MLP – Yves Horsmans

MLP – Yves Horsmans

Introduction & Inspiration

I was looking for a Les Paul, but I couldn’t quite find what I was looking for. So I decided to go for it myself. Main inspiration came from the Mike Campell 40th anniversary Duesenberg and the Gibson Les Paul Supreme Florentine. Next to that I thought it would be fun to go for British Racing Green, because of an earlier purchase I made. A Jaguar Sovereign in that colour. Check last pictures. I found a website where you can design your own Les Paul or SG. Check first picture. After I already ordered the kit and paint, I stumbled upon Slash’s Anaconda Les Paul. Pretty close to what I had in mind for the colour scheme.

Kit, hardware and paint

I bought the “Guitar Kit MLP Flamed Maple Top Custom Mahagoni” with a roller bridge at ML-Factory. The kit is equipped with black knobs, pick guard etc. Because I wanted to have these parts in cream, I ordered some plastics at a Chinese web shop. Additionally I bought some hardware replacements: Bigsby B7 with Vibramate, Duncan Seymour “Slash” humbuckers, Grover Tuners, a tusq nut, 500K CTS pots, Orange drops, Switchcraft 3 way switch, Golden Les Paul hat knobs (volume and tone) and Shaller Straplocks.

For the paint job, I choose nitrocellulose lacquers and polish from Dartfords.

The Project

I did a 50’s wiring job on the pots and already soldered as much as possible outside the guitar. I discovered some frets being uneven. So I removed the nut and levelled and crowned the frets. After that I installed the tusq nut. The holes for the tailpiece were a bit far towards the back for the Bigsby. I plugged the holes with mahogany and drilled new holes a bit more towards the bridge. The Chinese humbucker rings didn’t have the right contour, so I sanded them flush to fit the body. I prepared two spraying jigs from scrap material so paint could flow and dry in a horizontal position. After sealing the entire guitar and my first colour attempt I discovered the British Racing Green in the spray can wasn’t exactly the same colour as the British Racing Green on my car. A long story short. I have sanded everything back to the veneer (which was very tricky) and raised the grain with a water based black stain. After that I mixed my own colours until I was happy with the result. I cut out some body shapes out of ply wood to make samples and practice on the sunburst using a paint gun. After applying 6 coats of clear coat I let it harden for 2 weeks and polished neck and body to a nice gloss. In the final weekend I did the finishing bits of soldering and installed all hardware.

Ich bitte Sie um eine Bewertung dieses Artikels

Bewertung 4.5 Sterne aus 28 Meinungen

10 Comments

  1. Super gelungene Arbeit! Verarbeitung und Optik sind sehr gut. In diesem Fall sogar viel besser als bei der von Herrn Foertsch als Heiligen Gral beschriebenen Gibsons und Epiphones. Mit Nichten ist Dies ein Plagiat, sondern ein mit sehr viel Schweiß, Zeit und Liebe erschaffenes Unikat. Solche fertigen eigenhändig erschaffene Instrumente sind für uns Hobbyisten der Antrieb unsere Fertigkeiten zu vergleichen, immer besser zu werden und vor Allem Tipps und Ratschläge freundschaftlich auszutauschen.
    Wer hier im Contest nur mit “ fremdgearbeiteten“ Instrumenten wie Herr Foertsch mitmacht und alle anderen Teilnehmer mit eigenen erschaffenen Instrumenten staendig mies macht um selbst besser dazustehen, gehört hier nicht her!
    Also Yves,bitte weiter solche herrlichen Instrumente bauen!

    Viele Grüße!
    M.Veits

    • Thanks for your kind words, Michael. Especially after having a look at your own work.
      My Firebird build is taking ages – currently carving and routing trapezoïd inlay cavities – but I still have lot of fun doing so.
      Thanks again and cheers to building the good stuff.
      Yves

  2. Hi everyone,
    Today I found the 2018 contest results here. I’ve finished mine early 2018 already, just after the closing of the 2017 contest. I bought the kit in September ’17. Michael can acknowledge that I reckon. The paint I bought in the same month, somewhere else. At that point I’d already planned what to do with it. But since I’m also a guy who buries his head in a screen during the week, it has taken a while.

    I’m gonna write a generic response on the plagiarism comments that raise below. It bugged me, so I feel I need to respond. Maybe even defend myself. So please bare with me.

    In my introduction you can already see I was not planning to be original (How can you do that with a LP kit anyway – Good comment from Karl). I even stated the guitars I found inspiring (Gibson Florentine Supreme and Duesenberg Mike Campbell 40th ann.). At the time I’d seen the Bonamassa from Epiphone too. I didn’t mention that one (and a lot of others). And I admit I took some inspiration from there as well. The Bigsby stands out for one, but I doubt Bonamassa is the first to put a Bigsby on a Les Paul (Vibramate would have gone bankrupted long ago it that was the case, I think). What I personally don’t like about the Bonamassa is the black plastics, the different knobs and the solid (Britsh Racing) green paint shop. I prefer maple striping and a sunburst instead of solid. In other words. If you turn the Florentine I mentioned from blue to green, you’re much nearer to where I ended up then the Bonamassa Epiphone. About the Ocean burst. That’s a green Les Paul. Period. Much lighter to no sunburst, no maple top, black back.

    Later in ’17 Slash’s signature guitar the Anaconda came out. That one was really close (especially the maple striped one), but I hope you believe me (hence the stating of when I purchased the kit and paint) that I had not seen it before. I even took a bit of pride when I saw it first. The fact Slash’s signature Anaconda came out with almost the same color scheme as the LP I was working on, gave me some confirmation. In my introduction I think I’ve been honest about how the design came into existence.

    That’s what I have to say about what is and what’s not about this guitar and plagiarism. As a designer in normal life, I can tell you that even the most original designs have taken inspiration from one thing or another. For instance. The day someone brings a guitar to market that is so unique it hasn’t got any connection to what has been done before, it will not be loved. All innovative designs have a connection with the past.

    Nevertheless. This build never had the intention to be unique, ground breaking, totally fresh, innovative or whatsoever. It’s not more and no less then a Les Paul Supreme with a colour scheme that matches my car.

    Having said what I had to say. This guitar I’ve built for myself. As a hobby. It’s my first guitar and my first paint job too. No commercial intention whatsoever. I was delighted with the result and that’s the main reason I submitted it here in order to share it. That’s all.

    That explains the empty headstock. I’ve heard this remark from others and it’s true. It’s not a Gibson or and Epihone, so that logo sure as hell wouldn’t belong there. And I still didn’t come up with a logo for myself. Maybe I sand the blank lacquer down one day and my personal decal.

    I think most of us love fiddling around and building guitars for their own pleasure. Things you do voluntarily. Not worrying about the daily rat race. I think It’s good to criticize as long as you feed back suggestions that might be helpful for the other. Stating it’s plagiarism from this and that, doesn’t help in that perspective. The amount off effort that went in can not be an argument to judge things lighter or heavier. David was right about the geschüftet bit. It’s true. It took me ages. For instance. The paint job has been redone several times before it was what I wanted it to be. But it would not be fair to judge it differently. And to put in something extra. For the money I spend on this guitar below the line, you buy a Gibson Les Paul Standard. Easily! So it’s also not about getting a nice guitar cheap.

    Still most of us, understand why you’re building guitars. Because it’s fun!

    In fact. I’m doing a new project right now. This time it’s not a kit. I start from scratch (since I feel I’m ready for it) but still with a building plan I bought online. A Gibson Firebird. I’ve done with some minor mods. String through and a telecaster jack plate. Again a roller bridge. Active EMG Pickuos instead of Mini Humbuckers. The paint I still need to decide on and order. Probably just the known neutral mahogany and sunburst what it is known for. I know. Again a copy. If I finish this build successfully, I’ll probably go to level 3. My own design.

    Last thing I want to mention. I’m very delighted about Ed and Uwe who stepped up for me. Sorry for my late response, but I discovered this thread only today. Thanks a lot for your support.

  3. Hi,
    The color is fantastic, especially in combination with the zebras, bigsby and golden knobs. The finish looks also great. Because of Davids comment „Plagiat“ – any Les Paul not made by Gibson is a „Plagiat“. And it’s quite difficult to build a unique classical Les Paul, all color and hardware combinations are already done.
    Greets Karl

  4. Das ist zwar ein schönes Instrument, aber es ist eine Kopie: Halb 2015 Epiphone Les Paul Limited Edition “2015” Joe Bonamassa, halb 2017 Les Paul Classic T Green Ocean Burst. Ist das nicht Plagiat? Oder liege ich da falsch?

    • Hallo David,
      wie war das gleich noch einmal: Man sollte nicht mit Steinen werfen, wenn man selbst im Glashaus sitzt. Oder meinst Du, andere Leute hätten keine Ahnung von Deinen Gitarren?

      • Lieber Ed, eines ist sicher: Wer meine Gitarre kritisiert oder mich ihretwegen angreift, der bringt mich weiter. Ich bin nicht wegen des Lobes und der Sterne hierher gekommen. Ich habe auch die Resümees eingier Teilnehmer nach dem Contest 2017 gelesen und ich finde die Kritik an meinem 3. Platz sachlich und nachvollziehbar. David

        • Hallo,
          Jetzt kann ich mir doch nicht verkneifen, hier auch noch meinen Senf dazu zu geben:
          Also, ich meine, dass Du mit Deinen 2017-er Kandidaten prinzipiell nichts anderes gemacht hast als dieses Jahr der Yves Horsmans.
          Und jetzt hinterfragst Du, ob das bei dem nicht ein Plagiat ist?
          Auch wundert mich, dass Du bei Deiner Beweisführung nicht noch die entsprechenden Seriennummern der Epiphone und LP aufgezählt hast- wäre für Dich doch bestimmt ein Kinderspiel;-)
          Also, der Begriff Plagiat ist eindeutig negativ belegt, und zwar nicht nur beim Establishment.
          Aber wie sagen die Schweden: Die schlimmsten Elche waren früher selber welche.
          Bitte sehe mein Unverständnis für Dein Auftreten nicht als Angriff auf Dich.
          Da schreibst Du, Du wärest kein Gitarrist, kein Handwerker, kein Heimwerker, kein Profi und auch kein Künstler-
          Was bist Du denn dann?
          Und wenn Du nicht wegen Lob und Sternen hier bist- warum dann, wo Du doch so vieles nicht bist?
          Ich glaube, der Ed wollte mit seinen Kommentar auch nur sagen, was er nicht in Ordnung findet. Und dem schließe ich mich an.
          Bleibt zu hoffen, dass Du mit berechtigte Kritik auch wirklich konstruktiv umgehst- damit sie Dich weiter bringt…
          Grüß´le,
          Uwe

          • Lieber Uwe, gemessen an Aufwand und Eigenleistung waren meine 2017er Kandidaten nichts Besonderes. Ich habe Gitarren zerlegt und die Teile neu kombiniert. Das steht auch so in den Beschreibungen. Anders als ich hat Yves Horsemans wirklich geschuftet. Ich selbst traue mir die Lackarbeiten an einem Holzrohling (noch) nicht zu. Das Plagiat hat ein Fragezeichen, das auch als solches gemeint ist. Ich bin hier, weil ich hier besondere Menschen mit besonderen E-Gitarren treffe und weil ich wissen will, was sie über meine eigene denken. Ich selbst bin ein Kopfmensch, der Tag und Nacht am Bildschirm sitzt. Danke für deinen Senf, er macht die Wurst, um die es hier geht, erst schmackhaft. David

Schreibe einen Kommentar zu David Antworten abbrechen

Deine E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht veröffentlicht. Erforderliche Felder sind mit * markiert