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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on May 15, 2021 at 11:48am

I was at the Pawnshop Friday looking for a Strat type for the 3 lipstick tube pickups I got coming from SD. All the used Squier guitars have gone up to half or more of the new prices. As I was walking out I saw a S type guitar for 40 bucks. I picked it up and it was very light, maybe 4lbs. The neck weighs more than the body and it was a partscaster in bad shape, but I thought the neck would be good enough.
As I'm paying for it the owner mentions that it is a partscaster and I told him I was mostly interested in the neck for another project. He tells me he's got 2 other guitars in the back that need a bit of work and he'll sell them cheap. I go to the back with him and take a look. He has 2 Kona brand 3/4 Strat style guitars with 24" scale for kids and he wants 50 bucks. One has a broken off volume pot and ones missing a tremolo arm and both have a few scars, but fixable.
So 90 bucks later I'm walking out with 3 Strat type guitars.

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Permalink Reply by Southern Ray on May 19, 2021 at 11:11am

Cuttin' and sandin' pup parts. I love mahogany.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on May 20, 2021 at 3:34am

I like Mahogany and Maple the most.

Those 3 Strat guitars I got turned out to be a big issue. The regular size Strat is almost a total loss. The body is only good for a template. So light weight, it feels like Balsa wood so all the screw were pulling out of it and had been glued in by previous owner. I was really needing the neck the most, but I got a lot of work to fix it. Original holes were stripped of threads, they attached it to the body with 3 screws in the middle and then added a plate with screws at an angle. Poor neck heel looks like Swiss Cheese. I got a plug cutter and some glue to fix that one.

The 2 mini Strats aren't that great either. Got inside one to find it's previous life was a boat paddle. everything was rusted inside or corroded, other was good. Both bodies had the strip of wood between the pickup cavity and trem cavity is broke. Cheap wood. one neck is slightly twisted, but I think I can fix it. Other than that the necks are in good shape.

Wood around here has gotten to be expensive and I calculated that each body would cost me about 75 to 80 dollars to make. Stewmac had a sale and I got 3 paint grade Alder body blanks for 65 dollars a piece.Score!

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on May 20, 2021 at 11:13am

Hi Paul, buying from instruments second-hand stores can be a very hit-and-miss affair.

There's a store in our town that has about 15 - 20 guitars for sale, all waiting for the unsuspecting budding musician to walk in. I have had some of this shop's guitars come to me for repair, and have to tell the proud new owner they have been "taken".

I go in there often just to check out this crap, so as to forwarn customers if can. 

Taff

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on May 20, 2021 at 11:38am

I've bought from pawnshops before knowing it could be a bad deal. I've bought a few good guitars and a few bad ones, but for the most part I've been happy.

The regular size S type was a partscaster and I thought the neck would be good without needed a lot of work. The 2 mini S types were clean and was told they just needed a couple parts(pots and a tremolo arm), but yes I got taken. I have bought 6 guitars from this shop and I thought we had a good seller-buyer relationship going. It's possible he didn't know how bad they were, but I'll never take one for granted again.

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on May 20, 2021 at 12:21pm

I'm in a small town and some customers have rang me and asked me to look at what they had in mind first. I have always suggested,don't touch it.

One guitar, a Maton was on sale for about a hundred dollars off of new price, it was 20 years old and sold for $695 back then, and it needed $120 worth of repairs. The dealer told the guy it cost $2000 when new.

Taff

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on May 21, 2021 at 8:02am

$2000 was a lot of money 20 years ago, still a lot now too.;)

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Permalink Reply by JL on May 27, 2021 at 3:00am

Not git related (not directly)

My workbench is covered with the detritus and tailings from replacing the broken torsion spring for my garage (workshop) door.  Next up is sorting the slavage, recycle, and trash bits to clean up the workspace.

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Permalink Reply by Southern Ray on May 27, 2021 at 4:16am

 "...sorting the slavage, recycle..."

That's what I'll up to later this mornng, JL.

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Permalink Reply by MadGomer on May 27, 2021 at 2:32pm

Finally got a few hours to get one of my benches cleaned off and organized - far too many months overdue. Now how long can I keep it that way?

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Permalink Reply by Southern Ray on May 27, 2021 at 7:17pm

"Now how long can I keep it that way?" 

HAHAhaa! I know that feelin', MadGomer!

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Permalink Reply by Southern Ray on June 10, 2021 at 7:28pm

 I had some red oak trim  that I glued two strips side-by-side and cut to length for a neck and am installing it into a small Padron box. Gonna make a chugger out of her.Neck dimensions are .76 thick and 1.35 wide. Gotta wind this little bobbin I made from mahogany awhile back and stick her in there. 

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