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Topic: 1956 Gibson Century Deluxe -- recent rescue |
Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 13 Jun 2022 1:18 pm |
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Just strung this one up a couple of weeks ago:
Looked like this when purchased in the autumn of 2020:
The carcass was pretty well hammered. It was stripped of most everything useful, and even some that was not (such as the apparent leg socket attachments):
Fortunately, a halfway decent fretboard, nut, and the backplate for the control cavity were included:
Apparently there was no easy way to remove the threaded inserts for the stoptail bridge mounting studs:
After hours and hours of stripping, filling, sanding, sealing, priming, painting*, buffing, polishing, etc, the new fittings and electronics were installed:
The stoptail bridge was custom machined by Forumite Dave Peterson in Arizona (thanks, Dave!), the pickup is a custom Sentell P-90, the pots are 500k CTS, the tone caps are orange drops, and the output jack is a Switchcraft #11. The jackplate and gold reflector knobs are from StewMac. Gotoh SD-90 white plastic-buttoned tuners were installed:
The Century Deluxe sounds awesome and it plays like a dream. Although it definitely looks better from a distance than it does up close, I'm reasonably pleased with the results of my first endeavor with refinishing. I learned a lot; the next one will (hopefully) be better. In any event, most would agree that it looks better than it did when I got it.
*For those watching at home, the paint is Lake Placid Blue Metallic, as originally suggested by Forumite Steve Paris in Los Angeles. LPBM is one of the original "Fender Custom Colors" from the early 1960s, reportedly first used by General Motors on the fine Fisher bodies of their 1958 Cadillacs. |
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Bill Groner
From:
QUAKERTOWN, PA
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Posted 13 Jun 2022 2:53 pm
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Beautiful job Jack...........just beautiful!
ENJOY!
_________________
Currently own, 6 Groner-tone lap steels, one 1953 Alamo Lap steel, Roland Cube, Fender Champion 40 |
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Chris Clem
From:
California, USA
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Posted 13 Jun 2022 5:08 pm
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[quote]
"Apparently there was no easy way to remove the threaded inserts for the stoptail bridge mounting studs" [quote]
Heat the insert with a soldering iron . Cut a piece of 1/4" dowel rod about 1/2" long. Put it in the hole. Then screw in the screw, when it hits the dowel it will pull the insert straight out. There is usually a ground wire in there too. |
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Frank James Pracher
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 13 Jun 2022 6:19 pm
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Very Fine! Love the color!
_________________
"Don't be mad honey, but I bought another one" |
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Greg Forsyth
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 13 Jun 2022 7:01 pm
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| Fine looking rescue Jack. Were you able to reuse the treaded inserts? Also, what's the string spacing? |
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Travis Brown
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 13 Jun 2022 7:30 pm
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| Amazing work |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 14 Jun 2022 7:03 am
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Jack,
You did good! 
Erv |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 14 Jun 2022 8:14 am
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Thanks for the kind words of support, everyone!
Some have inquired about the wiring specifics. I followed this wiring diagram from Forumite Steve Ahola (thanks, Steve!) for a 1948 Gibson Century, except I substituted the more common standard audio taper pots for the specified reverse audio pots:
| Chris Clem wrote: |
There is usually a ground wire in there too. |
Yes indeed, Chris. The plain, unjacketed ground wire is clearly visible here inside the control cavity:
| Greg Forsyth wrote: |
| Were you able to reuse the treaded inserts? Also, what's the string spacing? |
Greg, since the inserts were firmly seated and had the proper threads to match modern studs, I did indeed reuse them. The spacing is the same as most 6-string Gibson lap steels (aside from those fitted at the factory with a humbucking pickup) -- approximately 59mm at the bridge and 47mm at the nut.
Many people are unaware that the P-90 pickup that Gibson installed in most of their Hawaiian guitars after 1951 had poles spaced wider (58mm) than the pickups installed in their Spanish guitars (52mm). |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 14 Jun 2022 8:22 am
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| Great job, Jack. Another raped steel saved from the scrap heap. |
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Joe Elk
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 15 Jun 2022 10:21 am
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Nice Job !!!!!
Joe Elk Central Ohio |
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Samuel Phillippe
From:
Douglas Michigan, USA
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Posted 15 Jun 2022 10:48 am
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with all the time you must have placed on this rescue did you ever find time to play/practice?
Great paint job. It looks awsome.
Sam |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 15 Jun 2022 11:57 am
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| Samuel Phillippe wrote: |
| with all the time you must have placed on this rescue did you ever find time to play/practice? |
The literally dozens and dozens of applications of paint stripper, grain filler, sealer, primer, color coats, and clear coats -- all besides the grain filler sprayed from rattle cans -- left me with lots of time waiting for paint to dry. Voila! Practice time!
I will admit that after all the hours spent on this project, it was immensely satisfying to finally set it up and play it. It plays as good, and sounds almost as good, as my other Century Deluxe:
Which is one reason I purchased the carcass in the first place. The Century Deluxe models are fitted with a special flat-topped version Ted McCarty's innovative wraparound stop tailpiece, which was originally developed for the Les Paul solidbodies in the early '50s.
In my opinion, the combo platter of the stoptail, and the pickup cavity being routed closer to the bridge, results in a noticeable increase in sustain and more bite than the previous blue v2 Gibson Century lap steels, which were fitted with the conventional Gibson lap steel bridge that attaches to the top with wood screws. This photo clearly shows the difference:
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Bill Groner
From:
QUAKERTOWN, PA
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Posted 15 Jun 2022 12:41 pm
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Jack, I am seriously giving some thought to scratch building one of these. It's won't be original so I might take some liberties. I think I may use a Lace Alumatone P 90 Riffian Pup in it and make my string spacing at the bridge .475. and .350 at the nut. If I don't like the P 90 Riffian I can always use another maker's P 90 as the hole will be the correct size.
What do you think about making it a string through? I make most of mine like that and it makes for a nice clean look as well as I think more sustain. The Lace Pup calls for 250K pots....anybody out there put 500 k's on them? I would like to use the 3 knobs and wire as Jack did. I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on some of the questions I posed.
Thanks in advance,
Bill
_________________
Currently own, 6 Groner-tone lap steels, one 1953 Alamo Lap steel, Roland Cube, Fender Champion 40 |
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Chris Clem
From:
California, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2022 8:22 am
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"The Lace Pup calls for 250K pots....anybody out there put 500 k's on them?"
When I was doing restorations for the vintage stores in Hollywood I worked on several early 50s Les Paul with P90s. Which I think just might be the best sounding of all the LPs. They used 300K pots on the early models.Once you go to 500k they start to sound a little wimpy in comparison. That being said most single coil pickups sound pretty bad with 500k pots. |
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Mark Helm
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 28 Jun 2022 6:54 pm Just picked up this beauty....
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....original P-90, no crack in the gorgeous p/u cover...
But your re-build is freaking amazing. Kudos, brother!
_________________
Remington Steelmaster S8 w/ custom Steeltronics pickup. Vox MV-50 amplifier + an 1940's Oahu cab w/ 8" American Vintage speaker. J. Mascis Fender Squire Jazzmaster, Hofner Club bass, Ibanez AVN4-VMS Artwood Vintage Series Concert Size Acoustic Guitar. 1920s/30s Supertone Hawaiian-themed parlor guitar. Silvertone parlor guitar. |
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