Modern Gibson t.p. gold plating

[wintermoon]

Has anyone noticed that many L-5 and Super 400 tp's from the last 25 yrs or so have really thin gold plating?
I see so many otherwise mint guitars that have thin plating or almost none (I suspect those might have been thin to start and were wiped off by owners when cleaning them)
I don't know if it's an electroplating flaw or they're just not applying it heavily enough anymore.
Kind of a drag if you kicked out the big $ for one of their flagship models.

[Stringswinger]

My 2002 L-5 CESN came to me with no gold on the TP. I assume a prior owner had cleaned it and away went the gold. I considered sending it to the folks in Nashville who does Gibson's plating, for a re-plate, but I found a NOS TP from 1989 for less money than the re-plate, so that is the way I went (It is kind of cool to have a spare TP and one day I will probably get the original re-plated).

The only downside is that the 1989 TP does not have L-5 Engraved at the bottom. In that year, Gibson used an ebony insert with L-5 inlaid on the insert. That is not enough of a bother to re-plate my original TP, but for guys more Type A than me, it would be.

[andrew]

Yup, my '98 came to me with almost no gold left. I've seen another from the same era with a similar issue.

[deacon Mark]

My 2003 L5c from the custom shop shows zero wear on the plating. It looks great and reasonably thick if I can ascertain that concept. Seems to be hit of miss and it could even be the place where you live. Humidity and atmosphere have a effect on guitars in general.

[vinnyv1k]

Super thin ! Even Virtuoso polish will remove it. Carnauba wax is the only safe stuff you can use to clean them.

[wintermoon]

[Danny W.]

Played every day for 22 years. No chemicals on the gold--I wipe down the gold with natural chamois after playing.



My most used guitar for gigs & rehearsals for 20 years. I'd guess at least 2,000 times. The dark area is shadow from the poor lighting:



Danny W.

[Sleeko]

My 2002 L4 CES is doing fine. A breath of air to fog things up then a gentle wipe with untreated Kleenex or toilet paper (the soft cushy kind) shines it right up.
I've noticed the plating on the pickups seems much more robust though. Different plating I presume.

[FredH]

Same with my 98 L5 WesMo.