Double Charity Shop NDG

steer

For the combined sum of £24, I have picked up a couple of guitars in need of some TLC from a charity shop.

Squire strat. Someone has put a bright red pickguard on it, but I guess at the time of doing so they messed up the electronics. At first there was no output at all. The output jack was shorting, which was an easy spot. I was delighted that this was such an easy fix, plugged in and then realised that I only had sound in switch positions 1 and 5. This was less of an easy fix. In the end I more or less rewired the whole guitar. The previous owner must have more or less guessed where the wires went! Out with the soldering iron and some spare wire, and 2 hours later I have a perfectly working strat.

I hate the red scratch plate - plus the screw holes do not all align, so even if I liked the colur a new one is needed. White would seem a bit boring, but what colour do you think would work with this?

It playes really well. A couple of scractes and dents, but genuine. A little bit of fret wear on the first 2 or 3 frets, but plenty of life left.

Next up is an Epi Les Paul Special. I think someone has had a go at relicing it, so it's not looking great. One of the pups is half fallen in. There are 2 saddles / saddle screws missing. I have fixed the pickup with some spare screws and a spare sping that I had lying around.

A whole new saddle seems a bit unnessary seeing as the only thing missing is a 2 of the screws and saddle pins. Is there anywhere that will sell me such a minor thing?

Not plugged the Epi in yet, but thankfully the wiring looks untouched!

Pics to follow

steer

steer

mark123

sorry to say mate they are both fakes..scale and body length are too thin...as if you have posted the pics wrongly...


only joking mate nice score ,whenever i go past my charity shop its silver tvs with a 4ft back end for £30 or a settee with a kebab still stuffed down the side and numerous dodgy stains 

HerrMetal

Very nice deal. Personally I'd go three ply black (BWB) or a decent mint green on the strat. 

StanleyAccrington

Nice work feller.  I'd be happy to get one of those guitars for £24....but to snaffle 2 for that price!!
I'm always on the look out for charity shop/car boot sales for cheap guitar gear. Please let us know how these two shape up after a bit of TLC.

Wazmeister

Great spot, and congrats on two mega deals !

skullfunkerry

I actually quite like that red scratchplate! Good score though - I always dream of finding bargains like that, nice one

PhilKing

You can pick up individual saddles.  Not sure where in the UK, but try Allparts.

steer

mark123 said:

sorry to say mate they are both fakes..scale and body length are too thin...as if you have posted the pics wrongly...

Yeah sorry. Struggling with pics on here for some reason.

skullfunkerry said:

I actually quite like that red scratchplate! Good score though - I always dream of finding bargains like that, nice one

The red looks even worse in the flesh than in the pics.! On a solid colour body it might have looked OK.

ANyway, I am beginning to bond with the strat. It plays really nicely for a cheap guitar. I told Mrs Steer that they were both only temporary additions to the household... perhaps she will forget that little promise!!. Lemon oiled the fretboards on both, and they are both looking slightly better.

soma1975

Anodised gold plate for the strat

Modellista

Some vague part of my brain is telling me the black Squier logo with tiny Fender logo means the Strat is an "SE" model, usually found in a pack with a titchy amp, but it has a full-thickness body, the only model of the budget Squiers to have such.

Nice instrument for a learner or a very budget-challenged guitarist!

steer

Yep, I think the strat is a 1996 model with full thickness body. A Gold pickguard is on it's way from China. Might be a keeper this one, as I have really enjoyed playing it over the last couple of days. 

On to the Les Paul. I'm waiting for new saddle parts to fix this. Unless anyone has any bright ideas, I don't think that there is much I can do to fix or minimise the bad relicing attempt by its previous owner. Certainly it's not worth spending a huge amount of time doing so considering just how low budget a guitar it was to start with. 

jonnygreentrees

New Duitar Gay?

LastMantra

I got a guitar from a charity shop once. Took it home fixed the bridge cleaned it up and put new strings on. Then realised I didn't need it or particularly want it, so....I took it to a charity shop.

Since then I've seen a few but haven't bothered. 

King85

steer said:

On to the Les Paul. I'm waiting for new saddle parts to fix this. Unless anyone has any bright ideas, I don't think that there is much I can do to fix or minimise the bad relicing attempt by its previous owner. Certainly it's not worth spending a huge amount of time doing so considering just how low budget a guitar it was to start with. 

Take a crack at a refin if you fancy it, nothing to lose if it doesn't work out.

Alterlifeson

Great deal, a strat and an LP. You could cover many bases there!

Henrytwang

LastMantra said:

I got a guitar from a charity shop once. Took it home fixed the bridge cleaned it up and put new strings on. Then realised I didn't need it or particularly want it, so....I took it to a charity shop.

Since then I've seen a few but haven't bothered. 

I’ve done the same thing with a couple of car boot sale guitars I’d purchased in a rash moment.  I think that they cost me about £15 for the pair, the charity shop got £25 each for them.

steer

The strat is now tidied up, rewired and has a new pickguard. Sore some reason I cant get the image to upload.

https://imgur.com/a/P1xcX0b

Here it is anyway, for anyone who is interested. 

Funkfingers

I concur with the suggestions for white or gold scratchplates with a two-tone sunburst. Off-white pearlescent would work too.

Pickup covers and control knobs ought to be off-white but there is no law preventing you from having black plastic parts.

The Sung-il vibrato is hampered by its skinny cast zinc sustain block. In the interests of tuning stability, most owners fasten the bridge down against the body.

My best charity shop acquisition was a Yamaha SE110. Right now, it just needs one pickup and some soldering to complete the project.

hollywoodrox

Excellent