"Sleepers"

[Bluesman62]

Just wondering everyones feelings on what I have dubbed "Sleeper" guitars. I am working on one right now, I buy cheap guitars, like the KTone Hollowbody Les Paul Guitar I found on ebay for $150.00 brand new. Couldn't even play the thing when it arrived. So what I am planning on doing is stripping the electronics and hardware out of it and replace everything with high quality parts. Keep it looking pretty much the way it did at the beginning but hot rod the hell out of it. I was thinking about starting a line of guitars called 'Stalker Sleepers" and just start hitting the pawn shops and ebay and snatch up a bunch of these types of guitars and do the same thing. As long as the body and neck are workable I think it would work. Just like owning a ratty looking car and packing a 454 under the hood, then smoking the tires and leaving the corvette in your dust......... I have asked a few of my buddies who play and they thought it was a good idea so I think I will persue this line, wont list them as new but "customized".

[RestorationAD]

I have done this before with MIM Stratocasters back in the day (late 80s early 90s) when they were cheap. I used to buy them and squier and mod them to no ends. I used to love to get the Harmony Vs (gibson knock offs) and do this because they were solid mahogany. All the Matsumoku guitars were also great for this.

Today I would look for Korean guitars or maybe some of the Indonesian guitars.

What you need is a good platform to start. So a working trussrod and good solid woods.

First thing to do is fix the fret job and level the fretboard. This is the number one priority. For me hot rodding also means changing the radius on the fretboard and putting jumbo frets in.

Next up is replace the hardware. Tone-Pros for guitars with TOMs and hipshot or schaller for fixed bridges. Obviously this is a matter of finding higher quality parts that fit so it might require a lot of research.

Finally you build a killer set of pickups for them. For me this would mean ripping the old pickups apart, rewinding them, and replacing magnets and poles with high grade stuff and cramming them back into the original covers.

I enjoy doing it just don't find hte time I used to to troll pawn shops and ebay for cheap guitars. Another problem I have is Pawn shops and eBay tend to overvalue the guitars they have. It is silly to pay a few dollars under retail to get a guitar that needs a lot of work when I could build one from scratch for the same price.

[Bluesman62]

Yeah I notice that the pawn shops over value things, I have a pretty good relationship with the local guy around here we're both vets and member of the VFW and American Legion so I can negotiate down to a reasonable price. I did the same thing to a Starcaster strat, one of my buddies was giving me **** for owning a fender star caster, then I had him stop by the house and let him play it...... He's been after me for the last 3 months trying to get me to sell it......Not gonna happen this one is a keeper......

[Bluesman62]

By the Way love your Hand of Doom SG....... Freaking outstanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bluesman62]

OK Found My dream guitar..... Your Punisher, I am a V man myself, Owned a 1970 Gibson V, kick myself everyday for selling it.

[Prostheta]

Customised is fair. The real skill is in finding the best guitars to establish a solid foundation. As RAD mentions, old Matsumoku-era Aria Pro IIs, Vantages, etc. are gems in the rough. A lot are over thirty years old now and need significant work which again means you might as well scratch build.

[RestorationAD]

OK Found My dream guitar..... Your Punisher, I am a V man myself, Owned a 1970 Gibson V, kick myself everyday for selling it.

Thanks for the compliments. Punisher is a favorite of mine. Part of my build Gibson replicas that are tweaked to my standards series. I have a Gibson V but it has things I wasn't happy about so Punisher fills the void. The HOD is not anything like a real SG. It has more in common with a LP.

Like Pro said. Good luck on finding cost effective "sleepers" I quit trying.

[westhemann]

I played a Gibson V at a GC once,but it felt really blocky...like a too thick plank of wood.I don't know why.The 67 V "tribute" I built feels very nice.Totally unlike the Gibson,but I still have no idea why.

Edited December 5, 2013 by westhemann

[RestorationAD]

I played a Gibson V at a GC once,but it felt really blocky...like a too thick plank of wood.I don't know why.The 67 V "tribute" I built feels very nice.Totally unlike the Gibson,but I still have no idea why.

In an attempt to completly derail this thread. My V is a 2004 faded and it is basically a 67' replica with not much nitro.

I hate the 500T in the bridge. I hate the size of the pickup routes (huge) and not really a fan of the 24.75 scale length. But for a V the shorter scale seems to work to sort the balance.

I like the 1 11/16" wide neck and the 12 in radius is better than the vintage fender radius. The C neck profile is thin and usable.

However as I prefer shreaders. On Punisher I moved to a 1.75" nut with, 18mm - 19mm neck profile, 16 in radius, Jumbo frets (Dunlop 6150 size). Next up I lower the neck angle to 2 degress and recess the TOM (fixing the break angle of the wrist in the process). Move the volume knobs and switches to usable positions and use smaller pickup routes. A set of my Diablo pickups Etc...

[westhemann]

That is close to what I played as well.Faded model...somewhere around 2003-2006 or so.

I like the 500T as a pickup.Love it in an Explorer.I also like the 24 3/4" scale length and the TOM height I usually prefer because my wrist works better that way with the way I pick.

And that's why I don't know why I hated the one I played.I should have loved it,but it sat like a log and felt like a 2X4

[Sancho Marino]

Sleepers are what got me into modding and eventually building my own guitars from scratch... I started out with old MIJ RG 470's you used to be able to pick up for less than $200. The late 90's MIJ Wizard II's are some of my all-time favorite necks with a little work

[Mr Natural]

OK Found My dream guitar..... Your Punisher, I am a V man myself, Owned a 1970 Gibson V, kick myself everyday for selling it.

Just a note, your 1970 V was more likely a 1969 or possibly a 1967. Gibson didn't actually produce any Vs in 1970, they did however, ship some Vs that we're either produced in 69 or 67. If the neck was 3 piece with no volute or "made in USA" stamp on the headstock that is the definitive clue that it was made in 1969.

I am probably the lone sole here in saying that I actually liked the 1971/75 style with the raised fingerboard (no neck angle).

[Workingman]

I did this with a Yamaha Pacifica. The neck was nice and the frets were pretty good. I did polish them and clean up some rough ends. I replaced the tuners but not the bridge. I put good pups in with a push/pull coil cut pot on the HB, improved the shielding and I now have one of my favorite guitars to play.