KeeperOS
New member
How time flies.
A little under two years ago I posted a NGD about a black late '90s (probably '97 or '98) Japan ESP Horizon I had gotten on a trade for one of my three Washburn MGs:
The guitar was originally a studio axe and it showed. Nicks, scratches, belt rash plus a couple of chips here and there while the neck had such a thick film of sweat and grime that it had actually seeped underneath the finish!
The pu rings had surface cracks, the German Floyd Rose had grime and rust everywhere and the blocks had seen better days. The backplate is also (still) missing.
The 3-year-old strings and non-existent setup didn't allow me to properly evaluate the playability but the neck was straight with a nice shape that fit my hand beautifully, the body was light and resonant while even in that condition she sounded great.
So, I took her to my tech and told him to whip her into shape and also asked to check what could be done about the aesthetics. He told me he'd give it to a guy he worked with that refinishes guitars.
Apparently the damage was too extensive for touch-ups to make sense so he'd need to refinish her. I told him that I wanted her in the color of my first guitar, an MiM Fender Strat in Midnight Blue and even took him the actual guitar to make sure there'd be no "photo-matching" nonsense and waited. Not gonna bore you with the details but after twenty months and every single excuse in the book I FINALLY got the guitar back yesterday!
The Floyd was disassembled and thoroughly cleaned and the blocks replaced, the electronics cavity was covered in copper foil and the electronics themselves redone while the pickups were replaced with a neck '59 which sounds surprisingly well in that guitar plus a Tom Anderson H3 in the bridge.
She is not 100% there yet as a couple of things I requested be done simply slipped through the cracks while some others will need to be adjusted after I had some time to play her but I can tell you so far I'm liking her a lot!
A little under two years ago I posted a NGD about a black late '90s (probably '97 or '98) Japan ESP Horizon I had gotten on a trade for one of my three Washburn MGs:
The guitar was originally a studio axe and it showed. Nicks, scratches, belt rash plus a couple of chips here and there while the neck had such a thick film of sweat and grime that it had actually seeped underneath the finish!
The pu rings had surface cracks, the German Floyd Rose had grime and rust everywhere and the blocks had seen better days. The backplate is also (still) missing.
The 3-year-old strings and non-existent setup didn't allow me to properly evaluate the playability but the neck was straight with a nice shape that fit my hand beautifully, the body was light and resonant while even in that condition she sounded great.
So, I took her to my tech and told him to whip her into shape and also asked to check what could be done about the aesthetics. He told me he'd give it to a guy he worked with that refinishes guitars.
Apparently the damage was too extensive for touch-ups to make sense so he'd need to refinish her. I told him that I wanted her in the color of my first guitar, an MiM Fender Strat in Midnight Blue and even took him the actual guitar to make sure there'd be no "photo-matching" nonsense and waited. Not gonna bore you with the details but after twenty months and every single excuse in the book I FINALLY got the guitar back yesterday!
The Floyd was disassembled and thoroughly cleaned and the blocks replaced, the electronics cavity was covered in copper foil and the electronics themselves redone while the pickups were replaced with a neck '59 which sounds surprisingly well in that guitar plus a Tom Anderson H3 in the bridge.
She is not 100% there yet as a couple of things I requested be done simply slipped through the cracks while some others will need to be adjusted after I had some time to play her but I can tell you so far I'm liking her a lot!
), I would be terrified to try a refin job on a guitar without ever trying it before (plus, I wouldn't want to drive the resale value of the guitar even lower!)
