Guitar Players: Show us yours!

[Ulu]

The old Aria guitar has the intonation of a kazoo, but it is bright and lively and so it is a lot of fun to play.

You won’t catch me playing in public anytime soon, but I decided I had to take up the guitar again because I needed finger exercise. I was starting to have some arthritic problems in my fingers from holding a drill or a grinder for hours at a time.

If all I do is practice running scales up and down the neck it will be a good thing for my fingers.

The guitar business has sure changed a lot since I got my first Silvertone flat top back in 1969. At $35 new, it was the cheapest guitar that Silvertone made, but I wish I had it to this day.

I couldn’t tell Floyd Rose from Axl Rose and I probably couldn’t tell a Japanese Fender from a Chinese Fender if it didn’t have the name on the neck.

Anyhow I decided to go to the guitar shop today and pick up some new strings and pics, and if they have something interesting hanging on the wall I might come home with a Chinese Fender.

Personally I’ve always liked the shape of the Fender Jazz Master the best of almost any guitar, but I’ve never played one before so I might look into that.

 

[Ulu]

I have been wanting a Christmas present for myself and this might be the one.



I may have made a deal to buy this classic 1967 Sears Silvertone Bobcat, made by Harmony.

It’s not a ‘62 Stratocaster (and did not have nearly the price tag! ) but on the other hand Jimi Hendrix learned to play on a Silvertone And my very first guitar was a 1969 Sears Silvertone.

Anyhow, I will post better photos if it shows up and we strike a deal.

 

[Ulu]

Well that was a bust and I never even got to see the actual guitar . . . photographs only. Maybe it never even existed!

I was serious to buy this thing, and I had the money in my pocket. Plus she had another Silvertone 1448 guitar and case that I wanted to buy.

But the seller turned out to be a total flake.

First there was a big sob story about how desperately she needed the money and now she has to sell her precious guitars, but when the time came to actually make a deal she hemmed and hawed and dinked around half a day, until I just told her to keep them.

So I’m still shopping around for something interesting, because I finally decided that I should own an electric guitar.

 

[Ulu]

So the antique guitars would have ended up mostly on display, in my imagination.

Regardless, I am still shopping for a totally modern player, & sub $1000 would be nice. (No chibsons for me, thanks.)

Maybe I can get a new Korean instrument for that. USA-made starts about $600 higher

But I haven’t spent much time shopping online yet.

 

[Ulu]

Well flake-girl re-listed the Bobcat guitar, and for $20 less than last time.

Meanwhile I have fount a mint condition 1448 with the original tube amp & case. It turns out they’re not that rare. One search on Reverb showed 29 for sale.

But none appeared so perfect as these, and it’s a small shop consignment within 12 miles of me. None were as expensive either. They ask $900.
Eeeeeh….that would be a bit much….

Meanwhile I have likely found a lovely mint Schecter C-1 platinum with case for a very attractive price. $325. Less than half the new price.

I have heard great things about this guitar on the web, but I have never touched one. That will change today with a little luck.

After looking over the market online it appears to be flooded with $200~$600 guitars right now, but with a few real classics looking for top dollar.

 

[Ulu]

Look what came to my house today. A totally modern Korean made Schecter.

With factory case! I paid $325 for this.

And Rotomatics? Whoa yeah!

I got this for less than half new because it has a couple flaws. 2 chips in the epoxy.

And, This spot of mis-cut binding.

It also has circuitry I don’t know about yet. And a battery.

Does this do bluetooth or midi or something I can’t imagine? Time for some research.

All I know is it is LOUD, and the tone is clear. The sustain is unbelievable compared to anything I have played.

 

[Ulu]

Evidently, that battery magnetizes the pickups, which also have physical magnets. This still had the original Korean battery on it.

With a new battery it’s twice as loud.

I took off the access cover, which still had the original factory plastic and sticker on it from the date of manufacture. Inside I found no electronics. Just access to the wiring, control pots and switch.

I didn’t take the pickups apart, but whatever electronics exists are on the pick ups themselves.

Anyhow, with the overdrive gain cranked on, this sorta-caster makes big distortion and all the required outer space noises.

It also appears that with the switch in the middle position it blends the two pick ups together and acts as a balance control between them.

There is no “off” switch. The switch is for neck, bridge, or blended pickups.

It turns off when you unplug the cable from the guitar. Otherwise, the pickups are active snd draining the battery.

I’m glad I discovered this fact before I ran my new battery dead.

<Edit….I was able to date this guitar to June 2020>

 

[Ulu]

Saving the Gibson:

I bought new strings and the little chrome washers for the LGO headstock today, and while I was changing them and restringing the guitar I noticed some damage that I had not truly appreciated the extent of.

I never realized when I bought the Gibson guitar that the bridge piece was plastic. Not just plastic either. Hollow plastic, and it has warped and cracked badly.

Gibson changed these to plastic about 1964, and I think they changed them back to wood about 1967 because of these issues.

AND . . . Gibson could not just put six holes in the Mahogany top for this. They had to put 10 holes for this thing, and attach the plastic with screws.

Removal of the bridge reveals the mahogany top to be lifted and cracked clear through. Phooey!

The reinforcement board inside the top looks pretty shredded, and it too is cracked clear through.

To restore this guitar exactly, in order to “preserve the value”, would be a waste of effort, and you probably cannot get the plastic part anyhow.

It would have to be hand-made of ebony wood, and the internal bracing, which is cracked through, should rightly be chiseled out and replaced as well. This is not an easy job to do with the guitar assembled.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

That's the kind of thing I get paid to do...
Along with refrets, neck sets, binding repairs, pickup swaps and wiring.
Also that battery ain't magnetizing anything, it's boosting the signal.
I've been wiring guitars for 50 yrs, trust me.
EMG pickups don't have great tone but they'll push a big pedal board and a long cord no problem...

 

[Ulu]

I ordered some parts today to repair the Gibson. Also, one of the back braces is loose. It was loose 50 years ago, and I re-glued it with Testor’s balsa glue. Now it’s loose again. I need to remove it and shave everything clean, shape it to fit the back, and re-glue it.

…..that battery ain't magnetizing anything, it's boosting the signal....

Do you know how?

So far I haven’t seen a diagram of this rig, nor any obvious electronics in it, but I should have pulled a pickup while I had the strings off.

But I would never expect to see a circuit board in the pick up cavity. I might expect to see it in the main body cavity where the controls are.

Meanwhile, it’s still too damp to work on the car, so I pulled apart the Fender Champion to check all the capacitors in it.

I’ve never looked inside this amp, and it’s 25 years old now, but I have only had it 10 years, and used it very little.

This thing has never had much use judging by the tight pots, zero knob wear, and the condition of the jacks. All the capacitors look perfect. I didn’t see any marks on the board. I secured a couple floppy wires for the spring reverb. Cleaned out the dead spider….

All looks good.

I was getting some random sounds from the amplifier but it turned out that the new cord I got with the Schecter had a loose end. My cords were both silent, and now the new one is too.

 

[Ulu]

I bought this used gator case today from a guy that lives around the corner from me. It’s in perfect shape, and it fits the Schecter guitar better than the Schecter case.

Something you might’ve noticed is that the case that came with the Schecter guitar is really the case for something the size of a Mustang bass guitar.

Since I was a bass player in high school, maybe you can see where this is going?

Well this may all be very boring to you fellows, the thing you must understand is that I have been completely out of this business since high school (& that has been over 53 years.)

Anyway if this rain keeps up, I will be getting a lot of practice.