Check out this bad boy [NGD]

[Sonic Mountain]

So my wife just acquired this in a facebook swapsies. Its a c1983 Hondo Deluxe Series 785 (BICH).

It features DiMarzio pickups (apparently) and is supposed to have grover tuners, but someone has swapped on some Gotohs. Apparently these were made in the Samick factory in Korea. It's styling is...erm.. unique, but I do like an oddball guitar....

I've literally just got it, so still working out what's what. It appears to have number of coil taps setup. Its got a set neck and quite a wide fretboard, which looks like rosewood and a Fender style bridge. May also be powered, it looks like there is a compartment for a 9v on the back.

Anyway, thought I'd share some initial pics, needs a good setup, new strings anda good look over, but it's a lot of fun already

[JohnH]

Ooooh, me likey - though I'm not totally sold on that particular headstock shape. Love the rest though

[corsair5517]

I have a feeling those Gotoh may be OEM on that Hondo... which, by the way, I heartily approve of! And it could very well have DiMarzio p'ups onboard - many Matumoku and Hoshino did in those early 80s...

I DO like that shape... herein mine, an APII U-60T Urchin...

[Sonic Mountain]

I have a feeling those Gotoh may be OEM on that Hondo... which, by the way, I heartily approve of! And it could very well have DiMarzio p'ups onboard - many Matumoku and Hoshino did in those early 80s...

I DO like that shape... herein mine, an APII U-60T Urchin...

Hah rad. Yeah they could be factory its hard to tell. I've just given it a really good clean, It has had a least a partial paint touch up as there is some orange peel in a few spots. But its a very good match to the paint in the cavities and the headstock, so I might give it a cut back at some point. There are a couple of little chips, but that doesn't bother me.

The neck is dead straight. Some of the frets were pretty worn, so I've given it a good dress and polish, oiled the fretboard, new strings. Its got 9's on it and the action is incredibly low (even by my standards) without a hint of fret buzz. So happy, the rusty strings that were on it were sitting miles off the board so I was prepared for the neck to be buggered.

There are no identifying marks on the pickups I can see, anyone else go any ideas on how to ID?





It has a pre-amp, which works great and splittable front and back coils. The 3 way switch stalk is broken so I will get a new one of those.





I also found the whammy bar from the old bridge in my washburn is a perfect fit.







Time to grab some beers and annoy the neighbours I think. I'll need some leopard print and hairspray as well.

[Dedman]

Gotta love the weird ones.

[Sonic Mountain]

Yeah I reckon, I've seen enough LP's and Strats to last me a lifetime.

I just spent all afternoon thrashing it. It sounds nice enough. Whatever pickups are in it do pale a bit compared to some of the other guitars, but wind it up through some effects and its great fun. I actually really like the way it plays and feels. It's light and pretty versatile.

It's not really a very pretty guitar, but it's a fun addition to the gang.

[Sonic Mountain]

It does occur to me that there is a possibility this came out of the same factory as my Washburn but around 10 years earlier.

[Grubsta]

Looks interesting there sonic any plans on this one or is it just going to get a little spruce up.

[corsair]

No, sorry - can't help with IDing the p'ups, though I know the DiMarzio equipped guitars I've owned have had identifiers on the baseplate, as do the Matsumoku cloned pickups.

Weird shaped guitars certainly turn heads onstage, eh; I love taking my more extreme instruments along to open mike nights and the like....

[Sonic Mountain]

Looks interesting there sonic any plans on this one or is it just going to get a little spruce up.

I'm probably just going leave it at the moment. It may get a refurb at some point in the future, but I like the history it has

No, sorry - can't help with IDing the p'ups, though I know the DiMarzio equipped guitars I've owned have had identifiers on the baseplate, as do the Matsumoku cloned pickups.

Weird shaped guitars certainly turn heads onstage, eh; I love taking my more extreme instruments along to open mike nights and the like....

Yeah I've been thinking about taking a few of my builds down to an open mic for people to have a play. I've lined up a guy I know is a bit of a guitar freak to check them out in a couple of weeks. I'm pretty interested to see what other players think.

Yeah I'm not sure about the pickups. They do have the allen key pole thingy on them, but I would have expected some kind of markings from a brand name set. They sound OK, but they aren't blowing my mind or anything.