This was a fun partial restoration project completed today. It's an Orville (Japan) Les Paul that weighs a tonne. It had been through a few owners & surprisingly in a good condition (lightly used).
This is pretty much the reason why this guitar is so heavy; there's a sumptuous amount of maple on top of the main mahogany body.
Why did I remove the pickup mounting rings? This is the reason. Folks, for vintage specs instruments, especially the Les Paul variety, the correct mounting ring length is less than 9cm. Guitars with modern, wide necks (eg. Jackson), it's a little longer (9.1cm). Apparently, the incorrect version was installed in this guitar causing material compression as seen above.
Also folks, it is my habit to reinforce the pickup coil tape with a new layer for older pickups. During installation / removal from the guitar, the sides might rub against the mounting ring repeatedly causing some wires to be exposed. In terms of looks, it is more presentable should you decide to sell the pickup away. The Seymour Duncan pickups in this guitar: JB (b) / Jazz (n).
Finally, a fresh set of Darco (10s) strings. Summary of other maintenance procedures not visually documented:
- Replaced tune-o-matic / hard tail bridge. New set of GOTOH parts.
- Replaced tuners / machine heads. Also a new set of GOTOH units. Three out of the six were wobbly & could not hold tuning well.
- Replaced all rusty & rounded pickup mounting screws.
- Fret polish.
- Cleaned & re-moisturized fretboard. The amount of gunk removed... OMG.
- Thorough wipe down & polish of body, neck & headstock.
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