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!