Finally got a good pic of my Les Paul

Teledriver

Teledriver

Country Gent
Feb 12, 2011
1,160
Iowa City, IA
** This may be a non-excitable thread, but I just had to show pride in my Number 1 being finally shot as it really is.
I've tried a Kodak Digital camera ($100 at Walgreens many years ago), I've tried a cell phone, I've tried a smartphone (Apple 7+), but I think I finally got a decent pic of my Les Paul through my Lenovo tablet, bought a year ago.
Kodak digital camera-
guitars 017_99.jpg

Apple smart phone-


IMG_0727.jpg
Lenovo tablet-
tablet_20230310_170517_557.jpg
I think the last one the Lenovo tablet pic, is where my Les Paul is at.
I didn't have to mess with color or contrast or exposure or balance or anything in Photoshop with the Lenovo shot. The shot is just a 60 old-fashioned bulb under a beige lamp shade about 10 feet away, and a LED desk lamp sitting on my computer chair point up towards it.

edited for spelling (!!!)
 
Last edited:
Maguchi

Maguchi

Gretschie
Aug 11, 2022
428
Lalaland
Teledriver said:
** This may be a non-excitable thread, but I just had to show pride in my Number 1 being finally shot as it really is.
I've tried a Kodak Digital camera ($100 at Walgreens many years ago), I've tried a cell phone, I've tried a smartphone (Apple 7+), but I think I finally got a decent pic of my Les Paul through my Lenovo tablet, bought a year ago.
Kodak digital camera-
View attachment 204218

Apple smart phone-


View attachment 204220
Lenovo tablet-
View attachment 204222
I think the last one the Lenovo tablet pic, is where my Les Paul is at.
I didn't have to mess with color or contrast or exposure or balance or anything in Photoshop with the Lenovo shot. The shot is just a 60 old-fashioned bulb under a beige lamp shade about 10 feet away, and a LED desk lamp sitting on my computer chair point up towards it.

edited for spelling (!!!)
Click to expand...
Thanks. That's a beaut! Nice example of a Les Paul. I love the subtle, understated grain of the top. Too much flame has never been something I go for.
 
GlenP

GlenP

Country Gent
Double Platinum Member
Jul 23, 2019
2,848
WA
I think you figured out how to get the lighting just right to capture the wood grain for that last photo!
 
Ricochet

Ricochet

Senior Gretsch-Talker
Gold Supporting Member
Nov 13, 2009
23,805
Monkey Island
Cool! All vastly different lighting conditions. The 3rd pic has a high aesthetic aspect bordering on the theatrical(cause of the dramatic one spot lightning). It totally removes the gloss made apparent with the 2nd pic, so still unsure which is the real LP.
The 1st pic sits somewhere in between but had to be doctored a bit for overexposure.
I just did this on an iphone7 and is probably the pic I want to see in a for sale ad. 😎

DF5247B6-2378-4664-9EC3-02FF5750645B.jpeg
 
Teledriver

Teledriver

Country Gent
Feb 12, 2011
1,160
Iowa City, IA
@NJDevil
I've been reluctant to say the following, and was gonna do a PM to you but what the heck??? Life is short...I turned 55 about a month ago, so sue me....


Take yourself back to 2006 and 2007 and 2008....
I can remember it like it was almost yesterday....
(que the wavy lines of a flashback)....

[from a pre-recorded Notepad memo for this post].....

Well, to be honest, it isn't a Gibson. I made her.
I couldn't/can't afford a real live Gibson, so I made my own! It was a labor of love that cost me a whole year, and taught me many many things (inlays and binding for example!). I started this project around Labor Day 2007 and finished around Labor Day 2008 (!!)
**I made this Les Paul back in the glory days of 2008**.

All the rage back then was for Doppelgangers- the official name for counterfeit Gibson Les Pauls. At the same time was a strong desire for relic guitars (50s Broadcasters, etc).

Thanks to the MyLesPaul.com, ReRanch.com forums and others, I was able to get plans for a '59 replica. Hand-carved (with scars from a chisel to prove it!) on selected-by-me-maple from a local supplier (to look similar to Jimmy Page's Number 1 '59) and mahogany neck- and body- blanks from StewMac, as well as a pre-slotted rosewood fretboard, I built and assembled my Doppelganger. It is to 1959 spec, using Gibson parts for the ABR-1 (nickel-plated) and Tailpiece (aluminum nickel-plated), jackplate and screws. The Tuners are (now-no-longer-made)Tone Pros Klusson copies (killer, btw). Pickup rings are (VERY hard to get) light-aged CreamTone. I'd never done inlays, but what the hell? eBay got me the 'Gibson' mother-of-pearl and '59-accurate fretboard inlays. A great guy on the ReRanch forum named George made me the "Les Paul model" decal, which I imbedded under clear gloss Watco nitro. All of that was on a eBay-acquired holly veneer (like the original Gibsons) applied over the headstock. That was done in black StewMac nitro and Watco gloss.
**Of note is that I stupidly added a thin shim (on the headstock-stock end) at the last minute prior to gluing the long-tenon neck, back in 2008. I would regret that. The angle was slightly off/shallow, [the bridge could go no lower) and in October of 2019 I laboriously removed the glued-in neck, removed the shim and did a little sanding to get the correct 4.5-degree neck angle. I sweated off about 20 pounds, but it only took about 2 hours start to finish, with some worrisome finish issues, but...
She has Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers, with 50's wiring, and a MojoTone vintage-taper neck volume pot. Tusq nut, and CTS pots where else. Schaller straplocks, for the tone...
Even though it's a Doppelganger, I left enough evidence that she isn't a real live Gibson. The thickness of the body binding, for example, is more reminissent of the 70s perhaps. I have other clues here and there that this isn't a 'real-live-Gibson'. I've let my wife know too, and all of her kids know too, so it should never be sold as anything other than a replica.
That said, I would whole-heartedly stack this guitar up against any Gibson Les Paul for sound and playabilty, fit and finish.
 
Teledriver

Teledriver

Country Gent
Feb 12, 2011
1,160
Iowa City, IA
Materials and pickups and parts cost me, in 2007-8, around $1500 total.
And yes I would stack this guitar up against any Gibson LP. Unplugged it just has such a resonance...and I totally love the Seth Lover PAFs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


Latest posts

Top