LegacyCore Posted November 27, 2018 Report Share Posted November 27, 2018 Hey everybody, thanks for stopping by to check out my project guitar! Not sure what you all consider projects, be it DIY kits you build from the ground up, or just modifying already built name brand guitars... I guess mine falls under the rebuild a pre-made guitar and modify it while I'm at it. About two months ago I was looking around on my local Facebook market at music equipment, when I came across this set net guitar with a Fender logo on the head. But it had no hardware what so ever, no tuners, no pup's, and no pot. It did still have the nut and the hard-tail bridge on it though. Guy had it listed as a fake Telecaster, which it does have a tele body. The overall guitar looked to be in good shape, and being a set neck, single pot, single HB body intrigued me. So I contacted the seller, asked his bottom dollar price, and met up with him with a fresh $50 bill in hand. At first I could not find ANY info on this guitar, back of head says Made in Korea and it had a serial number I wasn't having any luck finding online. I then ran across one that was sold on Reverb a few years back, and learned that it was a 2003 Fender Esquire Scorpion. Sweet, I got a name and some info now. I then found out they were only made in 2003 and are a pretty rare guitar that I think was made for the Japanese market? Not sure on that one... So it's a mahogany body and neck with rosewood fret board and graphite nut. I've had a few projects in the past and a box full of parts, so I started digging through all my stuff and to my surprise I had everything I needed to make this a working guitar. Parts list: DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion F Spaced Humbucker Hipshot 21:1 ratio staggered locking tuners (direct fit 2 post!!) PRS 500k push pull pot wired up to volume and coil splitting. Black chrome roller trees. All Parts black chrome roller string saddles. Black Dunlop Straplok Buttons So yeah... So far so good, got it all setup, plugged it into my Peavey Triple XXX amp with Marshall AVT 4x12 cab and this thing is pure METAL. Running a JOYO Vintage Overdrive, gain at 1, tone at half way mark, matching volume level with the crunch channel with the gain at about the 8 o'clock spot on the amp. Got some real punch to it, and chugs very well for a simple metal guitar I'm stoked! I don't remember what I have cost wise in all the parts, but half the stuff has been sitting in a box in my closet for years. I couldn't be happier with this guitar and all for $50!!! I'd say if I would estimate cost of all the parts I have in it... Maybe $140 in parts, so all of this epicness for under $200!!!! Now... I've found a few of these guitars in their original form sell between $450-$500. I VERY much doubt mine is worth anywhere near that since I have all aftermarket parts in it now. And not that I'm looking to sell ever, but I wonder what the value of this guitar would be to somebody? My guess around $300 range if I found somebody that just had to have it... Which leads me to my next step. I don't collect guitars, I play them, I use them, they are a tool to me. So I personally don't have any reservations to heavily changing a guitar. (Unless it's a rare multi-thousand dollar guitar, which then I wouldn't own at all because I can't afford them!) While I guess these Scorpions are rare, they are not particularly worth much so I think I'm going to do something that I very much doubt most of you if any of you would approve of. Sitting in a box in my closet is an original authentic 1980's German made Floyd Rose, and a new Gotoh R2 locking nut. I got a good friend of mine who builds and customizes guitars for a local shop for a living. He kinda owes me, and informed me if I wanted to install my Floyd on this Scorpion, he has the router and template to route the body out and install the tremolo system. How freaking metal would that be??? So... As soon as some time free's up for him, probably after the holiday season. I'm going to have him install the FR on it, which will absolutely destroy any value it has or could obtain from here on out. I've had the FR sitting around for a project for a while now, and I have less than $100 in it as it sits. And with the installation costing me nothing, I don't think I can pass this opportunity up for a seriously one of a kind metal machine for around $290. Thoughts? Anywho, here are some pics of how it currently sits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegacyCore Posted November 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beltjones Posted November 28, 2018 Report Share Posted November 28, 2018 Oh man. Great find! I've seen those on craigslist once or twice, and I love how they look. I personally wouldn't put the FR on it because I can't stand them, but it's your guitar. If anything I would put a tone knob on it and rewire it to 50's style wiring. You can get an astonishing number of tones out of a one pickup guitar with that wiring scheme. Enjoy, and great find! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegacyCore Posted November 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2018 1 minute ago, beltjones said: Oh man. Great find! I've seen those on craigslist once or twice, and I love how they look. I personally wouldn't put the FR on it because I can't stand them, but it's your guitar. If anything I would put a tone knob on it and rewire it to 50's style wiring. You can get an astonishing number of tones out of a one pickup guitar with that wiring scheme. Enjoy, and great find! Thanks for the compliments!! If anything I at least felt like I saved this guitar and gave it new life. Who knows what would of happened to it if I didn't buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted November 28, 2018 Report Share Posted November 28, 2018 cool guitar. reminds me of the pro tone series. mik is good stuff... as I understand most of it was made in the cort/mighty-mite factory. really underrated stuff imo. personally, if I loved a guitar neck, but wanted a floyd - I'd do it... but practically it doesn't add value... so it'd have to be something I knew I'd be happy with. I love a floyd, but I also love a stop tailpiece... just depends if I'm doing dive bombs or double stops that day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted November 28, 2018 Report Share Posted November 28, 2018 On 11/27/2018 at 4:10 PM, LegacyCore said: Thoughts? Installing a Floyd is a big task, but if your cohort is equipped and willing that's entirely your decision. Things to consider: Double-check before you commit router to wood that you have sufficient clearance underneath the bridge pickup for the spring cavity and sufficient thickness in the body overall to accept the sustain block. The body of that guitar looks to be carved, falling away towards the edges. This will make securing the Floyd router template tricky as there isn't much in the way of flat surfaces on the body to attach the template to. Double-check that the neck can accept the nut you have. The installation of the R2 nut requires that a shelf be cut into the top of the neck where the existing nut is currently fitted, a fiddly job unless you have some jigs and clamps available to you to position and secure the neck while making the cut. Also consider that you have the truss rod access immediately underneath the nut (will installing the nut inhibit access to the truss rod for future adjustment?), the width of the neck at the nut and the string spacing (is the nut the right dimensions for your neck?). The neck looks to be set in, so you'll be doing the whole operation with the guitar fully-assembled. Also makes the risk of a screw-up more fatal, as you'll have no hope of replacing the neck with an aftermarket one if the nut installation goes badly. The removal of wood from the neck and body will leave the existing finish pretty scarred, so if looks matter you'll also be dealing with a refinish job at the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted November 29, 2018 Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 Ref your opening comments @LegacyCore , any modification is, by my definition, a project. And converting a non FR to a FR is a PROJECT! The tele you've got looks a nice donor but, as @curtisa says, it's not one of the easiest mods and, for many donors, isn't always possible. Take careful note of his wise words above and 'holler before you cut' if there's anything you're not sure about - one of us here is bound to have learnt by bitter experience what NOT to do and can guide you accordingly I look forward to seeing how this goes. Keep us all posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted November 29, 2018 Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 I'm going to have to admit that if it were mine, and considering the reasonable condition & relative rarity, I'd be going for a sympathetic tidy up. However, it would look wicked with a FR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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