Guitar Zero
and check out Guitar Zero for the scence of learning
In the beginning
I’d been kindly gifted a Squier Strat by a friend of the missus but had a yen for something different. As an aside what sort of friend provides your musically challenged partner with an electric guitar? Anyway I am more than grateful, the Squier was a lot more fun to learn with than an acoustic and an electric unplugged very useful for practising without drowning out the tv but I had got a yearning for something different. Why? The strat clone seems to be produced in such numbers I think there may actually exist one such guitar for every man, woman and child on the face of the planet. I had walked into music stores and seen mass ranks of strat clones. If a musical instrument is about expression I want a unique voice. Actually I think my musical voice is fairly unique but not that musical.
So trawling eBay for something, electric guitar, different, local and cheap I came up with Hondo
Initial purchase price 30 ish quid. I’d bought locally on eBay because I figured shipping would be too bigger add on to my somewhat limited budget. Typically Hondo is on the limit of the 10 mile eBay closest radius so add 5 pounds of fuel.
£35.00
First impressions, I bought Hondo as a fixer upper, on getting her home, I replaced the broken string and had a play, then I replaced the rest of the strings as the existing strings felt rough. I think Hondo needs
Hondo in my hands, home and playable £39, and on first impressions well worth it.
I go with playing. The jack connector is an easy solve, I’m used to a strat style where the jack is protected the Les Paul style is exposed, buying a lead with a right angled plug makes things a lot better. Addition to investment 3 quid, delivered pretty much next day, for stuff like this eBay rocks.
Total so far £42
Having convinced myself I need to pull the potentiometers and replace them, I spend some time researching replacements and find that standard pots from the local Maplin are close but not quite what are needed. This is in comparison to some eye watering figures for replacement Les Paul wiring harnesses with real “tone”. I discover that I can get what I need for around 2 quid a pot, plus postage. But it’s Sunday and in a fit of I want to do something now I buy some switch cleaner, an aerosol of magical solvents and other agents and spray the pots, basically squirting the magical elixir into a gap in the posts to shift dirt and clear the passages. End result three pots are smooth and 1 has gone from scratchy to slightly iffy. Pot replacement can wait. Can of magic potion £4
Total so far £46 although given there must be 50 odd squirts left in the can maybe £42.10
It’s late, it’s Sunday night and I have one last thing on the list job nagging. I need a new cover for the back of the switch, proces online not bad, but the size seems wrong, so I figure I could probably cut a piece of plastic to fit make a neat job etc. I end up cutting up the top of a plastic ice cream carton and PVA glue it in place, a superbly botched switch cover to finish round one of the restoration.
Before
After quality workmanship
and check out Guitar Zero for the scence of learning
In the beginning
I’d been kindly gifted a Squier Strat by a friend of the missus but had a yen for something different. As an aside what sort of friend provides your musically challenged partner with an electric guitar? Anyway I am more than grateful, the Squier was a lot more fun to learn with than an acoustic and an electric unplugged very useful for practising without drowning out the tv but I had got a yearning for something different. Why? The strat clone seems to be produced in such numbers I think there may actually exist one such guitar for every man, woman and child on the face of the planet. I had walked into music stores and seen mass ranks of strat clones. If a musical instrument is about expression I want a unique voice. Actually I think my musical voice is fairly unique but not that musical.
So trawling eBay for something, electric guitar, different, local and cheap I came up with Hondo
Initial purchase price 30 ish quid. I’d bought locally on eBay because I figured shipping would be too bigger add on to my somewhat limited budget. Typically Hondo is on the limit of the 10 mile eBay closest radius so add 5 pounds of fuel.
£35.00
First impressions, I bought Hondo as a fixer upper, on getting her home, I replaced the broken string and had a play, then I replaced the rest of the strings as the existing strings felt rough. I think Hondo needs
- A new switch panel cover
- Pots are scratchy, noisy and intermittent I’m going to have to replace these.
- The pickup selector switch needs a new top.
- The jack connector seem intermittent and noisy
- Playing
- Cleaning
Hondo in my hands, home and playable £39, and on first impressions well worth it.
I go with playing. The jack connector is an easy solve, I’m used to a strat style where the jack is protected the Les Paul style is exposed, buying a lead with a right angled plug makes things a lot better. Addition to investment 3 quid, delivered pretty much next day, for stuff like this eBay rocks.
Total so far £42
Having convinced myself I need to pull the potentiometers and replace them, I spend some time researching replacements and find that standard pots from the local Maplin are close but not quite what are needed. This is in comparison to some eye watering figures for replacement Les Paul wiring harnesses with real “tone”. I discover that I can get what I need for around 2 quid a pot, plus postage. But it’s Sunday and in a fit of I want to do something now I buy some switch cleaner, an aerosol of magical solvents and other agents and spray the pots, basically squirting the magical elixir into a gap in the posts to shift dirt and clear the passages. End result three pots are smooth and 1 has gone from scratchy to slightly iffy. Pot replacement can wait. Can of magic potion £4
Total so far £46 although given there must be 50 odd squirts left in the can maybe £42.10
It’s late, it’s Sunday night and I have one last thing on the list job nagging. I need a new cover for the back of the switch, proces online not bad, but the size seems wrong, so I figure I could probably cut a piece of plastic to fit make a neat job etc. I end up cutting up the top of a plastic ice cream carton and PVA glue it in place, a superbly botched switch cover to finish round one of the restoration.
Before
After quality workmanship
Sometime in the future pot replacement
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