Wattage
High Voltologist
It appears I am slowly becoming Will Ray, now if I could only have his chops. I was able to use eBay's "Make An Offer" feature and got it for what I wanted, first time that has worked out for me.
It's a used Eastwood Stormbird already nicknamed it "Tonka" for Paul Chapman of UFO fame.
It wasn't really as ready to go when it got here as it was supposed to be, I guess it could've been represented a little better but UPS Ground from AZ to NY could've thrown some things out of whack a bit too. Especially with the crazy weather across the country. Anyways I always expect to do some work regardless.
When I unboxed the guitar it was kind of dirty so it was definitely getting a cleaning before much of anything else. It also had a poorly applied Pinup Girl decal on the body and a decorative cross on the truss rod cover that had to go ASAP! The wiring was a little fubar so I took it apart and cleaned it up and fixed the broken wire at the switch (it's an EPI switch that was supposed to be a Switchcraft, least it wasn't a box switch). I also put tape on the cheeseball wiring that was done for the bridge pickup swap to stop any weird ground out issues for now. The neck needed a little relief so a quick tweak which worked out well took care of that and then some work to get it intonated properly. It is a lefty that was already strung up for a right-hander, the nut was cut for it but the bridge didn't have enough adjustment to get the intonation right. I pulled the lower three saddles and flipped them to give them enough travel, luckily it worked. The lower E was close but I was able to just get it in. I also oiled the board while I had all apart since it was a little dry. It has crap mini pots that'll be getting pulled once I figure out how I want to re-wire it, I may put a Volume on the guard and pull some of the other knobs.
**For anyone who thought these are Gotoh parts on here, sorry all Sung Il**
Now for the good stuff. It has a great neck, very Gibson-ish, fairly large and not far off a late 50's profile. It is very comfortable. Don't know if it has ever had a fret file but they are pretty good, no sharp ends and well dressed and level. The bridge P-90 was replaced with a Dimarzio DP154 DLX Plus. Not sure how good or bad that is yet but I was always kind of interested in this pup so I'm glad to give it a try. I need to get some foam to raise the pickups up a bit, they are a little lower than I like them and seem a little too bright for it. Getting them close as I could tonight seemed to help but I'd like to get them dialed in better. All in all it is fairly resonant, pretty well balanced and I love how it looks. A little TLC went a long way, I really like it, even Mrs. Wattage approved.
You can see the EPI switch and how little room they leave for an upgrade in these things. I am going to rout out a little more wood so I can get a proper Switchcraft switch and better wiring in there. I really love the look of these things, the finish is pretty nice, sort of a Melody Maker-ish Vintage Burst.
You can see the homemade cross on the truss rod cover. Got that off with some effort and then sanded it down flat. Give the headstock a little contrast. I'll probably shoot a little clear over it to get the loss back at some point.
It's a used Eastwood Stormbird already nicknamed it "Tonka" for Paul Chapman of UFO fame.
It wasn't really as ready to go when it got here as it was supposed to be, I guess it could've been represented a little better but UPS Ground from AZ to NY could've thrown some things out of whack a bit too. Especially with the crazy weather across the country. Anyways I always expect to do some work regardless.
When I unboxed the guitar it was kind of dirty so it was definitely getting a cleaning before much of anything else. It also had a poorly applied Pinup Girl decal on the body and a decorative cross on the truss rod cover that had to go ASAP! The wiring was a little fubar so I took it apart and cleaned it up and fixed the broken wire at the switch (it's an EPI switch that was supposed to be a Switchcraft, least it wasn't a box switch). I also put tape on the cheeseball wiring that was done for the bridge pickup swap to stop any weird ground out issues for now. The neck needed a little relief so a quick tweak which worked out well took care of that and then some work to get it intonated properly. It is a lefty that was already strung up for a right-hander, the nut was cut for it but the bridge didn't have enough adjustment to get the intonation right. I pulled the lower three saddles and flipped them to give them enough travel, luckily it worked. The lower E was close but I was able to just get it in. I also oiled the board while I had all apart since it was a little dry. It has crap mini pots that'll be getting pulled once I figure out how I want to re-wire it, I may put a Volume on the guard and pull some of the other knobs.
**For anyone who thought these are Gotoh parts on here, sorry all Sung Il**
Now for the good stuff. It has a great neck, very Gibson-ish, fairly large and not far off a late 50's profile. It is very comfortable. Don't know if it has ever had a fret file but they are pretty good, no sharp ends and well dressed and level. The bridge P-90 was replaced with a Dimarzio DP154 DLX Plus. Not sure how good or bad that is yet but I was always kind of interested in this pup so I'm glad to give it a try. I need to get some foam to raise the pickups up a bit, they are a little lower than I like them and seem a little too bright for it. Getting them close as I could tonight seemed to help but I'd like to get them dialed in better. All in all it is fairly resonant, pretty well balanced and I love how it looks. A little TLC went a long way, I really like it, even Mrs. Wattage approved.
You can see the EPI switch and how little room they leave for an upgrade in these things. I am going to rout out a little more wood so I can get a proper Switchcraft switch and better wiring in there. I really love the look of these things, the finish is pretty nice, sort of a Melody Maker-ish Vintage Burst.
You can see the homemade cross on the truss rod cover. Got that off with some effort and then sanded it down flat. Give the headstock a little contrast. I'll probably shoot a little clear over it to get the loss back at some point.
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