Hondo or Frankenguitar?

[BNJYGUITAR]

Hey All, I'm hoping you may be able to help me identify this guitar. It says Hondo II on the headstock, has two humbuckers but the toggle is down by the knobs rather than up towards the top as with many other guitars. I've looked through many pictures of Hondo's but can't find anything that looks quite like it, so I'm wondering if it could have been frankensteined or if it is actually a Hondo. Thoughts?

I can get more pictures this weekend if needed, there are no serial numbers on the guitar that I can find.

[wietse]

weird, a drawing of that model is used on the front of a 1977 catalog but is nowhere to be found in that catalog.

btw, when you deeplink do that to the picture not the album.
like this,

[BNJYGUITAR]

Very interesting. I found a picture of a Memphis on craigslist that had the same body, electronics, and pick guard, but a stop tail piece and adjustable bridge, whereas this one has a wrap around bridge... Which seems oddly close to the first pickup.

Sorry about the link, I was trying to figure out how to imbed the pic. what did you use to do that?

[Spud1950]

It's a copy,though not exact, of a Les Paul DC (double cutaway).



There's lot of Asian made copies of this guitar with different brands on them. Also,the pickups are not humbuckers. They are single coil dog ear P-90 style. The original Gibsons had soap bar P90s. Here's a recent thread about another one.

[BNJYGUITAR]

Thank You, Very good information. This was given to me about 15 years ago and has been collecting dust. I know its been " refurbished" (very poorly), but I thought it would make a good candidate for my first refurb project.

a couple questions...

Would this be the same as the Les Paul wiring setup?

Would the bridge being so close to the pick up negatively effect the inntonation on that pick up?

Would it be best to keep the wrap around bridge or install a stop tailpiece, and adjustable bridge like a Les Paul standard?

[Spud1950]

I have no idea how Hondo wired it,but on the original Gibson the wiring is same as a conventional Les Paul of the same time period. As far as the bridge,I don't know what you mean by pickup intonation. The bridge placement is determined by the scale length of the neck. It's correct placement is critical for proper intonation of the notes being played. Changing the setup to a stop tail and adjustable Les Paul style bridge would give you the advantage of easier and more precise intonation adjustment, but the adjustable bridge itself would still have to located in the same postion as the present one to maintain proper scale length. Best thing to do is to put on a set of fresh strings and see how it plays and intonates in it's present condition. Might be just fine the way it is.

[BNJYGUITAR]

Thanks Spud1950, you told me exactly what I wanted to know...I obviously have allot to learn about terminology. I'll be putting new strings on it tomorrow to see how it sounds.

[BNJYGUITAR]

Well, it took a little tinkering but it plays fairly well. I think the pots will need replaced, and I think an adjustable bridge is in order because the intonation is a bit off and although I was able to adjust the bridge positioning, individual string adjustments would be nice.

From a vintage guitar perspective, should I stick with the wrap around style bridge, or go for a tune-o-matic bridge with a stop tailpiece like the Les Pauls have. It does seem that the guitar it's designed to imitate would have had a wrap around bridge.

Thoughts? Or should I post this question in another post?

[wietse]

i doubdt that you manage to find a bridge that fits, hondo had a way of using a non standard distance between two stud.
so it's possible you won't find another bridge that fits there, and to buy a good badass bridge that's more expensive than the guitar is worth.

[VintAxe]

I'm not sure why you think the pots need replacing but I would suggest you don't go to the trouble until you have sprayed them with Deoxit. I've had pots that were frozen solid loosen and work perfectly after a few shots of Deoxit.

A can costs around $10 and can be purchased through Stew-Mac.

[BNJYGUITAR]