Anyone got any cheapo guitars that are not worth a whole lot to anyone but you? Perhaps it's some belt-buckle rash of a few chips from falling over. Maybe some other cosmetic damage, or maybe a cheapo guitar with great mods, but you still only get offered 1/3rd of what you paid for it 2 years prior. Some of these gems, some not. Some you can sell, but hate to because they found a niche in your arsenal. Besides, where else are you gonna get that elusive Keef tone for $50?
So, Share your junkers!!!!! I'll start.
My biggest junker. A Floyd Rose DS-1. A swimming - pool style body that got shipped with a toggle switch for the two humbuckers and precisely one knob. (for volume). It's got a string loader system that forces me to buy $13 dollar strings. to top that off, these strings are often oxidized in to place, needing nail and hammer to break free. 90 minutes to change strings. I got it for STOD for $99. They sold for $400. Before I modified it, nobody would give me $50 for it on trade. It got not one response several times on Craig's list.
I put some Guitar Fetish P90s on it and a tone knob with new capacitor. This thing can scream, and does so with much lower noise than other single coils like my USA Strat and Tele. If applied to the right guitar patch or rig in my Eleven Rack of GT-100, I can get one heck of a gritty, Keith Richards tone out of it. It's made many of my recordings.
I did make a cosmetic error or two. I brought it in mostly just curious to see if the mods did anything to help re-sale. Only one guy offering $50 as trade in against a $700-ish guitar that was not on sale.
Oh, and my toggle switch is backwards. I decided to leave it like that to add some....charm? :roll:
What you folks got?
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
I don't really have any junkers at the moment - sold those off at the last yard sale. But I do have the bigger brother to that Floyd Rose guitar; I bought the model that uses regular strings on SDOTD at MFriend a couple of years ago. It plays very nicely, has 3 single coils, 5 pos. selector switch, single volume knob.
I was kinda hoping it would sound like a Fender, since it is a Strat style, but it does not. Could probably stand a pickup upgrade...
I've always wondered - is it possible to convert your guitar so it will use regular strings?
No pics right now, but I have a few. I was looking for a guitar to teach the kids on, and found a old 1/2 size guitar in a thrift shop. Had one string on it, and did not sound half bad. It was all wood, and pretty solid so I parted with 3 bucks and walked home with it. Tossed on some light electric strings, and did some setup work. A little clean up, a little recutting on the nut, and bridge, and skuff or two on a few frets, and I was good to go. I since switched to nylon strings on it, and its a fun little band around guitar. Sounds like a cross between a Uke, and a guitar, and its not unpleasant. Next I found a old parlor size acoustic with a neck pulling away from the body. It was a cheapy from probably the 40's, but also a cool sound to it. I reset the neck on it, and it needed a refret. I decided to put a slight curve in the fretboard, and its sitting in the stage of just finish sanding the neck, and refreting. Winters my project time. Lastly this year I picked up a old Kay acoustic that was laying in a trash pile alongside the road. It needs a reset, and there was quite a bit of belly in the top. Someone had swapped on a classical bridge, and that was not working. I just sourced the correct bridge for it, and right now Ive been playing slide in it once in a wile. I added a old tailpiece, and floating bridge for that. That and keeping it humid had brought the belly down, so once the parlor guitar is done it will get a reset, and the correct bridge put back on. I love a project!!!!
Paul B
I've always wondered - is it possible to convert your guitar so it will use regular strings?
The headstock is pretty much just a big hole. The place where the nut would normally be is where the string seats are on this system. I suppose it would be possible to replace the tremolo unit with a standard floating unit that locks the strings in to place, but it would have to be capable of doing the bigger string adjustments as well. At some point, the guitar would just be another swimming pool body with a bunch of parts thrown together.
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
The headstock on mine is a big hole too, lol. But it has all the tuning pegs on the left, and the nut is locking on it. I wondered if the tension of the strings would cause it to crack sometime, but with the locking nut all the tension is offloaded from the hole cutout area...
I see Floyd Rose still manufactures the Discovery Series guitars, and for not a lot of money either.
Check out their site - I am tempted! :wink:
