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Being the 'Tinkerer' I am. I came across this baby. A single pickup Goldtop Lester for $180. Yes, $180. with Make an offer. New on eBay. I smell project guitar!!!
https://ebay.to/2y1ueOk

I love goofy guitars. Most of my favorite axes are boutique off brands anyway. I'm not much into the "It has to have a Name Brand or Custom Shop thing." When I play out, I usually play my RS Guitarworks or Warmoth guitars which nobody knows anyway. It's more fun when someone comes up and says what IS that, it sounds amazing. And, I won't get shite about it being a Chibson - haha.

This thing is freakin' amazing. And for the price of a stomp box. Right out of the box, it played really well and sounded nice. If it didn't play and feel ok, bye, bye. But, no, the neck is sweet, the fret dress was perfect and it doesn't feel anything like a cheap guitar... Honest, it feels nice and smooth. Light as a feather, I can't imagine it's hollow, who would spend the time/money to drill it??? Seems fully solid to me.

Pros: Lightweight Mahogany body, 7lbs, 2oz - Holey Moly! Great fret dress, Nice finish, Feels awesome.
Negatives: Mahogany is not seamed in center, slightly off. Cutaway area is a little funky. Pickup sucked. Tiny pots. The Tuners were actually OK, a bit 'green' looking, but solid. I had nice Klusons sitting in my parts drawer, so they went on.

Here's what I did to it. I had a bunch of parts laying around, so it didn't cost me much.
- Replaced with Kluson tuners.
- New Dimarzio DP210 Soapbar sized Humbucker. (I was going to put a Lollar Soapbar, but decided I wanted more tones.)
- New Pots and Wiring with Push-pull Series/Parallel pot.
- New Lightweight Aluminum Wrap tail.
- New Knobs
- I sanded down the headstock as the old KING logo was awful.

Less than $Tree-Fiddy in it.

King1a.jpg

King2a.jpg

King4a.jpg

King6a.jpg

King7a.jpg

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Man That's pretty cool... and I've been looking for something Junior-ish

 

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Wow.  That’s cool.  That would be fun to tweak around with.

The snakehead esquire In his store looks nice as well.

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14 hours ago, bsteff666 said:

Wow.  That’s cool.  That would be fun to tweak around with.

The snakehead esquire In his store looks nice as well.

I thought the same thing...until I saw "lightweight Empress T style body".  In my mind, "Empress" = Paulownia = softer than Basswood.  :(

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I’ve never heard of that Santella brand. B)

Cool project guitar. Sure could be taken anywhere and no one steal it. Great deal and project.

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On 5/12/2020 at 4:58 PM, santellavision said:

You could try contacting the ebay seller and see if he can get more?
It's a USA company and shipped from Ripley, MS.

I live an hour from Ripley. 

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Amazing.. what kind of fingerboard? Dark like ebony. Do you think there is a guy building them here in MS or are they imported? Congrats hard to go wrong.

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5 minutes ago, Hfan said:

Amazing.. what kind of fingerboard? Dark like ebony. Do you think there is a guy building them here in MS or are they imported? Congrats hard to go wrong.

I looks/feels like Rosewood. Not 100% sure, but that's my guess. I would think they are built outside the US as who else can build a Mahogany guitar for $180?

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2 minutes ago, santellavision said:

I looks/feels like Rosewood. Not 100% sure, but that's my guess. I would think they are built outside the US as who else can build a Mahogany guitar for $180?

Yeah I suppose. Congrats again. I love a bargain. Some of my favorite guitars are my least expensive as well.

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