Been on the hunt for lightweight gig-able vintage guitars (due to my bad back) and picked these two up on this forum as part of the journey, but neither is quite perfect to be a keeper for life. Close but no cigar. So the search continues. Both came from the wonderful vintage guitar restorer well known on this forum - Yuuki (Jumping at Shadows) - one directly, one indirectly.
Might be tempted by a high quality lightweight (under 7lb) telecaster
first one for sale...bought in November '21 from Sharky335 who beat me to it when Yuuki listed it....
1964 players grade Epiphone Wilshire.
It has a thick slab Honduran mahogany body, same as a ‘50s DC Jnr, and a jet black quarter sawn Brazilian RW fretboard, and beautifully faded original cherry finish throughout. The reason why it’s not £4k plus like a totally stock example, is as the neck was reset at some point and while the glue joint was perfectly sound, someone went full belt and braces and added two small dowels under the original pickguard, and added a small Fender style neck plate on the back, which has been removed and cleaned up - the joint is totally sound, and the whole guitar resonates well and the issue has no impact on playability or tone.
The original mini humbucker pickups were missing so Yuuki fitted some goldfoils from ‘Q pickups’ in Croatia, and the hardware is high quality Gibson Historic fare. It comes with a decent ‘70s MIJ hard case but the handle is a bit dodgy. Sound wise it is somewhere between a 50's P90 LP special and a telecaster. Since I've bought it, I've had it serviced and set up by Kevin at 'Stairway to Kevin' in Denmark Street, including fitting a new bone nut and the wiring was tidied up. Looking to get back what I paid for it (so will take a hit on the work done to it etc). Again, a tough call, but whilst the neck is very nice higher up, it's just that little bit too narrow for me at the cowboy chord end - I prefer the fatter early 60's Gibson necks.
Would prefer pickup in North London (say 30 minutes from East Finchley) / central London but I can post (UK only) at your expense / choice of courier and insurance arrangements on top of the price noted.
I hope Yuuki won't mind if I post the link as his photos are great.
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/2307881/#Comment_2307881Update - just installed aged Sunbear firebird pickups (cost over £240 plus installation) - wow!
Second one is a 1965 single pick up Gibson Melody Maker in rare original ember red (Yuuki didn't even know that MM's came in this colour). This one has a very nice big 64 SG neck profile ie wide pre ‘65 nut (1 and 11/16 inches), all nickel parts, fully stock aside from aged replacement Klusons (btw, original ones rarely stay in tune anyway) and an ABM bridge. Comes with TKL hard case. Weighs just under 6lb. I got the guitar from Yuuki on the forum and replaced the original lightning bridge (which is in the case) to get a better set up result (the original bridge works best with a wound G) and also had the guitar set up / fettled by Kevin at 'Stairway to Kevin' on Denmark Street. Nicely worn and knocked about a little.
Yuuki's description: 'this one sounds like a ‘50s Jnr - fat, sassy and punchy, with added Esquire-like twang and stringiness, all controlled from the twin knobs'.
Serial number (really hard to read) is 313375 which puts it in the 1965 range.
But I have realised that I'm just a 2 pickup kind of person - I really love this guitar aside from that. Very addictive to play. And the colour is really great.
Looking for £1750. I sourced an original tremelo / vibrato as shown in photos (spare vintage trem base is in the case). On line prices are nearer to £2250 or more for a less rare colour, but I'd like it to go to a good home here. Again, would prefer pickup in North London (say 30 minutes from East Finchley) / central London but I have a box so can post (UK only) at your expense / choice of courier and insurance arrangements on top of the price noted.
I hope Yuuki won't mind if I post the link as his photos and sound clip are great:
Plus my rubbish photos
https://imgur.com/eZmyDzA.jpghttps://imgur.com/LmEbtxw.jpghttps://imgur.com/fqI6IPD.jpghttps://imgur.com/wn3f8cz.jpghttps://imgur.com/iQlcDP3.jpgWorst knocks:
https://imgur.com/qJc4dcW.jpgSpare maestro trem base (included in sale):
https://imgur.com/ExqFi5Q.jpg
Comments
Can't promise I wont change my mind - playing the MM brings a smile to my face.