Some progress, some questions answered

I have had a few questions in regards to this project I’d like to address.

What kind of Guitar is this?
This is a 1974 Gibson Les Paul ‘55 Special Reissue. This is an example of the first year of the re-issued Les Paul Special. The 1975 and later models have the Tuneomatic bridges and this model has the wrap around bridge.

Why not graft the headstock to a new neck?
While this would seem like the easier option, I wanted to preserve as much of the original Guitar as I can. It’s not about an actual by the book restoration to factory original for me. This Guitar is nearly 45 years old (at this moment) and deserves to be played again.

Are you going to refinish the guitar to original specs?
No. This guitar has earned the scars, bumps, bruises and nicks over the years. I also do not have any of the original pieces beyond the body, neck, fretboard, frets and nut so an accurate restoration is not in the cards for this guitar.

Have you discovered anything more on the history of this guitar?
Unfortunately, no. So far there are two stories surrounding this guitar (as outlined in my first excerpt about Lola), and I have reached out to my connection who has put this guitar in the lime light as a local circuit rhythm guitarist owned and played who’s nephew hacked to this condition; and also to the shop my friend had pointed out as the guitar being owned by an old man who left it to his grandson that put the guitar under a belt sander.

Now for progress!!

I wanted to try to match the age of the wood used in this guitar and found some local reclaimed mahogany. In the following pictures, I have hand shaped and created a truss rod channel plug that will be glued in place and cut back to accept a truss rod once again. I will NOT be using the factory style truss rod as there is really no room in the neck to do so. Instead I am going to use a dual action, two rod style truss rod. This will allow me to use a shallower depth on this application and still be able to have the truss rod be adjustable.

Why is the strip mint green? Well, this donor wood is Mahogany reclaimed from cabinetry that was built into a nunnery in the 1940's. I decided to leave it as until its glued and shaved down.

After a solid fit, it'll trim down nicely.

I made sure I kept some wood dust to tint my glue when I glue the section into the truss rod channel. 

This will complete nicely... Can't wait. 

Lola; the work begins

I am going to kick this update off with pics. You will see some gruesome pictures against a defenseless musical instrument. I caution you, this is one of the most assaulted guitars I've seen.

As you can see, the headstock finish appears to be melted. But still has character. 

The fretboard is seasoned, the binding aged, yet the frets will be replaced. I am going to do the fret replacement without sanding the fretboard. The fret markers are also in excellent shape. 

Here is where you can start to see the damage. I am a huge fan of the patina, but the holes through the body in the switch, neck pickup and control knobs foreshadow so much more than you can imagine...

The patina continues. The wood grain is magnificently aged. 

Here is where the damage becomes more apparent. The neck was sanded through to the truss rod, the heel is now non existent, the body was sanded down and wood filler added to the body which was then taped down for some reason. 

As the pictures roll on, you can see more of the damage. 

That is the input jack to give an idea of how massacred this guitar is. 

A picture of the process in removing the fretboard. 

And with the fretboard removed, you can see the darker piece of wood in the middle I will be routing out to fully remove the truss rod. 

With the fretboard removed, I clamped it to a level to keep it from warping as it cooled down. 

As you can see, the scars she wears tells the story of her life. I imagine besides the obvious assault she suffered, she has had a rather hard life. 

First few passes with the router in the attempt to remove the truss rod. The MDF board was there to guide the router in a straight line. At this point, taking a router to the neck was a test of patience and will. It seemed so hard to further disfigure her to make her better. 

So these ending shots... I routed through as this seemed the best way to fix the damage. The Gibson style truss rod bows and in my attempt to fix the neck, I will fill this section with a strip of mahogany and after it cures, I will re-route the excess and put in a double action truss rod. This pains me to move from the original style set up, but I want this guitar to play again. 

Till next time...