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Through neck USA Rhoads, Serial number RR 1050.
Bought this guitar as an unplayable wreck...
I paid $600 Aussie dollars, which is equal to around $320 USD.
This is what i did:
1)Some parts were missing from the Kahler trem, so i bought a semi complete unit from ebay, and made a good complete unit.
2) The neck was snapped at the headstock. This was fixed, although there is a slightly noticable hair line (from the glue) as "evidence". The binding had split on the top of the headstock, but not at the bottom. Unbelievably, the headstock face was not cracked or split... this actually held the two parts together.
3) The back was chewed out, the previous owners had obviously worn big belt buckles.
4) Frets worn at second and third position, on B and small E string.
5) When plugged in it would make so sound.
So, i fixed the cracked neck first, and got that as perfect as possible. I did not try to hide the fact it has been repaired, eg: the guitar was refinished in a clear green and red sunburst. The binding on the headstock was split, but i did not replace it. There is a hairline glue line left.
Once the neck was finished, i started on the back. I moistened the maple and poplar, and used a clothes iron and heat gun to make the moisture "steam". This steam pushed the wood fibre back out. I took about four hours total over roughly a month to get the timber back into shape. I then stripped the entir guitar back to raw wood. My initial idea was to clear coat the guitar to leave the natural colour showing (was originally black), but the poplar wings were a greyish greeny colour, and didnt match the maple neck through.
I got out my blue and red stains, and mixed them with some nitrocellulose lacquer to apply the sunburst. The blue stain on the greenish poplar turned out a nice dark green. After i got the colour just right, i applied about fifteen coats of nitroc, with a rub back every second coat. I then left it for four months before cutting back and buffing.
I stripped the anodised black finish of the control panel/pick guard, and buffed the alloy to a chrome like finish. It took hours to get that damn anodising off!!
As i mentione before, i made one good tremelo out of two crappy ones, and refitted that.
I redid all the solder joints, keeping the original wire, caps and pots, and the guitar still wouldnt work. In the end it was a corroded jack that caused all the problems with the electrics.
All in all, it was a great project, although i may return it to the original finish (Black) later on.
Its certainly my favourite guitar, others are Les Paul custom (white), BC Rich set neck custom-made warlock, Jackson bolt on Rhoads (import).
^^^^ Hard to see the colours in this shot^^^
^^^ Repaired crack is almost invisible (is invisible in the photo!)^^^
^^^ Notice the binding crack?? I chose not to replace the binding. Glue line on neck crack is invisible in photos ^^^
^^^ There is a chip (front when the previous owner bashed it around) that didnt damage the binding, but did damage the bottom section of the "U" in "USA". I am spewin about this!! ^^^
^^^ Looks shiny huh?? ^^^
^^^ Look at the reflection. Notice how there are no longer an dings or dents?? All steamed out!! ^^^
Bought this guitar as an unplayable wreck...
I paid $600 Aussie dollars, which is equal to around $320 USD.
This is what i did:
1)Some parts were missing from the Kahler trem, so i bought a semi complete unit from ebay, and made a good complete unit.
2) The neck was snapped at the headstock. This was fixed, although there is a slightly noticable hair line (from the glue) as "evidence". The binding had split on the top of the headstock, but not at the bottom. Unbelievably, the headstock face was not cracked or split... this actually held the two parts together.
3) The back was chewed out, the previous owners had obviously worn big belt buckles.
4) Frets worn at second and third position, on B and small E string.
5) When plugged in it would make so sound.
So, i fixed the cracked neck first, and got that as perfect as possible. I did not try to hide the fact it has been repaired, eg: the guitar was refinished in a clear green and red sunburst. The binding on the headstock was split, but i did not replace it. There is a hairline glue line left.
Once the neck was finished, i started on the back. I moistened the maple and poplar, and used a clothes iron and heat gun to make the moisture "steam". This steam pushed the wood fibre back out. I took about four hours total over roughly a month to get the timber back into shape. I then stripped the entir guitar back to raw wood. My initial idea was to clear coat the guitar to leave the natural colour showing (was originally black), but the poplar wings were a greyish greeny colour, and didnt match the maple neck through.
I got out my blue and red stains, and mixed them with some nitrocellulose lacquer to apply the sunburst. The blue stain on the greenish poplar turned out a nice dark green. After i got the colour just right, i applied about fifteen coats of nitroc, with a rub back every second coat. I then left it for four months before cutting back and buffing.
I stripped the anodised black finish of the control panel/pick guard, and buffed the alloy to a chrome like finish. It took hours to get that damn anodising off!!
As i mentione before, i made one good tremelo out of two crappy ones, and refitted that.
I redid all the solder joints, keeping the original wire, caps and pots, and the guitar still wouldnt work. In the end it was a corroded jack that caused all the problems with the electrics.
All in all, it was a great project, although i may return it to the original finish (Black) later on.
Its certainly my favourite guitar, others are Les Paul custom (white), BC Rich set neck custom-made warlock, Jackson bolt on Rhoads (import).
^^^^ Hard to see the colours in this shot^^^ ^^^ Repaired crack is almost invisible (is invisible in the photo!)^^^ ^^^ Notice the binding crack?? I chose not to replace the binding. Glue line on neck crack is invisible in photos ^^^
^^^ There is a chip (front when the previous owner bashed it around) that didnt damage the binding, but did damage the bottom section of the "U" in "USA". I am spewin about this!! ^^^
^^^ Looks shiny huh?? ^^^
^^^ Look at the reflection. Notice how there are no longer an dings or dents?? All steamed out!! ^^^
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