So recently i came across this gem of a guitar on eBay. It had quite a considerable amount of wear and tear to it, hence why the price was considerably low, but i knew this baby had potential!
I have dealt with Dave at Smart Guitars before so i dropped him an email to get his opinion of the guitar and whether it would be worth investing in it and if he would be able to fix her up. He was pretty positive he would be able to bring her back into shape, so my mind was made up, i was going in for the kill.
I played the waiting game for a few days, no one had bidded on her and the seller eventually dropped the price by another £100 a day before the auction ended. Needless to say this was fate, i banged in my highest bid in the final few seconds and won the baby for a mere £545 including shipping, and i was the only bidder!
Once i received her i was in love, she had been battered a bit but what would you expect, she was made in 1994! The neck had a few dings and the lacquer was glossy and felt very different to the Excalibur Original i currently own so i was going to change that aswell. The body had a fair few knocks but it added character in my opinion and my only concern was the playability of the neck.
Next step was to send the neck off to Dave for a refinish,respray,refret with stainless steel frets, an upto date Vigier nut,new zero fret and to install in some Klusson locking tuners.
Meanwhile i replaced the old worn out saddles on the bridge while i waited for the neck to be complete and began searching for what pickups i was going to put inside her. As this was a new beast i was going to have down in D standard, i wanted to get some really powerful pickups. I have used Seymour Duncans for a few years on numerous guitars and i once had some Dimarzios for an old 7 string. This time round though i was gonna try out some Bare Knuckles
I was settled on the Jugganaut in the bridge but was not sure what neck pickup to go for. Now i only really had 3 pickups to choose from as i am fussy and wanted to make this guitar as gareish as can be, so the only pickups i could have in PURPLE, was the Aftermath, Warpig or Jugganaut. I was told that the Aftermath in the neck would be sound pretty dark and the Warpig did not have enough high end for me. So after some research and an in depth discussion with Ben at Bare Knuckle, i decided on going for a set of Juggernaut Bridge and Neck pickups and a Trilogy Suite in the middle
Then the day came i had waited for, a big long parcel was waiting for me after i got home. Ripped it open and there she was. * she was sexier than before! Cannot thank Dave enough for his work in restoring her!
So here is a few photos from what she was like before and after Dave worked his magic. Neck is silky smooth and the frets are a dream to play on.
Would like to thank anyone who manages to read this far as i can ramble on, but this guitar is just amazing and had to share my story with you.
I still have yet to finish the electronic side of the project once my pickups and other parts arrive but i will keep you all updated.
