What to do with a rubbish guitar...

HerrMetal

Glue the neck in, quick respray and surely it's worth hundreds.

Pabcrane

Loads of suggestions already, but if you have a local dramatic society or school with a drama department they may like it for props - a guitar that no one will miss and it doesn't matter that it's s pile of shite to play.

bloodandtears

some venues put them on their walls..

mbe

HerrMetal said:

Glue the neck in, quick respray and surely it's worth hundreds.

..and a change of pickups, will be good as a Harley Benton R9.

KDS

Setup for slide

Funkfingers

Even a heap o' manure cheapo guitar is a potential source of period correct parts for other MIJ copy guitars of the same era.

If the hardware plating on your elderly Arbiter is not too badly tarnished, it could be transplanted onto another guitar to make that presentable. 

To somebody like H7, the Arbiter's screw-on neck creates potential for mixing and matching of necks and bodies to arrive at desired colour schemes. The tatty leftovers then form the basis of Ffrankenstienian  experiments with pickup changes and inappropriate vibratos.

Jimbro66

Make up an emotional back-story and take it to The Repair Shop.

ICBM

Neill said:

Now that is a good idea too... But the damn thing is quite solidly built it would do some damage before it gave up.  I could set fire to it a la Hendrix I suppose..? 

Actually, thinking on not such a good idea.  If anyone saw me trying to smash a guitar up on stage they would immediately send for a paramedic, and I would probably need one.

Don't try to smash it. If you fail to break it after trying your hardest for five minutes you'll be mocked as a lame Phoebe Bridgers wannabe.

DaevidJ

Change the pups and stick a Harley Benton logo on it

thermionic

Sell it on ebay for £200. Hint: use the word “lawsuit” in the description.

Skipped

1. Send impmann a picture.

2. If it is not impmann's old guitar, let dilbert have it for the same price. (Shipping cost).

Neill

impmann said:

Is it a Gold top that has been heavily modified in the past (extra switches etc) if so... it could be my old one and I would pay *A LOT* to have it back irrespective of condition.

I'm so sorry @impmann I should have made it clearer it's not a goldtop though I wish it was your guitar - for your sake not mine.   it is modified, after a fashion, but not in a good way.

richardhomer

Jimbro66 said:

Make up an emotional back-story and take it to The Repair Shop.

This ‘must’ be the winner! Well played, Sir!

impmann

Neill said:

impmann said:

Is it a Gold top that has been heavily modified in the past (extra switches etc) if so... it could be my old one and I would pay *A LOT* to have it back irrespective of condition.

I'm so sorry @impmann I should have made it clearer it's not a goldtop though I wish it was your guitar - for your sake not mine.   it is modified, after a fashion, but not in a good way.

Thanks for letting me know - I really appreciate it.

Mine was very modified (mainly by me) and it was highly distinctive. 

crunchman

DeeTee said:

I'd do as @dilbert says - either use it to practice some guitar maintenance stuff, or sell/give it to someone who will do the same. I learned a ton with a broken Epi LP.

This.

I've gained a lot from working on a trashed Squier that my brother-in-law got at a boot sale for a fiver.  I want to refret another cheapie or three before I do my AVRI Strat though.

HarrySeven

impmann said:

Neill said:

impmann said:

Is it a Gold top that has been heavily modified in the past (extra switches etc) if so... it could be my old one and I would pay *A LOT* to have it back irrespective of condition.

I'm so sorry @impmann I should have made it clearer it's not a goldtop though I wish it was your guitar - for your sake not mine.   it is modified, after a fashion, but not in a good way.

Thanks for letting me know - I really appreciate it.

Mine was very modified (mainly by me) and it was highly distinctive. 

I’ve been looking for it on your behalf for years, too...

Nerine

Get a cleartone conversion on it. 

????

????
profit. 

impmann

HarrySeven said:

impmann said:

Neill said:

impmann said:

Is it a Gold top that has been heavily modified in the past (extra switches etc) if so... it could be my old one and I would pay *A LOT* to have it back irrespective of condition.

I'm so sorry @impmann I should have made it clearer it's not a goldtop though I wish it was your guitar - for your sake not mine.   it is modified, after a fashion, but not in a good way.

Thanks for letting me know - I really appreciate it.

Mine was very modified (mainly by me) and it was highly distinctive. 

I’ve been looking for it on your behalf for years, too...

Thanks mate. Massively appreciated.

Neill

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, and I do mean all of them...  I have come to an arrangement with HarrySeven, he can add it to his stable and I can tell my wife I have got rid of a guitar so it's win-win..!

DeeTee

crunchman said:

DeeTee said:

I'd do as @dilbert says - either use it to practice some guitar maintenance stuff, or sell/give it to someone who will do the same. I learned a ton with a broken Epi LP.

This.

I've gained a lot from working on a trashed Squier that my brother-in-law got at a boot sale for a fiver.  I want to refret another cheapie or three before I do my AVRI Strat though.

I know what you mean. I've started to get the hang of soldering, but I'm still a bit nervy about changing the pickups on my SG. 4 wire coil splits, a small space and an easily marked nitro finish.