Early '70s Strat

Cork Jim

I am wondering if someone knows of anyone who really knows what they are doing when it comes to guitar repairs in Cork ? I have an early '70s Strat which could do with some fret repairs (maybe a full re-fret) and I might be tempted to change out the pick-ups as well (probably for some EMGs)
Any advice welcome

PS Anybody know of anyone in Cork who is on the ball with valve amps repairs (re-tube and re-bias work) I have a '74 Marshall head in need of some TLC
Thanks

deaddonkey

anyone who changes out the pickups in an early 70s strat, even if it's a **** guitar, is a foolish man.

you know how much that thing is worth now, right? A LOT of money if it's in original condition. changing pickups would be a bad move.

donk's advice: don't do it.

Doctor J

Agreed. It's worth a hell of a lot as it is now. The vintage market has a very particular thing about originality, original frets, pickups and solder joints = €€€. The age and originality of vintage guitars puts their price way above what they're actually worth as players instruments.

If the frets can still be levelled and crowned, then that would be ok. If it required a refret, to be honest, I'd buy an aftermarket neck from the likes of Warmoth and put it on the guitar, keeping the original neck somewhere safe. It'd cost roughly the same as a full refret from a good luthier and it wouldn't destroy the value of your guitar.

If you can make it to Dublin, a fella called Derrick Nelson (Danvel Guitars in the yellow pages) is as good at guitar repairs as this country has to offer. I'd ask him if it needs to be refretted and take it from there.

Johnny Storm

He could also just keep the original pickups and put them back in if he wanted to sell it. You'd probably need different pots etc for EMGs anyway (?) so he could take out the whole wiring loom in one piece and put it under the bed. (Or even the whole pickguard)

Replacing the neck is a good option from a collectable/resale POV but it could very well change the whole character of the guitar.

Doctor J

A refret will change the feel anyway.

Dord

Johnny Storm wrote: »

He could also just keep the original pickups and put them back in if he wanted to sell it. You'd probably need different pots etc for EMGs anyway (?) so he could take out the whole wiring loom in one piece and put it under the bed. (Or even the whole pickguard)

Replacing the neck is a good option from a collectable/resale POV but it could very well change the whole character of the guitar.

It wouldn't be possible to take out the whole assembly without cutting or desoldering some wires. New solder joints on a guitar that age can reduce the value also. You'd be surprised how picky the vintage market is!

I agree with the Doc, the best option is to bring it to Derrick, he might be able to clean up the frets so you can get a few more years out of them. Otherwise I'd buy a nice (as nice as possible) neck from Warmoth or the likes and put it on and keep the original very very safe.

Johnny Storm

Doctor J wrote: »

A refret will change the feel anyway.

No doubt - but hopefully not as much as a whole new neck ?

Doctor J

I dunno, I'd take a Warmoth neck over a 70's Fender neck any day. Sometimes change can be a good thing

Dord

Oh yeah, I mean look at this one....

http://warmoth.com/showcase/sc_guitar_necks.cfm?type=guitar&itemNumber=SN3973&menuItem=1&subMenuItem=0&subMenuItem2=0&neckWood_filter=5,6,8,9,20,21,22,23,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,33,34,35,41,42,51,53,54,55,59

:eek::)

The wood doesn't even need to be finished, that'd play soooo smooth!