NGD - Univox Ripper

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Sat May 04, 2013 12:49 am

I believe it's from 1976. It's been in the classifieds here for some time, and finally, it's mine. The price was always too expensive for me to justify a drive across the island (literally - I live in the far northwest corner of PR, the guitar was from the far southeast corner), but the ad this time was at less than half of what the seller originally asked for a year ago, with the caveat 'OBO'

Anyway, maple neck, maple board, CBS headstock with a bullet truss rod, wood body of some sort (gonna worry about that later) in an awesome black finish- more a dark metallic charcoal. Kinda took a gamble with this one though, as the frets are... well, they're there, but they need to be dressed, got a dead volume pot, and since we met in a parking lot, I couldn't test it. Gonna plug it in tomorrow for the first time at my tech's workshop.

The neck is quite comfy though. Very similar shape to my Squier JMJM neck, but with a well worn glossy finish. Super comfy.

Also came with a Univox badged OHSC with is falling apart. Gonna probably chuck it in the trash, pop off the univox badge, and sew it onto a nice gig bag.

Based on the condition (ie- not as described), I was able to get some more money off the asking price, so I'm a happy man. I basically got a vintage lawsuit-ish Strat for Squier money.

And now, pics!

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Sat May 04, 2013 1:39 am

That looks bad ass

finboy · Post by **finboy** » Sat May 04, 2013 1:41 am

Looks awesome, I totally forgot about those, as soon as you posted it on Facebook I realized exactly what I can do to my strat with those dream 90's

Hove fun with it!

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Sat May 04, 2013 12:47 pm

damn nice!

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Sat May 04, 2013 1:32 pm

That is brilliant.

Although it looks like the bridge pickup may be misaligned slightly...

Dillon · Post by **Dillon** » Sat May 04, 2013 5:02 pm

Very nice. I never thought I'd like a Strat with three humbuckers, but I think I've just changed my mind. Is it a refin?

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Sat May 04, 2013 7:35 pm

Dillon wrote:Very nice. I never thought I'd like a Strat with three humbuckers, but I think I've just changed my mind. Is it a refin?

It is. It was originally natural. I'm gonna strip it and bring it back to natural.

Anyway, it's also gonna need a full refret and a new nut. Also gonna need a new 3 way switch.

So that, with the strip + refin means I must still be drunk from last night. Or I'm in love with the sound. Bridge pickup is HOT - with a P90ish quality, the middle sounds like a hot tele neck pickup, and the neck sounds like a tele bridge pickup. Kinda weird, but sounds awesome.

The body is one piece maple, fat maple neck with a flab maple board. The truss rod works perfectly.

One interesting tidbit.. the pickup rings are actually part of the pickguard. The 4 corner screws on each "ring" actually mount directly to the wood.

Here's a pic:

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Sat May 04, 2013 11:36 pm

Update from my tech. Body's been stripped... he says it's a nice piece of wood. Waiting on a pic. Also, that when he started to take frets off, this happened:

At least it happened now, when it can easily be reglued.

iCEByTes · Post by **iCEByTes** » Sun May 05, 2013 12:19 am

good thing you can check trussrod condition easy now.

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Sun May 05, 2013 2:29 am

rps-10 · Post by **rps-10** » Sun May 05, 2013 10:39 am

Much better in the original natural finish.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Sun May 05, 2013 1:26 pm

Don't leave it natural, though. There are enough cheesboards in the world. Do it a pretty colour. This is a guitar that demands a metalflake finish.

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Sun May 05, 2013 6:16 pm

benecol wrote:Don't leave it natural, though. There are enough cheesboards in the world. Do it a pretty colour. This is a guitar that demands a metalflake finish.

I see your point, but I've wanted another natural guitar since getting rid of my Peavey T15.

George · Post by **George** » Sun May 05, 2013 6:23 pm

how heavy is the maple body?

it looks great by the way

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Sun May 05, 2013 6:39 pm

George wrote:how heavy is the maple body?

it looks great by the way

3 lbs.

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Sat May 11, 2013 2:09 am

Small update - I got to look at the body today. turns out it's 2 piece sandwiched maple, not one piece as originally I originally thought. Anyway, the fretboard is glue back on, and the frets have been pulled. Just need to clean up the board, fill in some gouges and such, and then put the new frets in. Also, the first coat of clear has gone over the body.

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Sat May 11, 2013 4:51 am

Normally I think 3 HB guitars are silly, but that is absolutely not. Nice find.

Leave it natural, but maybe get a black or tort guard cut for it instead of the white.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Sat May 11, 2013 4:02 pm

i have always loved the 3HB strat look of the univox! that is a very cool guitar. its odd that the fretboard just sorta fell off.... but, it looks clean, so its an easy glue, like you said. a very cool piece indeed. what fret size are you going to put back into it? and what is the radius of the board? are you going to leave it as is? or try for something else?

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Sat May 11, 2013 4:16 pm

14" Radius, jumbo frets. I'm gonna leave it as is, although I'm now considering getting a black or brown tort guard cut after remember how awesome my T-15 looked with a black guard.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Sat May 11, 2013 4:56 pm

14" radius? no fucking way! that was stock? i can see more of curve in the photos than that! it looks like a 10" tops! but. you would know, pics lie.