From Wreck to Rock
From Wreck to Rock ā July 7, 2016
Ā Okay, two months later and what has happened in the meantime? Several things.
First, I purchased a Squier Affinity Telecaster. In Butterscotch Blond, with a crappy gig bag included for $100.
Second, I purchased a Squier Affinity Telecaster. In Butterscotch Blond, with a crappy gig bag included for $125.
No, you are not seeing double. I did just buy two different teleās. Not done yet.
Third, I purchased a 70ās era Lotus LP Junior. In pieces, no pickups included, and missing a tuner.
Can you guess which one Iām geeked about? Yup, the crappy 70ās flat bodied Les Paul knockoff.
Back to Tele #1. Basically, brand new. It has all the classic foibles of the Squier Affinity Telecasters. Not set up well, frets uneven, protruding and sharp along the edges. First things first, a hard shell case.
Not being one who likes to spend money on these used guitars (especially money that I donāt have*), I take a few things like old guitar pedals I donāt like to a local used music store with zero dollars in my pocket. I could tell you the name of the MUSIC place, but I donāt want to GO ROUND all that. I trade those things in, grab a used Fender hard shell case, and walk out the door with $30 and the case. That 30 buckaroos will come into the story later.
*side note: For those that are unaware, by āmoney I donāt haveā, I mean, āmoney my wife wonāt let me spend.ā So, I have to fund all my guitar purchases by means other than the money I earn from my day job. There is a lot of bartering, and selling of other things to fund my addiction. Itās a disease. Called GAS. Stands for Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. Or, if you ask my kids, itās what comes out of my butt.
Next on the list for Tele #1 is that I take it to the local guitar shop in town, owned by a young man whoās sister does some community theater with my daughter. I ask him to do a set up and work on the frets. He quotes me a total price of $105.
Whoa.
I wasnāt expecting that. I mean, itās not out of line for what heās going to do with the guitar and throwing in a new set of strings to boot, but when youāre trying to do this sort of thing on your own, and on the cheap, that really puts a monkey wrench in the works. Thatās actually more than what I spent to buy the guitar in the first place.
I leave it with him, rationalizing it as āsupporting local businessā and āfriend of the familyā and āgrumble, grumble.ā
Lesson learned? Yup, Iām going to do that stuff myself from now on.
Moving on to Tele #2. This is a different beast. I actually spend more on this one than the first, even though itās in much worse condition. A bunch of dings and marks in the finish, the neck has been replaced with an amateurish refinished neck so that there is no logo or serial number on the neck at all.
The pickups have been replaced and the guy selling it says that they are Lindy Fralin Blues Specials (which go for about $180 new for the set). He even gives me the box they came in. Iām not believing it for a second. The tuners have been replaced with the Classic Vibe tuners, so thatās a plus. Itās dirty, itās not set up. The neck is in need of adjusting. And there is a buzz that could be from not grounding the pickups. And I still buy it. Even with the crappy Fender gig bag. I mean really crappy. As in, it only has one strap, the plastic hooks are broken and the one remaining strap is tied to the connectors ā in a knot. Useless AF.
What am I going to do with this? Iām glad you asked. This is one for the From Wreck To Rock project list. Iām going to get this one in to rock out shape for very little money and add a couple of neat twists to make it a really fun axe to wail on. I havenāt decided yet what to do about the neck, I may actually just buy a replacement Squier neck and go from there, butā¦again, I havenāt decided. What I will do for sure is that this puppy is getting a new custom hand-made pickguard. I canāt wait to try a special something for this. Pictures to follow.
Finally, the Lotus.
Itās old. Itās dirty. Itās in pieces. There are no pickups. The bridge is broken. Itās missing a tuner. No pickguard. Butā¦. It has panache. Itās from the 70ās and itās one of the cheaper Lotus LP models, flat top and made of plywood. No inlayed logo, itās just painted on, and a white/cream binding on the tobacco-burst body top only. Itās also the only Les Paul that is in my guitar collection at the moment. I bought a brand new Lotus LP with the abalone inlays and pretty designs way back in the mid-70ās. It was shiny. It was also set up with the action so high as to be like a steel string lap guitar with finger bleeding heavy duty strings. I couldnāt stand playing it. So I sold it to my cousin after about two months of trying to play the thing. I didnāt know then that you could even do anything like setting it up correctly. At that time in my young life guitars came ready to play. Period. I never really thought about it since. It was such a horrible experience that I never went back to Les Paul guitars at all. But when you are talking about a guitar collection, there are certain things you have to have. You have to have a strat. Itās the law, and cannot be broken. You have to have a tele. It is a force of nature and has to be in everyoneās collection. A Les Paul. Itās one of the Holy Three of electric guitars. There shall be a 335. Or a similar hollow or semi-hollow body electric. No discussion allowed. You need a steel string acoustic dreadnaught, preferably a Martin, but there are a ton of great acoustics out there. You need a twelve string. Acoustic for sure, electric, eh, maybe. And a Rickenbacker, for no real good reason other than to have one, so you can say, āI have a Rickenbacker, and you donāt, and that makes me better than you.ā Make it a twelve string and take care of two guitar must-haveās at once.
I had all of those as of a week ago (no Rickenbacker, yes, I suck), with the exception of a Les Paul. So, the vision quest was to get one, or build one. And I really didnāt want to tackle building one yet. So the only other thing to do was to buy one. LO, AND BEHOLD! A perusal of The Craigslist came up with the Lotus pieces for sale. And, hereās the kicker, for the low, low price of $35.
Remember the $30 from earlier? Yes, you have put the pieces together, so to speak.
So now I have a Les Paul project to do for From Wreck To Rock. Iām putting the list of items I need to replace, refinish, and repair. This has got me excited! Pictures at 11ā¦.












