• Grah1
  • Honoured Member
  • Offline
  • From: Cold and rainy Settle UK
  • Registered: 2011-05-12
  • Posts: 1,626

Topic: Charity shop guitar

Now  we  all  like  a  nice  guitar   but  some  times   you  just  need   an old thing  you  can leave  in the  car   and  it  doesn't  matter   if   it  gets   knocked  about .
A  few  weeks  ago   I  found  such  an item in a  local  charity shop  I  picked  it  up  played  it  and  it   sounded  ok  but  it  had  a  small  hole  in the  back  where  either  it  had  had   something attached  or  some  one  had  been playing  at  being  Pete  Townsend ,Price tag  £5   so  why  not   have  a project .I  bought   a pick  up  &  preamp kit  from ebay  £ 12 .and  a  set  of  Martin strings £6.50  .
I  had  to  cut   the side  and  base   of  the  guitar   to  accept  the    pre amp and  battery  box     and  cut  the  bridge   to  lower  the  action when the  pick  up  was  fitted  .I then turned  my  attention   to  the   hole  in the  back  which   I  filled  with  a  bit   of  the  wood I  had  removed  from the  base  , a  quick  clean and  polish ,put  the  new  strings  on and  its  was  time  to  try .
What  was  it  like ? Good  ,probably  about  as  good  as  a squire   SA105 costing  about  £125
So    I'm quite  pleased with my  total  investment of  £23.50.
I'll  try  and  do  a  short  vid  over  the  week end  if  I  have  time 

Grah1's Website

  • From: The Land Of Song
  • Registered: 2007-12-10
  • Posts: 5,702

Re: Charity shop guitar

I for one will be very interested, sounds like you had fun, congrats     

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

Phill Williams's Website

  • Registered: 2024-09-03
  • Posts: 1

Re: Charity shop guitar

Wow, that sounds like a fantastic find and a fun project! It’s incredible how creativity and effort can transform a charity shop guitar into something that sounds as good as a Squire SA105. You managed to do it all for just £23.50, which is even more impressive! I’d love to see that video when you can share it. Who knows, maybe your next project will be another hidden gem waiting to be revived.