The Electra Forums

Well today this old guitar just fell into my hands. Someone asked me to look at an old hard shell case to see if it was OK and this was inside. The case owner did not like nor want it. I have never heard of this brand but it looks alot like a Kramer or maybe early Japenese ESP. Single humbucker pickup and only 1 control knob(volume). Hardware is very nice(gotoh Floyd Rose Lic copy locking trem and Gotoh tuners also I believe.) Solid maple neck wide 1 piece like a kramer bolt on. Neckplate says Foxxe Barrington Guitar Works USA The finish now is white and looks horrendous. After opening up the back cavity I found it to be a fair overpait of the original and very nice looking Aqua Blue color. I would like to remove the white paint finish and go back to the original Aqua finish but I have never attempted to remove one finish over another. The white finish is a nice job originaly but has cracked over the years. Any help or ideas on how to remove the white paint and not damage the original finish underneath/ I have never seen on of these guitars before but it plays very well and also sounds nice. Plenty of power and volume from the single pup. No idea what make the pup is. It is a black covered humbucker with gold BB letters on top. with a three lines of small gold across the top with BB in the middle of the pup.The pickup is angled same as the older Kramer guitars and is just in front of the trem bridge assy. Fretboard is rosewood with a strange inlay(Almost like the markers on a X410 Jazz Strad. Will be posting pics also. Thanks Arthur

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

Arthur - Is there poly or some kind of clear coat over the paint? If there is, try lacquer thinner or acetone in a small spot and see if the finish softens. If it does, then you can use either of those products to get down to the white paint. If there's a clear coat but the lacquer thinner or acetone doesn't soften it up then I have to recommend a heat gun. If there is no clear coat, I would try some regular paint stripper but very carefully. If the aqua has a clear coat over it, you're probably good to go with the paint stripper - the best case scenario would be no clear coat over the white - paint strip to find a clear coat over the aqua. Worst case would be poly over the white and no clear coat over the aqua.

I never heard of that brand but it sounds like it's a pretty cool guitar. I look forward to your pictures.

It is white now but inside the trem and control cavity you can see the Aqua blue color. The white paint is thin but looks like it may be a very thin if any coating over the paint.I will post some pics in the AM and would greatly appreciate any input and help. From what I have found on the Kramer forums and the net these guitars assembled in Barrington Ind USA by the early partner of Kramer and were assembled from parts made by ESP and terrada in Japan. That makes sense as the parts neck and body are solid and nice. Has the early ESP and kramer style neck with wide neck. These were only made for 2 or so years in or around 89-91 and were made to compete with the Kramers. I will get some good pics up in AM. Thanks again.

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

Here are the photos of the Axe in question any help is appreciated as well as advice on paint removal.
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8394.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8395.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8396.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8397.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8398.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8399.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8400.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8404.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8405.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8406.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8407.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8408.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8409.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8410.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8411.JPG
http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrafor ... 0_8412.JPG
My goal is to get this one back to the original finish if I can. I think it may be a crackle finish underneath the white as the white finish shows the same line pattern on front and back which looks like a crackle type finish. Thanks Arthur

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

Simple and elegant... I also like the unusual triangle markers, cool. Some of those cracks look deeper than just the finish. Good luck getting that paint off, it looks like a lot of work. Maybe you can try some chemical tests in the tremolo route before you go for removal on the front.

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this was a x620 I did several years back...

http://www.indysworld.com/guitars/Projects/x620/

I lucked out with having the poly underneath, and it was not prepped (sanded) so the purple (painted with a chicken) paint rubbed right off with Acetone...

wear ventilation and good gloves....

even if the poly is prepped, you could still bring it back like I did on the creme tele....

if it does have the crackle finish though it probably doesn't have poly over top.... so you'd have to be more careful when removing the white...

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From the web: they were made in Barrington, Illinoise. The company founder was formerly a partner in Kramer. The Foxxe line was a less expensive one.

Thanks and that does make sense. It plays and sounds just like a Kramer beretta

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

2010 Vintage Guitar Price Guide:
1988-1991 Imports offered by Barrington Guitar Works of Barrington, Illinois. Models included solid-body guitars and basses, archtop electrics, and acoustic flat-tops. Barrington Music Products is still in the music biz, offering L.A. saxophones and other products.
Acoustic/Electric
1988-1991 Acoustic/electric, flat-top single-cut with typical round soundhole,opaque white.
1988-1991 $150 low $175 high
Solidbody
1988 ca-1991. Barrington's line of pointy headstock double-cut solidbodies, black.
1988- 1991 $125 low $150 high


Arthur - keep in mind that this is the same publication that puts a $300-$400 value on Flying Wedges and $450-$550 for an X420.

Thanks for the info. No matter what the price quote this one was a free gift so i will be out just for the time to restore it. It is a very nice built and quality parts guitar. it plays and sounds great. Just needs some TLC and cleanup as the original nice blue paint finish was painted over and the original wires are still there but held together with duck tape. Some time to clear off the paint and some re doldering of the wires and she should be good to go. Thanks again

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

The info I got said at least some of them were USA built.

Foxxe are part of:
Barington Guitars Werks, Barrington, Illinois imported guitars from 1988 to 1991.I guess you already know that. Check out Vintaxe
http://www.vintaxe.com/catalogs_japanese_barrington.htm

You can see the similarity.

Here is a fantastic resource for those you don't already have it:
http://www.jedistar.com/jedistar_vintag ... ting_a.htm
I've found almost every obscure brand here.
A guy named Paul in Australia (real nice guy) maintains this site. He is always looking for brands he hasn't catalogued yet and is grateful for input.

Thanks
Ben

I see this post is pretty old but I had to register today so I could share a lil info. Iv owned a Foxxe by Barrington Guitar Werks for 24 years now. I bought it used by a friend that only had it for a few months brand new. It's red and appears to be the exact model that was in half page ads in guitar mags when they were first released. I still have a few ads in a few old mags I kept from that era. It's a very solid guitar with exception of low budget electronics. In 1992 I upgraded bridge PU with a Seymour Duncan "full shred". Upgrade gave this axe torching tone!!!! I played it live(metal) in clubs as my main guitar and at home. A couple years later I was playing Ibanez, Wolfgang and Les Paul. But iv hung on to the Foxxe all these years and I'm gonna restore it. It's clean and no corrosion. The original trem block is cheap pot metal so itll get stainless steel upgrade there. The original paint is still like glass with a couple chips on edge spots. I drill four small holes on front at bridge when I installed an old but never used Washburn Wonderbar bridge. It was a terrible move. Tone dropped out and got thin. So I reinstalled the factory Strat bridge. Frets are super worn so it's getting new fret wire soon. It's a s-s-slant humbucker. "Full shred" Duncan will stay in it. I wish I had wiring diagram for this model cuz I took out the 3 separate toggle switches it came with for pu selecting and coil splitting. Body is heavy neck is exceptionally nice for its age. After researching Vintage Kramer forums and sites I connected the relation this axe has with Kramer and ESP, which gave me better insight on info and history of these. I enjoyed your pics and hope your restoration came out well. My neck plate has #103002 that still looks brand new. I'll post pics at some point soon.

How did the resto go on this one? Pretty sure you found this in the refered site, just wondering how the blue came out.

http://www.jedistar.com/pdf/barrington/ ... %20006.jpg

It looked loaded up for the suggested price.

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SlmGuy

Thanks for the information. I am still a work in progress on this one as it is a tough project. I have finally gotten all of the white finish off abd also had to remove the blue finish to the wood as it was in bad shape from being sanded so the white finish could go on. The bevels and cutout proved to be very difficult to get all the paint etc removed from. The electronics need t be cleaned and re wired as well. the neck had a small bow in it but the truss rod adjustment fixed that Ok. I had been ill for a few months and this one got put on hold but I am ready for spring and I want to get this one primed and out to paint so I can put it all back together. The construction, wood, hardware etc on this guitar is all very nice and reminds me of the ESP models. Has a very nice neck and solid body. Will be a nice guitar when I am done. thanks for the interest and the information. Arthur aka mortarman120gang11c

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!