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!