[rcboals]

Anybody besides me tried to make somehting it isn't and never will be? You know, trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear? What's you experience? Go ahead confess and share your stupid mistake or your great success story. No one will think any less of you than they already do.
Here is just one of mine. I bought a Fender 75 Rivera designed one of the last point to point amps built by Fender for only $250.00. I had a tech give it tune up he just kind of let me know in a kind way this was really a pig of an amplier poorly designed etc. and I was wasting my money. I did not listen I wanted to make this amp a real prize. It was such a "bargain" for a point to point amp. I then proceeded to have a Blonde head cabinet made for it and a matching 212 cabinet plus speakers and head mounting hardware and tilt back legs. Now I'm into this thing for around $750.00. It was really neat looking. Problem was it sounded like poop and I truly did try to polish a turd. Sold the entire crap load for $350.00 only lost $400.00 on that one. For the $750.00 at the time I could of bought a nice silverface deluxe. I am getting better at not trying to make something it isn't and wasting my time and money.

[Jukebox]

Please don't buy for me!

[Geezer]

Nevermind, didn't pertain to subject

[rcboals]

Originally Posted by Jukebox

Please don't buy for me!

I think Sarah got that job now.
I should be so lucky

[getbent]

oh man! we can make that amp sound great..
first, lets just pull the chassis... it was kind of a bad design... we'll keep the parts for something else later... okay, then we'll order the dumble chassis kit from ceriatone...

then, we'll pull the speaker out.... that stock speaker kinda didn't quite get us there... we'll order either a righteous eminence or a weber silver bell...

hmmm.. that grill cloth is pretty nasty looking... hmm the outside covering.. is that tolex or grey carpet? shheeesh.. outta here with that... okay, we'll call mojo and get a righteous purple levant tolex cab with salt and pepper grill cloth...

ooohhh sweet.. okay, install the groovin speaker, the chassis, hook it up.... plug in your gretsch geetar! and holy shcnikes...

your fender 75 sounds awesome...

see that wasn't hard and, for a hillbilly like me, the best part, I have parts left over!

[rcboals]

Originally Posted by Geezer

Nevermind, didn't pertain to subject

Why would that stop you from posting? This thread is no different than the others.

[rcboals]

Originally Posted by getbent

oh man! we can make that amp sound great..
first, lets just pull the chassis... it was kind of a bad design... we'll keep the parts for something else later... okay, then we'll order the dumble chassis kit from ceriatone...

then, we'll pull the speaker out.... that stock speaker kinda didn't quite get us there... we'll order either a righteous eminence or a weber silver bell...

hmmm.. that grill cloth is pretty nasty looking... hmm the outside covering.. is that tolex or grey carpet? shheeesh.. outta here with that... okay, we'll call mojo and get a righteous purple levant tolex cab with salt and pepper grill cloth...

ooohhh sweet.. okay, install the groovin speaker, the chassis, hook it up.... plug in your gretsch geetar! and holy shcnikes...

your fender 75 sounds awesome...

see that wasn't hard and, for a hillbilly like me, the best part, I have parts left over!

So, I take you admit to nothing?

[Synchro]

I guess my experiences are somewhat different. I've had some high-end gear that was disappointing, a Gibson Johnny Smith model and an ES-340. Most of my bargain basement stuff has been a pleasant surprise. I put some Am vintage pickups into a MIM Tele and ended up with a great guitar. My Tex Mex Strat was wonderful too, $340 and it played and sounded great right outta the box. My Blues Jr is probably my favorite amp although I have to admit that it's seen some mods along the way.

[getbent]

Originally Posted by rcboals

So, I take you admit to nothing?

thats the plan.

[Sarah93003]

Originally Posted by rcboals

Anybody besides me tried to make somehting it isn't and never will be? You know, trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear? What's you experience? Go ahead confess and share your stupid mistake or your great success story. No one will think any less of you than they already do.
Here is just one of mine. I bought a Fender 75 Rivera designed one of the last point to point amps built by Fender for only $250.00. I had a tech give it tune up he just kind of let me know in a kind way this was really a pig of an amplier poorly designed etc. and I was wasting my money. I did not listen I wanted to make this amp a real prize. It was such a "bargain" for a point to point amp. I then proceeded to have a Blonde head cabinet made for it and a matching 212 cabinet plus speakers and head mounting hardware and tilt back legs. Now I'm into this thing for around $750.00. It was really neat looking. Problem was it sounded like poop and I truly did try to polish a turd. Sold the entire crap load for $350.00 only lost $400.00 on that one. For the $750.00 at the time I could of bought a nice silverface deluxe. I am getting better at not trying to make something it isn't and wasting my time and money.

Try rubbing some of this on there. It's supposed to be good stuff!

[tartanphantom]

I've seen many folks do this to a 5120.

Don't get me wrong, a 5120 is definitely NOT a Sow's Ear, but I have seen instances where people spend so much money modding them that they might as well have bought a new G6118 Anniversary Model.

Whatever makes you happy. Personally, I get alot of satisfaction out of tinkering and turd-polishing, if the end result is usable.

[workknot]

Sure wish I would have had a can of that turd polish a while back when attempting to make a silk purse.

Pop's

[Jhundt]

I had a '63 Chevy II station wagon with a stright 6 194cid when I was 18. It was metallic blue, with matching blue vinyl bench seats and door panels. The dash and other interior metal was sprayed the same as the exterior of the car.

I wanted a 30's Bentley - you know the kind with the big old supercharger...

I spent hours trying to cover the metal pieces with wood-grain Contac paper, and painting the vinyl with black "vinyl paint".

It didn't work. My car did not become a Bentley. From the outside it was unchanged - full of dents, a chrome roof rack, etc.

From the inside it was a Chevy II with some really crappy Contac paper and spray paint... it still had that 8-track hanging under the dash (with Mott the Hoople and Alice Cooper tapes) and surface-mount speakers screwed to the doors.

[Hot Rod Michelle]

Originally Posted by Sarah93003

Try rubbing some of this on there. It's supposed to be good stuff!

Oh, you think that's good stuff, then you should see the pig lipstick product.

[eddiewagner]

i did it quite sucessfully to a squier telecaster. after all i could have bought a really nice us-tele for all he money that the guitar costed me. and i had a fender "30" amp that was just like the "75"......

[JohnS]

In my experience, you can make something good better, but you cannot make something bad, good.

[Synchro]

But it's very easy to make something good, bad.

[VictoriaDD59]

Yes, I've done this MANY, MANY times in my life... Generally with Les Paul "style" guitars.

Epiphone LP Standard- dropped in Duncan 59's, also tried Pearly Gates to try to "sound like Billy Gibbons"

Bently LP - this guitar would never even intonate it was so cheap, it was also a boat anchor, but I threw a set of EMG 81's in it to sound like Metallica, (this was in the late 90's when I was in High School and still couldn't play guitar)

1961 Fender Bassman - my "dream amp"... I'd always wanted one, and always drooled over them. Then one day I got the crazy notion to trade in my Badcat Cub on an old 6G6 blonde Bassman ($2000). So I traded the amp plus $500 to buy this 61 Bassman, even though the Bassman sounded TERRIBLE!!! I found out in the cabinet, one of the speakers was blown, and the other had a voice coil rub, so I took them out and replaced with Vintage 30's (for a Setzer tone)... Then I thought, huh, maybe the head needs work, sure enough it did, caps were blown, etc. So $300 later, I had the head back, it STILL sounded TERRIBLE!!! I then decided to have another tech verify the circuit, he said it was perfect too. So I took it home and decided, gee whiz, it MUST BE THE SPEAKERS!!! So I bought a pair of Weber 12A125-O's (another $200), to try to make it more period correct, and try to tame some of the ICEPICK Treble that that amp had. Finally after playing it this way for a while, I realized that this amp just wasn't for me. I sold it, head and cab for $1200. I lost a STAGGERING, $1300+ on this amp. That day I swore off vintage amps forever.

[Otterbean]

Sure- Jukebox sent me a cracked Telelaster year or the year before. The body was split during shipping. It was split through the neck pocket in two places. The stress factures extended alomst 6 inches down the back of the guitar on either side of the neck pocket. The pickups had taken a hit too. The neck pickup only worked if you held your face just right and prayed really hard. - A little elbow grease, and a home made clamping jig, and a nice Allparts viontage style neck turned it into a super guitar. Everyone that has played it so far has given it a thumbs up.

I've also found that trying to turn a cheapo guitar into a nice guitar often involves either a lot of sweat, or a lot of money. Most of the time you don't get anything remotely resembling the real deal. Sometimes, you get lucky.

[rcboals]

I meant to post the link to this thread somewhere else oops.