A most excellent new guitar day - with an old Model 6

[dpivar]

Since I've seen alot of posts about New Guitar Days - here's what I just received a couple of hours ago. It's not a whole guitar, but it is what it is. Some pics:





It wouldn't be a 1988 Firecrackle Model 6 that's never been assembled or played, or could it be?



Yup - it is!





Notice the tape that covers the grounding areas in the pickup routes. I'm pretty certain this is original -



It hasn't had any fretboard oil in like, 19 years or so...



Some other pics from the cool dude who sold it to me:







I purchased this guitar from the same guy I bought my 550XL from. It seems that these guitars were factory demos or seconds - I'm not sure but in each case the headstock was sanded to remove the logo. The 550XL subsequently had a bad paintjob applied to the headstock. The seller is 100% an excellent guy to deal with - I would recommend him to anyone for guitar transactions.

I'm not sure if requests like this are good protocol - but if anyone on this board could work their skills on the headstock of this guitar (and perhaps the 550xl as well), PM me. I'm thinking that it would look good with a color-matching logo like this:



Hopefully it will be playable like the 550xl since the neck seems straight on first view. It will be some time before I get strings on it though, especially since JT-6 Anchors are very difficult to find. Someday, somehow, it will peel some faces for sure

[Psh511]

what a great find...congrats

[jcm800x]

Nice score man, cool project!

[Sanctuary]

Sweet...any idea how did this dude get a hold of these?

[dpivar]

Sweet...any idea how did this dude get a hold of these?

I'm not sure of exact details, but they came from someone else in Japan. According to his source, they were part of a remaining stock sale some time ago. This doesn't make too much sense to me though since Chushin Gakki was making guitars (including the Professional series) for many years after these were made. I can only guess that they were factory demos or maybe seconds. He did mention that there may be others (in solid colors) available in the future. If you get a chance to deal with him - he's an excellent vendor and a 100% cool guy. I'm happy with the 550xl, since any guitar that has never had strings and is 20 years old may not make a good instrument. It is actually very playable, and doesn't have any issues. I hope that this Model 6 turns out the same. The board, thankfully, looks very straight...

[DonP]

Awesome find!

Too bad I'll have to steal it from you

[GTarman68]

very cool..Congrats!!

[mhalsey]

What a great start to a new project!!! Congrats!

[straycat]

That is way cool P.M. sent

[dpivar]

I have another question for everyone - I was talking with my bud this evening and we're curious about whether or not the guitar should be left as-is, or should it be built. I'm thinking OFR, EMGs, etc. Or I can just keep it like it is. What do you think?

[mateo69]

looks sweet! just curious...what did you pay for it?

[rocksoldier]

That guitar definitley desreves to be built!
And of course use whatever pickups/bridge you like the best, i would not be to conserned about keeping it "stock" in that sense.

[Sergio]

Cool guitar, I love that crackle finish!

[gfunk333]

I have another question for everyone - I was talking with my bud this evening and we're curious about whether or not the guitar should be left as-is, or should it be built. I'm thinking OFR, EMGs, etc. Or I can just keep it like it is. What do you think?

Nice guitar.

That's what I'm doing with mine. Emg's and a Gotoh floyd.

[dpivar]

looks sweet! just curious...what did you pay for it?

About a hundred bucks more than the average Model 6 goes for on Ebay. Pricey, but I really enjoyed building the 550xl and this was an opportunity I couldn't refuse.

I'm thinking EMGs and also a Gotoh OFR, since this would be a great guitar to do in Cosmo Black hardware, and Gotoh is the only one who makes a quality Floyd in this finish.

Seriously - if anyone has any recommendations for a good refinisher who can take care of the headstock and place a correct logo for me, let me know. I'd rather send it out first before I start adding hardware - and honestly, I would probably do a crappy job if I attempted it myself. I wouldn't want to mess up on this one...