Complete guitar redo

steveland?

OK, here's the dealio.

I've an old Spectrum Les Paul. Was my first proper guitar back when I was 13 or 14 and I'm looking to do it up and get it actually sounding decent.

So here's what I'm thinking of doing:
Disassemble the whole guitar.
Sand down the body to the bare wood (only the bits that are actually visible, under the scratchplate, under the neck etc will be left as normal so that I don't actually change the shape of where the bits fit together)
Replace the pickups/tuning heads/bridge, possibly put on a Bigsby or something...
Apply light varnish to the body, I like the natural finish look on guitars.

I'd be buying all the bits one by one and this will probably not be finished this side of next Summer... this is just something I'd like to do in my spare time... of which I have very little.

What I'm wondering is, is there any point in doing this?
The guitar is worth sweet F-All, doesn't stay in tune, sounds fairly cack so it won't be a big deal if it's completely fudged up.

Worst comes to worst I can reassemble as an ornament of my first guitar and first failed project, best case scenario, it's my new main guitar...

So would I be mad to even attempt this? Is an old, cheap guitar going to be an old cheap guitar no matter what hardware and time I throw at it?

david

I'd say the wood is probably a few pieces of basswood glued together at best, you'd probably need a to put another solid colour on it.

steveland?

freakonaleashx wrote:

I'd say the wood is probably a few pieces of basswood glued together at best, you'd probably need a to put another solid colour on it.

Hmm, I'd imagine I'd be able to spray it with clear laquor or something... or is it a case of "it'll fall apart" if there's not a layer of paint keeping it together?

I think maybe for the time being I should replace the tuners and maybe the bridge.

For a guitar that just refuses to stay in tune is it likely to be the cheap tuners that's stopping it staying in tune or is it just the overall composition of the guitar?

It'd be a nice guitar with some decent electronics in it and if it'd stay in tune. The thing looks nice anyway.

JHet

Well, on the one hand, if the materials in the old guitar are made of crap in the first place then ur never going to turn it into a high end Giby Les Paul, no matter how much time a craftersmanship you put into it. The best you could hope for is a nice epiphone or similiar. On the other hand you might end up with a really nice playing Custom guitar. Plus if its something that will bring pleasure to you as a hobby i don't see any harm in it. Just bear in mind that the investment you make into the guitar may not bear any correlation to the residual value of the guitar if you ever come to sell it.

Just my 2cents

Quattroste

Is an old, cheap guitar going to be an old cheap guitar no matter what hardware and time I throw at it?

I'd say the best you could hope for would be an old cheap guitar with upgraded electronics and hardware! For the pure amusement value of the whole project I'd say go for it. Try to get good deals on ebay for the parts to keep your costs down. I'd love to do this too if I had the necessary tools and space!!

steveland?

Quattroste wrote:

I'd say the best you could hope for would be an old cheap guitar with upgraded electronics and hardware! For the pure amusement value of the whole project I'd say go for it. Try to get good deals on ebay for the parts to keep your costs down. I'd love to do this too if I had the necessary tools and space!!

I have no space for it either but I figure my room is full of crap anyway...

JHet, you've hit the nail on the head... It'd be purely for something to fill up the little bit of spare time I have and to have something afterwards to look at and think "that's my work!".

I wouldn't be selling it at all, it's my first guitar and no amount of crapness will force me to sell it, even if it just rots in the corner.

With regards to my last question, would replacing the tuning heads with higher end ones keep it in tune or is it a fundamental thing that the guitar should be of a certain quality to stay in tune?

LundiMardi

steveland? wrote:

Hmm, I'd imagine I'd be able to spray it with clear laquor or something... or is it a case of "it'll fall apart" if there's not a layer of paint keeping it together?

It's a case of it's crap wood, hence the 'natural' effect won't look all that spectacular cos the wood looks like the average chest of drawers, but worse. A solid colour would be best, but if you feel adventurous why not go for a sunburst effect?;)

I'd say do it, it's good experience/practise should you ever want to do it on a higher end model.

JHet

Most tuning problems are inherent with strings passing through the nut, so that may be a good place to start and yes replacing the tuning peg may help. Also have a look at the bridge and check for problems such as looseness.