Overwater Guitars

[waldflote8]

Ok. so they are pretty well known for making basses - any fans of their guitars out there ?

There was a guy in a local band had one of the early Chris n Andy's Workshop explorers (the same axe may actually be shown in their fb gallery),.. got me interested.

Have seen a few come up for auction over the years, but no idea how many they made (some 'standard' models in the 80s and the odd custom model I guess in more recent times.)

[BigRedX]

I've twice been tempted by an Overwater Guitar in the Original shape. The first time I was put off by a pushy know-nothing sales person and the second time it was simply more money than I was prepared to pay at the time. I'll probably consider one again if I nice example came up at a sensible price.

[waldflote8]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DsGDFMEnSI[/media]

by original shape - you mean like the one in the link above ? (not me)

I have one like that but with Kent Armstrong pickups and active,.. sounded pretty weedy so it is currently waiting a transplant. Undecided whether to put in Bill Lawrences like the one in the vid. Or some more modern actives (EMG/Irongear)

[BigRedX]

That's the one.

At the time I was originally looking I was in the process of moving from being the bass player to the guitarist in my band, and as I had previously been using an Overwater Original bass, I though it might be a fun idea to have exactly the same design guitar. Unfortunately the sales person in the shop that had it for sale was such an idiot, I left without purchasing and eventually ordered a custom made Fretking Esprit V instead.

Regarding modifying yours, these guitars are pretty rare now and I personally wouldn't do any mods to it that weren't completely reversible. If everything else about the guitar is exactly as you want it other than the pickups, I would consider getting the latest generation of Armstrongs to wind you some new pickups to your specifications that externally look identical to the existing ones.

Edited June 14, 2013 by BigRedX

[waldflote8]

They appear to have offered a couple of 'standard' models in the 80s; one like the vid, similar to the bass shape and a double cutaway (called the OC32 I think) - Guessing a bit from what I've seen rather than any available info. but the early 80s guitars seem to have Lawrence blade pups and KAs appeared later on. That vid is the first time I've seen one of that shape with Lawrences (prob L500s)

apologies I made a mistake in my last post, mine originally had Seymour Duncans, not Kent Armstrongs, KAs seem to be common on slightly later (mid 80s guitars on) though.

The original setup was a bit disappointing as the Lawrence double cutaway guitars are absolute screamers. There are a lot of holes already in the body so plenty of options for doing things without having to reach for a saw or drill

The sensible pup mod would be to bung a pair of L500s in and I am happy enough with that, guitar has a battery compartment already routed though (was originally active) so actives would also be an easy option, also have a Fernandes sustainer kit which is looking for a home.

It is of course a good point about being careful when changing things, I agree that the guitars must be pretty rare - one of my reasons for starting the thread,... would love to know how many there are out there ? (I haven't had much luck with Overwater and no serial numbers etc.)

A mate, who also is a fan of overwater guitars got a 'hotter' KA pup made for one of his double cutaways and I fitted it for him - made no difference at all He'd convert it to Lawrences in a flash, but the cavities for the KAs are bigger so not so easy to convert.