1977 Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty

Here’s a premium example of a guitar’s owner not having a guitar stand nor the right size drill bits for the strap button holes throughout it’s life.  I’ve had friends comment on this guitar looking like it was walked on with golf shoes.  I agree.

At this point I’ve already filled nine holes with custom-made maple rods and Titebond wood glue.  Razor sharp micro chisels are used to get them flush with the existing wood, but without removing any more paint.

Gibson ebony touch up enamel is used to start filling the paint chips.

After the first layer has dried, this is how it starts to take shape.  There will be three more coats.

This is after the second coat.

Although I didn’t get a shot of the top prior to sanding, it was pretty faded and grimey.   This entire guitar got sanded without any hardware on.

Here’s the end results:

Nice original brass nut with bound head stock.  It doesn’t get any more dressed up than that.

We polished everything right down to the pickup selector switch on this one.

Although serial numbers for Gibson can be a bit inconsistent, at this time the had settled on what’s still in place today: the first and fifth number indicate the year of construction (‘77), and the three numbers in between mark which day of the year it left the factory.  This guitar was made on November 29, 1977.  

And here’s the completed guitar before the strap button gets reinstalled, next to it’s prior state: