Doing up a cheap guitar - waste of money?

Donnacha

Hi all,

I'm thinking of spending some money on my very first electric guitar!! I bought it late 80's in the US for around $100. Its a Les Paul copy (in black) made in either Japan or Korea by a company called Global (model is e90). I used it to learn guitar on and also played live with it for a while. I've battered the hell out of it to the point where there's a bit of glue holding it together !! I even had Steven Tyler and Brad Whitford of Aerosmith sign it !! Its been up in the loft for years now.

I've been toying with the idea of getting a Les Paul, always fancied one. But my dliema is that I don't think I'll get enough out of it if I splash the cash on it, i.e. with kids and work etc I only play a handful of gigs a year and probably rehearse once every two months (if lucky). At home I would end up playing it unplugged as the amp is too loud !!

So, another thought was to spend a few quid on decent pickups, machine heads and maybe refret the Global LP copy. I took it down from the loft last night and spend the whole evening playing it unplugged. The feel was nice and for the style of stuff I play (hard rock and blues) its an ideal type of guitar. I don't know much about the Global, but according to the web its either MIJ or MIK and the wood is plywood ! Is plywood heavy because this weighs a fair bit ?

Now I realise that putting lipstick on a pig still means its a pig, but has anyone any experience of doing such a thing with decent results? I suspect a good set of tuners and pickups would probably be £200, more that what the guitar is probably worth...but surely it would sound half decent afterwards...and a lot cheaper than a Les Paul that just won't get played enough?

Waste of money, or nothing to lose?

Cheers

RBZ5416

Ignoring my bias (I could probably still be persuaded to part with my LP ), but if you can rustle up the funds then buy a Gibson. OK it may not get used much but so what? It's not like it's going to be a depreciating asset like a lump of AV gear. You should always at least get your money back & if you keep it a few years, a bit more. It's one of the reasons I've never put any huge effort into selling mine.

As for amp volume there's plenty of budget modelling stuff around that can do the valve tones at reasonable volume or even through 'phones.

Or if you want to stick to the £200 budget a used Michael Kelly Patriot would give you a lot more than throwing money at the copy. I'd be inclined to leave it as it is just as a keepsake.

Philly112

You can also get a very good condition used Epiphone Korean Les Paul for around £200, if you look around and want the exact Les Paul shape. I'd suggest that might be a better bet than spending £200 on a guitar that's probably going to be very difficult to sell. That Patriot looks good though! (although I could only find one used one on ebay for £300). Some of the newer Chinese Epiphones also have coil tap features and they sell for a similar price as the Korean ones. I've seen just about every one on ebay as we just bought one for my niece for £200!

Cheers
Phil

RBZ5416

There was a Limited on the classifieds here a couple of weeks ago for £195 delivered.

Philly112

Must have missed that one as I was specifically looking for an Epiphone. But try telling a 17 year old girl who wants to play like Jimmy Page that Uncle Phil decided to get her something else as it was better value... I'd be dead meat over XMas dinner.

Phil

Donnacha

Morning Crocodile, thanks for the suggestions - no worries being biased...I'm just jealous that you have a LP lying around that you can toy with the idea of keeping or not. I do have the funds for an LP (obviously nothing stupid priced), I'm just trying to work out whether I spend the funds on that or a fancy new cinema screen (which would definitley get more use than the LP) and then tart up the old guitar for something halfways decent.

I don't really want to buy another cheap guitar, just wondering whether it was worth the money to do the old one up.....it does feel nice to play, but who knows what it would sound like as I've never hooked it into my Hughes & Kettner amp....job for the weekend that one !

I want to try out this fancy screen as well to see if that is worth the money.

Hi Phil, to be honest if I did do up the old one, selling it on is not something I would be bothered with. I don't really want to acquire another cheap guitar, just see if the parts I buy would actually better the old one I have. I suspect it would, so was just wondering if anyone else has done it and to what results?

If I did go for an LP anyone got any recommendations on model / year (around the £2k budget)?

Cheers

RBZ5416

Yes, she probably wouldn't have thanked you when she picked it up either. They're a solid mahogany body like the LP.

Well as I alluded to, I see it as much as an investment as anything else. So even though it's rarely used (hasn't been out of the case since we last talked ), it's never going to cost me money.

Can't help you there as mine was bought purely on impulse. Only went into the shop for a set of strings for my son & it was just being hung up for sale. I casually asked how much & the sneaky buggers placed it in my hands. And that was that...

Philly112

Did you get the strings though? Otherwise it was a completely wasted trip.

Phil

KungFuPro

I've not heard of Global guitars before but if it's anything like a Satellite Les Paul copy I once owned (bolt on neck, plywood body, made in Japan on the neckplate) I wouldn't go upgrading to grover tuners or gibson burstbuckers just yet .

Some reasonably priced upgrades relative to the guitars value could make it playable; wilkinson machine heads £20, brass roller saddle bridge £10, bone, brass or graphite nut £5-10, set of wilkinson humbuckers £30 (or s/h dimarizos, duncans, emgs... £60-80), new electrics if the pots are scratchy £10.

It can feel like a waste of money salvaging a beater but it's also rewarding when you get one playing well. I'd make sure the neck is straight and the truss rod works before any upgrades though, not much you can do with a warped neck.

Also check the frets for divots, dead spots, etc... a fret-dress or refret could cost £100 . You could do it yourself but it can take a few goes to get the hang of it and some of the bespoke tools aren't cheap, it's possible to recrown frets with a triangle file but a proper fret file cuts the job down by a few hours.

charvelj

If your in West Yorkshire I can look at it for you. If you like the way it plays it may just need a good clean and setup with fret level , crown and polish.