1970s/2000s Epiphone 12-String LP Jr Electric Guitar

My friend Ed bought this recently on Reverb. I mean -- the idea is cool -- it's a '70s Japanese-made acoustic 12-string bolt-on neck that has been retrofitted to a newish (2000s? 2010s?) import Epiphone Les Paul Junior body. I mean -- the cheap, basswood variety. I still like it, mind you! The "cobbler" put on a trapeze tailpiece and archtop-style bridge. I like that setup for this -- it's very "springy" so to speak.

The problem was, however, that the execution was terrible. The tailpiece was misaligned (and misaligned a number of times, apparently, judging by the dozen or so screwholes down there), the neck was in there with bits of it split off into the (too big) neck pocket. See the photos at the end of the post for why it was like that! What else? The pickup was misaligned, there was no strap button at the tailpiece end, and no ground wire for the strings/tailpiece so the thing buzzed like crazy "at idle."

Everything got rectified -- I shimmed-up the joint and tidied its appearance until it fit nice and tight. I added a ground for the tailpiece. We covered the old bridge-post holes with countersunk old pennies (Canadian and US). I ground-in compensation for each string at the adjustable saddles. I fit the bridge so it'd sit flat on the top like it should and hard-mounted it to the top to keep it from moving around. We added strap locks since I had some hanging-around as freebies. The pickup's positioning got adjusted so it was in line with the strings. I mean -- it was a long list to get it going properly. Oh! And I scrounged an old truss cover from my bins, too. Yip!

I think the icing on the cake would be to swap-out the overly-hot-and-dark stock pickup with something like a single coil in bucker shape to bring on the Byrds-chime, but as it is it's very fun and strangely ballsy. It's like an angry swarm of hornets attacking your amp.

But it now plays like an absolute champ and it's making me lusty. Muuuust... resist....













Ready for hilarity?


This is what awaited inside the neck pocket...


Oh, and look! Isn't it cute that the cobbler didn't bother to predrill before sticking giant neck screws in? Always clever!

Needless to say I glued that back and then made the neck pocket nice and tight and relocated the screwholes a bit so it wouldn't happen again...

Comments

Rob Gardner said…
Boy this looks great. I saw it when Ed first got it and it was really a war-orphan. Plays great now too. You love a challenge.