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Picked this guy up yesterday in a gear/cash trade. The flash photographs are not very flattering, but I'll have to wait for a sunny day to get better ones. Only changed part I can see is the Bridge Pickup, other than that it looks straight (original) to me:


The front and back are not too bad, although it has dozens of dings around the edges that made me cringe when I first saw it. As rare as they are, you can't be very choosey. Tough for me to tell, but the body seems to be at least three pieces of Mahogany:


Here it is with the pickups and guard off, showing the routes and brass bridge block (or Ingot). No markings at all in the pickup cavities.


Backs of the pickups and rotary switch. I'm pretty sure the Neck Pickup is stock, the Bridge pickup is an unmarked piece of cr@p, squeals and sounds fairly pedestrian. I was hoping it would be a Gibson or something cool, but no such luck.


Cool bonus were the included Filter Follower and Phase Shifter MPC modules. I didn't take a picture of it, but the battery pull has 5:78 stamped on it. Does May 1978 sound about right? Looks like the output jack got rewired or something, I will have to see how the battery lasts to judge if it was wired correctly with the trs jack.


Has an unfortunate crack on the headstock at the low E tuner. I'm not loosing sleep over it, but it did make my heart sink. Brass nut, MPC Truss Rod Cover are correct... just for the record, I did not wind those strings!


Here is a picture showing the unusual wood laminations on the back of the headstock. The headstocks are this models Achilles heal, we've seen them snap between the nut and 2nd fret, separations down the line of tuner holes, just all kinds of problems, and most likely the reason why these are so rare. This ones in pretty reasonable shape, above crack being the exception. Correct tuners with the strange buttons, and no set screw, you can see that the A tuner has rotated slightly. You can also see the shadow of where the Serial Number / Model foil tag once was (shakes head in disappointment):


Natural light photo showing the Mother of Pearl inlay:


Original whimpy case, fairly clean though. The case is not wide enough for the neck angle and the guitar ends up resting on the headstock all the time. I picked this one up in person, and would encourage you to do the same. Do not have one shipped unless you are a gambling man. Man thats a lot of Mahogany!


One final parting shot. I love the way the pickguard and knobs line up on these, better looking than a Gibby if you ask me.


I haven't played it a whole bunch yet, but my early impressions are that it has nice sustain and is fairly well balanced despite the bulky unconventional shape. The MPC modules and wiring both work, although the pots could use some cleaning. I don't think the bridge pickup is wired correctly as I hear no difference between position 3 and 1 (position one should be louder and boomier in Series). Overall, I'm pretty happy with the trade. Will definitely bring it to EF2012 for all those who want to take a spin on it. Cheers, Mike.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

Very complete walk through, thanks. Cool axe.

Thanks for the tour. Congrats on the score and for finding a nice one. This one looks nice and looks just as I remember my friends looking. You are correct in the statement that it sustains and balances very well. I remember that from playing my friends way back in the day. If memory serves me correctly if setup correctly they make an awesome blues bending sound and are very nice if you like to play those long string stratching sustaining notes. Make certain you have a nice supportive stand as yu know that neck will snap if it ever gets a chance. Thankls for the pics.

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

Excellent! A real find! That filter follower and phaser will get you a pretty neat Leslie rotating speaker type sound.

Can you build up the neck rest in the case to get the headstock off the bottom of the case? That angle looks pretty severe and it's no wonder so many ended up broken.

NICE ! And well worth the swap. I'm glad you decided to go ahead with it.

Does that "crack" at the headstock actually go into the wood? I can't tell by the pics, but looks like a finish stress crack to me from the pic.

The guy said 9/10...well, he embelished a little bit. I think it would be worth it to have those chips around the edges repaired, but definately no complete refinish.

Every vintage Explorer and Destroyer I've ever owned had edge chips, some quite severe....I think that's why they were named that-a-way.

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JD's Electras

Great score Mike;

Mostly superficial blemishes for one of this rarity; I would take and be proud of it as is;

Please post a video if possible.

Congrats.

RCSBlues

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RCSBlues

Congrats and +1 on the video,gotta see it in action! I think you did well on the deal,a keeper that will only appreciate as you enjoy it
Joe

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"If it ain't been in the pawnshop,it can't play the blues" R.L.Burnside

I'm placing a thick towel in the case to support the neck for now, again the case is inherently inadequate. The little cutout that the neck fits into is only like a half inch deep, like the makers knew something was up.
I agree that most of it seems just to be the finish cracking, but underneath by the tuner it looks like the wood has been compromised. I'll try to take a macro photo and post it.

I'll put together a video, but I want to get the wiring and pickup straightened out first. I just ordered a pickup, 'Double Potted' Nickel covered humbucker by a well known American Guitar manufacturer, A thousand Internet points to whomever can guess the model!

Despite the larger than normal (for me...) neck profile, I'm putting some good playtime into this guy. It could be that it's just new and different, but I do like the way it feels. Can't wait to put a real pickup in the bridge position, probably a week away from that though. Mike.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

I'm gonna go with the Angus Young double potted.

Spot on Jead, that didn't take long. Gibson actually makes three pickups that have higher output than the Angus, but it is considerably hotter than the 57's and Burstbucker lines, and the fact it was waxed, twice, 'sealed' it for me.

I'm wondering if anybody thinks I'm committing blasphemy by putting a non-stock pickup in, but frankly anything is going to be better than the piece of poo that's in there currently.

The neck pickup doesn't do much for me either, kind of dull and inarticulate... it just doesn't speak to me. Because of the neck angle the neck pickup is really close to the strings, and even buried it's way louder than the bridge pickup. I thought buying a pair would be a little excessive, so I'm hoping a hotter Bridge PU will give it a better balance overall (not to mention some meaty mids). I mostly use the bridge pickup, even for rhythm, so it's important to me to have something that sounds decent there. I'm hopeful it's a good pickup, crossing my fingers here.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

No blasphemy in my book. I always get confused by magnaflux/super magnaflux. Are magnas MMK45's and Super MMK53?
Anyway a mayched set of the higher output covered MMK's would be ideal - I think most of them run about 11.5 ohms. I hardly ever get any squealing with the uncovered MMK's.

Very nice Mike!!

BTW, what's wrong with how the strings are wound? Mine alway end up looking like that...

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...throw me a frickin' bone here, people...

Awesome Mike!

I want to PLAY it....

great guitar man, you did good!

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SlmGuy

Wow. I gotta admit, I am slightly jealous, my friend.

But, then again, as long as its in your hands, the chances that it will at some point be in my hands, if only to play it for a bit, are rather high, so I guess I'm happy for us..errr - I mean... you.

That is a great score man, good on ya!

I'm in line to play it right after ultra sonic....

PS - If you don't like that filter follower, I'd be happy to take it off your hands...

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