Centris
Active member
It really is amazing what you find in a pawn shop, went in yesterday after seeing an Epiphone Custom in the window. On closer inspection it turned out to be made at the Samick factory in December 2000. It was a right mess to say the least, strings were filthy and they had surface rust as well. A strip down, remove grime and clean with T-Cut! Then 3 coats of wax and new strings (in all, 6 hours work) it looks really nice. All for the sum of ?120, with hard case LOL.
Only problem is the centre position of the three-way switch does not work, both strap connections and the input socket were loose (sorted). There is a little wear on the first 5 frets ever so slight which I am sure can be dressed, plays well. Thought it would make a great guitar to take to my lessons and leave my new Tokai 48 safe at home.
On comparison between the two I think the epiphone has a better feel to the neck for my smallish hand, the back of the neck is slightly flatter, allowing me that little bit more reach, the 48 more rounded. Sound quality through my pathetic practice amp seems similar, though it was late when I finished so had to keep the volume down. The Epiphone is the lighter of the two which surprised me a bit, not much in it, but noticeable.
Before cleaning
After Cleaning just the wax and a lot of buffing.
After.
Only problem is the centre position of the three-way switch does not work, both strap connections and the input socket were loose (sorted). There is a little wear on the first 5 frets ever so slight which I am sure can be dressed, plays well. Thought it would make a great guitar to take to my lessons and leave my new Tokai 48 safe at home.
On comparison between the two I think the epiphone has a better feel to the neck for my smallish hand, the back of the neck is slightly flatter, allowing me that little bit more reach, the 48 more rounded. Sound quality through my pathetic practice amp seems similar, though it was late when I finished so had to keep the volume down. The Epiphone is the lighter of the two which surprised me a bit, not much in it, but noticeable.
Before cleaning
After Cleaning just the wax and a lot of buffing.
After.
hello centris how r u? so u went to one of those good old pawn shops and bought an epi custom and fixed it like people did in the good old days huh......thanks for the story and pics, it was very nice and i enjoyed it. i love those good old stories so i felt alot from this one. that u called your small amp "my little pathetic practice amp" is very bluesy and tasty i can really remember my teenage years w/not much money but all going for the gtr gears. i worked at 7-11 and getting only $5 an hour. my high school years. i only got maybe $50 from my parents every month. and i was buying all those vinyl LP records and what more needed. really i didnt buy anything beside the gtr stuff for all my high school years. just gtrs n strings n records n sodas.......thats all.......i only had a few pairs of levis 501s and several tees and a pair of sneakers. i even didnt have a wallet. me and my buddy used to say that in America the gtr guys never carry the wallet and they always put their money in the pocket of their jeans. it felt like a true story and we believed it and did it ourselves. we wanna be cool like Georgia Satellites or something. We were into Blues and loved bluesy gtrs like les paul TV yellow jr and special and.....and cream tele like ralph macho had in the movie "the crossroads" those were in the late 80s just before the 90s began. everybody was crazy about guns n roses and began to have les paul around. slash showed us the way to play the gtr not the way van helen does. u know those super-strat type gtrs......he showed us how to play well and soulful but no need to be super fast and super technical......
