detroitace
Well-known member
Just got this beauty off ebay and I'm quite happy. It arrived yesterday and after some tweaking, it plays great. It's a semi-hollow les paul with a subtle book-matched flame top.
I'm not done with my mods, yet. I plan on replacing the pickup rings, putting on a toggle plate and maybe a pickguard. And I may replace the tuners with Kluson-style for a more vintage look.
The guitar itself, that is the wood, frets all seem to be in great shape, but the electronics and hardware seem to be kind of a mish-mash taken from other guitars to make it work. For instance, the guitar came with two bridge pickups instead of a neck and bridge pickup. I realized this when I chose the middle toggle position and the sound was out-of-phase. I thought the wiring looked untouched and original, but I could be wrong. I quickly switched this out for a Yamaha neck pickup I had lying around and now it sounds like it should. I may still change the bridge (maybe to the original 'neck' pickup that came with the guitar to see what that sounds like. (If anyone can help with IDing the pickups .. maybe you can see the serial numbers?) The serial numbers seem like they could be original so maybe it came this way from the factory??
The tuners are all Grovers, but they seem to be of 3 different lots: 3 of them are identical, another 2 are alike and the final one is different still, with a slightly shorter post.
The body is in great shape for a 25 year old guitar. There's hardly a scratch on her. The top is really nice, I think. It's a very subtle flame that shows up in certain angles. I'd been looking for a semi-hollow body and I finally got one at a good price.
Anyway, let me know what you think! Comments appreciated!
Thanks, Bill
I'm not done with my mods, yet. I plan on replacing the pickup rings, putting on a toggle plate and maybe a pickguard. And I may replace the tuners with Kluson-style for a more vintage look.
The guitar itself, that is the wood, frets all seem to be in great shape, but the electronics and hardware seem to be kind of a mish-mash taken from other guitars to make it work. For instance, the guitar came with two bridge pickups instead of a neck and bridge pickup. I realized this when I chose the middle toggle position and the sound was out-of-phase. I thought the wiring looked untouched and original, but I could be wrong. I quickly switched this out for a Yamaha neck pickup I had lying around and now it sounds like it should. I may still change the bridge (maybe to the original 'neck' pickup that came with the guitar to see what that sounds like. (If anyone can help with IDing the pickups .. maybe you can see the serial numbers?) The serial numbers seem like they could be original so maybe it came this way from the factory??
The tuners are all Grovers, but they seem to be of 3 different lots: 3 of them are identical, another 2 are alike and the final one is different still, with a slightly shorter post.
The body is in great shape for a 25 year old guitar. There's hardly a scratch on her. The top is really nice, I think. It's a very subtle flame that shows up in certain angles. I'd been looking for a semi-hollow body and I finally got one at a good price.
Anyway, let me know what you think! Comments appreciated!
Thanks, Bill