Les Paul Gold Top Restoration

When this 1978 Les Paul Gold top came into my shop it was in really bad condition. Someone attempted to try and convert this guitar into a left handed guitar by cutting a cutaway into the top front shoulder of the body and made a real mess of it. Also the body was in very poor condition with cracks in the maple top, lots of dents, scalps etc.

The biggest challenge was to replace what was missing and thrown away. Making a replacement piece that fit tight, was challenging. Also it meant that the whole back of the body had to be veneered with a quality piece of mahogany veneer to hide the glue joint and repair to the shoulder. Basically the whole back was covered in veneer making it look like new with all repairs hidden underneath the veneer. A new piece of crème binding also had to be installed on the top edge where the new piece of wood was installed. The switch hole had to be re drilled and the whole guitar was then refinished. The repairs to the top side of the shoulder are hidden under the goldtop finish. The back of the body is a light translucent brown colour while the edge is a darker less translucent colour done as a brown burst. This repair and refinishing turned out wonderful and just goes to show what can be done here at Legend Guitars.