I just couldn't NOT buy this Birdseye Classic!

[tygr1]

Sure, it's just a bit of a project, but it seems like a good guitar. 1996 Samick made Birdseye Classic Les Paul. I just love the top veneer.

https://imgur.com/pDV44JY

https://imgur.com/JqYSuI5

https://imgur.com/9TtktSB

 

[Supersonic]

It looks fantastic. What pickups are in there?

 

[tygr1]

I don't even know yet. Didn't plug it in...needed to be disassembled and cleaned up first, electronics are next.

 

[otisblove]

Wow. Cool. I’ve never seen a Lester like that. I get goosebumps just looking at it.

 

[Paruwi]

couldn't NOT

 

[tygr1]

This...oddity...has become my favorite guitar! The pickups are great! Still don't know what they are. Strung it back up for some evaluation, and now I can't put it down!!

Who woulda' thought?!?

 

[Steven Howes]

That looks crazy. Probably the most 3D finish I've seen. Getting Goosebumps looking at it? Looks like the guitar itself has goosebumps

 

[Antigua]

Usually the veneers don't reflect light as nice as the carved tops, but that one definitely seems to hit the light quite a bit.

 

[BGood]

Usually the veneers don't reflect light as nice as the carved tops, ...

How's that ? Even on solid wood, all you can see is the last 1000th of an inch.

​

 

[Paruwi]

How's that ?

 

[Antigua]

How's that ? Even on solid wood, all you can see is the last 1000th of an inch.

Because veneer starts out life as a flat piece of wood, and then is made wet and bent around the curve of the guitar body, where as a carved top is a thick piece of wood that has the curve cut into it, so the light hits the grains the differently. And it's all about the angle rather than the depth. IMO, it's one of the few things that really maked a Gibson or a PRS worth the money versus an Epi or a PRS SE, is the beauty of how light hits the carved maple tops as compared with veneers. But I don't think it's worth $1,000, which is why I've bought about twenty Epi's and zero Gibby's. If Epiphone were to start using real carved tops, it would be game over, IMO.

But the birds eye in OP's pics I would have thought was a carved top, from the photos.

 

[BGood]

What is the carve slope angle on a LP ? 5°, 10° ? If your eye can see a difference in grain depht for that small an angle, my hat to you. Maybe poly versus nitro has more to do with it.