Guitars | Claescaster

June 25, 2013

EY Guitars

I just received my package from Hong Kong, the guitar parts I ordered from EY Guitars for the old Claescaster. How cute is this, they have packed it in a lunch box to keep it safe. I wonder if that something they always do or if it was just a really considerate worker that thought that Spain was really far away and it might be a bumpy ride so he or she better pack it in a Tupperware. They were pretty quick too, I placed the order on the 6th, sent out on the 8th and here on the 25th, just two work weeks. It was holidays here in Catalonia this weekend so I bet no one was working on Friday or Monday, it might have been lying around here in the post depot since the middle of last week, it has happened before.

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June 24, 2013

Eko Ranger VI

I went for a walk this Saturday and ended up in a Cash converter, as I usually do, and found myself with a Eko Ranger VI. I’ve been pretty curious about these and have kept an eye on eBay for one but they tend go for a lot more than I’m willing to pay but now the price was right. I took it home and gave it a good clean, oiled the fret board and restrung it. It’s a quite weird guitar, the neck feels like a Les Paul neck so it’s really easy to play solo on but it’s a bit thin sounding when strumming chords. I’m not sure if its’ because of the wood or the fact that it has a bolt on neck. I have a 12-string Eagle back in Sweden, a German made guitar from the 1970’s that has the same system and that one feels pretty similar. I’ve seen quite a few Framus and even some Japanese Epiphone’s with the bolt on so it must have been fairly common back then.

I’m not sure if she has spend two decades in the sun or what happened to the pickguard. I will try to find a replacement and change that.

It doesn’t say what model it is but I assume it’s a Eko Ranger VI.

There are quite a few cracks in the lacquer all around and the nut has come off and been badly glued back by the previous owner.

Eko Ranger VI I guess it’s a 1970’s model since the headstock is not black but it’s a lot darker then these Rangers and has a black logo instead of white. Taken from OffsetGuitars

Update 2013-09-05 EKO got a new dad, a real Italian dad. This is how happy Gyo was when he picked up his new guitar.

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June 20, 2013

Guitar of the day

Stevie Ray’s Number One, also known as Vaughan’s ‘First Wife’, was a ’62/’63 Fender Stratocaster used by Vaughan for most of his career; it was “rebuilt more times than a custom Chevy.” Vaughan always claimed it was a 1959 model, since that date was written on the back of the pick-ups; Rene Martinez, who maintained the guitar since 1980, saw the year 1963 stamped in the body and 1962 on the neck. The guitar was given to him by the owner of Ray Henning’s Heart of Texas music shop in Austin, Texas in 1973, it was his main performing instrument and companion. Although the original had a white pickguard and strangely hot ’59 pickups, Stevie replaced the pickguard with a pickguard featuring the now famous SRV lettering. Remarkably, Stevie had the frets replaced with jumbo bass style frets while he played on a reportedly .013 (going as high as .018) guage strings. Number One now resides with Stevie’s brother Jimmie. It’s been permanently retired in memory of Stevie. Here is an interview with Stevie’s guitar tech Rene Martinez.

♪ ♫ ♪ Stevie Ray Vaughan – Little Wing

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Live in Japan, January 24, 1985

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June 19, 2013

The Claescaster

The new Claescaster has been my office guitar for the last month or so and I’ve really grown to love it. I guess all new guitars needs to be broken in by being played a lot so 30-40 min a day so should do the trick. There is nothing more relaxing than playing guitar after you have eaten, well maybe sex but that would be rather awkward in a office environment. I can strongly recommend everyone to get yourself an office guitar, if don’t already have one.

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June 17, 2013

Hobbs Music P-bass

Back in January I bought a really nice Japanese made Precision bass for my friend Dani from South City Music. Well he paid for it but I had to order it since he doesn’t have an eBay account. He is as addicted as I am when it comes to buying instruments online so he doesn’t trust himself with an eBay account, probably for the best. It was pretty beat up but looked really nice in dark sunburst with a maple fretboard. It wasn’t a proper brand it just said Hobbs Music on it, which turned out to be Hobbs Musical store in Lancaster so I assume they imported it in the Seventies from Japan and put their own name on it. Anyway, the bass arrived but Dani wasn’t happy with the pickups so it was put a side for six months and now we ordered a set of Artec Alnico V P-bass pickups and new bridge and pickup covers from Custom world guitar parts. Dani fitted everything but passed the bass over to me to just look it over. He had done a good job, the wiring was correct and the soldering looked good. I did my best to clean it up, adjusted the saddles to get the action down and sorted the intonation. It’s a really heavy and solid bass, good wood for sure and the maple neck is amazing to play on. I plugged it in to check that everything was in order and sat for a half an hour playing bass by myself, something I never do. It felt quite a lot like my Japanese Jazz bass copy from 1978. It’s unbranded too, or rather someone has removed the logo on the headstock so I don’t know what brand it is. I can’t really jump to any conclusions from just two basses but I have a feeling that the Japanese basses are as well made as the guitars, even if it’s and unbranded instrument. I did an earlier post about the quality of Japanese guitars.

Friday night fun, Swedish beer and a Japanese bass from the 1970’s

The Hobbit, from Hobbs Musical store in Lancaster. Next step would be to get some new machine heads.

Everything seems to be in order, Dani had done a good job. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the Japanese that routed that control cavity, seems like a pretty uneven job.

Dani kept the original pickup covers, really nice in black and white. Notice my best friend in the top right corner, nothing works better than an old toothbrush when it comes to cleaning metal parts. It works great for removing grime from the bridge, saddles, machine heads and frets. If they are really dirty, a bit of oven cleaner speeds up the process.

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June 17, 2013

Hondo D-18

About a month ago I stumbled upon a Korean made Hondo D-18 acoustic guitar in a Cash converter. It only had 1 string and looked like shit but I was intrigued by the challenge to see if it I could get it to sing. I took it home, cleaned it up and restrung it and the first thing that hit was the tone. It has a really warm and nice tone, way deeper than any of my other acoustics. I’m not sure how old it is, I guess the 1981 on the label is referring to the company name and not the year it was made but it must be from the early to mid 1980’s.

I changed the machine heads for a set of fake tulip Grovers that I bought on eBay about a year ago. Then I fitted a strap button and my old 1970’s Shadow pickup that I used to have on a 12 year old Cort I kept in the rehearsal room. It was the normal procedure, drill a pilot hole and then put some wax on the screw and fit the button. I had to widen the hole quite a lot to get the end pin jack in, but that was pretty straight forward as well with a round file. I do hate to fit end pin jacks since my underarm is to wide to fit in the sound hole so it’s quite pain full experience. If you have a girlfriend with slender arms nearby that is to recommend but mine was out of the house when I did this. I have to say that I’m pretty pleased with both the sound and the look of this guitar, the grain is amazing.

I had a cheap Artec MSP-50 pickup at home so I fitted that in my old Cort and then installed the Shadow pickup in the Hondo.

Update 2013-09-14
The Hondo D-18 is sold now. This is how happy Iñaki was when he bough it.

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June 14, 2013

Guitar of the day

Lowell George from Little Feat’s 1970’s Fender Stratocaster. This is one his last ones, apparently he got so many guitars stolen during his career that he only played on modern Strats that was easy and cheap to replace. Most of them did look the same since he favoured light wood coloured big headed Strats with maple necks. He always installed a Telecaster bridge pickup and volume knob and used an 11/16 socket wrench as a slide. Don’t ask me what’s going on with the input jack but he changed that on all his guitars too. Notice his dungarees behind the guitar.

♪ ♫ ♪ Little Feat – Easy to slip

Lowell George struggled quite a lot in life and was addicted to cocaine and hamburgers but he was a helluva slide player. Little Feat, the best kept secret of the Seventies.

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June 13, 2013

The Old Claescaster

I have just ordered a new set of pickups for the old Claescaster. Since the new Claescaster is done I felt I needed another project so what could be better than giving some love to the old Claescaster. I went for some cheap Artec ones, just regular Alnico V pickups but with a bit of luck they could be good. They only cost $24.00 for both so I don’t expect too much. I bought them from a Hong Kong site called EY Guitars, I didn’t want to order things from USA since I had so much trouble with the customs last time. I also ordered a Wilkinson vintage bridge in gold since I took the old one and put on the new Claescaster. Let’s see how it goes, how long it takes and if I get charged any extra custom fees.

The old faithful Claescaster

These are the Artec Hot Ceramic Telecaster Pickups, a bit fancier then the ones I bought but they were sold out in gold so I had to go for something else.

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May 10, 2013

Guitar of the day

David Gilmour’s black 1969 Fender Stratocaster It went through quite a few changes over the years, new necks and pickups. He bought it in 1970 from Manny’s Music in New York as a replacement for his Strat that was stolen a few weeks earlier.

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May 6, 2013

The Claescaster

The new Claescaster

My new Claescaster is finally done. It was fun, rewarding and extremely annoying to build. If anyone plans to put a guitar together, make sure that you either stick to American parts or non American parts. To mix like I did was a nightmare since nothing fitted. I don’t think a single part fitted straight away, I had to make every hole bigger, or cut a bit here and sand a bit there. Anyway, now it’s done and I’m really happy with it. I just need to change the nut tonight for a Tusq and then we are all set.

Not the cleanest soldering but at least everything works

I wish the ground cables would have stuck a bit easier to the pot so the soldering wouldn’t have been such a mess. I also realised when I first plugged it in that the switch didn’t work since I had soldered 1-3 and 6-8 together, apparently 1 and 8 shouldn’t be connected.

Kluson style machine heads from Northwest Guitars

To fit the machine heads was pretty easy. Of course I had to make the holes bigger since they were 8mm and not 8.5mm as I was first told. I used a piece of wood to keep everything straight and to make sure they lined up. Then a tiny little pilot hole with the drill and in with the screw.

I originally wanted a 70’s decal and modern machine heads but I think I start to prefer the 50’s logo and the Kluson style machine heads

Time to fit the neck

I read somewhere that this was a good trick to make sure you get the neck in the correct angle before you drill the holes. A piece of string through the body and around the two E strings to make sure that they are evenly spaced. I marked the holes with a hammer and a screwdriver before I drilled the pilot holes and then tried my best to keep the drill straight. A lot of people claim that you have to use a drill press but it works fine with a normal hand held drill.

Last thing to do, fit the pickguard

Of course the pickguard didn’t line up perfectly in the end so I had to cut out a bit more around the control plate. I used a knife and then smoothed it out with sandpaper around fat marker pen. I probably should have used a drill to make the pilot holes since the old nail and hammer tended to crack the lacquer in some places.

Last screw being marked out with a hammer and a nail

The Claescaster is finally finished

The old and then new Claescaster together

Look at the grain on the top one, the new swamp ash Claescaster, amazing. It weighs around 4.5 kg so a pretty fat little baby but it feels amazingly solid and nice around the neck. The old one, which is most likely basswood, weighs around 3.2 kg.

Earlier parts of the Claescaster story can be found here 1, 2, 3, 4.

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Category: Guitars