Ancient Mariner Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 [quote name='fumps' timestamp='1357827803' post='1929086'] knowing my luck this one will be the Friday guitar built by the incompetent who forgot to put his nappy pants on & was in a rush to leave for the day. [/quote] That was their standard build quality. If the pickups have hex screws for pole pieces they're almost certainly Dimarzios, but as has been said, if they have a chrome cover then they're dustbin (well, ebay) fodder. There were a lot of guitars like this around when I was a teen: Kay, Satellite, Shaftesbury etc plywood bodies, bad hardware and all nasty. I had a columbus Les Paul, which was made with solid woods and a set neck, but still had an unbucker (the previous owner replaced the bridge unbucker with a super distortion) that wasn't exactly wonderful either. No reason you shouldn't mod and fettle, but turd-polishing and all that - it could just become a money-hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 There was one sold on US Ebay a while ago for $51. At the current exchange rate that means that a new set of strings is %-wise a major investment in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 If anyone can do something with it, it's: http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/mdphillips1956?_trksid=p2047675.l2559 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 I had one of these as my first ever guitar (over 20 years ago now, eek!), black LP custom style, really heavy - it played horribly, pretty sure there was something wrong with the neck, it also had the chrome-covered pickups which sounded tinny and weak (having read this thread I now understand why, lol!) That said, it got me truly bitten by the bug - after a long period of saving and blagging some cash from my parents I replaced it with a 70s USA Fender strat (which were fairly cheap back then) - the day I got that strat and upgraded from the Hondo was and still is one of the best days I've ever had in my entire life! (I still have the strat, I, um, don't still have the Hondo ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 [quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1357827205' post='1929065'] I have owned 4 like this... I killed the first 2 gigging with them back when i was a teenager, loved the sound of those pickups. The other 2 have been bought on whims due to missing my original one so much. Both have had problems with the necks, and been sold on for parts, minus the pickups, which I have in an old Ibanez roadstar, and an Epi SG. Hondo and Hondo 2 instruments vary wildly from one to the other, as BRX as said. Need to see yours to know, if the pups look like Gibson PAFs they are probably unbuckers. (Single coils hidden in HB covers, lauded by mark d philips as wonderful things, actually a bit sh*t). If they are black or white, and have made by Di Marzio stamped on the bottom, then yay! [/quote] I keep seeing these on Gumtree etc and getting so tempted, I love that colour scheme on an LP and the little voice on my shoulder keeps telling me I could turn it into a lovely guitar with minimal effort. The voice on ny other shoulder tells me it'll go on the project pile with the Epi Les Paul Special II I've been planning to convert to a Junior for years and the Sunn Mustang I still need to find a bridge for! Messing with cheapo guitars can become a dangerous addiction! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJA Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 my older brother's first electric was a yellow Hondo Les paul. he sold it and got a strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 [quote name='mike257' timestamp='1361536400' post='1987093'] The voice on ny other shoulder tells me it'll go on the project pile with the Epi Les Paul Special II I've been planning to convert to a Junior for years and the Sunn Mustang I still need to find a bridge for! [/quote] First dibs on the mustang when you decide you need space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 [quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1361556901' post='1987586'] First dibs on the mustang when you decide you need space. [/quote] Haha, I'll keep it in mind, but I don't think its going anywhere! As soon as we get over house-move chaos and I'm settled in to my new music room in the loft the Mustang is the first one getting finished, I've got nothing with single coils for gigging at the mo so looking forward to getting it done. So did that model in your pic always come with the DiMarzios as standard Dave? I've seen a few and I'm very tempted. It's a Deluxe 740 isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 [quote name='mike257' timestamp='1361578903' post='1988019'] Haha, I'll keep it in mind, but I don't think its going anywhere! As soon as we get over house-move chaos and I'm settled in to my new music room in the loft the Mustang is the first one getting finished, I've got nothing with single coils for gigging at the mo so looking forward to getting it done. So did that model in your pic always come with the DiMarzios as standard Dave? I've seen a few and I'm very tempted. It's a Deluxe 740 isn't it? [/quote] I don't know the model name sadly, but they did all come with the Dimarzios as standard. Every Hondo 2 i have found with black humbuckers (and a couple of cream ones) did. I just hope I'm not shooting myself in the foot letting people know, cos they might go up in price if everyone finds out. Never seen a cherry red and black one without them. I did once see one with a set neck as well, but I was skint and missed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 [quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1361637279' post='1988648'] I don't know the model name sadly, but they did all come with the Dimarzios as standard. Every Hondo 2 i have found with black humbuckers (and a couple of cream ones) did. I just hope I'm not shooting myself in the foot letting people know, cos they might go up in price if everyone finds out. Never seen a cherry red and black one without them. I did once see one with a set neck as well, but I was skint and missed out. [/quote] I think you'll be ok, there's very little in the way of definitive information online. I've even seen a few 'experts' insist that any Hondos with DiMarzio pups must have been aftermarket as they're such awful guitars they couldn't possibly come with decent ones in! There's a lovely Yam SG style Hondo II on eBay at the mo, if that takes your fancy. I think I'll hold out for one of those wine red beauties in your pic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 there's absolutely no doubt some Hondos had DiMarzios in. I have a Sounds book of the Electric Guitar which has a picture and review of a white one, detachable neck. With DMarzios as standard. I even vaguely remember little "powered by DiMarzio" stickers on them in the shops. I've a friend with one and the top it slightly hollow - even Gibson are chambering their Les Pauls these days, maybe they got their idea from Hondo.... It plays just fine as I recall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 I'm pretty sure a number of Hondo II LPs didn't have dimarzios, and they were reserved for the better spec ones. AFAI recall anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 The model number of the picture I'm looking at is HD740WH, a [b]WH[/b]ite [b]H[/b]ondo with [b]D[/b]i Marzios. They also did an HD740WI ([b]WI[/b]ne red finish) and HD740RS ([b]R[/b]ed [b]S[/b]unburst). As Mr Mariner asserts, these may have been Hondo 11s flagship model, the humbuckers are all uncovered. The ones with covers are probably from the (even) cheaper models. The book was published in 1980 and most of the reviews in it were from 1979, if that helps in dating it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1361654887' post='1988996'] there's absolutely no doubt some Hondos had DiMarzios in. I have a Sounds book of the Electric Guitar which has a picture and review of a white one, detachable neck. With DMarzios as standard. I even vaguely remember little "powered by DiMarzio" stickers on them in the shops. I've a friend with one and the top it slightly hollow - even Gibson are chambering their Les Pauls these days, maybe they got their idea from Hondo.... It plays just fine as I recall [/quote] I liked the hollow tops, it gave good feedback. My first one had a replacement neck made by a luthier friend of mine and was utterly lovely. Until I drowned the pickups in sweat at too many gigs and the neck one died, then that lovely neck snapped for no good reason, and I never found another one that played the same. So I now nick the pickups and put them in epiphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Oh I just did a quick search for Hondos on ebay, and nearly all the ones I found have been butchered by Basschat's favourite self-styled guitar improver. w***er..... he's been replacing the dimarzios with cheap sh*t single coils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 [quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1361722457' post='1989823'] Oh I just did a quick search for Hondos on ebay, and nearly all the ones I found have been butchered by Basschat's favourite self-styled guitar improver. w***er..... he's been replacing the dimarzios with cheap sh*t single coils. [/quote] I know, spotted a few of them, what a waste! There's a few nice examples of their ES-335 copy on there that look to still have the original pups though. Mmmmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlethoughts Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 I never seem to spot anything useful in skips. I did once see a complete back catalogue of guitar techniques that I was tempted by, but the rain got to them first... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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