After finishing the Harmony H27, I have some options for my next project...I'm spoiled for choice and can't decide. Once I do, I'll change the subject name for this thread and use it to post progress. Some of these need more than others. Some time, some money. Unless otherwise noted, I actually do have all the hardware that isn't shown for some of these. Ultimately, I want to leave more things better than I found them and continue to learn skills until I feel confident enough to try building something from scratch.
Guyatone LG80T:
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This is the "last in" of the bunch...scored from a yard sale. It was already missing some frets and the rotary selector pot is snapped clean off. It needs a new pickup selector switch, and a refret. Also a bridge, since I don't have the original. I have done refrets before, this would be my third. I have fretwire, but it's been a while since I've done one, and I'm not going to pretend my first attempts were professional level - I would be patient and try to do this one better justice. This might be the one I find personally the coolest and would probably want to keep for a while
St George / Tiesco
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I picked this up in a bundle with the Tiesco Tulip - I didn't know this until looking for info for this thread, but apparently this one's a little sought after and was used by Jon Spencer. I think it just needs a bridge pickup and maybe a setup. The switches may or may not work, but probably just need some deoxit...There's a reproduction gold foil pickup on eBay for $60 that should fit it just fine....as I'm typing this, this one might be the no-brainer. This one would probably be a flip - they go for a lot and I'm not that attached, also I need to sell some guitars.
Hagstrom I Bass
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So this was listed on marketplace for parts - I had JUST sold a mint Hagstrom I bass in red, not because I wanted to, but because I needed funds for a new deck and wasn't playing it much. So I was thrilled to get this one for about 5% of what I sold that one for...while the seller didn't have much hope for it to be used for anything other than parts, the neck is dead straight, it has all the hardware, tuners etc, and the body underneath the clear plastic top is in great shape. It looks like it caught fire at some point, the bridge pickup is a little melted but still works. I doubt I'll find another replacement top for this one, so I think my plans would be using some kind of glue and clear epoxy to get the top back in one piece, then just string it up and play. I would probably need to drill some of the ends of the cracks so they don't spread....all in all, unconventional repairs for an unconventionally constructed instrument, but definitely new territory for me
Partscaster Strat
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Why do I do this to myself - should I even finish this one? I bought the neck (Casio MG 510) a while ago, then last year found the strat body for $1 at a yard sale. It was a complete guitar, but the headstock was busted - I figured why not use the better neck I already had, order some Lace Sensor red/silver/blues and........wait, am I really going to use this puke greenburst body from a $60 Amazon guitar that's probably made of balsa wood for this? One that I've already had to dowel and re-drill neck screw holes for since they were crooked from the factory....am I going to even want to play this once it's done, let alone own it? I don't know.....What does it need? Probably for me to buy better parts to build it with. The worst part is, I had a vision in mind when I bought the pickups, but now I'm not even sure I like the aged look at all, at least with this color combo. This one might turn out to be the most expensive if I finish it. I'd probably try to find a used MJT body and make something I'd actually like, or imagine a better strat body will fall into my lap one of these days if I wait long enough.
Tiesco Tulip
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I really don't learn my lesson with these...the last one I had, I broke the truss rod on. The action on this one was not too bad, but as it turned out the cheap pot-metal truss rod was already maxed out and just a 1/4 turn was enough to snap it. I already purchased a new truss rod but separating and regluing the fretboard feels daunting. I suppose I can't really make it worse, since it's a wall hanger right now. That said, it would be really cool to actually try to set one of these up to actually play well. I don't think these are worth anything really, and I'm not really attached to it, I would really just be fixing it to right my wrong, and learn a new skill
Synsonics Terminator
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My plans for this originally involved using the cool rails from the prison stang and getting the built in amp to work again - The neck is fine, and 24". I got annoyed fussing with the original circuitboard....I had it working for a second, then shelved it and forgot about it for half a year. Honestly not sure I care about this one in its current form....what should I do, try my hand at cutting a new body? Make a new amp circuit from a kit and hand wire it into the current body? This one has potential to be interesting, I'm just frustrated with it in its current form.
Fix and flip the St George, sell the Lace Sensors and get out of the rubbish Strat, part out the Tulip (keeping the neck for practice fretting prior to the Guyatone). As for the Hagstrom, maybe talk to a local plastics place who might advise if you can wick a solvent into those cracks and bond them up. Otherwise good old cyanoacrylate (superglue / krazy glue) would wick in if you bought the water-thin variety. You could then wetsand it flat and polish, should be good for quite some time!
Just my cranky opinions, based on my desire to fix and flip a bunch of my projects too.
I’d finish the ones you’re less likely to keep and then move on to the Guyatone and Hagstrom. Couldn’t you just replace the acrylic top on the Hagstrom?
Take my vote with a pinch of sat though, I’m terrible at finishing projects!
Wow, a Terminator! That was my first "real" guitar, but I think mine might have been an even shorter scale. Since you're not all that interested in working on it, if you want to sell it, let me know (although the cost of shipping might be as much as it's worth )
Anyway, I'm gonna vote St George / Tiesco first, since it doesn't need much and you stand to make a profit. Guyatone after that just for the fretwork experience. Take the neck back off the partscaster and sell the body...pickguard / pickups too, unless you paid full price for them and might put them in something else. I will say though, I actually like the green (reminds me of a Burns or Carvin DC), and I think with a black pickguard and decent bridge, it'd turn out nice and you could likely make money selling it if you don't play it much. Maybe even go for black hardware to match the black headstock. Strat parts are so cheap.
Dillon wrote: Sun Oct 19, 2025 9:56 pm
Wow, a Terminator! That was my first "real" guitar, but I think mine might have been an even shorter scale. Since you're not all that interested in working on it, if you want to sell it, let me know (although the cost of shipping might be as much as it's worth )
Oh wow, yeah - you'd probably give this thing a better home and I'd be happy to get it off my bench. From what I found online 24" seems to be the common scale, but it definitely feels smaller, due to the tiny body.
I only have like $40 into it, I'd sell it to you for what I paid plus shipping (not including the cool rails)...let me try to get everything back together as much as possible soon and see if I can find a box to ship neck off.
I love the Japanese bunch. Any of them would be nice to see restored to their former glory.
By the way, guitarists are the worst. I still remember the days you could get a Teisco from $50 to $300 all day long because every guitarist on the internet could swear they were "hot garbage". Fast forward 15 years and they are all of a sudden super valuable vintage instruments.
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