The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hi all - I am hoping someone out there may be able to help. Ive just snagged a Les Paul Custom copy on Ebay. It has what looks to be a Les Paul Standard Headstock (complete wth MOP Logos and stamped Maded in USA serial but LP Custom inlays. I figure it is some sort of copy - looks to be fairly old and its really heavy - has a set neck too , but it also has chrome hardware- the only identifying marks I can see are the pots which are marked dp - i seem to recall that these are Korean but can anyone confiirm this. I will of course be stripping it down - gonna make a Mick Ronson model out of it but I'm really curios as to the origins. I am pretty sure its been played with before but I'd like to have some certainty. the Truss rod cover is a 2 hole type and it has a truss rod nut rather than an allen key, which is odd too.

Thanks in advance - i know you can help

You know we are going to ask for pictures, right?

I know you will want pictures, however I got a bit carried away and stripped it down already - looks like its a bit of a mish mash - the neck is possibly a later addition - looks to me like some sort of Chinese copy, and not a very good one at that, although the board is pretty good and the profile is quite a handful - the headstock is badly cut and assytmetrical and once I removed the Gibson/Les Paul overlay - which looked convincing in the picture I saw, close up was what looked like a rough cut piece of plastic. The truss rod has no nut on it and looks a bit 'thick' to me - I have ordered some spare nuts and half moon washers from Stewmac and hopefully they fit, otherwise I have no way of adjusting the truss rod and the guitar is pretty much scrap. The pickups are unmarked as is the bridge and tailpiece - the studs were originally gold but this has faded to chrome so I guess the actual body is fairly old.

This is turning out to be more of a project than I had anticipated and it will no doubt test my skills to destruction. Probably going to have to add new wings to the headstock

I have bought a genuine LP Custom Overlay to guide me as a template to the actual headstock shape, so no doubt that will be a challenge - the bloody thing cost nearly as much as the whole guitar too.

I'm trying to hold my nerve and suck up the cost - my plan for a Mick Ronson clone will be carried out. I have a spare pair of pickups from me PE-1000, I was thinking about fitting those - either that or a pair of Wilkinson WVC (I think) out of a VS6, that might give a more vintage tone.

Pics will follow, although it is in a very sorry state at the moment