazing job in this guitar!!! congrats!!!
Man what an effort!😎✌
He probably cried. I almost did. Kick butt restore and proper vid.
you're the first person i've seen take everything off and put the repairs underneath. great job
Great show man, and what a great guitar you have along with a Good story to justify the work
Hi Master! You are not a luthier, you are an Art designer!
Amazing job!!! Well done!!!👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Most impressive restoration I've seen. Great content!
Thank you so much for this vid. Am having to replace the fingerboard on my beloved 1970 deluxe gold top. Wish you'd posted sooner 😀. No amount of heat and thin spatulas would get the board off cleanly so I ended up have to use a very sharp chisel as I was in danger of damaging the gold top. Great bit of craftsmanship, thank you
You are HIRED!!!! If i ever ( God willing) have a barn find or mess like that you're hired!!! Fantastic job on a beautiful guitar congratulations guys great work!!!!!
Time and materials exceed the restored value of the guitar. It was a labor of love, but not a moneymaker.
Hi.Love the whole idea..great work and I'm sure much satisfaction earned.I have built a bunch of strats..gonna give an LP a shot soon.Cheers.P
Man you are a true craftsman, beautiful work.
What a great job Glen...WOW ..amazing....
What a great job! My hats off to you, sir!
YOU are so amazing.. this is unreal! I remade a 72 that had been cut in half and the head stock cut off.. that was hard enough, but this.. this.. OMG. respect , brother.. lol
Why was it cut in 1/2?
That is an LP you could not make me own but that is some excellent work!
That was an epic journey. I've never seen anyone put mpre into a restoration than this. You're really talented. I have pragmatic questions as to why but I'll leave it there. Exceptional work. Wouldn't the 53 have a wraparound tailpiece?
Yes, a '53 would have had a combo bridge/tailpiece. Whomever originally converted it to a tune-o-matic put the tailpiece too far from the bridge. Too bad that wasn't corrected during the restoration. :(
Trapeze tailpiece you are correct, maybe the owner didn’t want it
@@Flavum That gives it a softer feel though, like Larry Carlton's ES-335..?
No había visto ese tipo de trompo? Para mo rallar la madera... Increíble restauració!
Incredible. There's no way on earth I would have the patience, never mind the skill, to execute such a project. You must have a solid $10K or more in labor in that thing. Outstanding result, though.
Thanks for the playing . I enjoyed it very much.
The best restoration work I have ever seen. I would have preferred a few sound examples that were clean and undistorted to hear the real beauty of the guitar. Great video.
Wow, what a labor of love! Nicely done!
Yeah Buddy! Loved watching the time lapse. It was cool to see the owner playing this after it was all done.