The Electra Forums

Several decades ago a friend handed me a box of guitar parts (this was pre-internet, so no "Google" possible!). I made a maple body for the various parts - what might resemble the spawn of an SG and Strat - put it all together, and called it good. Anyhow, on the headstock of the neck it said "Electra". Now that I've found this site I see that it was probably like the model 2259 SG look-alike from the early to mid '70s (before it lost its body and ended up in a box!). The pick guard and pickups look the same as the one in the photograph on this site as well. Oddly, and with no planning on my part, the knobs, PUP switch, and output jack are in the same place on the body I made. In the box of parts was a bigsby-style trem just like in the picture (though there was also a plain tune-o-matic bridge which I chose to mount rather than the trem)

So, now to the questions. Anybody out there know what the neck is made of? It is the burgundy color finish, just like the one in the picture, with a chip out of the finish which shows a very light colored wood - maple perhaps? The frets are flat on top, but it is a very nice neck to play.

And about the PUPs... any info on those (assuming they are from the original Electra, and they do look just like the ones in the picture). They have no information printed on them. just chrome covers, with no screws on the back for dis-assembly. I don't recall if they said "made in Japan" or not (though I do have the backing plate for the bolt on neck that does say that). As far as the Kohm reading they come in at about 7.61 - 7.77, if that helps. Any info on materials used for these PUPs or who made them would be appreciated.

The PUPs mount directly to the pick guard, so I hollowed out the space under it (not sure how the original was, but glad to hear about it if anyone knows). The neck "rings" nicely when knocked on with my knuckles, as does the body (but that's not original, so doesn't count!). Speaking of which, what was the original body made of?

Bottom line: Any info on this probable Electra mutant would be appreciated. (I think it's mostly Electra original parts except the body... oh, and the "Super 70" PUP I put on, too... but that's probably off an Ibanez of the same era, and that's another story!)

Hey welcome to the site. Not sure but some one here may have one or the info you need.

_________________
SlmGuy

Here is an informative post I put together awhile back about the 2259:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5093

And here is a video of my very rare stop tail 2259:


What the article stresses is that in the early days of SLM (and all Japanese production) is that many different manufacturers were used to fill orders, so there are lots of construction and material differences between examples of these models. What I've been able to piece together is that the early examples had the full pick guard, later versions would have the smaller pick guard with pickup mounting rings, and the last versions (which would be much more consistent build-wise) would have the wave headstock and 'peace sign' logo.

I don't own my wave headstock version any longer, but if memory serves it had a five piece maple neck. The example in the video above has a three piece Mahogany neck. The body is all mahogany, although it is a 'butcher block' of strips laminated together, with two nice Mahogany veneers on the top and back showing a nice wood grain.

The pickups in my '74 stoptail are Maxon (Japanese) pickups which have around 13k ohm resistance. Later examples could have had different pickups in them. Hopefully this helps.

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

Thanks Proendorser. I've watched your video before and that's part of what got me more interested in finding out the history of my parts. I also saw a Maxon pickup that looks exactly like mine from all angles on ebay (claimed from 1972 or 1973 as I recall). At this point I'm thinking of trying to shape the body I have into the SG shape. It is predominantly that shape already, and the adges I've trimmed off probably wouldn't interfere with shaping further, though I have no idea how to make the edges like that (I don't have a shaper or even any idea how that would work, and am unsure of doing it by hand).

Your PuPs read hotter than mine, but not having henries readings on any of them, who knows. My multimeter might be off, too. And my neck wood is way to light colored (and even grained) to be mahogany, so if that and maple were the only woods they ever used on necks I'm sure mine is the latter.

Sure, it will never be an Electra in the truest sense, but it sounds good, plays well, and that's all I ask of any guitar! The detective work has proven just to be fun.

I should also mention that all my pots are 500k, and the caps .04 (which is too "dark" for my liking, but I never use them anyway, so no big deal). Are these "stock" readings for the model 2259?