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Last weekend I stopped into a pawn shop while I was traveling. I had been in the store twice in the last 2 years and each time I was there, one of the managers was telling me he thought he had a couple Jacksons and Charvels upstairs in the storage attic. But for one reason or another, he couldn’t go up and check (no one else working in his area of the store, too hot upstairs, blah blah blah). So this time I called the store a couple days before I stopped in to see if someone could go in the attic and pull out their J/C’s. Well, the manager came through for me. When I got to the store on Saturday he had found a couple Jacksons (both of them imports) and 4 Charvels (Charvette, model 1, model 3 and this):
I couldn’t believe it when I opened up the case! It’s a strat that’s been heavily modified and played pretty rough. The manager said it’s been in the store for a long time and that it was up in the attic for the last 3 years. He sold it to me with a nice G&G style case for under $300.
Here’s what I can tell ya about it:
-San Dimas plate (#1489)
-Bill Lawrence pickups (originally a single humbucker and it appears that the 2 single coils were added later since the pots don’t match the original pot)
-selector switches added for each pickup
-there’s a four switch and a small red light; the switch is broken so I’m not sure if some kind of kill switch or what
-gain boost and tone knob added
-original trem replaced with a chrome original floyd rose
-neck pocket reads “10-26-82” and “B.L. 10-7-83” (assuming when the pickups and pots were added) and “SS” (no idea what this means) and then there is some other writing which I don’t understand what is means either
-the body is in good shape with a half dozen chips through the paint; a couple along the sides of the body, one by the edge of the floyd, one on top by the neck pocket and one by the top strap button; the graphic has great detail and a good sheen to it still
-the neck is a nice, smooth maple neck with a walnut skunk stripe (too bad it’s in terrible shape – dirty as hell, frets are supper thin and very grooved, the board is also grooved but mostly by the first 4 frets)
-the neck has “2590” written on it twice – once in pencil and once in black marker
-a lock nut was added – twice! It looks like they placed it next to the original nut before moving again. You can see the plugs on the back of the neck where it was originally installed. They also moved the string tree and plugged those holes.
Here’s a couple pics of the body and neck:
So what do you think? The neck plate and the first date in the pocket seem to match for a 1982 model. But is this a Charvel neck? If so, is there anything I can do to restore it (cleaned/bleached, refretted, etc.) and is it worth it?
I’d like to find more info about this guitar (like getting a copy of the original work order) and get it back into playing shape. Anything else you guys can tell me?
I couldn’t believe it when I opened up the case! It’s a strat that’s been heavily modified and played pretty rough. The manager said it’s been in the store for a long time and that it was up in the attic for the last 3 years. He sold it to me with a nice G&G style case for under $300.
Here’s what I can tell ya about it:
-San Dimas plate (#1489)
-Bill Lawrence pickups (originally a single humbucker and it appears that the 2 single coils were added later since the pots don’t match the original pot)
-selector switches added for each pickup
-there’s a four switch and a small red light; the switch is broken so I’m not sure if some kind of kill switch or what
-gain boost and tone knob added
-original trem replaced with a chrome original floyd rose
-neck pocket reads “10-26-82” and “B.L. 10-7-83” (assuming when the pickups and pots were added) and “SS” (no idea what this means) and then there is some other writing which I don’t understand what is means either
-the body is in good shape with a half dozen chips through the paint; a couple along the sides of the body, one by the edge of the floyd, one on top by the neck pocket and one by the top strap button; the graphic has great detail and a good sheen to it still
-the neck is a nice, smooth maple neck with a walnut skunk stripe (too bad it’s in terrible shape – dirty as hell, frets are supper thin and very grooved, the board is also grooved but mostly by the first 4 frets)
-the neck has “2590” written on it twice – once in pencil and once in black marker
-a lock nut was added – twice! It looks like they placed it next to the original nut before moving again. You can see the plugs on the back of the neck where it was originally installed. They also moved the string tree and plugged those holes.
Here’s a couple pics of the body and neck:
So what do you think? The neck plate and the first date in the pocket seem to match for a 1982 model. But is this a Charvel neck? If so, is there anything I can do to restore it (cleaned/bleached, refretted, etc.) and is it worth it?
I’d like to find more info about this guitar (like getting a copy of the original work order) and get it back into playing shape. Anything else you guys can tell me?
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