Whether to restore '59 Jr (has humbucker routing)

[loverocker]

I bought this Jr a few years ago, and it's one of my favourites - I get on better with DCs for playing up at the 'dusty end' of the fretboard.

It's a player-grade guitar, mainly because at some point, it was routed for a humbucker. Then a dog-ear P90 was refitted, but it was put slightly out of position to hide the HB hole. You can just about see the edges of the red shadow that was left unfaded under the original P90.

I'm tempted to take it to someone like Clive Brown to restore, but I'm not even sure it's possible to do a good restoration and grain/colour match with such a thin sliver of mahogany.

Any thoughts?

 

[miserneil]

I recognise that guitar from somewhere

I'd leave it, i've seen a LOT worse.

Or....i'll take it off your hands?

 

[Kris Ford]

Leave it is my vote. My old SG JR had a humbucker route..I covered it with with a dogear cover and never looked back...


I know it was there..but can you tell?


If you have to point it out..it aint that bad..

That stuff only matters when selling, not playing...

 

[kmasters68]

That is seriously Bad Ass! Big League!

 

[Progear]

It's awesome the way it is... leave it as is...

 

[drugprowlingwolf]

Nobody can see it - I'd leave it. If it bothers you there are a lot of talented luthiers who can probably fix it (including several forum members).

 

[jeggz]

Leave it.

 

[lord-humongous]

I'd leave it as well. I kind of figure when something's been modded, but it was done a long time ago, it's become part of the guitar. One exception would be if it had a Floyd Rose bridge of course!

 

[Blue Blood]

Leave it be, that's a clean mod from the pics.
Believe me, it can be wayyy worse.
Very cool Jr !

 

[loverocker]

Well, we appear to have consensus. (Is the Internet broken?) Will leave it as-is for now.

It's strange that it somehow niggles me, even though most people don't spot it until I point it out.

 

[reedy]

If it were me and it ate away at me that much I would take the money I would drop into restoring that one (which looks just fine BTW) and put it towards finding one that is the way you like. Since there isn't a hurry as you already have a '59 you can take your time and find one you like. You'll have no problem selling that one if you need to help finance the other one. But, that's just what I would do.

 

[Darth Mildly Grumpy]

Leave it. It's part of it's history. That's a super nice one!

Do you have any pictures of the cavity?

 

[Seahawk2982]

That thing has got MOJO for days. Don't touch a thing!

 

[loverocker]

If it were me and it ate away at me that much I would take the money I would drop into restoring that one (which looks just fine BTW) and put it towards finding one that is the way you like.

That's a good idea, but I figured that this mod knocks about 50% off the price, so I'd have to find a couple of thousand pounds to upgrade to an unmolested one? Not sure it bugs me that much!

Do you have any pictures of the cavity?

Not at the moment. I'll try to get a moment and take a couple of photos later today.

 

[loverocker]

OK, took a couple of extra shots. As you can see the P90's reinstatement isn't as well-done as Kris' SG Jr. Maybe I should try a humbucker...? Dimarzio X2N perhaps.

And here's a photo of the cavity. I guess that the pots and cap were most likely replaced when the humbucker was fitted.

 

[Al Walker]

That looks Awefull! I think you should send it to me. I think I could live with it!

 

[Kris Ford]

I'd get a red Sharpie (don't laugh..they REALLLY work in moderation!!) and hit that edge, polish it up, put that cover on and forget it ever happened.


That's exactly what I did on mine..the ink blended in with the red and covered the exposed wood edge at least..and you can judge the results for yourself I literally moved the cover 1-2 mm tops


No need for anything radical..

 

[HeeBGB]

I'd leave it. It looks fine to me.

Here is mine. This is the junior in my avatar.

 

[deadlyweasel]

I'd leave it. It looks fine to me.

Here is mine. This is the junior in my avatar.

Wow!

 

[loverocker]

I'd get a red Sharpie (don't laugh..they REALLLY work in moderation!!) and hit that edge, polish it up, put that cover on and forget it ever happened.

Good idea to take the bright edge off.

I'd leave it. It looks fine to me.

Here is mine. This is the junior in my avatar.

Cripes! That was some rescue - good work. I don't feel so bad now.