I have this buddy who I used to do a lot of odd jobs for. He's been a garage sale addict for years, but every now and again his wife makes him purge his accumulation. At such times he bundles up some of his treasure and makes the rounds of his various friends to bestow gifts upon them.
So he drops by today, and pulls a suitcase out of his car. He reaches in to the suitcase and pulls out ...
This:
He accepts no more than a beer, and "prior labour rendered" as payment, and heads off down the road to visit another old friend or 2.
My son and I race down to the basement and give this new guitar a bit of a looking over. Built in speaker and amp. Bolt on neck. Headphone and un-amplified pickup outputs. Action incredibly high. Currently strung with 12's.
Hmmm.
So off with the strings, off with the neck.
Shim the heel of the neck with .040 of hardwood veneer, and back on goes the neck.
Drop the saddles a bit and even them out. That the action is much more reasonable.
Re-string with a set of 9's
Tighten up a few screws, and voila, a perfectly serviceable little guitar.
Suitable for travel (after all, it fits nicely in a suitcase) or kids guitar.
Once the strings have settled in for a couple of days, I'll take a stab at the intonation.
Here it is with my cheapie LP
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before.
In Space, no one can hear me sing!
looks like a Lap to me
#4491....
every now and again his wife makes him purge his accumulation.
Sounds painful....:shock:
Great score though. What an intriguing wee beast. Looks ideal for carting around for practice when you don't want to take the big guy with you. I couldn't quite read the name on it - do you have any idea when and where it was made?
Cheers,
Chris
looks like a Lap to me
My first thought, too - high action, thick strings, I'd have tuned it to open D or open G and tried it out for slide. Then again, I'm not one for fiddling about with guitars - the most I've ever done with one of mine was raised the action slightly on my Squier Tele for open G.
Nice acquisition, though - and all the nicer for having landing in your lap out of the blue, so to speak!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Come to think of it, those things have a weird tuning, something like G#.
Looks similar.
Edit:
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
Greybeard's Pages
My Articles & Reviews on GN
Come to think of it, those things have a weird tuning, something like G#.
Looks similar.
Looks exactly the same, except the headstock decal (and, of course, the paint).
Granted, it is a cheap instrument. I never had any illusions otherwise.
But I think the reason for most of the bad reviews on that page is that the neck angle was horrible when I got it.
When I got it the strings were almost 1 CM high at the 12th fret :shock: (with a proper height at the nut)
Hence the .040" neck shimming I did to bring the stings way down.
It's still a bit high, but at least I can fret the octaves without putting it a half step sharp!
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
kent,
I edited my post, as I found the exact same guitar as yours.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
Greybeard's Pages
My Articles & Reviews on GN
kent,
I edited my post, as I found the exact same guitar as yours.
Yup, that's it. Right down to the name on the peghead.
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
Neat! Nice little toy to play with. Congrats! Can't beat the price. That'd be quite some fun to pull it out at the next jam you go to. Kind of like that guy over in the UK and his plastic uke on Youtube. :)
How's it sound through your amp?
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Neat! Nice little toy to play with. Congrats! Can't beat the price. That'd be quite some fun to pull it out at the next jam you go to. Kind of like that guy over in the UK and his plastic uke on Youtube. :)
How's it sound through your amp?
Surprisingly good, actually.
I'm not used to a single coil sound, but it sounds pretty good with ACDC kinda distortion, or with surf-style reverb.
I'm on the road for a week, but when I get back I plan on pulling out my V-amp and really seeing what it can do. (No, I didn't bring it with me. This is an overtime loaded work trip, it'll be work, sleep, repeat all week)
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
