Dr. Vegetable
New member
This one had been hanging in the local GC for a few weeks. A good example of a guitar that probably was not selling because it needed some simple attention. I really had to look past the floor condition of this instrument to see its true potential. I honestly wonder if the previous owner sold it because he didn't want to change the strings.
It caught my eye because it has a thru neck, but I could immediately tell that the previous owner had put a lot of thought into how it was set up, and played the heck out of it too. The pickups are replacements for the stock INFs that this would have been delivered with. The volume knob had a few o-rings around it to improve grip for volume swells. The pickup selector switch was blocked with a thin piece of plastic to prevent it from going into the bridge-only position. The strings on it were so heavy that they could have been used as suspension wires for the Golden Gate Bridge, and it was tuned to D. The strings were corroded and the frets and fingerboard were covered in grime such that it felt sticky and bogus to play. The old nylon strap looked like it had been used as a tourniquet.
These pictures are all "pre-cleanup." I spent a bit of time yesterday cleaning it up and re-stringing it, and doing a rough setup. This involved a few passes with some 0000 steel wool to clean the frets, and a pass over the whole thing with Murphy's Oil Soap to strip the spooge. Removed the old strap-lock ends and the cover on the pickup selector - happily the bridge setting not only works, but is one of the better sounding positions. I also removed the o-rings, as I found myself accidentally changing volume while playing.
The guitar sounded great even with the old rusty strings still on it. It sounds even better with a fresh set even though I haven't done anything with the intonation yet. The change in string gauge was extreme, so I'm still tweaking the truss rod and bridge to get things close to where I want them. And then it's going to the local shop for a proper setup once it's had a little time to stabilize.
It caught my eye because it has a thru neck, but I could immediately tell that the previous owner had put a lot of thought into how it was set up, and played the heck out of it too. The pickups are replacements for the stock INFs that this would have been delivered with. The volume knob had a few o-rings around it to improve grip for volume swells. The pickup selector switch was blocked with a thin piece of plastic to prevent it from going into the bridge-only position. The strings on it were so heavy that they could have been used as suspension wires for the Golden Gate Bridge, and it was tuned to D. The strings were corroded and the frets and fingerboard were covered in grime such that it felt sticky and bogus to play. The old nylon strap looked like it had been used as a tourniquet.
These pictures are all "pre-cleanup." I spent a bit of time yesterday cleaning it up and re-stringing it, and doing a rough setup. This involved a few passes with some 0000 steel wool to clean the frets, and a pass over the whole thing with Murphy's Oil Soap to strip the spooge. Removed the old strap-lock ends and the cover on the pickup selector - happily the bridge setting not only works, but is one of the better sounding positions. I also removed the o-rings, as I found myself accidentally changing volume while playing.
The guitar sounded great even with the old rusty strings still on it. It sounds even better with a fresh set even though I haven't done anything with the intonation yet. The change in string gauge was extreme, so I'm still tweaking the truss rod and bridge to get things close to where I want them. And then it's going to the local shop for a proper setup once it's had a little time to stabilize.
