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Original message:18 days 12 hours 3 minutes ago

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Member: Lurcher

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Now then lads, I'm having Tim Ellis make me a Les Paul in the New Year and I had in mind a plain white with gold hardware etc, Now I have had a bit of consideration time, and my wife saying she's not fond of white guitars, I'm considering other colours. I have too many black or dark guitars and I do fancy a light colour, either on Flame or Spalted Maple. Not saying I won;t go back to white, just looking at alternatives in the more natural lighter shades. One other thing is that I'm not keen on modern colours like greenburst and such. And do you think that high gloss finished detract from the tone?
So there you have it. Hive me your favourites and suggestions and I'll look at them all before I decide.

Brian

Reply:18 days 10 hours 57 minutes ago
Member: Father Dougal Maguire.

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Tim does some really beautiful bookmatched spalted maple. Thats what my Ellis is. I'm not sure if your a fan of bare wood though Brian so I cant really comment, oh, and as for white on an LP, I think Mr. Bucketheads guitar looks fantastic so yeah if I got one that was painted it would be white, all my other gutars, like yours, have been dark.

But the Spear and Ellis are both natural woods and I think I prefer the look more. And its easy to care for them as small scratches or chips etc are easily fixed and dont show as bad as they do on a painted finish.

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Reply:18 days 10 hours 51 minutes ago
Member: Father Dougal Maguire.

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Oh, I was nearly gonna buy this ages ago, its a TC Ellis Mantis 'I' Quilted Maple in red, looks great I think, but I would have changed the hardware on it personally.

The bugger sold it as I was heading out the door to buy it after me asking him on the phone to hang on to it. £150!!!! Peanuts that is in terms of guitar for money, I think they are under-valued by people. He paid the standard £299 for it too.

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Reply:18 days 10 hours 45 minutes ago
Member: Steve Aguilar

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I love the color black, any guitar that looks cool or nice black I like it......just like my women >> what? huh? yeah guitars..... :D

but Iam guessing black les paul wasnt what you had in mind?

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Reply:18 days 10 hours 34 minutes ago
Member: Father Dougal Maguire.

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Forgot to add........if you think choosing the colour is a pain in the ass, wait until you get to the hardware config. Its far too much to consider and your decisions however small will alter how it sounds so keep your options open. Tim might try and push for the Bare-Knuckle pick ups, but he gets a commission on them from what I gather.

Search LP pictures until you either smash the computer or see one that makes you so happy you have a man moment in your pants. Thats how you know its the one for you. No point in getting stuck with a 'hmmmm, maybe' for the next while eh?

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Reply:18 days 9 hours 56 minutes ago
Member: Lurcher

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Black? I had a black LP in 1974 and nothing can compare with that one. I have a black metallic Cort, a black bass, a tri LP a dark redburst acoustic and a red Yammy. I want to get away from the dark this time. My white idea was also to have white pup rings, gold scratchplate and gold metal knobs ala telecaster. Gold covers on the IronGear pups and generally a typical 'custom' look. But I do like Lemon Drops, Light amber and even honeyburst. My other favorites have been my off-white SG and Walnut Pack Leader, but I have the long-term plan to re-create that one some day.
Yes, I do like natural woods with the minimum of gloss. Must research other possible ways of getting a class finish without spraying a heap of lacquer on. French polishing?

Reply:18 days 9 hours 35 minutes ago
Member: Father Dougal Maguire.

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Actually I deal with wood finishing regular as part of my job. If I was to achieve a really beautiful natural finish on wood and protect it I would use boiled linseed oil or my favourite is using a wax like beeswax. It is personal choice though, I have read a few articles recently on people using other substances but for me a few coats of wax, then a final polished coat looks beautiful and really pulls out the grain and beauty of the natural wood. It all depends on whether or not you want to colour the wood too with a satin stain.

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Reply:18 days 3 hours 38 minutes ago
Member: cthulhu

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Start here, don't think of a guitar color, narrow it down, if you are having a nice top ( you mentioned flamed or spalted maple ), you will want to see it, so you are already narrowing your choices, to a trans finish, a burst of some sort or a rubbed/dyed type finish ( if available ).
Then think of your favorite colour/colours. Then go and try to find samples and talk to Ellis to see what he can do.

If all else fails, make it your wifes favorite colour!

Reply:17 days 16 hours 37 minutes ago
Member: Lurcher

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Looking at the Lemmy Bass he's making, I think anything is possible - at a price. My wife will have an input but I do draw the line at Purple sparkle.

Reply:18 days 1 hours 40 minutes ago
Member: Waltz

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Key lime, do it

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Reply:18 days 1 hours 28 minutes ago
Member: this dying soul

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I say a natural (or blonde as Gibson calls it) finish would look very nice.

I can't find a pic of it online anywhere but there was a limited edition Les Paul Custom out in the 70's that had blonde finish and the pickguard, pickup rings, and knobs were made of rosewood instead of plastic and with gold hardware...and if I remember right, it also had rosewood binding. One of the most beautiful Les Pauls I'd ever seen

The pic here is the closest I'd found to it.

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Reply:17 days 16 hours 43 minutes ago
Member: Lurcher

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Oh yeah. I like that a lot. Expecially the way the gold h/w works with the natural wood. That's on the list.

Reply:18 days 13 minutes ago
Member: Father Dougal Maguire.

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Being a fellow Irishman I thought you'd appreciate this, even though it is very elaborate but I like it..........

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Reply:17 days 16 hours 47 minutes ago
Member: Lurcher

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I saw that on my research. A Babylonian/Egyptian Ankh with Celtic knotwork? I cpuld never. Its hard enough having a very Goth/Metal Cort.

Reply:17 days 1 hours 58 minutes ago
Member: Father Dougal Maguire.

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Ancient pagan and middle eastern/ north African hand-me-downs aside, you not think the artwork makes up for the lack of historical/cultural understanding?? :-)

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Reply:17 days 23 hours 52 minutes ago
Member: farlow

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I've always liked the look of white LPs. Here's a vid of me playing a white Samick with gold hardware.

I also like the finish on my Ibz AG95 http://www.ibanez.com/HollowBodyGuitars/model-AG95

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Reply:17 days 19 hours 33 minutes ago
Member: this dying soul

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that's a killer looking guitar FDM :)

You know, it's really driving me nuts that I can't find the specific Les paul I was describing earlier. I have a pic of it in a book.

It's from the mid to late 70's... it basically a really ornate Les Paul Custom

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Reply:17 days 1 hours 34 minutes ago
Member: Father Dougal Maguire.

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Brian has a point there as to the Artists lack of context with his clash of tribal Celtic braiding and Egyptian symbolics, but I'm a sucker for black and grey on white.....

Nice chrome hardware would really kick it off better as if they added gold it would look far too tacky. If you have " in your face " paintwork, better to tone the rest down I feel or it starts to get too busy and over worked.

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Reply:16 days 4 hours 18 minutes ago
Member: Lurcher

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Don't get me wrong, I think it's a smashing work of art. Just that I couldn't hold my head up as a Pagan with such a mish-mash of cultures. Meanwhile I have found what I will order.
Let's see it I can work out how to put a nice pic down the side here.

Reply:16 days 3 hours 21 minutes ago
Member: Father Dougal Maguire.

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Nice quilted top........I was drawn towards it before the semi-naked lady in the background so that says a lot for the guitar!!!!

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Reply:15 days 23 hours 41 minutes ago
Member: farlow

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Speaking of semi-naked, this is one of those Magic pictures for Fred. If you stare at it long enough, you can see a boat in the background.

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Reply:15 days 12 hours 55 minutes ago
Member: Father Dougal Maguire.

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Boat??

I think I got the temporary blindness from the reflection of the sun on the water, yes thats the reason.....

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Reply:15 days 23 hours 28 minutes ago
Member: this dying soul

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that's Slash's original Les Paul from the Appetite era.

nice choice of colour.

Ironically this guitar revived people's interest in Gibson's Les Paul model is not a Gibson; but it's actually a Les Paul replica built by some luthier in Los Angeles.

....hey, wow! There IS a boat in the background... how'd they do that? ;)

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Reply:15 days 15 hours 42 minutes ago
Member: Lurcher

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I played a Gibson Slash model in the Summer. I thought it was one of those Signature Gibsins 'cos it was marked up €60 00. Then the store owner said it was a limited issue and €6000. It was nice enough but the one alongside it was better and was €4250. I have a built-in problem with paying 1750 for some scratches and wear marks. I can do that for free.
So now I just hope Tim can find a really nice bit of flame Maple. I've asked him to keep an eye open for some.

Reply:14 days 22 hours 52 minutes ago
Member: this dying soul

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I agree, if I want scratch marks and dings and general wear and tear on my guitar, I'll put it there myself or buy a used guitar that's been around the block a few times. Paying extra to have it done in the shop is rediculous.

Besides a guitar that looks like it was played to within an inch of it's life due to natural wear and tear is a great guitar... compare that guitar to another of the same make/model/year that is in pristine condition and chances are the reason the pristine guitar is in such good shape is because it either sounds or plays (or both) like crap compared to the beat up one.

Was the Slash model you speak of the one with the goldtop finish? I hear that the original guitar that's based on was amazing...to the point Slash was VERY upset when someone broke into his home studio and took that guitar of all the Les Pauls they could have taken.

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Reply:14 days 17 hours 11 minutes ago
Member: Lurcher

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The one I played was like a worn out Lemon Drop, but not as pretty as the Vintage Icon one. I'm pretty sure there was no colour burst on it though the shop lighting was not great.

Reply:13 days 22 hours 27 minutes ago
Member: this dying soul

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so there was another Slash model that more closely resembled his LP replica? man that must have sounded sweet.

Apparently he's retired that guitar from the stage after he could afford to get more guitars and reserved it for studio use; but I'm pretty sure it's not even a studio guitar now. Wonder what ever came of it?

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Reply:11 days 7 hours 20 minutes ago
Member: Brett Thomas

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fuck all those, go for a burst!!!! fire or cherry, it dosnt matter, or, if you feel like it, go goldtop~!!!!!!

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Reply:11 days 4 hours 54 minutes ago
Member: Lurcher

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Hahaha Brett. I did mention I've decided on a light goldburst. The Goldtop can wait for another big payday though the thought of a pair of Irongear Alnico V P90s causes multiple drooling.

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