Trash/ Flash Harmony crap

[61fury]

Bought for parts, tossed the body, went back to get the body. 1st Fret level, neighbors discarded plastic window, first pickguard made, and 1.50 Dollar Store glitter paper, and a knob.
Epi HB with 1 Meg pot. Plays great, nice action, no fret buzz, intonates ok. Doesn't sound that good through amp. Haven't tweaked it much though. 8 bucks invested. That PG would look great on stage, it bursts into glittery flame, glows red , green, yellow and mellow burst depending on the light

[GHOSTLYxSTRAT]

Looks real cool reminds me of the 60s psychedelic stuff for some reason lol.

[61fury]

Thank you, more burst variation ;


Like crap without the light

[GHOSTLYxSTRAT]

Do you know whats the scale length? and are those bodies plywood or hardwood? a few of those old guitars pop up on trademe (our New Zealand version of ebay) and was always tempted to get one. Even a univox hi flier was on a few months back.

[61fury]

It's 25.5". It's plywood. The body is an inch thick. This one has no pedigree, just some newer version of the old crap. Nothing interesting about it at all. It was a "Marigold", Google or Ebay and someone is still trying to sell them. I'm using the neck on another project, this has a Hondo II NATO neck. The Hondo neck on the Hondo seemed lumpy and was fretting out all around the 5th fret . It came with a white single ply PG and 2 SC's. Those are going to another project as well. The pickups measure something in the 8K range. At the pawn shop it had the usual 1/2 inch action that these things have. The action is now low and it's very playable. Fret leveling couldn't be easier and well worth doing.
Very stress free way to learn some basic luthier-like things on.

[paul_]

Doesn't sound that good through amp.

If it's an older Epi HB that's why, if it's a newer one the 1meg pot is why. It might be a little lacklustre anyway, though you'd sense that unplugged if it was the case.
I like how you've kept with the original vibe.

[61fury]

Thanks again, now I'm thinking about expensive upgrades, well, GFS espensive. Truth is I don't play, when I do ( pretty much everyday, 20 minutes or so) I rarely play through the amp. I know chords, some scales and 30 seconds worth of about 5 songs. I've got 500 K pots, can put a tone knob in, change the pup, whatever., and this was a cheap, bottom of the barrel practice project. I know now that I' really prefer doing a fret level to removing the pickguard.
I will take lessons soon ( been saying that for 4 years now), but I'm really into the " playing with" aspect of guitars. Plus I like getting drunk and ordering stuff online .
The pick ups are from a 96 epiphone

[61fury]

Should I waste money on a pick up? Even if I don't play I believe things should work as intended. Is there a HB that sounds something like a P90? Now those got my attention. Don't want to make another pickguard. How about those GFS lipstick HB's ? Anyone have one?

[61fury]

Actually it's sounding better through the amp. I'd need some one who can play to get the most out of it. Maybe a tone control and a 500 K audio pot. This linear pot is on/ off at 2 with very little variation above that.

[jbuonacc]

i've been buying a number of old 60s japanese guitars lately, and have been pretty impressed overall with how they play and sound. some of them (even the ones with plywood bodies) can sing and sustain pretty well "acoustically" without even being plugged in. some of those older pickups (gold foil or not) sound really fantastic.

not sure what to tell you with this one, seems like a hopeless case. how much are you looking to spend on parts and a pickup? for that much you might be able to just buy a better old guitar like this. if the point is to get that guitar up and running just because you feel obligated, i wouldn't bother. unfortunately, that thing was never cool and never will be. i'd put it out of its misery while you have the chance. just in case, you might consider cutting it up into a small pieces and dispersing them around your city or township. ... or just kill it with fire.

[61fury]

I already tried to throw it away , thank you. And I got it playable. I'm a negative creep too