daan
New member
So I have this Hondo "Formula" (think fake Ibby Roadstar)
I'd always wanted one of this generation of Roadstar (between when they were a slightly weird Strat clone, and before they went full on Shred machine)
I saw this one on Ebay, bid on it and got outbid right away. I also saw one on Reverb, and bid on that one too. Somehow I managed to "win" both of them...
I thought of taking them both apart, to make one good one out of them. However, one of them was clearly heavier, had a skinnier neck and more buckle rash. So I ended up just keeping the good one.
It's Ash, with an Ash top and Maple/Rosewood neck. It came with (tarnished) Gold hardware, Grover tuners and a Schaller bridge (which was chrome, which I thought looked kinda weird with all the Gold, but whatever) The pups were nice sounding, not cheap or muddy so I just played it. I did want to mod it though...
First thing, I took off and sold the tuners and pickups. I got a set of Chrome Grovers, thinking they'd just drop in... nope.
I had to fill the tuner screws, and drill new ones.
I think I did OK, you can barely see where I did it. I don't know if they were different because they changed in the last 30 years, or I accidentally got fake ones, or the new ones are Chinese or something. Whatever, the old ones were all crungy looking and these new ones turn a lot smoother. I would have just gotten the Kluson-style ones I like if I knew I'd be filling and redrilling.
The string trees (or whatever the circle things are called) and the truss rod adjust are still Gold, I would like to change those, but not if I'll be drilling again. (The strap buttons are still Gold, too, and somehow I only have one chrome one... god knows why...)
The next step was the tone circuit. I sold the pups, mostly because they looked nicely aged, instead of the super fake "relic" stuff I'd seen. I figured somebody'd want them, they weren't name brand or anything, but had 30 years of honest wear on them.
A guy bought them, then asked for a return because they "didn't look authentic".
Whatever, it was $20 so I did it. He didn't want to return them though...
Anyway, I had always planned to get double cream Dimarzios for this, because I grew up in the 70's/80's, and when you bought new pups for your HOndo, that's what you got. Plus, I think nuthin' looks better on Cherry Sunburst than double creams. I know the colors don't matter, I just wanted them.
What I got was a "36th Anniversary" in the neck, and a "Tone Zone" in the bridge. I also got a pair of their 500K pots, a Switchcraft 3-way, long-shaft output and a pair of on/on/on mini toggles for crazy switching. (My Skylark has spoiled me, I dig lots of switches now)
Originally, the guitar just had cheap mini pots and a "box" switch
They also didn't drill out the control cavity all the way. (Hey, it IS a Hondo, I shouldn't have been suprised)
So I borrowed my mother-in-law's wood shop and opened up the cavity
I'd always wanted one of this generation of Roadstar (between when they were a slightly weird Strat clone, and before they went full on Shred machine)
I saw this one on Ebay, bid on it and got outbid right away. I also saw one on Reverb, and bid on that one too. Somehow I managed to "win" both of them...
I thought of taking them both apart, to make one good one out of them. However, one of them was clearly heavier, had a skinnier neck and more buckle rash. So I ended up just keeping the good one.
It's Ash, with an Ash top and Maple/Rosewood neck. It came with (tarnished) Gold hardware, Grover tuners and a Schaller bridge (which was chrome, which I thought looked kinda weird with all the Gold, but whatever) The pups were nice sounding, not cheap or muddy so I just played it. I did want to mod it though...
First thing, I took off and sold the tuners and pickups. I got a set of Chrome Grovers, thinking they'd just drop in... nope.
I had to fill the tuner screws, and drill new ones.
I think I did OK, you can barely see where I did it. I don't know if they were different because they changed in the last 30 years, or I accidentally got fake ones, or the new ones are Chinese or something. Whatever, the old ones were all crungy looking and these new ones turn a lot smoother. I would have just gotten the Kluson-style ones I like if I knew I'd be filling and redrilling.
The string trees (or whatever the circle things are called) and the truss rod adjust are still Gold, I would like to change those, but not if I'll be drilling again. (The strap buttons are still Gold, too, and somehow I only have one chrome one... god knows why...)
The next step was the tone circuit. I sold the pups, mostly because they looked nicely aged, instead of the super fake "relic" stuff I'd seen. I figured somebody'd want them, they weren't name brand or anything, but had 30 years of honest wear on them.
A guy bought them, then asked for a return because they "didn't look authentic".
Whatever, it was $20 so I did it. He didn't want to return them though...Anyway, I had always planned to get double cream Dimarzios for this, because I grew up in the 70's/80's, and when you bought new pups for your HOndo, that's what you got. Plus, I think nuthin' looks better on Cherry Sunburst than double creams. I know the colors don't matter, I just wanted them.
What I got was a "36th Anniversary" in the neck, and a "Tone Zone" in the bridge. I also got a pair of their 500K pots, a Switchcraft 3-way, long-shaft output and a pair of on/on/on mini toggles for crazy switching. (My Skylark has spoiled me, I dig lots of switches now)
Originally, the guitar just had cheap mini pots and a "box" switch
They also didn't drill out the control cavity all the way. (Hey, it IS a Hondo, I shouldn't have been suprised)
So I borrowed my mother-in-law's wood shop and opened up the cavity
