New 'OLD' guitar with a bit of a story.

[Mr Clean]

Short Version - I got an old guitar I once owned back!

Long Version - When I was 7 yrs old, back in 1985, my Mum bought me a guitar from a friend of mine who got it from his Uncle. My friend couldn't play it and sold it to me. I couldn't play, had no idea how to play, it had 4 strings and I knew exactly ZERO about guitars at that age but I wanted one, it was cheap and I was lucky to have it bought for me. It got played with for about a week before taking up residence in the corner of the room for a few years.

When I was 11, I reluctantly sold the guitar to another friend who was a bit older and was starting a band. I wanted the money for records (Who'd of guessed!) and off the guitar went. I regretted it almost immediately. Even though I couldn't play it, it was a bit battered and it had no strings at this point.

Fast forward to January 2024 and my local Guitar Shop posted a video on Facebox of one their members of staff playing a guitar that was the same model. I went down to see them to have a look at the guitar and it was my old guitar! A lot more beat up than I remember it but 100% without doubt the same guitar. I was so excited to see it and was ready to just pay the money and run when the shop owned told me it had been reserved. Gutted! Another member of staff had fell in love with the guitar and reserved it. He wanted it because the name of the guitar is a Star Wars character, FFS! I told them about the guitar being my old guitar and that I really wanted it back and to ask Mark, the person who wanted it, if he changed his mind or wanted to sell it on, let me know first.

F>>Fast forward to today. I went to the shop for some strings and picks and just a nosey around like you do. Jason the manager said to me, that guitar is still here. Apparently Mark had changed his mind and they pretty much forgot about it down in the cellar storage room. I just said 'get it, I'll take it now'.

So here it is, nearly 40 years after I first owned it and couldn't play a thing, other than Status Quo's Pictures Of Matchstick Men lick that my Dad showed me. (That was all he could play) I own it again, it's beat to shit, exactly as I remember it and it plays like butter and it sounds great!

I know it was my old guitar because of some very distinct damage that was caused by me. The missing binding was from when I dropped it in the garden after it slipped off the strap and the small mark above the bridge pick up is a pellet wound from my Dad's old Air Rifle.

Late 70s/Early 80s HONDO II Les Paul

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[CrowsofFritz]

Super cool man! I’m really glad you got that guitar back. I don’t regret selling my guitars, but I’d like them back

[Lt. Bob]

that is way cool!

[rayc]

EXCELLENT. I had often hoped that my 1st bass would reappear on ebay or similar. It was removed from the garage we rehearsed in by one of the band members who had moved out of home with his girlfriend & was setting up anew. I suppose it'd have scored $30 back then for it. In the end, after looking for 30 years, I opted to buy the same model & make, same vintage, very 2nd hand in and in need of restoration - different colour though. Eventually I get around to putting it together. In the meantime GREAT SCORE for nostalgia if no other reason...oh and Hondos weren't too bad.

[Mr Clean]

Super cool man! I’m really glad you got that guitar back. I don’t regret selling my guitars, but I’d like them back

I've sold a few over the years since I've been able to play, some slight regrets and some with no regrets but this one kind of haunted me. When I first started to actually play, I just wished I still had. I tried to get it back about 10 years after I'd sold it but the person I sold it to had long sold it and it had gone. Never thought I'd see it again.

that is way cool!

Ain't it just!

EXCELLENT. I had often hoped that my 1st bass would reappear on ebay or similar. It was removed from the garage we rehearsed in by one of the band members who had moved out of home with his girlfriend & was setting up anew. I suppose it'd have scored $30 back then for it. In the end, after looking for 30 years, I opted to buy the same model & make, same vintage, very 2nd hand in and in need of restoration - different colour though. Eventually I get around to putting it together. In the meantime GREAT SCORE for nostalgia if no other reason...oh and Hondos weren't too bad.

That's rubbish Ray! At least I knew I was losing mine, having it stolen would have been much worse.

I have actually looked in the last few years of buying another Hondo like this but never seen one that I liked. This has changed a bit since I had it. The machine heads are no longer original but I think I might have source an original 70s set from a similar guitar. The pick guard has also changed as it was white when I had it. I've no idea of the electrics but they look old and sound great so I'm happy to leave them. Had a couple of noisy pots but I sorted them with a little spray.

There's a photo, somewhere at my Dads house, of me with this guitar when I was around 8/9 yrs old. I'll have a look for it next time I'm up there.

[Armistice]

Your father shot you for playing guitar????


How much did it cost you to get it back?

[JD01]

Nice one.
The guitar looks quite cool too.

[Mr Clean]

Your father shot you for playing guitar????


How much did it cost you to get it back?

I'm sure he was tempted, more than once.

I paid £100 for it. I sold it for £25 back in 89/90 so with inflation, that's about right.

Nice one.
The guitar looks quite cool too.

[vomitHatSteve]

Nice!

How were you able to verify that it was the same guitar?

[Mr Clean]

Nice!

How were you able to verify that it was the same guitar?

As soon as I saw it I knew it was the same guitar from two very distinct things. The binding damaged which I did myself when I dropped it and the pellet mark left over from when I shot it with an air rifle.

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[Mr Clean]

It must be one of those 'meant to be' situations with this guitar. I managed to source a set of six original machine heads from a same model late 70s Hondo and the seller just happened to have an original pick guard with the striped binding as well. He did me a nice deal on both. So in a day or two, it will look completely original.

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Bit of a set up and a new set of strings later, this is how she's sounds so far......I'm no electric guitar wizard though!

[Tadpui]

Nice score

The pawn shops in my home town used to have a bunch of Hondo guitars back in the late 80s and early 90s. Most of them were misfit toys that had been abused and weren't worth the wood they were made of. That's so awesome that you were reunited with your old axe, and it sounds great to my ears. Cheers, enjoy!

[Greg_L]

That's really cool. Great story.

I had some gear stolen in 94. One of them was a late 60s Epi Rivoli bass that I had modified to be able to play punk rock.....basically some bridge alterations so it could be played hard with a pick and not fall apart. Anyway it was stolen and lost forever. About 20 years later I saw it hanging in a Guitar Center. Definitely my old bass. I didn't buy it back I wish I did. Who knows where it is now.

[Mr Clean]

Nice score

The pawn shops in my home town used to have a bunch of Hondo guitars back in the late 80s and early 90s. Most of them were misfit toys that had been abused and weren't worth the wood they were made of. That's so awesome that you were reunited with your old axe, and it sounds great to my ears. Cheers, enjoy!

Yeah, Hondo's aren't the greatest guitars by a long way. I don't think a lot of them made their way over here to the UK. Rarely see them for sale anywhere, other than Ebay. I think some were better made than others. For a bolt on neck, this one isn't bad and the neck is straight after all these years. I'll pull the neck off it soon and see if it is dated.

That's really cool. Great story.

I had some gear stolen in 94. One of them was a late 60s Epi Rivoli bass that I had modified to be able to play punk rock.....basically some bridge alterations so it could be played hard with a pick and not fall apart. Anyway it was stolen and lost forever. About 20 years later I saw it hanging in a Guitar Center. Definitely my old bass. I didn't buy it back I wish I did. Who knows where it is now.

That's a shame, you should have definitely bought it back. I don't think I could have walked away from something like that.

[Greg_L]

That's a shame, you should have definitely bought it back. I don't think I could have walked away from something like that.

Yeah should have. At the time I was like....wow yeah that's it. That's my fucking bass I can't believe I'm seeing it again. But honestly it doesn't have any real sentimental value to me. I acquired it through trades and I played it a lot but it was never like a "dream bass" or anything. It was just a tool for the time period. I hope it's in a happy home somewhere and actually gets played because I wouldn't play it now.

[Mr Clean]

Just put the newly acquired original period machine heads on it and they're much better than the crap someone had put in their place. They really didn't hold any kind of tune.

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Not put the scratch plate on yet. I'm tempted to get some new plastics for it in cream, as all the white has aged to a creamy yellow colour, I think it would suit it better. Hmmm. Foor for thought.

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[rayc]

You could go the cream route but why? It's your old guitar with replaced tuners sorted so it's tunable. After the cream swap it'll be your old guitar modded. If you're, naturally, a modder then go for it but if you're not why change what works? Devil's advocate of course.

[Mr Clean]

You could go the cream route but why? It's your old guitar with replaced tuners sorted so it's tunable. After the cream swap it'll be your old guitar modded. If you're, naturally, a modder then go for it but if you're not why change what works? Devil's advocate of course.

Very true. I'm not generally a modder, I just think it looks a bit old and tired. A freshen up would make it look nicer but it has a history as is and I think I'll leave it that way. It has very quickly become my favourite guitar to play.

[Armistice]

I'm with @rayc on this. I wouldn't mod it, personally. Fix it, yes, but make aesthetic changes with different coloured knobs etc, probably not.

If you can, I'd fix the binding. You've already got a "new" scratch plate for it and it's now got working machine heads. I'd tend to leave it at that.

But then, I'm never one for fucking around with guitars, generally...

[Mr Clean]

I'm with @rayc on this. I wouldn't mod it, personally. Fix it, yes, but make aesthetic changes with different coloured knobs etc, probably not.

If you can, I'd fix the binding. You've already got a "new" scratch plate for it and it's now got working machine heads. I'd tend to leave it at that.

But then, I'm never one for fucking around with guitars, generally...

Yeah, I'm seeing now that it wasn't really a good idea. Just looking around for parts showed me other black LPs with cream bits and I thought they looked nice but I'm going to leave this as it.

Fixing the binding would never look right. All the original binding has yellowed with age and has a lot of patina, cracks. A new piece in there would look so off. It's also 5Ply B/W binding! I have secure the loose bits on it already.

It looks, sounds and plays great so it will be left as is.