New strings make a difference ...

Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015 -- I decided to take a moment and put a new set of strings on my OE-30 semi-

hollow body guitar. It hit me last week that I've owned that guitar for a couple of years, and though I haven't played it, I haven't changed strings either.

The strings were larger gauge than the ones I've used, which are usually Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings (basically .09 to .42). Sometime back I bought a six pack of Fender strings of the same gauge and put a set on my Ibanez Gio. I just finished putting a new set on the Oscar Schmidt, and wow, does it sound and play differently!

One improvement is that it did away with the slight buzz on the low E string, and boy! Does it sound brighter! I'll go back to it later this evening, but I'm looking forward to breaking the new strings in and playing the OE-30 with new strings.

Speaking of strings, I have also ordered a set of coated strings, which offering much longer life. I'll put those on my Peavey when they arrive, and I'll have a full review posted here.

Rock on!

Fine tuning pickups, planning on refinishing ...

Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 -- The parts I ordered for my project guitars continue to trickle in ... the black speed knobs arrived today. The snowstorm we had earlier this week delayed mail delivery, but that's ok -- I don't have the replacement pots for the Ibanez anyway.

I have ordered new pots to replace these, and
I already have my new speed knobs. With my
new set of super slinky strings, this one is
ready to rock. I've also add the missing knob
on the 3-way switch.

I thought I had ordered them, but I had not ... I had them marked on eBay, then changed my mind to go back and check the OE parts list on the Ibanez website. I bit the bullet tonight and ordered a set of pots for it. Once I have the pots replaced, there won't be anything left to repair!

I'm still working on adjusting the pickups ... I'm just not really sold on the audio quality, and thanks to Youtube research, I've gotten a better understanding on adjusting them for best performance. I had them adjusted too close to the strings, making both pickups sound muddy. I've lowered them down and they're -- at least -- better.

I have a hard case for the Ibanez -- or for my Peavey, depending on which I decide to play and which I don't. I really want a hard case for my Oscar Scmidt OE-30 semi-hollowbody, but those don't come cheap. I still find myself drawn to red or black semi-hollowbody guitars, and I can pick one up for $200 easy, sometimes with a hard case. But frankly, I'm not ready to drop that much cash on another guitar -- especially when I have my OE-30 tobacco sunburst that plays just fine.

My real project guitar -- the Spectrum strat -- awaits the real work. First, I need to figure out what I want to do with the body. It needs finishing, and I'm looking online for supplies. I'm pretty sure I'm going with Surf Green, but before I get to color coats, I have a helluva lot of prep work. I'm going to seal the grain and make it a slick as I can before going with color. I'll clear the hell out of it. then wet sand and buff it.

This is what I would like my Spectrum strat clone to look like
once I have it completed. There's a lot of work from here to
there.

I'm hoping that after all this work refinishing this thing that it plays worth a damn. Once I have the nut installed, I may just reassemble it and give it a try before I start painting. We'll see.

I continue to play my OE-30 a lot, and have been adjusting the pups to clean up their sound. That's working pretty well. I'm just more used to single coil pickups, you know?

I'm also trying to avoid the temptation to buy a telecaster-style guitar. My wife has surgery this week, and she will be off work for SIX weeks, meaning anything I buy in the next couple of months is going to have to come past her while she's here -- and I don't want her chewing my ass because I bought a (another) new guitar.

I need to really work on my skills rather than buying another guitar ... learn to play better instead of more stuff to play. Hell, I was even considering buying an autoharp to learn to play.  Instead of

buying another guitar, I'm going to spend a little money on some instructional materials.

Speaking of buying more stuff, my other Behringer V-Amp 3 arrived yesterday ... I couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy it when it sells usually for twice the price.  I'm also considering buying the rack mount version of the V-Amp, which I can get for about $75. Of course, that means I'll have not one but TWO V-amp 3s hanging around .... if I play my cards right, I could sell them both and come out money ahead on the rack mount V-Amp. ... or maybe I can apply the proceeds to a telecaster? I can always dream, lol.

More Delta King observations ...

Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015 -- My left shoulder feels better this morning, and my thoughts about my Oscar Schmidt OE-30 semi-hollow body guitar have mellowed out a bit. I may just go ahead and buy the cherry red one I'm wanting, despite its heft.

Last night's tuning problems were indeed frustrating. The more I think about it, the more I'm fairly sure the strings are binding at the nut. I think before I start filing the slots, I'm going to put a new set of strings on. I have some 09s that I'm going to try, mostly because I have them in hand. I believe it has 11s on it now,

I'm watching an eBay auction for a Johnson JS-500 guitar -- cherry red, beautiful hard case, in great condition with a first bid of $200 ... and no bidders. The Johnson has a set neck, which most players really like. My research shows that no one makes the traditional semi-hollow body guitar with a neck more like a strat -- there are some chinese slimline teles that have a nut that's on the order of 1-1/2 inches, which is good deal more narrow than the OE-30 or other traditional semi-hollow bodies. Maybe what I seek lies there, though I am not Jonesin' for a slimline tele or strat the way I am for the 335-style semi-hollow body.

My wife will probably KILL me if she knows I spent $200 on a guitar ... of course, she has to find out, first, right??

I've been hiding guitars from her anyway ... she hasn't met my blue LP clone, and she hasn't really figured out that when I told her I was getting A project guitar, the truth was I was getting TWO project guitars. They are both in plain sight in my office, however, it isn't like I'm (physically) hiding them. The Ibanez GAX30 is standing there in plain sight; the strat copy project is in its case, and it is standing up inside my office as well. She probably believes the Ibanez belongs in the case, which is not the case (pun intended).

This Delta King has the pickup
switch by the lower "f" hole.

I ran across a decent deal on a generic hard case for strat/tele guitars on ebay the other night, and decided to buy it. The Ibanez has no case and neither does my old reliable Peavey Raptor fat strat. That poor guitar has lived a life of hard knocks, though to its credit you wouldn't know it. I figured if I can get a case for them its only an investment ... besides, if I get crazy and buy a more valuable strat or tele, I'll have a case ready to go.

THE MANY FACES OF THE DELTA KING.  I've run across a number of variations of the OE-30 Delta King that's worth mentioning. Now we know that they were made initially in Indonesia, and later in China.

My Chinese-built one has open face humbuckers; others (presumably earlier ones) had the PAF-style humbuckers similar to those found on my LP clone. Another difference is the location of the 3-way pickup switch. On mine (as show in photos below), the switch is in the left horn. On others, the toggle is placed lower down by the volume and tone controls.  Another variation is the location of the output jack. On mine, it is on the bottom of the lower bout. I have also seen the same guitars with the output jack located on the front, between the tail piece and the guitar button, just kinda "out there." The majority of the ones I see have the output jack where mine is, but you see it on the front too.

As the Johnson eBay auction runs down, I've decided not to bid. Despite its looks and the beautiful case, I don't need to spend that much money (and try to hide it from my wife!).

This poor, poor Jazzy!

WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? I haven't written about it here before, but I wanted to rant a bit about a new(ish) trend that seems to now be a part of the guitar world -- the idea of "relicing" a guitar. Perhaps I'm just too damn old school to get it, but let's look at this idea -- first, you buy a top-quality, high-end guitar; then you pay factory luthiers to artificially age your new guitar -- beat the shit out of it, basically -- and you pay them handsomely for doing so.

And the look? Well, the phrase "rode hard and put up wet" comes to mind. You wind up with a brand new guitar that looks like it spent most of its time on the road being dragged behind the tour bus.

And in some cases, the relic process involves repainting a factory finish -- sunburst, etc. -- with some odd-fucking-ball finish, and then they wear the shit out of it to resemble the wear a 40-year-old guitar might experience. You get guitars that look like hell that you pay a king's ransom to buy.

Don't look for me to spend my hard-earned bucks on anything that is intentionally "relic'ed."  I may buy an old guitar that's beat the hell up, but I won't pay a premium for the honor of having one that's been artificially aged.

I suppose I can understand why you would rather play a faux-aged guitar than some rare axe that you paid a gazillion dollars from the estate of some dead rock-n-roller; but does it add to your coolness to have a guitar that looks like hell? Me, I want a nice looking guitar, and maybe I'm wrong, but I want to keep my guitars nice and not have them beat all to hell.

Kids! What's the matter with kids today?? Why can't the be like we were -- perfect in every way? What's the matter with guitar-buying kids too -- day!??

Rock on.

Thursday morning, Feb. 12, 2015 -- Well, I've learned this much ...  playing my Oscar Schmidt OE-30 semi-hollow body has fired up my sore left shoulder again .... at 10 lbs, its easily the heaviest guitar I own.

I played it a couple of times today for a bit, and just put it down a few minutes ago. My shoulder fired up and I realized that its my guitar -- or the lack of a good strap. I'm rethinking my thoughts about buying another hollowbody guitar, simply on the issue of weight.

One thing I'm experiencing with the guitar is a problem others commented on -- it keeps going out of tune. I'm just about ready to put new strings on it. I lowered the action on both sides of the bridge, but the low E string was too low creating buzz of the kind I don't want. The action is lower than it was, but not low enough to cause a problem.

I'm beginning the think the nut is binding, Once I have it tuned and play a while, the tuning changes. I don't think the strings are stretching, but I think they may be binding at the nut ... therefore the tuning changes once I begin playing, Playing allows the strings to move slightly to equalize the pressure.

I am NOT a fan of the "diecast tuners" used on my Oscar Schmidt ... some call them Grovers, but I think they are cheap Grover wanna-bes ... the tuners are too coarse for my liking. I'm tempted to replace them, but I think my first chore would be to improve the nut to keep the strings from binding. That isn't a big fix.

A DEAL TOO GOOD TO PASS. One of my favorite pieces of electronics (other than my computer equipment) has to be my Behringer V-Amp 3. It has added tremendous new dimensions to my guitar playing and added a great deal of enjoyment. The next piece of gear I want to add is the rackmount version of the V-Amp ... while browsing eBay for the "pro" version, I saw a new listing for a V-Amp 3 like mine -- for less than half the price I paid. It comes complete, and all of the others listed with prices at the same price point (or higher!) than I paid for mine .... I decided to go ahead and buy the second one. It was so cheap I have nothing to lose.

There are a number of semi-hollow body guitar actions ending on eBay in the next couple of days, but I'm fairly contented to just keep my guitars busy.

Just a note (or several) before I go to bed ...

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015 -- After writing and writing for work, I wrapped it up about 12:30 a.m. and decided it was time to exorcise my frustration with some jamming (with headphones on at this hour, of course!).

I played my Oscar Schmidt OE-30 earlier yesterday and played it last night as well. The neck is a little wide for my hand, notable when I try to barre some chords. I'm not a big barre chord player anyway, but the neck is thicker than the strat-like necks I've been used to using.

But I played through with a bunch of Beach Boys and country songs, and I'm really liking the guitar. It's heavier than the rest, but I enjoy the feel of playing it. Not only that, it is one beautiful guitar, it truly is. The bindings are superb; I love the bound neck (even if it is too wide for my short, fat fingers).

I had thought of just selling the guitar and giving up on semi-hollowbody guitars, but the more I play the guitar, the more inclined I am to buy another one without the damage that mine has.

In addition to the split on the front lower bout edge, the top has two cracks that extend from the lower "f" hole to the lower tone knob. I'm not sure the cracks are deep; I'm thinking they are mostly just the finish cracked.

The damage doesn't affect the guitar's performance in any way. The only reason I would sell it is to buy another in red.

Its amazing how positive the reviews are on this guitar, both in print and in video. For every bad review there's half a dozen glowing ones, which is surprising given the fact this guitar has a bolt-on neck and is considered a cheap one. In fact, they were closed out 7 or 8 years ago as low as $125; they're still available new for upwards of $275. I'm not wanting to spend that much, but it is clear I'll have to pay much more for a second one that I paid for the first, damaged one.

There are some Chinese semi's out there, and I missed a couple of them on eBay that sold under $140 -- I would have pulled the trigger on either one. The Oscar Schmidt is Chinese built, though the earlier ones were built in Indonesia. There's been some discussion about which is better ... its interesting that they were closing out inventory years ago, but the guitar is still in production. Maybe they were closing out the Indonesia-built guitars?

Some reviewers complain that the OE-30 doesn't stay in tune. I find that the tuning shifts on mine too, though I have to admit that mine still has the original strings that came on it (!). I was going to put on some new .09s, but I'm beginning to think .10s or larger might be better. I'm all about playing ease and comfort, just not sure about the sound of the super slinkys with the OE. Guess I'll find out, eh?

Rock on!

Hots for a hollowbody ... or a hole in the head?

Monday, Feb. 9, 2015 --  I barely missed winning an eBay auction for an Ibanez hollowbody guitar in my favorite color -- red.

Actually, what I did was decide at the last minute to NOT enter the winning bid. I have this Carl Wilson guitar fantasy and I want a nice hollowbody ES335 like he played. Before the auction for the Ibanez ended, I dug out my Oscar Schmidt OE-30 hollowbody and I spent time with it.

It plays well, no doubt about it. The neck is different than I'm accustomed to with my strat-style guitars with narrower necks ... the wider fretboard is a little off-putting to when you aren't used to it.

I took time to check intonation on it because I hadn't done so before ... and the low E and A were way the hell out. At the same time, I lowered the action on the low E side because once you worked down the neck, by the 12th fret the gap was pretty substantial. I lowered the auction and set the intonation, and it made a difference in how well it plays.

It really is a pretty guitar, tobacco sunburst and all. I bought it really, really cheap because it has damage to the lower bout close to the output jack right on the corner. I had always wanted a hollowbody guitar, and this one was worth chasing it was cheap enough to buy and I could dump it on eBay if I didn't like it.

My OE-30 with humbuckers.

I have owned it for more than three years, but never took it out to play it. It's been in its gig bag all this time. I'm hoping to play it a little more, maybe I'll get better at playing it.

I played along with some of my favorite in-concert songs, and I felt like my playing was not as tight as it should have been ... the wider neck just makes it a little different to play. But the guitar -- other than the damaged spot on edge of the lower bout -- is in perfect, beautiful condition. It's so nice, you hate to get it out and play it in the close confines of my office, where I'm more likely than not to bang the headstock or body against a desk or bookcase.

The Ibanez I wanted was red, but apparently had been crunched in the past -- the pickup switch and one end of the tailpiece mount appear to have been damaged, as though something heavy was set on them. They have been repaired, but he paint on the repair area doesn't match the original finish.

Gibson PAF pickup.

The Ibanez also had a set neck, and I considered buying it to refinish it in red, but dealing with the neck would complicate things a bit. The OE-30 is Washburn's less expensive hollowbody model because it uses a bolt-on neck. The bolt on neck gives you less access to the lower frets, but it is also why its much cheaper in price.

One interesting note about the OE-30s ... many of the (presumably) newer models I see on eBay have different pups than mine and others of its vintage. They look like the Washburn version of the Gibson PAF pickups. From what I've read in my research, the PAFs have less output and can have a cleaner sound than the humbuckers. I might have to consider swapping some different pups in that baby, eh?

Frankly though, I'm more likely to take photos of my OE-30 and list it on eBay. I could use the money to purchase another cheap-ass guitar to rehab, lol!

SPEAKING OF REFINISHING. I have been researching where to buy paint for my Spectrum strat that I wish to refinish in Surf Green. An excellent website is reranch.com, and they have good resources and supplies for refinishing.

I'm going to seal and fill the woodgrain, then use the ReRench white primer before shooting it with Surf Green. I probably should order the materials soon just to have them on hand.

That's it this trip ... rock on!

More guitar playing and playing ...

Monday, Feb. 9, 2015, 1:30 a.m. -- Well, I may not get much done the next couple of days ... I took one hell of a fall this afternoon walking in the hall heading into the kitchen. Stumbled and couldn't get my feet back under me ... my left shoulder caught the door jamb and my right side spun around and slammed to the floor. It's a  good thing fat guys bounce.

My right hand is sore from smashing it in the fall, my right knee is hurting too. My shoulder is sore from slamming into the door jamb. Nothing broken, so I'll be ok.

I'll get a chance to play more guitar tomorrow, which is good. I got to play some tonight, playing the Ibanez project guitar. I adjusted the neck pickup -- lowered the low E end and raised the other end. This did a good job of rounding out the sound of the pickup. The guitar sounds good and plays well. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the intonation was pretty close. I played it a while, and it just has an excellent feel and I'm digging the sound ok. Again, I miss the variations of my Peavey fat strat, but the bridge pickup gives a really nice, punchy sound.

LOOKING FOR MY NEXT GUITAR. Yeah I've been cruising eBay tonight, looking for my next acquisition. I'm thinking of putting my OE-30 with the tobacco sunburst on eBay and picking up a

hollowbody in a different color -- black or red. Of course, I have a really cheap hollowbody as it is, and I'm not sure the color makes a flippin' difference, other than I like red or black.

There are some good Chinese guitars hollobody guitars out there, though the set neck gives me some concern due to the possibility of neck damage in shipment. I'm still thinking about the SX line of guitars, and their Jazzmaster/Jaguar variant. I'm really curious about it, and the idea of getting one in surf green is a plus. Love the aged pickup and knobs, really want one to play!

I have to tell you that I am drawn to the Jay Turser SG clone with the funky sunburst finish and the cool Bigsby clone. The only thing that puts me off is the black on the bottom of the guitar ... if it didn't have that, I would be all over this guitar. Love the gold hardware, too.

Speaking of guitar parts, my new bridge for the project guitar should arrive in a few days. I think I'll be waiting a while for the 500 k pot for my Ibanez ... would like to get that fixed and marked off the done list!

Rock on!

Late night guitar work ... Ernie Ball, you disappoint me!

Sunday morning, 9:23 a.m. -- OK, waiting to get into the bathroom to get ready for church later this morning, figured I would post an update regarding my early morning work on my Ibanez Gio GAX30.

The pair of Ibanez guitar strap buttons arrived in yesterday's mail, so I installed the missing on on the Ibanez last night. I realized then that all I needed was to put some new strings on the beast and I could play her, so that's what I did.

I have had a spare set of Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings on my desk for quite a long time. I have thinking of putting them on my main guitar, my Peavey Raptor, but the Peavey has played OK with the strings it has. I'm sure it would benefit from a fresh set of strings, but I'm not playing gigs, and I'm happy with it as-is for now. So I opened the sealed set of brand new Ernie Balls to re-string the

Ibanez.

I love handling new guitar strings ... so crisp and responsive. Wha- what's this crap?? There's some sort of rust or corrosion on the G, B and E strings. WTF?? These were sealed, new in the package?! I put them on anyway ... I just bought some Fender string sets, but this is a project guitar, the Ernie's will do.

BTW, I love the Ibanez oversize strap buttons ... I have periodically had problems with straps and the traditional guitar strap buttons, and there's nothing scarier -- even with a cheap guitar -- than having one end of the strap come loose on you unexpectedly. I know strap locks are the real solution, but for my money, the Ibanez oversized buttons are the next best -- and cheaper -- solution.

Once it was restrung, next on to trying to get sound of the Ibanez. The volume pot on the guitar is screwed up -- it has not stop, the shaft pulls in and out about 1/8 inch, and there's no signal to the output jack unless you hold your mouth just right and find the sweet spot were the fucked up part of the volume pot makes contact with the other part. I fiddled with the volume pot for five minutes before I found a place that passed guitar audio to the output jack.

THIS JUST IN. I found this really interesting review of the Ibanez Gio GAX30 on Youtube. Its a later version of the guitar, but identical to mine save for the truss rod cover. It speaks well about the guitar for the money.

BACK TO THE IBANEZ ... Once tuned -- and I'm really, REALLY grateful to have my Behringer tuner, as well as the VAMP with its built-in tuner capability -- how did she sound?

The action was low and easy. I didn't bother to check intonation yet, but it felt good. The neck pickup was way, way low, the bridge pickup was much higher. As you might imagine, the neck pickup volume was down ... just for kicks, I raised it quite a bit, which brought up the low strings nicely. The pickup isn't level in its opening, but I can take care of that I guess.

I didn't adjust the bridge pup, but made a couple of rough adjustments to the neck pup, lowering the wound string end so those strings wouldn't be so dominate.

I'm not sure about the quality of these humbucker pickups, though I'm pretty sure they're stock Ibanez what-have-you's. I like the jangle of my SSH "fast strat" Peavey; I seldom use the bridge humbucker, but maybe that's just my lack of playing skill and knowing when to use employ it.

I miss the sonic choices the SSH pups and the five-way switch give you with my Peavey, but with

My Peavey Raptor with SSH
pickup combination.

one fewer pickups, what else would one expect. I have replacement 500k pots coming from the Far East, and once those arrive I'll replace the volume pot on the Ibanez. Once I add the speed knobs and the switch knob, she'll be basically complete.

I'm going to have to do more research on pickups ... my Oscar Schmidt OE-30 has dual humbuckers, and they sound a lot better than those on the Ibanez. Yeah, I know, we're talking solid vs hollowbody, but the OE-30 has much greater clarity than the Ibanez. The Ibanez is "OK" as-is, don't get me wrong. I'm just thinking of it as  a project and its improvement potential.

Once I get the pot replaced, I'll do more adjusting on the pickups ... for whatever reason, I thought the humbuckers would have a sound more similar to my hollowbody ... maybe that's just what I get for making assumptions. One thing for sure is that I do NOT plan to load it up with high-dollar pups!

SPECTRUM UPDATE.  My Spectrum strat awaits the arrival of the new nut, and wiring the electronics to the output jack, as well as screwing it all back together. The body's naked wood front and back beg to be painted prior to assembly, and I'm not at all sure what to do with it. I would love to do flames ... or make it Surf Green.

Part of me wants to do something unusual with it, but not sure what defines "unusual." I'm not really interested in a sunburst finish or a solid color that isn't either Surf Green or perhaps Sonic Blue. I've thought about a distressed finish, but something about that just seems ... wrong, you know? It goes against my nature to WANT to beat the shit out of a guitar to ad faux "character" to it ... its my nature to keep my guitars in the best condition I can, though if you check my office you wouldn't think so, lol.

The nut will arrive next week, then its onward and upward with the Spectrum, which was voted one of the worst Chinese strat copies of all time. We'll see.

Rock on!

A (fiery) trip down memory lane with Jimi Hendrix ...

Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015 -- While working in my home office yesterday I wanted something to listen to on TV (I regularly have it playing, just for the background noise when I work). I decided to pull up Netflix as I had recently finished replaying the first two seasons of "House of Cards."

They had a Jimi Hendrix documentary I hadn't seen so hey, why not?

I learned a LOT about Hendrix and his career, and in retrospect, it was pretty amazing to watch how his sound evolved from 1967 through 1970. His later work became more complex and highlighted not only his guitarmanship, but his voice.

As a Fender guitar fan, I enjoyed watching the documentary and seeing his right hand guitars played as a leftie. Of course, his appearance in 1967 at the Monterey International Pop Festival was his real return to the U.S. and his popularity took off like wildfire ... much like his Fender Strat did at the end of his set.

It's a famous image of Hendrix setting fire to his strat, dousing it with lighter fluid and kneeling over it like a ceremonial sacrifice. The real story is that this was the second time Hendrix set a guitar on fire; he had done so during a performance in England sometime earlier.

According to the individuals in the documentary, Hendrix decided to pull the stunt after The Who's

Pete Townsend smashed his guitar into an amplifier, and Who drummer Keith Moon kicked over his drum kit.

Hendrix played his beloved black Fender Strat during most of his set, switching late from the black strat to another guitar, which is the one he doused with lighter fluid and set ablaze. While it burned, he grabbed the Strat by the neck and began slamming it against the stage until it broke into pieces, which he subsequently threw to the crowd.

Interesting history sidebar -- The Beach Boys were originally scheduled to headline Monterey, but they canceled after the Smile album crashed and burned. They didn't believe the crowd would appreciate a setlist of surfing and hot rod songs. They were probably right.

Anyway, no one knows exactly what happened to the pieces of Hendrix's Monterey strat, but his earlier burned strat is out there, and was sold at auction a number of years ago.

Enough of the trip down memory lane, I have a bathroom to paint. Sigh.

Rock on!

Long-lost Spectrum strat arrives ... mostly

Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 -- On my way out of the driveway I checked the mailbox; sure enough, the mail was there and one of those lovely pink cards that alert you to a package they did not deliver! I checked eBay on my phone, and the tracking info said "no secure place" to leave the package.

What?? I live in the middle of rural Kentucky! We have to import whores and crackheads for excitement on weekends -- what could be more secure than my front porch located 1/8 a mile off the highway??

It was a big box -- the Spectrum strat was in a really nice but compact case, and that case was loosely packed in a larger box with a couple of pieces of foam thrown in for good (!) measure. The ghost of Jimi Hendrix must have been smiling down from Rock 'n' Roll Heaven; despite the substandard packing job, the guitar arrived in the same condition in which it was sent.

In pieces.

Actually, when you open the case, it looks whole. The pickups, pots and switch are attached to the pickguard; the output jack was in place, as was the bridge. In place, but not attached to the body. No screws to be found (except in a baggie in the case, along with the tremelo arm).

The neck is attached, the rosewood fretboard and the frets have minimal wear, which means no one played the guitar much -- or it was so shitty no one wanted to play it.

The body was apparently painted black or it was a sunburst model ... but the finish has been removed from the front and back of the body. The sides of the body are still black and shiny. Why was the finish removed? The front and back are smooth, not scrapped or gouged. My guess is a previous owner wanted to go to some sort of natural finish.

It appears that all the guitar needs to become operational is to wire up the electronics to the output jack, mount the jack and the pickguard, add strings and let 'er rip ... well, almost. While inspecting the neck, I notice the nut is missing. It had one (obviously), but it is gone. I checked inside the case, but no go. After a closer look at the slot where the nut was mounted, it looks like a standard Fender strat nut. I decided to buy a pre-slotted Graph Tech TUSQ nut. It should arrive next week sometime.

I'm not sure what I might do to finish the body; I'm still partial to going with a Surf Green finish. Due to the fact that sides of the guitar are black, I'm thinking I should use a white primer or sealer first to give the color coat a solid base for even color holdout. The Surf Green is available as lacquer in a spray can, and then I can add clear coats and wet sand it for a good finish.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First the nut, then assemble it with strings and check out the electronics. I'll take it back apart and go to work on the body once I believe the guitar will play.

Rock on!

Project Guitar No. 2 arrives, leaving one to wonder what happened to Project Guitar No.1 ???

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015 -- The first of my two eBay guitar projects arrived in today's mail. I can only credit the U.S. Postal Service's careful handing for the reason the guitar arrived unscathed; the seller did an absolutely awful job packing it.

The guitar is an Ibanez Gio GAX30 -- an entry level guitar from 2003 -- with dual humbuckers, a volume pot, tone pot and a three-way switch.

Anyway, the seller basically took part of a roll of bubble wrap and wrapped the guitar in a layer secured with what looked like a roll of USPS packing tape. Lacking a real box to ship it in, the seller cut open about six USPS Priority boxes, forming them around the guitar and taping the sections together into a Priority Mail Frankenbox. I'm not sure what protected the guitar the most, the bubble wrap, the cardboard or the copious amounts of USPS packing tape.

The good news is that after what seemed like 20 minutes of surgery with my razor knife to extract the Ibanez from its tape and cardboard cocoon, it emerged in the same condition pictured in the auction.

The guitar is obviously a project; the seller noted in all caps the guitar didn't work, it was missing two strings "and two nobs!!!"

Obviously I wasn't sure what the hell I would find when I opened the package. I was pleasantly surprised after I surveyed the new beast.

ELECTRONICS. The tone pot is missing its securing nut, and it was pushed inside the cavity when it arrived. The volume pot shaft turned very roughly; something was very wrong with the pot. Removed the cavity cover, the tone pot was there and it works; the volume pot, well, not so much. I had to play with the pot to get it to pass any sound to the output jack. Once I found that spot, I was able to tune the four remaining strings and evaluate the action a little.

The pups sounded OK, the bridge pickup had a very nice, crunchy sound, loud but not overly bright. The neck pickup has been adjusted way, way low .. not sure what that's about, but its way too far from the strings. Maybe the last owner set it up that way for the neck pups to run that way.

The volume pot has to be replaced; I have ordered a replacement. I've also ordered speed knobs for it. I may replace both pots while I'm at it. The nut securing the volume pot is loose, as is the nut securing the output jack. I'll address both issues later.

The action looked very low and the relief on the neck looked good. Intonation for the existing strings was way, way out, but that will be taken care of too.

PHYSICAL CONDITION.  There are minor scrapes on the back, a couple of small dings on an edge or two ... not bad. The shape of this guitar is reminiscent of the Gibson SG in a way, though the lower bouts are wider that the true SG design.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Ibanez's feel ... it feels very balanced and surprisingly light. I'm looking forward to playing it after repairs. I also noticed it is missing the strap button on the bridge end. Something else to buy on eBay. All in all, I think with repairs to the pots, this axe will be good to go.

NEXT UP. I'm really, REALLY curious where the HELL my other fixer-upper is -- a Spectrum brand Chinese-made strat clone that is set to arrive in pieces. The tracking numbers I have done return squat; I'm not sure the thing has hit the USPS yet. Two-day priority mail should have had it here Monday. I've not said anything yet, but I did notice the guy sold this thing once already and either the buyer backed out or he never got around to shipping it.

The Spectrum comes in a generic hard case, so packing it shouldn't be too big an issue. Shouldn't be -- key words, eh? The guitar should be here well before now ... I'm tempted to raise a little hell, but not sure I want to bitch too much about a parts guitar, its not like I'm buying a mint conditions Fender Broadcaster or anything!

I'll keep you updated ... I have pots and knobs on order, have strings in had ready to put on the Ibanez, still need to secure a strap button. The Ibanez original one is much wider than the Fender type ... I like it. And speaking of strap button and guitar straps, I'm awaiting delivery of a second China-made padded guitar strap. I ordered two, a Fender strap and a no-name one from China. The Fender one works OK, but the Chinese one has a larger padded area. Sorry, Fender. Of course, the Fender branded one was probably manufactured in the same factory in China as the no-name strap, lol!

Rock on!