The Definition of Optimism...

HarrySeven

...is this?

equalsql

Lol! I'd love to know where these sellers get their unbridled optimism from.

ICBM

They are nowhere near mint, nor are they Hondo's top of the range models.

Might be worth £250 each on a very good day, more likely about £150. They're actually not interestingly crap enough!

(Edit - no I don't think it's a headstock repair, it's just a poorly-matched original scarf joint since the 'Made In Japan' lettering is over the top of it.)

guitars4you

£1200.00 - wow - remove anyone of those figures and it will be far better - you'll need 2 fools to make that transaction work - 

HarrySeven

guitars4you said:

*...you'll need 2 fools to make that transaction work".

Genius.

HarrySeven

Hmmmm....maybe I should change the thread title to "The Definition of Delusional..."

guitars4you

HarrySeven said:

guitars4you said:

*...you'll need 2 fools to make that transaction work".

Genius.

very rare am I ever linked to such words

darthed1981

Call me old dumb, but how does this actually work for the seller?

If I was looking to spend £1200 on a guitar, as someone who does not know vintage guitars well, I'd go to a guitar shop and try some new ones out, maybe just maybe would consider a used model if highly recommended by someone I trusted on here.

But... presumably anyone who wants to spend £1200 on 40yr old guitars will know the territory?  So the seller here is essentially hoping for someone daft enough to blind buy something on the off-chance it is worth what they are paying for it?!

HarrySeven

darthed1981 said:

So the seller here is essentially hoping for someone daft enough to blind buy something on the off-chance it is worth what they are paying for it?!

Possibly that - although I doubt it, given how enthusiastic the seller is re. his 'collection'...maybe more of a case of crazy over-valuation?

I'm with @ICBM on this - approx. £150 each, tops...

Sassafras

Are there many Hondo collectors out there?

I'd rather have one of these which seems more reasonably priced:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/hondo-h-1030-guitar/322750946226?_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIM.MBE&ao=2&asc=47510&meid=c7d947ae44ee40919dcca289931b69b9&pid=100005&rk=5&rkt=6&sd=122716279165&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Funkfingers

Sassafras said:

Are there many Hondo collectors out there?

For guitarists of a certain age, Hondo is a sentimental purchase. The computer equivalent would be a ZX Spectrum, Commodore Amiga or, more realistically, perhaps, a Sinclair pocket calculator.

Within the last six months, I have had the dubious pleasure of working on two Hondo instruments. One was a momento of its owner's deceased father. The other was a banana masquerading as a P-style Bass. 

The eBay vendor has provided a Make Offer option. If enough people send messages, suggesting figures in the region of two fifty to three hundred quid, he might get the hint.




In my opinion, the uses and abuses of the word "mint" in sales descriptions deserves a whole thread to itself. 

ESBlonde

probably the wife has said move some of these out of my house so silly for sale notices show willing without having to part with his 'collection'.

sweepy

Being old enough to remember Hondo guitars when new, they were shocking, even the old Columbus LP and Antoria's were  a better bet if you were skint 

Funkfingers

Any archaeologists or Egyptologists out there? Please attempt to interpret these strange symbols.

https://i.imgur.com/BNHhrwz.jpg?1

I cannot decide whether somebody has been using this pickguard as a cutting board or it is a tribute to the Inca lines in the Nazca desert. 

The only thing "mint" about it is the colour.

ICBM

sweepy said:

Being old enough to remember Hondo guitars when new, they were shocking, even the old Columbus LP and Antoria's were  a better bet if you were skint 

As usual with most of these brands (which were not actually manufacturers) that's too much of a generalisation - some were terrible, but some were quite good.

I had one of the typical Les Paul copies with a thin ply arched top over blocks and horribly microphonic single-coil pickups in humbucker casings, which was indeed shit! But I also had a couple of acoustics, a J200 and in particular an Everly Brothers, which were really very nice even though they were still ply.

Some of the more upmarket natural-wood electric models like the one Sassafras posted - while very much of their time, usually a bit heavy and what we would now call characterless sounding - were actually pretty well-made and had top-quality hardware, including DiMarzio pickups.

Funkfingers

The banana bass mentioned in my earlier post had one of those OEM DiMarzio USA pickups. This and the neck anchor plate were the only parts worth salvaging.

ICBM

I notice the bridge appears to have collapsed on the bass in this Ebay listing as well...

JezWynd

Imaginative...

guitars4you

ICBM said:

sweepy said:

Being old enough to remember Hondo guitars when new, they were shocking, even the old Columbus LP and Antoria's were  a better bet if you were skint 

As usual with most of these brands (which were not actually manufacturers) that's too much of a generalisation - some were terrible, but some were quite good.

I had one of the typical Les Paul copies with a thin ply arched top over blocks and horribly microphonic single-coil pickups in humbucker casings, which was indeed shit! But I also had a couple of acoustics, a J200 and in particular an Everly Brothers, which were really very nice even though they were still ply.

Some of the more upmarket natural-wood electric models like the one Sassafras posted - while very much of their time, usually a bit heavy and what we would now call characterless sounding - were actually pretty well-made and had top-quality hardware, including DiMarzio pickups.

I think the comments from @ICBM are valid - When Hondo entered the UK market via the importers JHS, they came in at the low end entry level with a budget guitar that was seen in many local mom and pop stores - nothing special whatsoever - Les Paul shape with a natural wood finish with the laminate jam sandwich look about it that was popular in the 80's and a flat top, so a basic looking guitar - Yet when they established a basic foot holding with certain dealers, they added better models to the range, but this approach always ensures that it is hard to get away from your initial entry point and what the public perceive you to be - Reverse that and PRS came in at the top end and added more 'student' based models at a later date - As such they had already earned their brownie points amongst the guitar players, press etc

MartinB

The 80s "Revival by Hondo" guitars were OK too, though I can't imagine anyone collecting them as they're  a little generic with not much to distinguish them from other Samick-built copies of the 80s and 90s. 
The several different names that Hondo used over the years do make me wonder if they were aware of their dodgy reputation.  Rebranding to "Hondo Professional", "Hondo II" and then "Revival by Hondo" does kind of suggest they constantly wanted to imply that their current range wasn't as bad as the old ones! 

professorben

ICBM said:

They are nowhere near mint, nor are they Hondo's top of the range models.

Might be worth £250 each on a very good day, more likely about £150. They're actually not interestingly crap enough!

(Edit - no I don't think it's a headstock repair, it's just a poorly-matched original scarf joint since the 'Made In Japan' lettering is over the top of it.)

No no. 
He means they were made in the Japanese Mint.....