UPDATED: New, new project (formerly: Old guitar, new project)

[Wyatt]

TL : DR There will be a WTB post in the Spam Board for loose hardware like screws, tuners and a trem

About 25 years ago I bought this guitar for $180 for my younger brother. For the money, it was a solid guitar (but on the heavy side). I think this Epi Start and a similar Tele were limited run for Venemann's Music which as a famous local chain in the DC area (people used to fly in for their annual clearance sale). I expect from it's hockey stick headstock, this right around the time Gibson flooded the market with cheap Karmers.

The guitar went from my younger brother to my older one and has now been handed down to my kid, in far worse shape.

The humbucker is stripped, I know I can re-tap or solder on a nut, but I decided to wire up a higher-end pickguard for now and move it to a different build whenever my son gets bored of the color.

So far I have ordered...

One NOS parchment Pearly Gates...

Two Fender Fat 50s (a favorite of mine, and I needed at least one RWRP because Seymour Duncan is exactly the opposite of Fender)

And a pickguard with a little more color...

The tuners and bridges are corroded (years near the beach), but they work. No trem arm though.

 

[Honkridge]

Cool...looks like it has potential

 

[Chad]

I miss Venemann's and Rolls.

 

[Chicken Man]

I really like the look of that body. Definitely worth getting it in working order.

 

[Lerxst]

Ooofff those frets look mighty grungy. Should be a fun project bringing that back from the dead.

 

[Wyatt]

Ooofff those frets look mighty grungy. Should be a fun project bringing that back from the dead.

I'm hoping they just need a good polish, I haven't taken a straight edge to them yet, but they don't seem pitted or uneven.

 

[Wyatt]

Pretty sure I'm going to abandon this, this guitar will quickly turn into a money pit.

Of the $250 I've invested so far, I can carry the $220 for the PUs "on the books" since I can use them for a future build anyway. But the $20 pickguard can't even be cut to fit. I really don't want to hunt down more parts for a $180 guitar. For $400 I can get my son a Squier Classic Vibe Strat with good parts.

 

[Wyatt]

So, I moved on from the Epi quick and made some impulse purchases from Warmoth. Also, a good celluloid tort pickguard, the cheap one from Reverb was horrible, you could see the dot pattern of the printing.

 

[Wyatt]

Warmoth parts shipped, pretty much right on time despite Warmoth's COVID-19 backlog. I will start a new thread for the build.