Epiphone Les Paul Special Model - 1 - Refurbishment

I would like to one day build my own guitars but before that I though I might try my hand at refinishing an existing guitar first.  I purchased a second hand battle worn Epiphone Special Model Les Paul similar to the one above.  Mine was also finished in black but I planned to change the colour and replace some of the hardware as well.

Stay tuned for pictures and progress reports over the next couple of weeks.