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wankdeplank

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Been perusing CL a little more actively than usual recently, mostly looking for an acoustic with onboard electronics (neither of mine are plug-in). But I've also had an eye open for a project guitar to maybe throw some pickups I have laying around into. Ran across an ad for a Vinci Superstrat style guitar that hit me as rather attractive with the sunburst wood finish, and solid as I could make out three distinct pieces of wood front and back and apparently cherry for a thirty year old piece. And the price was right at a mere $50 so I checked it out and was not disappointed. The string spacing was perfect (not at all cramped), the frets were perfect (zero wear, zero buzz and never a case of fret sprout), the guitar was very resonant unplugged and the neck was very comfortable (ample profile with a great satin finish). Just needs a small neck shim to get the action down a hair near the body and will definitely benefit from some alnico pickups. I plan to put a JB in the bridge and some GFS 60's repros in the other two slots - if only I can figure out how to thread them into a Super Strat syle body (no pickguard).

 

Here's some generic stock photos (on my way out the door to play some tennis on my days off):

(Basically identical to mine (same condition) with the whammy bar)

 

 

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Thx DE. Yeah there's definitely a lot of sleepers out there if you know what you're looking for. You actually wouldn't believe how much fun this old girl is to play. And she actually sounds pretty bitchen as well as is. Love the treble response, hoping some new pickups will make the bass strings a little punchier.

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Thanks Billy. It's actually more the threading the wires through to the control cavity that concerns me. You know, no pickguard or anything just wood, cavities and tunnels. Shouldn't really be an issue if I take the originals out with dental floss tied around the wire ends, then thread it back through with the replacement pickups. Not really sure how the singles are secured however as it doesn't seem to be a traditional spring loaded adjustment system - just hate to break off a bracket or something.

 

Actually I was playing it tonight and thinking do I really want to screw with this tone. It has a cool vocal quality that I think has something to do with the tonewood itself. I really like the sound of the neck pickup and all notch positions but sometimes the middle sounds just a bit harsh which makes me think ceramic and the humbucker in the bridge is definitely not the best so it's still all systems go I think.

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Thanks Gardo. Probably not a market score in the sense that I could turn around and sell it for more than I paid, but that's not how I operate anyway. I'm about as tickled with it as a pig in clover cause a) it's a good player that will only get better with a good set-up and b) it's actually a different and unique voice in my collection. Course now I gotta revise my thinking about Chinese Junk (LOL).

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So I got the neck shimmed last night and it only took me four trys to get it right.:0 For some reason I always seem to assume it needs something bigger than what it actually needs. But not one to cut corners when it has some bearing on tone, I whittled down a section of popsicle stick until, after progressive sanding it finally did the trick. Had to put a little relief into the neck (truss rod) and 'voila' total shredder action. So now playing it all the way up the neck and I really can't even believe how good this thing sounds (and plays). Probably the best fifty bucks I've ever thrown at a guitar related item. Only problem is, the stocker single coils just sound too dang good - think I'll have to abandon my project for the most part. But I'm not that impressed with the bucker in the bridge so at least I'll still throw a JB in there.

 

PS You might want to put the Vinci Signature Sunburst on your sleeper list, at least if you find one on the cheap like I did.

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