All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

DankStar

Her Little Mojo Minion
This is the first guitar I started on, around 1988 or 1989. It was my brother's, who played it for a couple of months or a year (in the late 1970s) then put it down. I used it for a couple of years (after I saw a friend of the family playing Maiden, and I had to learn guitar), then my dad was nice enough to get me a Japanese shredder (which I still have as well). But I still used it for the first 5 years or so to make up riffs, unplugged usually.

It's got a wild active pickup thing and switches for a treble boost and a phase reversal. I didn't really see the use back then, but now I see the versatility.

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About a year into using it, I realized I hated the sticky/glossy lacquer on the neck and used thinner and steel wool to remove it from the back of the neck and fingerboard. It played a lot smoother after that, but the tongue oil I used dried over the years and the fretboard got all yucky.

I also had stickers on the body at one point (didn't everyone's first guitar?), and even good scratches where I tried to remove them.

Nut was cracked, 5-way switch was shot, it's been in closets for the past 10 years or so. I always vowed to get it "fixed up," but never did (mainly because I was afraid of someone messing it up even further).

Well, Chris saw it and was like "no problem, this thing's in better shape than I thought by your description." I'd hate to see what his idea of a beat up guitar is :lmao:

He took the neck off (had a Dec 1978 stamp - wish I got a pic of that), removed the frets (which were supposed to be jumbo, but were way ground down), sanded the fingerboard and back of the neck to bare wood, used a tinted danish oil on it, and gave it new frets. They slid their frets in when they made these, which I guess is kind of unusual.

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He used a fine grit paper and compound/buffer wheel on the body, which took out the scratches and sticker marks. But he left some mojo:

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New 5-way switch (when the guts were out, we saw that Music Man used goop to cover their PCB board for the booster circuit - who knows what's under the goop! - wish I got a pic of that too), all back together - better than it ever played even when it was newer. When I first saw it done, it reminded me of some old hot rod car that had come back from the dead like Christine.

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It plays amazing now. It sounds freakin' wild through my amps, and I gotta say it still delivers the riffs.

Long story short - his skills are amazing, he sees things others don't, he takes pride in his work, and it shows.
 
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Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

That's just beautiful man.

Congratulations to you and to Ayrton. Everything just looks so smooth there.
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

sweet! glad to hear it, that looks like a pretty sweet guitar too!

thanks andrew! while I always dug it, it took me many years to really appreciate it. I'd love to get the sunburst version someday, it's pretty sick too.
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

Ayrton does rock, and rocks hard ..no doubt about that here, or anywhere.
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

Thanks man!

I think it came out pretty darn nice, even if it did take me 4-5 frets before I figured out they were pressed in from the side. :lmao:

The switching on this guitar is very cool, and I really want to have some kind of phase reversal thing in one of mine.
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

Awe, I think you love him Dank! LOL. :beerchug:
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

Cool. I learned music on a '77 Music Man Sabre fretless bass. Great instruments, and I will never sell that one, but when it comes to instruments in which Leo Fender had a hand in, over all I prefer G&Ls and Fenders.
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

Those humbuckers have some pretty big pole pieces. What kind of pickups are those?
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

Very cool!

Great work and those are such cool guitars!

As an aside...why am I looking high and low for somebody to do work on my guitars when it looks like the answer is right here?!
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

Damn thats nice, you should post this on the Ernie Ball Forum as well!

there's other forums?! :lmao:

speaking of G&L's - I'd love to have one of those in the stable; every time I see one in a shop I stop and gawk. they've got a nice solid bridge like the MMs.
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

:notworthy:notworthy:notworthy:notworthy:notworthy

Jeez,I need so much work on so many guits...
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

Great work Ayrton - you are an inspiration.

No sarcasm, I really am inspired to take a greater attention to detail and be thorough when I see your work, you are the man
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

That's cool! I had a friend in high school that had one similar, without the switches, and it was natural ash, I think. Pickups were super low gain, didn't like distortion at all, but it was a nice guitar. I've never ever seen another one.
 
Re: All Hail Ayrton! (Music Man/First Guitar Content)

not the most original riff, but shows it in action. yes, the p/ups sound better for cleaner stuff:

 
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