Regarding the veneers, it was probably originally made to be a sunburst, with "maple" on the top, with Mahogany on the back. Evidently it didn't pass an inspection to finish it with a burst, so they painted it.
FYI - Today's "poly's" don't come off with stripper. You need to either use a heat gun or to sand as you did. you didn't do anything wrong with the remover.
I just got a Epi Special on ebay for a hundred bucks plus reasonable shipping to do the P90 conversion. It gets here Friday. I'm not planning on stripping the finish unless necessary (fit of the new pickups- and there are Humbucker fit P90s if that what it takes). It's a cheap guitar, so I don't know everything I'm going to do. Photos showed it to be in great shape, but I know original pickups aren't that great, and I have a Gretch Electromatic with cheap humbuckers already. The only P90 guitar I have is a 1954 Gibson ES125 with the pickup at the neck. It's great, but a different animal entirely. Your project was a labor of love, and it came out great. Thanks for the vid.
Did a very similar thing with an epi lp special p90, made a modified lp jr pickgurd and relocated controls. new bridge, nut, tuners, etc, and i have it tuned down to c-standard as my "pseudo-baritone" guitar. great job!
Always wanted to do the same thing to my Special II but since it was kind of my first guitar I was always scared of messing it up. Got a second one yesterday and while playing the project, I found you're video. Yours turned out pretty looking. Can't wait to find out what's behind that thick black paint of mine.
So what about this makes it a Special to Junior conversion besides the pickguard? The Juniors I know have 1 pick up usually in the bridge with a few exceptions of neck pick up models. My two Epi’s are a 2011 bolt on Junior and a 2021 Les Paul Special I
I'm not sure what the official answer is, but it is my understanding that a Junior has 1 pick up and no neck binding. A Special has neck binding and 2 pick ups. I have a Gibson Special and Junior and used to own an Epiphone Les Paul Junior (1 humbucker). SGs seem to be similar. My SG Juniors have no binding and 1 pick up. My SG Special has 2 P90s and neck binding.
My guess is the veneers on the top and back of the guitar are factory standards. They are all made the same to reduce cost. So, a solid color guitar has the same body veneers as a Sunburst. Anyway, I enjoyed the video very much. I have a USA Hammer Special that was in a fire in a store. I had to reset the neck because it got so hot the glue broke down into mummy dust. I am converting it to a Jr by plugging the neck pickup cavity with mahogany. It’s not a very long tenon so I’m hoping all that extra support over the tenon will help the sustain, etc. I also hope the neck glues weren’t damaged too much. Thanks...
Your correct. I'll bet it's to keep the finish looking uniform; It looks like it was made with 6 pieces of wood and they may absorb paint differently. The caps make for a uniform finish. I'll bet the "mahogany" is Okoume ; Cheap mahogany relative.
It actually comes off fairly easily with fine sandpaper. I think I used 1000 grit for most of my neck, which was way overkill in retrospect, but worked out fine
@@Patrick_Gibney oh wauw, 1000 grit is really fine. I was thinking to start with 180 and move up as the paint comes off to get a smooth feel on the neck
I’m impressed! You really did a good job! Who cares about the flubs?! Really, it gives the guitar more character! 🤘🤘 I may grab an Epiphone and do something similar. I have a problem with them not being better. I feel like Gibson and Epiphone should be able to produce killer products that don’t cost and arm and a leg but still be updated for today’s players.
$125 at a pawn shop...Guitar Center used to blow these things out for $79 brand new out the door. You could have talked the pawn shop down to like $50-75.
The original Les Paul Junior was a single P90 guitar with a wraparound bridge so the only thing about this mod that is even slightly Junior like is the odd pickguard change. It looks a bit weird with the volume knob in the pickguard and the tone off it but strangely I'd say it is an improvement over the look of the pickguard that is on an actual Gibson Special... at least to my taste. Nice job making the guitar your own even if it was far from perfect, the final result is a unique instrument that looks pretty cool.
The reason the strippers didn't work is because it is NOT polyurethane. It is a polyester based finish, aka:plastic. This is the reason that Epiphone's don't resonate like a Gibson. The only Epi that is close to a Gibson is the Billie Joe Armstrong LP Jr. It has a thinner satin finish and is a very nice guitar. A heat gun used carefully takes the finish off fast. Use a plastic putty knife. Do NOT stop the heat in one spot or it will cause issues.
this looks great. as a person who knows absolutely nothing about building guitars and this whole process, how hard would it have been to convert the pick up cavities for p90s? is it even doable without spending a fortune?
As a person who knows slightly less than nothing, I think it's doable! Looks like there's conversion kits on ebay: www.ebay.com/itm/142722840814 Other websites say you might need to chisel/route out the holes, but I don't see any reason you can't get the job done with hand tools
You could always go the route I'm going, I'm getting Seymore Duncan Phat cats which are already humbucker sized. I think DiMarzio makes some good humbucker sized P90's as well.
Great job looks awesome.. but doesn't the lp junior have only 1 pup... in that regard.. just eyeballing those PUPs .. an upgrade may make it even better.. but if it sounds good to you as is.. then naturally.. let it be!
The veneer is so the different grains of the butcher(ed) block body , and seams , do not show up on front and back thru paint An even finis is then achieved Ancient Chinese Secret
That looks really bad honestly. Maybe you could do a 3 color sunburst like that Fender does on strats to cover up the back of the body instead of this because the sides especially look really bad.
@@jerbear7952 when it comes to socializing, if you can't say you don't like something in result everyone would use you. Other than that I cannot see how not liking a paint job means someone doesn't have any social skills.
Regarding the veneers, it was probably originally made to be a sunburst, with "maple" on the top, with Mahogany on the back. Evidently it didn't pass an inspection to finish it with a burst, so they painted it.
That makes sense.. thanks for clearing that up
We’ll leave it at your learning. Thank You for the VDO.
FYI - Today's "poly's" don't come off with stripper. You need to either use a heat gun or to sand as you did. you didn't do anything wrong with the remover.
I thought this was being converted to a Junior? It still has two pickups.
Turned out very well! Lovely!
Thank you! Cheers!
Awesome choice on the colour scheme - I would have gone the same route. That natural neck looks amazing!
I just got a Epi Special on ebay for a hundred bucks plus reasonable shipping to do the P90 conversion. It gets here Friday. I'm not planning on stripping the finish unless necessary (fit of the new pickups- and there are Humbucker fit P90s if that what it takes). It's a cheap guitar, so I don't know everything I'm going to do. Photos showed it to be in great shape, but I know original pickups aren't that great, and I have a Gretch Electromatic with cheap humbuckers already. The only P90 guitar I have is a 1954 Gibson ES125 with the pickup at the neck. It's great, but a different animal entirely. Your project was a labor of love, and it came out great. Thanks for the vid.
Sounds like a great plan .
Did a very similar thing with an epi lp special p90, made a modified lp jr pickgurd and relocated controls. new bridge, nut, tuners, etc, and i have it tuned down to c-standard as my "pseudo-baritone" guitar.
great job!
That sounds like an interesting one!!!!
A nice adventure! Good to know what surprises come up sanding the body and neck. Reasons for me to go for a better body, which avoids a lot of work.
Always wanted to do the same thing to my Special II but since it was kind of my first guitar I was always scared of messing it up.
Got a second one yesterday and while playing the project, I found you're video.
Yours turned out pretty looking. Can't wait to find out what's behind that thick black paint of mine.
So what about this makes it a Special to Junior conversion besides the pickguard? The Juniors I know have 1 pick up usually in the bridge with a few exceptions of neck pick up models.
My two Epi’s are a 2011 bolt on Junior and a 2021 Les Paul Special I
I'm not sure what the official answer is, but it is my understanding that a Junior has 1 pick up and no neck binding. A Special has neck binding and 2 pick ups. I have a Gibson Special and Junior and used to own an Epiphone Les Paul Junior (1 humbucker). SGs seem to be similar. My SG Juniors have no binding and 1 pick up. My SG Special has 2 P90s and neck binding.
Hi ,you have a pdf to this pickguard?
If you can cut a pick guard, you can draw a pick guard
Very cool. On your next one try to worry less about blemishes - like the sticker on the back - and I think you’ll find it more freeing 🤘
Good for you man awesome. Punk for life
My guess is the veneers on the top and back of the guitar are factory standards. They are all made the same to reduce cost. So, a solid color guitar has the same body veneers as a Sunburst. Anyway, I enjoyed the video very much. I have a USA Hammer Special that was in a fire in a store. I had to reset the neck because it got so hot the glue broke down into mummy dust. I am converting it to a Jr by plugging the neck pickup cavity with mahogany. It’s not a very long tenon so I’m hoping all that extra support over the tenon will help the sustain, etc. I also hope the neck glues weren’t damaged too much. Thanks...
Your correct. I'll bet it's to keep the finish looking uniform;
It looks like it was made with 6 pieces of wood and they may absorb paint differently. The caps make for a uniform finish. I'll bet the "mahogany" is Okoume ; Cheap mahogany relative.
left hand body blank flipped upside down maybe?
Im planning on standing the neck down as well. How hard was it to remove the paint?
It actually comes off fairly easily with fine sandpaper. I think I used 1000 grit for most of my neck, which was way overkill in retrospect, but worked out fine
@@Patrick_Gibney oh wauw, 1000 grit is really fine. I was thinking to start with 180 and move up as the paint comes off to get a smooth feel on the neck
youre not the only one with that citrist paint stipper. it did nothing for me too. that exact bottle.
Maybe the original finish was some kinda of epoxy or two-part system, too tough for the stripper to handle.
Could be!
I took a Maestro LP Jr. and made it into a replica relic Gibson LP Jr. and put in a P90 dog ear pickup.
I just bought a Maestro LP jr to mod up. Did that dog ear fit right in, or did you need to do any routing?
I’m impressed! You really did a good job! Who cares about the flubs?! Really, it gives the guitar more character! 🤘🤘
I may grab an Epiphone and do something similar. I have a problem with them not being better. I feel like Gibson and Epiphone should be able to produce killer products that don’t cost and arm and a leg but still be updated for today’s players.
$125 at a pawn shop...Guitar Center used to blow these things out for $79 brand new out the door. You could have talked the pawn shop down to like $50-75.
🤦
@@Patrick_Gibney did it come with a hard case?
Times have changed dude. You can’t find any of these used for $180-200 anymore
It would be better if you put a concentric 500/500 pots to mimic the gibson standards 2 volume 2 tone config
The original Les Paul Junior was a single P90 guitar with a wraparound bridge so the only thing about this mod that is even slightly Junior like is the odd pickguard change. It looks a bit weird with the volume knob in the pickguard and the tone off it but strangely I'd say it is an improvement over the look of the pickguard that is on an actual Gibson Special... at least to my taste.
Nice job making the guitar your own even if it was far from perfect, the final result is a unique instrument that looks pretty cool.
The reason the strippers didn't work is because it is NOT polyurethane. It is a polyester based finish, aka:plastic. This is the reason that Epiphone's don't resonate like a Gibson. The only Epi that is close to a Gibson is the Billie Joe Armstrong LP Jr. It has a thinner satin finish and is a very nice guitar. A heat gun used carefully takes the finish off fast. Use a plastic putty knife. Do NOT stop the heat in one spot or it will cause issues.
Too bad there wasn't a playing test! Loved the video
Why didn’t Epiphone ever put a pick guard with that that would’ve looked so cool with it
this looks great. as a person who knows absolutely nothing about building guitars and this whole process, how hard would it have been to convert the pick up cavities for p90s? is it even doable without spending a fortune?
As a person who knows slightly less than nothing, I think it's doable!
Looks like there's conversion kits on ebay: www.ebay.com/itm/142722840814
Other websites say you might need to chisel/route out the holes, but I don't see any reason you can't get the job done with hand tools
You could always go the route I'm going, I'm getting Seymore Duncan Phat cats which are already humbucker sized. I think DiMarzio makes some good humbucker sized P90's as well.
How is that a Junior with 2 pickups?
Great job looks awesome.. but doesn't the lp junior have only 1 pup... in that regard.. just eyeballing those PUPs .. an upgrade may make it even better.. but if it sounds good to you as is.. then naturally.. let it be!
The veneer is so the different grains of the butcher(ed) block body , and seams , do not show up on front and back thru paint
An even finis is then achieved
Ancient Chinese Secret
Makes sense!
Liked and subscribed ❤
It's mahogany wood with a veneer on it. That's why stripper doesn't work!
So you turned a Special into a ...Special? Why call it a Jr?
I see a lot of Specials listed as Junior Specials and vice versa. There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding of what these designations mean.
wood in this specials is always different sometimes its plywood
Looks very pro. Inspiring video.
Agree . Excellent job . It looks amazing
Very inspiring. I have a similar guitar that I’ve thought about doing a mod on . Thx for the video . It looks amazing. Much continued success.
Great video! I have an Epiphone Les Paul Standard.
If your guitar sounds anything like mine. I think you will be very pleased.
Time Lapse Sanding is generally fine if you are talking Over, but not if your voice is a Chipmunk.
Oh ok
Not a steal , but , rock on
Polly is more of a plastic than it is a paint ! That's why your paint stripper don't work
That's not a steal. I got mine for 40 English pounds.
That looks really bad honestly. Maybe you could do a 3 color sunburst like that Fender does on strats to cover up the back of the body instead of this because the sides especially look really bad.
Dude, get some social skills
@@jerbear7952 when it comes to socializing, if you can't say you don't like something in result everyone would use you. Other than that I cannot see how not liking a paint job means someone doesn't have any social skills.
Why would you call this a Jr? No dog ear p90. Two pickups. Not a Jr.
Hope you voted republican 👍 but if not it's your choice God bless America
So you went from a Les Paul Special to a Les Paul Special! I guess I somehow missed the part where you converted it to a single pickup P-90 LP Junior!