Anyone bought from boobooguitars.co.uk?

lovestrat74

Bought a tele body that was listed as having a split in the body. Fair enough I thought, didn't look bad. Bit of glue and a finish and away we go..

1 piece swamp ash - tick. Belly cut - tick. Routed for 2 HBs - tick. So it ticked all the boxes for something different to what I already have.

When it arrived the split was in the part of the body where the back control cavity was routed so there is no meat under it. The remaining top of the body left after the route was very, very thin so I am not surprised that it split tbh. Probably half as thin as my gspbasses DC body. Why would you need to route this much out?

https://imgur.com/a/Utjw1Sf

https://imgur.com/a/mGAy8r6

As well as this the Jack was not drilled out. Nor were the holes for the pickup wiring, or bridge, so it looks like the split occured and then the body was put in the seconds pile. 

The body cut was done with a cheese grater and none of the edging was rounded off. Oh and the neck pocket was routed for a strat not a tele neck. Apart from the split none of the other stuff was listed/mentioned.

https://imgur.com/a/z8Cdwq9


What would you do with this body? Could I glue a thin piece of wood in the control cavity to bulk it out a bit or should I just return it???

Winny_Pooh

Considering their cheap cost I'd expect some work. My strat body needed full sanding and cleaning up of the roundovers.

Depending how wide the route is the knobs should have enough wood to be stable and it'll be strong enough. If you're worried then perhaps epoxy (so you get side wall reinforcement) in a slice of laminate wood and then redrill. 

The neck bit is more hassle IMO. If you dont fit a gaurd then you'll want a 22 fret neck with an overhang.

The bridge not being drilled is a plus, you have the option to add a bigsby

lovestrat74

Like your positive slant @Winny_Pooh ;

I also thought that a thinline style pickguard could be an option to add some beef to that weak cavity area.

I have a strat neck and neck pocket is well cut so that is not a problem for me.

Funkfingers

It's ash. Split happens.

The coarsely cut body contouring gives some indication of the point in the shaping process when the split occurred and work on that body was abandoned. 

If the split on the front of the guitar can be concealed with filler or opaque base coat, the project should work out. If there are too many things that disappoint, return the item as misdescribed.

GoldenEraGuitars

They’re B stock bodies mate. If you want to save a buck or two you’ll need to get the sand paper out. The reason it’s probably not had it’s final sand and shaping done is due to the split. 

BeardyAndy

I've been looking at some of the swamp ash offsets, seems that they put the tools down as soon as the flaw is spotted. 
The routing looked finished but the contours were only rough cut and would take a hell of a lot of shaping and sanding, got to ask yourself how much you value your time!

lovestrat74

Yeah pretty much as I thought.."..looks like the split occured and then the body was put in the seconds pile." Which is no biggie as I was aware it was seconds. I was just thinking is the route too deep - I.e not enough meat left on the body at the cavity.

Think it would make an interesting  project...

King85

Fill the crack with some colored resin. Whack an led in the cavity. Job done.

downbytheriver

To answer the original title question, I have had a couple. I’ve chosen very carefully and understood pretty much what I was getting - both bodies made good guitars with a bit of work. I think you can usually expect decent wood. 

My understanding is that these are seconds/rejects from guitar build but I am prepared to be told I’m wrong. 

Richardrichard

I just bought an Ash Tele body from booboo, grade "1" and the only flaw being a split on the edge, paid £67. This thing is perfect, if they hadn't drawn a circle round the split I would never find it, practically non existent. 

Now, I have no experience with non-reject bodies from guitar build, but this is exactly what I would expect one to be like. Plain wood, well sanded etc but requiring its finish.

Sarge

All booboo bodies are as far as I'm aware Guitarbuild rejects, I got lucky in that my bb strat body only had a small routing stray mark in the trem spring cavity, but all the contours were still unfinished showing the cnc marks, turned out to be a superb solid body.