Rehabbed a Japanese Les Paul Copy and Compared it to the Real Thing!

[@USBlues]

Those tops are either plywood or mdf pressed and formed to make the top. Some of them were covered in maple veneer as well.

[@spliffburger]

Love that you kept the old music store tag on the headstock! Most people would've stripped it off. Preserving history 🤙🏼

[@timsway]

cheers!

[@jasondorsey7110]

My '76 musicmaster bass still has the store sticker on the back of the headstock, Lynn's Guitars in Knoxville Tennessee. I think it adds something intangible to the vibe of it, though ironically if I bought something new I'd probably remove any and all stickers

[@DMARrecords]

​Holy crap, thats close to where i live, maybe i could see if the building is still there, extra points if it's the same store!

[@joshuabarron8535]

Nice, I myself own a 70s Univox Deluxe. It was Univox's copy of the Gibson Les Paul. Mine is burgundy, and it too has the dead space inside as well.

[@mattliebenau9083]

Nice work. That is how at least some of those Japanese “carved tops” were made. I think the tops were plywood glued up to the archtop shape then attached to the flat back with, as you said, a gap between in the middle. I’ve owned one or two and seen a few others like that.

[@jvin248]

Tim, leveling frets on these old guitars is the difference between them and Custom Shop playability, glad you did that work! .. I saw you shielded the control cavity but you should use shielded cable for long runs like the switch or to the jack. Twisting the wires looks good for photos but does nothing for shielding; otherwise we'd all have twisted pair wires from the guitar to the amp! If you don't have shielded cable handy, you can twist your wires and then wrap with hvac tape (Nashua Aluminum Flashing Tape is the one I use for all guitar shielding) making sure somewhere the wrap is grounded with the cavity shielding (screw, clamp, more tape, etc).. When flipping pickup hot/ground to get matching polarity, the bridge pickup should be the 'base' and flip the neck because more players use the bridge on high gain and lower noise comes from ground being the first wraps of the coil. Reviving old guitars is a great project, keep going.

[@sgsax]

Fantastic faithful and respectful preservation here. Every time I see this classic Epiphone body style, it takes me right back to my old blues band. The lead guitar player was a huge fan of Peter Green and Gary Moore. He would scream through his Epi and Mesa Boogie. Unfortunately, he just recently passed away, but hearing this sound brings back some great memories. Thanks for sharing!

[@timsway]

Sorry for your loss. I think a big part of our relationship with music gear is sentimental. At least mine is.

[@marcraygun6290]

Got a similar hondo 2 black beauty even has the split diamond inlay , its pretty nice

[@Bettys_Eldest]

In 1975 I spent £80 of my student grant cheque to buy a brand new Ibanez Sunburst Les Paul Standard. My first half decent guitar. It felt great to have a sunburst as all the other copies were black. It had a bolt on neck and weighed a ton, but played so easily and sounded, to my ears, impressive. I have a set of Lace Alumitone single coils in my Strat, I really like them, but the literature claims that they should not be mixed with other types of pickups. Seems to work just fine with yours though!

[@timsway]

Seems fine with the old dimarzio to me!

[@keithwindow4435]

Back in 1976 I bought a new CSL LP Deluxe gold top and it had a formed plywood top, it’s one of the guitars that I regret selling. I still have a mid 70s 6/12 string double neck that is also CSL branded, the body on that is a block/plywood mix with 3 piece maple necks.

[@jpkalishek4586]

My dad once had a copy of a Fender Strat he picked up in Japan while in the Navy in '64, and I've seen some rocker (80's Hair band) who prefered his copy (Looked exactly like my dad's) to his actual Classic late 60's Strat as it was easier to play. He said the strings were better placed for him on the copy.

[@frankiechan9651]

I wish I could find something like that for $20. I love that you tried to save as much of the original binding as possible. I wonder if some coffee or similar could age the newer binding a bit. The guitars sound a bit different - but I will make no call on whether either is "better". I'm sure your friend Mick could make any guitar sound good - so it then comes down "feel", to how much it fights you (unless you're Slash and you like a guitar that bites back) and whether it has some kind of mojo that inspires you. The lawsuit plays well enough - great job Tim - so there is a lot of the mentioned upsides for going out and wringing its neck in the pubs and clubs where it'd fit right in. And like you - I think there is value in the oddballs vs something that was manufactured in the thousands and a newly made one could almost be pulled off a shelf today.

[@timsway]

Right, it's not a real fair comparison because I put some pretty top shelf pickups in it since I didn't have the originals (and Mick could make a string on a broom stick sound beautiful). These copies were certainly mass produced, too, but it still falls firmly in the "oddball" category - where I love to be!

[@garagemonkeysan]

Nice video. Great restore. Fascinating story. Mahalo for sharing.

[@ProjectNarrowboat]

I've got an old CLS les Paul that's got the same slightly hollowed method of construction.

[@GaryArmstrongmacgh]

I just looked up these 'lawsuit' (Fujigen) guitars for sale. They go for crazy ass money! They actually look really nice too.

[@timsway]

yea, if it's an actual "lawsuit" guitar, some people will pay quite a bit for them

[@rollerdragon]

i always seem to chase 'obscure' but quality... aria pro II RS-750, vantage vp900, b.c. rich eagle 4str, dean 10 string bass [yeah, 10!!] a bob laramie 6 string carbon fretless [yes tim, another nutmegger]

[@sapelesteve]

Great work on that rehab guitar Tim! That guitar sounds terrific! Love how you took off with the real Gibson Les Paul at the end of the video. LOL 😂😂

[@timsway]

SHHH! He hasn't noticed yet...

[@davidmarkham4391]

I have one of these in the garage that I bought years ago that I just pulled out to start rehabbing as well! Looks great sir! 🤙

[@johnstone4411]

I own 2 1980 ish Japanese Les Pauls. Both are set neck and solid body. They are my favorite Guitars out of close to 20. Aria Pro 2 and Memphis both are standards and I am pretty sure from the same factory just a year or so apart and different brands. Same hardware and construction style.

[@Robster-Craw]

I just recently redid an aria pro 2 RS Stray Cat. Bad ass guitar!

[@timsway]

I had me a Memphis and a Hondo back in the day. I too regret selling them.

[@petercase9583]

Great show

[@gryzew]

One thing I never liked about the cheaper bolt-on copies of Gibson style guitars is that there is no wood separating the neck pocket and neck pickup cavity. I've seen LP copies and Gibson bass copies (ie. EB-3 style) where the string tension pulled the neck enough to press against and deform the metal cover of the neck pickup. They could've made a shorter neck heel and have a fretboard overhang for the last fret or two.

[@timsway]

I know EXACTLY what you are talking about!

[@gryzew]

@@timsway I also encountered one where between neck pickup route and neck pocket there was actually a thin sliver of plywood left out (half of the width of the pickup mounting ring, just enough to be covered by it) and of course this sliver got broken off by the pull on the neck. These could probably be converted to mitigate this issue, route out 1/2 inch of wood from the neck heel underneath the fretboard and put 1/2 inch block of solid hardwood in the neck pocket, glue it in tight with good glue coverage. I always have this feeling that they're not structurally proper with the neck being held in place just by the screws and not pressing against any wood, like it would in a Fender style neck pocket. :)

[@timsway]

@@gryzewI have a video fr a few years ago where I deal with some of that type of stuff in a fujigen. Terrible design.

[@fixins]

My first guitar was a Morris Les Paul knock-off. Had a bolt-on neck, 2 humbucker pickups and weighed more than a cast iron bathtub.

[@asadalligator4071]

FYI, fujigen isn't just some Japanese company that made clone guitars, they made OEM guitars for many companies back in the day, including Ibanez(as mentioned), Greco, Yamaha, and the made-in-Japan Fenders, which are extremely sought after nowadays. They still make guitars under their own name today! Pretty important company in the history of commercial solid-body electric guitars, but sadly not too well known.

[@MangledGuitars]

I'd love to find one. I had a Kent SG THAT WAS PHENOMENAL

[@timsway]

they're still all over Reverb, varying in prices and condition but still less than the brand name, for sure.

[@ralphbenites1312]

I have a Hondo less Paul copy and it sounds great

[@gustau4764]

I'll buy the one you took at the end, if it's up for sale 😉

[@GaryArmstrongmacgh]

I had a 'Marlboro' Les Paul I bought from the PX on Camp Pendleton. My father had given me a motorcycle. But my mom and stepdad, wisely, at the time were adamantly against me ever riding it. So I bargained that I'd sell it for the price of getting an amp and guitar. After watching this, I could kick myself for ever getting rid of that guitar. It was probably one of these 'lawsuit' Les Pauls. In actuality...a Fujigen Ibanez.

[@basuramanya]

Great video. Love these.

[@nostreamavailable9090]

Hey Tim, l have Nevada lp custom style with a bolt neck in a photoburst finish. I think mine dates back to the 90's and was sold through the Nevada electronics retailer. Snobs scoff at my guitar but l actually really like it, l swapped out it's trim pieces from black to cream and added gold reflector top knobs to give it an earlier look. I love my guitar, it's weird but cool feels like a tele but looks like a les Paul. Further to this guitar l have a later bolt neck silver burst standard style branded as a rockwood coming home soon that l sold and recently bought back, just waiting for my friend to ship it. Shame we aren't in the same country l would have sent mine to you for review. Best wishes from the North West of England Jay 🙏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿❤🇺🇸

[@timsway]

Mick sums up it best in the video: And it's not a big deal if you drop it." There's certainly a place for real fancy stuff, but it always seemed crazy to me to bring fragile, heirloom-priced gear to a barroom full of drunks. lol.

[@nostreamavailable9090]

@@timsway true that, l totally agree. I think also in the case of fender style guitars some of the copies are so similar you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference if you didn't look at the headstock , my first electric back in 1991 was a Hondo h76 strat a like , and on playing a fender it felt no different to the Hondo . So yeah, there's a definite case for the budget brands. I have a Westfield 335 dot copy in tobacco burst and whilst not expensive when new it doesn't feel or sound like a cheapo.

[@hurdygurdyguy1]

Mod Podge i great!! I use every now and then to add graphics to my cigar box guitars and as a sealer... the only downside is it's impossible to apply without leaving brushstrokes...

[@timsway]

truth. a sponge brush helps with that...

[@joeolivas]

The best thing about the Japanese copy is nobody bats an eye if you upgrade parts/make it better. I've got a 1980 Aria Pro II that weighs about as much as a sack of concrete and plays/sounds fantastic with new DiMarzios and locking tuners.

[@robinleebraun7739]

So what have we learned, Dorothy? First , those Ibanez type Japanese knockoffs were often better than authentic Gibsons and Fenders. Second, it’s about the setup and the neck and frets. Third, Tim Sway has become a Jedi Master (or possibly a Sith Lord, depending on whether he uses his considerable power for good or evil). Great job, Tim.

[@timsway]

Cheers. In case the slide of this video didn't make it clear, I consider myself more of a Vulcan High Priest or a Cardassian Gul than a Jedi Master or Sith Lord. Not to start a nerd fight here...

[@nostreamavailable9090]

You should put a mirror pickguard on it tim for a John Sykes kinda vibe

[@timsway]

Good idea. You should do that when you buy it from me :)

[@nostreamavailable9090]

@@timsway l wish l could buy it from you Tim, but I'm on hard times at the moment myself, l only ended up buying the silverburst back from my friend because he wanted a loan from me and knowing he probably wouldn't have been able to pay me back l agreed to take the guitar back.

[@davebauerart]

Really cool to see that guitar come back to life!

[@GianmarioScotti]

Excellent job, and great FF collage. How exactly do you create those trussrod covers? I assume it's the laser you mention later in the video.

[@timsway]

yes. the laser is such a great tool to easily do stuff like that in minutes instead of hours. I will note you should pay attention to the materials cut in it. The pickguard material is highly toxic when burned (how lasers cut) so make sure you are working with everything properly ventilated and carefully.

[@nostreamavailable9090]

You're a fine rythm guitarist by the way Tim 👍

[@davebauerart]

Heck I should look for one of these. Pickups really transform it.

[@timsway]

This one can be yours... :) newperspectivesmusic.com

[@sethp8947]

I think it could use some witch hat knobs instead of the domes

[@timsway]

I wanted to use speed knobs but didn't have any on hand. Trying not to buy while doing this :)

[@sethp8947]

@@timsway yeah I assumed these are use what you got type projects and I respect that, gotta get that spring cleaning going! Still a bad ass guitar though, and now you’ve got me wanting to snoop around my local yard sales 😂

[@thesausage351]

I’m a lefty and I really regret not buying a lawsuit era birth year LP clone. It was a Japanese manufacturer I’m sure it was a Hondo. It was coloured like an orange creamsicle too, it looked beautiful. I agonised over it for months but at the time I just couldn’t justify the $900aud he was asking and he wouldn’t drop the price so I let it go. I ended up buying a MIM Tele, which I adore and is a beautiful guitar and I paid less for it, plus an EMG active setup for it, but I still really want a birth year guitar. My dream would be a 78 Tele or a LP Jnr. Maybe one day I guess.

[@chadwilliams8583]

Loved this video!!

[@billstolz9587]

I bought a hondo sting with no electronics put original gibson wiring harness an repo pickups sounds like a Gibson

[@timsway]

probably plays pretty close to one, too.

[@Lordbaccus]

I LOVE this type of stuff

[@pmd7914]

What identified the guitar as being from the Fujigen factory? Was there something other than the selling shop's label? Thanks

[@timsway]

On this one there are no other markings left besides that label so one can't be 100% sure, but other guitars with the Atlas label have been confirmed from that factory and everything else about it leads me to believe it also came from that factory. Too old and too good to be Chinese.

[@markgordon4368]

I have a lawsuit on the slab 😂 how timely. This is a Japanese 12 string gibbson copy, loving this series of repairs, as mainly a repair guy it's really relatable, will bevgutted when you run out of dumpster guitars 😂

[@timsway]

There is no shortage of dumpster guitars, that's for sure. I was thinking about jumping in on a couple more modern, crappy Chinese ones. See if I can make them shine

[@markgordon4368]

@@timsway 🤣🤣🤘

[@FunsongsMusicByPeterRahill]

2nd subscriber LIKE, 37th view about to get rolling. FWIW: my first electric guitar was a 3-pick-up, cherry red, double cutaway Teisco my Dad brought back from his Navy tour in Japan. $28.50. Yikes - can you imagine; LOL?! So, I'm diggin' the content of this episode.

[@MrPhotodoc]

Got a $13 Stella Harmony recently at a Fort Collins thrift store. The Deal Train!

[@MattTee1975]

Anything coming outta the Fujijen factory from the era is better built that anything Gibson was/is making.

[@dzines65]

There was never a lawsuit. A cease and desist letter that’s as far as it ever went. Ibanez and others just stopped making them and greatly changed the design. The end.

[@timsway]

There was a lawsuit filed in 1977, not a cease and desist. But yes, it was settled out of court.

[@dzines65]

@@timsway Proof please?

[@dzines65]

“Lawsuit" is an overused and mostly inaccurate term that's supposed to suggest that the copy version was so close to the original that the original manufacturer filed suit. The fact is, however, that such litigation was exceedingly rare (most cases were resolved out of court with a simple cease-and-desist letter)

[@dzines65]

The actual "lawsuit" never really went to court and Gibson never actually won it. Gibson's complaint was over the headstock of ibanez guitars, which on some models had been using the open book look headstock. Gibson's lawyers had failed to notice that Ibanez had actually changed the headstock a couple of years before; the matter was settled out of court. But the whole thing has been expanded by some folks to refer to that period in time; no guitars other than Ibanez were involved and no part of the guitar other than the headstocks were involved. No money changed hands for so called damages so hence no actual lawsuit.

[@timsway]

Yea, that's exactly what I said. They filed a lawsuit, but it was settled. @@dzines65

[@brettbunke9096]

Better made the almost every Gibson

[@gsbguitarsgsb679]

That lp is probably worth $10,000 or more now.

[@timsway]

I've seen some asking prices that high! But realistically I'd say maybe more like $5k ish?

[@jamesonpace726]

Just goes to show - 'sumpin. Folks who whine about where a guitar is made I think, don't really play much guitar....

[@ricos1497]

I've been copying all new perspectives music guitars and selling them here in Scotland for a third of the price. I keep a child in my basement to do most of the work and keep costs low. I've had to extend my patio a little to bury some of the previous "workers", but otherwise business is doing great.

[@timsway]

LOL. I would say that is the American way, but it sounds like it's also the Scottish way? Point taken and understood, but to be fair, the Japanese factories back then were not like the Chinese factories of today. I actively remind people who brag about getting such a great guitar for $100 (or any cheap import product): If you get something so good for soooo much less than seems possible, that means many people were exploited and suffered for you to have it.

[@clubprojects6923]

Gibson lost the suit. The Japanese Luther's had been making copies and interpretations of LP's for years and their court held that Gibson waited too long.

[@johnwhitaker545]

Were any drugs inside that guitar?

[@timsway]

I'll never tell

[@BootleggerPhil]

Tim, Tim, Tim... More research, Man. Don’t perpetuate the myth; you’re better than that.

[@timsway]

Is there some glaring omission in my brief recap or the "lawsuit"? kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3ekZWifZ5ilgdEsi=EWOjPtbjLJVtPaNO&t=265 This is a build video, not a history video. I think I did a pretty good job explaining it in about a minute.

[@darrellkelly7614]

Sorry bub NOT a lawsuit guitar. It's a cheap Japanese job.

[@timsway]

yes. we discuss this in the video about how many of the era are erroneously called "lawsuit guitars" but only a specific few headstocks were actually involved in the lawsuit.