I bought this from the forum in 2019 - from RevMatt - it was looking a bit jaded and had seen some use over the years. The electrics had been fiddled with and were a car crash unfortunately. It did sound great however!
It was an original from Robs early days as Woodworm guitars (hence the neck plate), a custom order for a German guitarist who picked the fretboard logo of a chess King as that was his stage name I believe.
So I decided to get in touch with Rob after deliberating for a bit and have the body sorted and resprayed, a black headstock overspray, and have a setup, rewire, new pots, new switch, new knobs, new neck plate, gold humbucker cover added, new screws etc.. It took a while due to Covid and other things and I received it back in August last year eventually. When I got it back the body looked great and Rob had done a reasonable job of the headstock painting. I didn't have the neck refinished only polished leaving screw holes from some old tuners (pictured), the setup was done with 11-49. After a month or so the guitar seemed to develop a sitar sound on the B string, and the volume pot became a bit notchy. These issues were slightly irritating so I stuck it in it's gig bag and played my other guitars instead.
Fast forward to Jan/Feb I decided to fish it out again and thought it deserves sorting so I sent it to Jon at Feline Guitars (the best in the business for me) to sort the volume pot out, check out the set up for me and sort out the sitar sound. He also put an Earvana on for me as I like them. Jon had it hardly any time at all and did an amazing job he also blocked the trem for me so it's dive only. He discovered that the sitar sound was due to there not being quite enough tension on the B string so he added a graphtech string tree for me. It now plays as well as it's ever done (better tbh!), it's got rock solid tuning stability, and a nice lived in feel on the neck. It's got a full and rounded sound, almost Les Paul/SG like thanks to the combo of woods I guess, but it can do the strat thing easily too! It's always in tune when it comes out of the bag which is a good sign of quality.
Soooooo, after all that, why am I selling it? Well I'm a single cut player at heart and every time I try a Strat I realise they aren't for me.... You think I'd have learnt by now but it is such a lovely guitar that is now about perfect and needs some love. Look at it, it's beautiful!! Anyway details below for anyone interested, happy to meet up or can arrange shipping whichever!
Quilted Maple drop top on Mahogany body, reveal binding.
Mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard - new black headstock face.
I believe its a 9.5" radius based on my gauges, modern Fender C style neck I would say.
Chess King first fret inlay - side repeaters but no other markers.
Full body resto/respray - one burn mark is visible under the laquer near the bridge, however you can't feel it.
New electrics - new volume and tone pot, new 5 way, push/pull on tone for parallel bridge pickup, new gold cover on bridge pickup
Gotoh hardware throughout, Magnum Locking tuners staggered, EV510TS tremolo bridge with steel saddles and FST block
Pickups are handwired by Martin Dufficy from the Little Guitar Shop in Birmingham in October 2013 and are as follows:
The single coils are early Sixties style with 8300 turns of 42 gauge wire and a DC resistance of 6.1 k ohms.
The humbucker is a PAF style with total of 10,000 turns of 42 gauge wire and alnico 2 magnet, D.C. resistance of 7.1K ohms.
Switching is neck, neck/middle, middle, middle/bridge, bridge. The push/pull on the tone gives you parallel humbucker tones.
The bad bits:
Screw holes visible where the tuners were replaced before I owned the guitar, a couple of barely noticable dents in the back of the neck. There are some laquer cracks in the back of the neck, neither Rob or Jon believe these are problematic, just cracks from the usual years of use and temperature changes over the years. One visible ex burn mark on the body, which can't be felt but can be seen!
Comes complete with a Fender Gig Bag as I'm keeping the case I bought for it.
I'll be honest I have no idea where to pitch this and I'm open to suggestions and offers, with what I paid for the guitar, the restoration (!!?), and the work Feline did for me, I'm out of pocket to the tune of £1.7k+.... So I'm gonna start this one at £1050PPG to your door. If anyone wants to chat to me, feel free!!
Comments
It's with heavy heart I sell this, unfortunately needs must at the moment and I'm having to be brutal. It's in excellent condition with no major marks or dents, has a couple of small marks but thats it. It has a bit of playing wear but overall it's in lovely nick. All the lovely Feline refinements are there.
Complete with Seymour Slash pickups and had a fettle at Feline prior to my purchase, so it's in good shape. Sounds amazing, I really like these pickups and they have a nice balanced crunch with some lovely sizzle. I'll take some more pics later but here's one or two to remind you all!
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
So after the Derrig frenzy, I still need to sell something else and here it is.
An ES335 Studio from 2019 and it's a lovely example. Full spec is here:
http://legacy.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2019/Memphis/ES-335-Studio-2019.aspx
Basically though it's a 3ply laminate top back and sides, with a solid maple neck (with some lovely flame!). Gibson 57 pickups which sound marvellous and 50's wiring. It has a nice full neck, not the thin style 60s one, this is similar to a Les Paul Standard profile. Previous owner had this setup at a pro luthier but it came from Peach originally so I imagine it was pretty bang on anyway! I added the pickguard as I feel same as the Les Paul, that they look better with them. It's a vintage style one from Crazy Parts, and it matches the guitar well.
It has a lovely black binding on the neck and 3 ply with a white centre on the body, which looks really classy. Sound wise it's very lively with a fat midrange. I'd like to keep it, but it sits in the case mostly and it's too good to not play.
Comes with case, spare gold knobs and the manual, certificate, born photo etc.. these are no longer in stock anywhere and it may be some time before they are again.
Looking for £1300 SOLD delivered to your door.... Open to offers
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
Bump
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
LTD ESP EX400 with hardcase for sale. 2007 model. SOLD on eBay
Bought this a few months back to live out my youth, a certain Mr Hetfield was one of my heroes growing up and I needed to scratch the itch. Safe to say it's been scratched but now it never leaves the case as I play my Les Pauls too much, I need the cash so it's on its way.
It was a mess when I got it, clearly hadn't been played in a while and the hardware has lost plating in places, I've managed to clean it up but there is some signs of corrosion. However on the plus side it's really resonant and sounds immense, plus now it's been setup it plays superbly well. Aside from a number of chips and one large dent/chip it cleaned up really well. It has low action but its perfect for those thrash riffs!
Equipped with EMG 60+81 pickups, Grover tuners and an Earvana nut. Mahogany body and set thru maple neck apparently.
The strap isn't included and neither is my tuner! I will stick on the original buttons, and there's a Warwick Rockcase included which has a number or marks but does the job. Has a round hole in the top courtesy of Parcel Force, but it doesn't affect its function, it's the size of a 5p at most.
Album here!
http://imgur.com/a/sKNTTLr
Obey your master, master!! Withdrawn!
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.
Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com. Facebook too!
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
Gorgeous gorgeous Feline - GLWTS
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.