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View Full Version : Check out my Garbagecaster!!


doctorx
06-13-2006, 08:09 AM
Check out my guitar I got out of a trashcan, I call it my "Garbagecaster".

I used to have a redneck family live next door to me. Eventually they moved out (Thank God) and left a mountain of trash by the street for the city to haul away. I was going out to my car one day and shaking my head at it when I noticed the headstock of a guitar sticking out of a trash can. I pulled it out and it was in pretty rough shape, see the picture.

It started life as a three pickup Yamaha with a cheap Floyd Rose knockoff. There was a dent in the side of the neck and half the bridge was missing, it had sharpie marks all over it. I was going to part it out but after looking at it I decided to rebuild it. I took it to my friend Danny who filled in the routing for the tremolo, and it was he who decided to paint it gold.

I then took it to my guitar fixit guy Kerry who installed a hardtail bridge and shaved where the neck meets the body to decrease the angle for the new bridge.

Then it was my turn, Danny designed a pickguard for me and I cut it and cut the holes for the pickups, then wired it up. I bought a cheap Strat pickup and a cheap P90 off Fleabay, both alnico, and wired it like a two pickup Gibson. I need to get a creme colored pickup cover for the P90.

I have about $90 into it. http://music-electronics-forum.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

I was fair surprised at how it played and sounded. The neck is different from what I am used to, it's a real flat radius, but it plays real nice and those cheap pickups sound pretty damn good. The pics are from a birthday party jam I hosted last Saturday at my house.

The links:

Before (http://www.regiscoyne.com/birthday2006/gold01.jpg)
After (http://www.regiscoyne.com/birthday2006/regis03.jpg)
Guitar face: Inspiration, not Constipation (http://www.regiscoyne.com/birthday2006/regis02.jpg)

hemlock
06-13-2006, 08:55 AM
cool! nice save.

BigDoug1053
06-13-2006, 09:59 AM
Great to see something of value rescued. Good job on the fix up, and nice guitar face. :p

sosomething
06-13-2006, 10:11 AM
Amazing turnaround! It went from something really, really bad into something cool with a lot of vibe! It makes me want to scour ebay for the ruined ones and fix up one or two myself.

The original owner would never recognize it now.

Boomdoggy
06-13-2006, 11:02 AM
You turned a worthless looking 80's guitar into a sweet looking blues guitar.Great job.

doctorx
06-13-2006, 11:14 AM
It wasn't my intention but the gold paint gives it a Les Paul Goldtop look. I like it. It will be better when I put a creme cover on the P90. I also have to cut a truss rod cover and figure out a way to do a decal on the headstock.

Did you notice how I mounted the Strat jackplate upside down?

While I'm thinking about it another trick I did was buy a piece of brass tubing at the hardware store. I cut a chunk off with my dremel tool and slipped it over the top of the pot. This makes it easier to mount a Tele type knob on a press fit type of volume pot. You can buy them commercially but a 1 foot length of brass tube is about a dollar fifty and gives you enought for about 20 pots.

69mojostrat
06-13-2006, 11:25 AM
nice porn on the computer monitor above the mixer. LOL

http://www.regiscoyne.com/birthday2006/regis03.jpg

doctorx
06-13-2006, 12:03 PM
"nice porn on the computer monitor above the mixer."

You should have seen all the married guys crowding around the computer when the screensaver kicked in. :Devil

Brett Valentine
06-13-2006, 09:36 PM
Very sweet. That's one of my favorite things to do, find the "thrown-aways" and if possible, make 'em one of a kind.

Brett

Staceydude
06-14-2006, 12:09 AM
Not a bad find and turnaround.

Regards

Notes
06-14-2006, 12:38 AM
69MOJOSTRAT, What guitar is that?

tonedaddy
06-14-2006, 09:52 AM
Did you notice how I mounted the Strat jackplate upside down?
That makes so much sense you've got to wonder why don't more "Strat-type" builders do that!

Cool guitar, and lots of cool ideas you came up with to pull it off.
Congrats!
:dude

Jim S
06-14-2006, 01:13 PM
"nice porn on the computer monitor above the mixer."

You should have seen all the married guys crowding around the computer when the screensaver kicked in. :Devil

I didn't even notice the guitar or you holding it. :Devil

kerc
06-14-2006, 01:19 PM
Awesome. I love these kind of stories--I'm the Mother (Father!) Theresa of abandoned guitars...

doctorx
06-22-2006, 04:39 PM
69MOJOSTRAT, What guitar is that?

That is my Garbagecaster, the subject of this thread. Read the first post.