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5 Ιουν 2013

Epiphone 1987 guitar restoration!

 Here's a nice 80's style Epiphone project I found used. It's a Korean made Epiphone S-series electric guitar. According to the company, it was made during 1986-1987 at the Samick Korean factory. This one is believed to have been made in 1987. It's got the "2nd Generation S series" Jackson style pointy headstock and the "Epiphone By Gibson" logo (1986-1987).
 The body was made out of laminated Alder and it's got a maple neck with rosewood fretboard, H-S-S ceramic pickups and a vibrola bender style tremolo.
First impression:
 When I bought the guitar, it was a real mess... The worst part is that the tremolo block was broken in half! There was dust, dirt and rust all over the guitar but I managed to clean it up pretty well.
 To my surprise, the frets were okay! So, it seems the guitar was left on a stand for a decade or two with a set of 0,009" strings on it...
No sound?
  The electronics had a few issues too. At first, I got no sound out of the guitar. I opened up the electronics cavity and found there were a few broken solder joints and loads of dust and rust on the contacts. It removed everything and cleaned every pot and wire. Then, I rewired the original pickups, pots, selector and jack. They work great! Even the original pots work and there's no scratchy sounds whatsoever. As I said, the guitar was barely used all these years and the only major problem was the broken tremolo...
 The hard(to-find)ware:
 I couldn't spot the right metal block for the Epi "bender" 2-point tremolo and there were quite a few of its parts missing. Therefore, I decided to replace the old 2-point unit with one of these modern Floyd licenced trems I had.
 The floyd fell right in place and even the intonation came out pretty good when everything was put together.
 One gotoh style tuner key was also broken when I got the guitar, so I replaced it with a chrome key that looked like the old ones. I also painted the new key black to match the others. The result looks and works just fine!
Verdict:
The guitar was finally set up with a coated set of 0,009" strings and it sounds amazing. The original pickups and electronics sound far better than the stock ones on my new Epi LP standard. The neck is a bit chunky but it's quite comfortable and there are no dead spots or buzzing notes despite the low action setting.
  I admit I could use a fresh set of tuners, pots and a fancy black 2-point tremolo to fix the guitar but I wanted to keep as much of the original parts as I could. I had a few floyd tremolos lying around so I tried to keep the budget as tight as it gets to make the guitar play again. The result came out pretty good so I wouldn't want to change anything just yet.

Here are a few pictures of the guitar taken before, during and after its restoration:














9 σχόλια:

  1. Hello I just got a guitar at a auction that looks just like yours but on mine it only has 2 tone knobs and not 3? or any serial numbers to tell me what it is but my main ? is what all did you have to do to yours for your floyd rose to fit? any answers will be greatly appreciated thank you.

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    1. Hello!
      It seems you've got the s-800 or s-900 model. Here is some info on the Epiphone S-series guitars:
      http://epiphonewiki.com/index.php/S-Series

      In my case, the tremolo was busted so I had to replace it. There were two tremolo studs bolted on the body and once I measured their distance, I realized that a simple floyd rose licensed unit would fit in. You may have to use a neck shim though: http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/19686-guitar-shop-101-how-to-shim-a-bolt-on-neck?page=1

      There were various s-models, some with kahler-copy trems. Check yours and measure the trem pocket. Then, you can compare these numbers to the specs of a new floyd unit.

      Cheers,
      Thanos

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  2. Thank you so much. But I hear is some more wired things I looked at the wiki page witch was really helpful but those s models the 800 and 900 have 3 toggle tone switches and mine only has one lol and it has the Jackson head stock but when I look at yours and the tone knobs the spacing on the first 2 are pretty much correct but it's like someone took the last one ( the last tone knob at the end by the strap lock and the tremolo) out but I don't see any trace of a hole or a knob ever being their but thank u again for the links definitely going to have to check the floyd rose and making sure it will fit/ work

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  3. Hi, I have purchased a fixer of this model. It is missing the tremolo arm. Do you know the size diameter? By any chance of the original Bender that Epiphone used?

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    1. Hello, unfortunately I never found the original trem arm of this guitar. The one pictured in these photos is a newer arm bought via eBay some time ago. I had a few of these laying around so I test fitted them. I am not sure which diameter and threaded-part length does the job best but I certainly found one that worked. However, the entire trem assembly was then replaced as the trem block was broken...

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  4. Hi Thanos S. nice finishing on your guitar. I was trying to find some info on the guitar I got and came across yours, this is exactly the same guitar, and had the same problem were the block had broke away from the tremelo top, and is unfix able, so i,m looking into getting a floyd rose tremelo, do you know what the original hardware is, as in color , my tremelo and locking nut that was on it when I bought it are chrome but the string and wire guards on the back of the guitar are black, the vol and tone nobs are chrome but the 5 way switch toggle is black, do you know what was the orig, or was there a chrome set up and a black set up, or does it matter?

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    1. Hello! The original trem system was painted black. All hardware came in black. However, I couldn't find a black tremolo system that would fit this guitar at the time. So, I ve installed a chrome floyd rose speedloader system (no need to cut the ball ends of the strings).
      I hope you complete your project with excellent results!

      Cheers,
      Thanos

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  5. Hi! I read your post about Epiphone S-600 restoration(https://guitar-dreamer.blogspot.ru/2013/06/epiphone-1987-guitar-restoration.html). I also have S-600 guitar for restoration and I have some tuning screw missed on the tremolo. You wrote about tremolo replacement. Did you keep old stock tremolo? If yes, is it possible to buy tuning screw?

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    1. Hello and thank you for your question!
      No, unfortunately, I do not have the old tremolo any more. It was in a really bad shape. The best thing to do would be to get one screw and head to a big hardware store. You will have to find a screw with the same thread pattern to use. Also be reminded that you have to check the block of the stock tremolo for cracks. Mine had quite a few severe cracks and splits so it was no longer salvageable.
      Cheers, Thanos

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