Epiphone Les Paul Special-II GT | Part 4

Related Posts

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Les Paul Special-II GT | Remedial Work

Now that we've had a close look at all there is to see on this Epiphone Les Paul Special-II GT, let's dive into remedial work, as it were. We'll begin with the headstock and fretboard, then. The tuners were serviced, and the headstock face cleaned and treated with Gibson Guitar Polish. The dry and grimy fretboard, meanwhile, was cleaned with naphtha and conditioned with lemon oil. As for the frets, I'm glad to say that no fretwork was necessary. All they required was cleaning and polishing.

Fretboard Conditioning in Progress

I'm sure you're aware of the sad condition of most of the hardware, as highlighted in previous posts. The first remedial step was disassembling the components that could be, and soaking the lot in an ultrasonic bath at 50°C for two 10-minute sessions. They came out looking less cruddy, as I'd hoped, and were set aside to dry in a baking tray. Following this was further cleaning, polishing, and a lube job.

Ultrasonic Bath

Ultrasonic Cleaner Set to 50°C

Drying the Hardware Naturally

Pickups and Bridge Reinstalled

Cleaned and Lubed Bridge

Electronics work was basically servicing all existing components, and wiring in a new Epiphone three-way toggle switch and Switchcraft #11 output jack. There was no need to replace any wiring, as the existing cables were of sufficient length. I did, however, take the liberty of replacing the nuts and washers of both the master volume and tone pots.

Master Volume Pot After Servicing

New Epiphone Toggle Switch Wired In

Master Tone/Kill Switch After Servicing

New Switchcraft Output Jack Wired In

Rewiring Completed

Nuts and Washers Replaced

Existing Jack Plate Retained

The owner has also requested that the vintage-style tremolo bridge be blocked, as he does not use it at all. No problemo, sir. I've retained all three springs and screwed in the spring claw as far as it will go, effectively decking the trem. For good measure, tapered blocks of meranti have also been installed in front of and behind the tremolo block.

Blocked Tremolo Bridge

This leaves us with the rather daunting task of replacing the missing control cavity cover. Now, it would simply be too time-consuming and expensive to source one online, believe you me. Thank goodness, then, for the many scrap pieces of pickguard material lying around the shop. My first attempt at handcrafting a cover ended up in the trash, and what you see below is the second. It's far from perfect, but should do just fine.

Copper Foil Shielding

Control Cavity Cover Installed