UPDATE: Exploratory Surgery (MIJ Tat Content)

impmann

Jalapeno said:

Oh, and a steam cleaner might shift some of the oil

Turn it up high enough and it might shift the rest of the neck too. 

Or give it a Viking burial.

Then burn the ash to be sure.

crunchman

I had a FAL amp.  Awful thing.

Funkfingers

HarrySeven said:

Yup - with you on the neck issue. So...a cheap MIJ neck is required!

What happened to that neck that you were thinking of grafting onto a Gibson Sonex body?

HarrySeven

Well, I took the plunge and decided to take a closer look at this Columbus neck...

Separated everything:

https://i.imgur.com/JLPUwVE.jpg

Started by removing all traces of oil and cleaning the wood with acetone. Once I appeared to have removed enough of the surface contaminant, I repaired the first fracture:

https://i.imgur.com/swhYCNS.jpg

That went together OK, but the missing wood was still an issue:

https://i.imgur.com/h3Uwcoj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MGg7uGu.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/05iQD38.jpg

I then prepared a small hardwood fillet/splint, just enough to add some strength back to the area:

https://i.imgur.com/0gn7GxF.jpg

Glued and clamped that into place:

https://i.imgur.com/bhwUfDt.jpg

Then started to shape it:

https://i.imgur.com/oZkqXNI.jpg

Once that was done, I started to look at the rest of the neck...

https://i.imgur.com/Rd9m8Bx.jpg

Until...

https://i.imgur.com/hXQvo8b.jpg

Fretboard on, reassembled, etc. Before attaching the fingerboard, I cleaned the surface with acetone, same as the neck itself.

https://i.imgur.com/u64NZNW.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CEJf1ct.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/9tE7x6r.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Bq4Opp6.jpg

It’s not a thing of beauty, but the repair appears solid, feels very smooth to the touch and hopefully will stay in place.

I’ll think about refinishing some other time. Just want to see how it all goes back together and plays first.

Funkfingers

HarrySeven said:

https://i.imgur.com/oZkqXNI.jpg

So, that's what you're smoking.

Kittyfrisk

Nice job  
Interesting offset neck to body screw hole positions...?

HarrySeven

Kittyfrisk said:

Nice job  
Interesting offset neck to body screw hole positions...?

I may well be dowelling and re-drilling yet...

hollywoodrox

impmann said:

Now, you know I enjoy tat like you. However some things are lines in the sand and Columbus Les Paul copies are one of them. These, when new, should have had the marketing strap line of “the sound of disappointment “.

Y’see, at the age of 14, I ‘invested’ every single penny I had in the world in such a guitar. It was black, shiny and was bought new from a little music shop in Eltham, South East London that stank gently of cigar smoke. So did everything you bought from it...

On my return home, firstly I couldn’t understand why no matter how hard I pressed the strings into the neck, certain notes just would not ring out. Also why it hummed incessantly when plugged into my amp and that the three way switch seemed to select ‘off, off, crackle’. Finally the stench from said instrument made sleeping with the window open a must when in it was placed in my bedroom - and my mother wouldn’t stand for it being left anywhere else.

So, dejected, I took said guitar back to the shop the following weekend on the bus. This consumed much of a Saturday. The owner of the shop was less than enthusiastic to see me and the guitar, telling me I’d “buggered it up” adjusting it and that it would cost me further funds I didn’t have for him to put it right.

So, back home it came. It sat in the corner of the shed for a week (nobody could bear the smell) and then I took it to my local music shop in Sidcup, dear old Wing Music. Barry, the mischievous old devil who ran the place examined it and declared it “a pile of shit only fit for the bin”. That’s when I started crying.

Barry realised what had happened and that I’d sunk every penny I didn’t have into something that was crap - so he offered me a deal. He’d take the crappy Columbus and give me an Antoria Les Paul Gold top he had, I could pay him the difference each month over the next six months. A gentleman’s agreement.

So I did. I paid it off in three months and kept that Antoria for years as it was a great guitar. I also know that Barry stamped on the neck of the Columbus to ensure nobody else endured the disappointment of ownership and slung it in a bin.

The moral (s) of this story: a great music ship isn’t just a place to consume gear. And the best shops know that just pulling the most money out of your wallet isn’t going to keep you as a customer. I spent £1000s in that shop before Barry sold up and then sadly died.
The other is, I wouldn’t have a Columbus Les Paul copy one the house if you paid me. I wonder if someone stamped on this one to put it out if another child’s misery and then someone ‘rescued’ it. And perhaps that would be the best place for it.

What a wonderful story ,I really enjoyed that . What a top chap Barry was and what a douchebag the other guy was. I can imagine your disappointment at the time  then good old Barry to the rescue what a thoroughly decent person. Thanks for sharing this story

rossi

guitars4you said:

I think I've just found your secret supplier - Not facebook or e-bay - The local council tip ???????????

I found an Avon  type up the tip .It was playable but needed some upper  fret work which to me wasnt worth doing .It played and sounded fine lower down as long as you didnt expect a Les Paul humbucker sound .I stuck in a very cheap minipot wiring harness  as it has a hum I  couldn't   track down .I sold it a while ago with an accurate description of course .If it had been better up the angels end I would have kept it for fun .

Funkfingers

Avon LP hum explanation = single coil pickups inside humbucker covers.