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Dream Guitar .. or Money Pit ?


Guest pirateflynn

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Guest pirateflynn

Dream guitar or money pit

How to buy the right project guitar

Hey guys,

Pirateflynn contacted me about doing articles for the forum on issues that we deal with at RS that could help out forum members. While I jumped at the idea, my first thought was “Now what am I going to write about.” I thought on this for some time and the topic of EBay project guitars just seemed to jump out at me.

As of late if seems like if you stick “project” in the title on EBay you whip up a feeding frenzy of people looking for that dream guitar that can be had for a steal. The truth is many of these guitars are money pits and have issues that are not listed.

Over the last three weeks I’ve received at least a dozen e-mails from folks on this and other forums that have bought project guitars and want to see what it will cost to have them fixed. In almost every case, the answer knocks the wind out of the owner because they will have more in the guitar than fair market value of an original unmolested guitar.

So how do you avoid getting stuck with a lemon? First, ask questions! If you don’t get an answer, move on because it’s not worth the risk. Next, with all the information about the guitar together act quickly and decide how much of the needed work you want to (or can) do yourself. Next, contact the person you would like to carry out the rest of the needed work and get a good idea of what the repairs and mods you want will cost. Now you need to find any missing parts. Again, you have a good idea what your total project will cost. If after all this it still looks like a project you want to do, then establish an amount you can budget for the guitar given the prices you have gotten together and the value of the guitar when you are done.

Now I know this sounds like a lot to do and the truth is, it is. But you will be glad you did it when you have your dream guitar at the price you want to spend on it. The worst feeling in the guitar world is finding out that the $1000 dream guitar you just won is going to cost you $2200 to make into a playable guitar that will only be worth $1500 when you are done (this was the case with one of our customers last week).

Now, let’s say you went for it and won the guitar and when it comes in and it’s got hidden secrets (but was sold as is), now what do you do? Again, call around for pricing of the needed work. If is still looks like you can live with it, then that’s great and if not off to eBay it goes. Don’t be afraid to bail on a project just because you are enamored with the idea of your dream guitar. Some guitars are not worth fixing unless you can do all the work yourself (as was the case of the Zebra Standard I did).

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So, you have your guitar, your goal, and your repairman lined up, now you are all ready to go. But you’re not done yet. You need to make sure not to cut too many corners and cheap out because after all, you want to be happy with the guitar. If you are not, it’s unlikely no one else will want a poorly executed and modded guitar and you will be stuck with too much in a guitar you don’t like.

Custom guitars are great when they work out; like the One Humbucker white Special we did for JohnnyThunders,.

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If you are realistic in what you are starting with, and what you want to do with it, then your project will come out great. A well done restoration or modification will be great for you and will appeal to more people should you decide to sell it. My last suggestion is to buy the most guitar you can for the money you can spend because the end project will come out much better even if it costs a little more up front. Well that’s enough rambling from me now, so if anyone has any questions fire away, and good luck with your next project.

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This thread reminds me that I have amassed a pretty big pile of "Projects" around here...

Time to prioritize, then purge!!!

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My Blitz ended up costing around $1300 total (including $350 purchase price) and a two year turn around time... and thats with all kinds of price discounts from the the cool people of the HFC . And no boo-tiki pickups as the SH-1 SH-5 combo sound great in there. Original wiring too. I could have easily spent another $600 on it ... making it a $1900 Blitz!

A $1300 Blitz might seem expensive to some but it turned out being exactly what i wanted, sounds/plays fantastic and the big thing to me in this instance is the neck shape... A medium to slightly large "D" ... perfect for me and hard to find.

So even though I could have bought a Standard for a couple hun more ... this worked out perfectly for me and I have no regrets.

Thanks again to the kind folk that helped me with this project. :rolleyes::blink::lol:

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