1970s Conqueror Hollowbody Rubber-Bridge 330/335-Style Electric Guitar

Tone: Tone on this guy is bright and snappy for the humbucker-sized pickups but with a good midsy bite. It's ideal, with the rubber bridge, for that damped/banjo-ish "background surf strum" sound when hit with a bunch of reverb. It's also perfect for pulling the marimba-like tone out of the rubber bridge setup when fingerpicking.

Feel: The neck is pretty dang fast and it plays more like a modern guitar than an oldie. It has excellent fret access.

Interesting features: While this fella has a Conqueror brand, it's a Japanese-made guitar model sold under many other brands, too, including Aria and Univox. Word on the street is that they're either Matsumoku or Fujigen-made and it's definitely a model made in the late '60s. It apes the dimensions and vague look of a Gibson ES-335 but the body is hollow with a center soundpost and the neck is bolt-on.

Repairs included: It's had a reinforcement dowel installed (this makes it as stable as a solidbody and I've used this at gigs a few times now with no need to retune), a fret level/dress, bridge modification to a rubber bridge setup, minor wiring repairs, seam repairs, cleaning, newer sealed tuners, replacement retro-style knobs, and setup.

• Maker: unsure (Japan)
• Model: unsure
• Body style: hollowbody 330/335-lookalike
• Weight: 6 lbs 0 oz
• Scale length: 24 3/4"
• Nut width: 1 5/8"
• Neck shape: slim-med C
• Board radius: 14"
• Body width: 15 3/4"
• Body depth: 1 1/2" + arching
• Body wood: ply maple
• Bridge: archtop-style w/rubber saddle mod
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Pickups: 2x original
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 46w-10
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium-wider

Condition notes: The bridge is unoriginal and it's missing its whammy's arm and spring (I've removed them for steadier mounting) but otherwise it's original throughout save the rubber bridge, knobs, and tuners. The whammy on these is a terrible design, anyhow, so it's better in this capacity as a "normal" tailpiece. The neck pocket has been shimmed to get better back-angle. There are a few repaired side/back seams and not all of them line up exactly-perfectly but they don't look bad, either. There's, of course, general usewear/small scratches/etc throughout the finish.

It comes with: Sorry, no case.