Garage Sale TREASURE! Fixing up a $20 Guitar FIND

[@moushunter]

The head stock routs are to allow installing 6 more tuners to make it a 12 string. That is how Rickenbacker does it.

[@DeadKoby]

Correct.... but only if RIC is making a 12 do the routes happen.

[@kennethobrien6537]

I was just going to say bc my mother had a twelve model like this from fuji but in black as well as a 4003 bass in lime green to golden honey burst. The bass was better than the original it was copying.

[@spokes28]

Great buy! You could wax pot the pickups that might help and while doing so fix the buzz at the eighteenth fret.

[@moroboshidan7960]

For 20, it would be a great deal even for a wall ornament. They guitar is beautiful.

[@firecrackerheart]

boy howdy, that is a rad+beautiful (((and eccentric))) find-& for $20! fantastic.

[@AndrewAHayes]

When levelling the frets I was taught to take full sweeps of the fretboard with a levelling beam so that they are all filed equally

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

I use a fret rocker after I level to ensure all frets are level. I have a leveling beam also, but I don't find I use it very much

[@ParaBellum2024]

As long as you end up with every fret level and true, it doesn't matter how you achieve this. It's best to start by making sure every fret is well seated. Press them back in, with a bit of glue if necessary. Then I always tape off and mark with a sharpie, but I would rarely attack the frets with a file, as I only want to remove the bare minimum material. My latest success has been to cut a 1" wide strip of 1000-grit wet & dry paper, then wrap one end around a 9" aluminium spirit level, pull the other end tight and tape that. No need for double-sided tape, so the paper comes off easily afterwards.

[@TuneIn1]

Great work! I love seeing these old guitars being given some life again, keep it up!

[@burnseboy]

Wiring Suggestion - The green capacitor is supposed to have 2 ends, one end broke off. It looks like you soldered the lead to the same end and eliminated the capacitor from the circuit. Please get a replacement capacitor and solder it like: End#1 --|(-- End#2. That may improve the sound of the circuit and will at least implement the circuit s intended

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

I did realize that and threw in another cap! Thanks!

[@RuthlessMojo]

An absolute steal. Rickenbacker 12 string 330 is my dream guitar. With some love and some new hardware this would rock.

[@skullheadwater9839]

Reminds me of about 5 years ago I found a 11964 Harmony Bobkat with some really sweet D'earmond gold foils for $20. The next was warped but I steamed off the fretboard and reglued it while clamped to a flat table. The frets and nut could be replaced but it is quite playable and sounds great so I left it alone.

[@senemorcaykalyoncu6369]

ONE OF THE BEST GARAGE FINDS EVER...CONGRATS MAN....BOUGHT FOR JUST 20 BUCKS, NOW GOES FOR 2,000....

[@mattrogers1946]

2000 bucks? Wanna share WHT you're smoking 🚬

[@senemorcaykalyoncu6369]

AHHHH...SORRY...I MEANT 2 WRITE 3,000...@@mattrogers1946

[@dallastornadostudios7715]

Metal filing from the frets to the pickup a no no. Tape off the pickup.

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

Forgot that step this time! Fortunately no issues. Thanks for the reminder

[@jameslanclos568]

I bought a red Harmony Rocket, single cut away, hollow body guitar from an antique store in New Jersey and it too had micro-phonic pickups. But I loved it. I'd get this awesome feedback, similar to one of the White Stripes first albums. It felt like the top of the guitar body was hovering up and down. I loved it. I only paid $60-$75, can't remember exactly the price. I like the black and white checker style binding on the Pyramid guitar. Great find. I'd put a Rickenbacker truss rod cover on it just for fun! Not to try to sell it as a Rickenbacker.

[@AJNpa80]

Cool. That bridge, it's like a stationary jazzmaster style like a mustang on Tom style thumbwheel on single studs. I was actually cooking something up just like that for my Rick tribute. To learn or hone my guitar work skills I got 2 Rick style unbranded bodies, both fireglo with checkered binding, a 381 12 shape and 325 with f hole shape. And I'm completely gutting and reworking the bodies all the way to the wood and joints in some cases. Complete electronics and hardware. Re radius and regret, all to learn. But I'll get something like a dream Rickenbacker style guitar out of it in options they don't sell. They will be more solid like the 6 series but look like they are semi. Mixing elements from various models. One with janglebox onboard compression. They will be clearly labeled as tribute fakes, reworked Chinese guitars. Big red CH over the R and a little red Re- in front of Made in the USA, various Chicken stickers. Though the options etc. will be obvious. Anyone buying a real one knows exactly the features available, years of change etc. as many remain untouched in dentists man caves. They're the brand few alter it seems on the forums. Sacrilege, lol. But to add an Accent Vibrato, I am drilling holes in a Rick bridge plate to accept 2 studs like a TOM base, but aligned with the holes in a Guyker brass roller bridge for Jazzmaster. Doing the math to get the saddles to sit a 10" radius, which I'm changing the board to. I bought that bridge for my VI project but it interferes with my mute for now. I could go back and forth. I thought about adding foam and a bit of neck angle until it's where it need to be. The base needs to raise so the switch works which raises the action, then the foam needs to reach (on the vi, to have that bridge and the mute, it's saddles are taller than usual JM type bridges.) Id already made a custom VI bridge with a casterbridge and a raw base. I am just practicing setting up different bridges and kludging them together. Sanding new radius to bowties, real Rick, fake Rick, aftermarket, fender, Tom, just for practice. And to swap them back. Some day I'll film a bit or write up some of my experiments for the Facebook when I'm closer to done. When it seems I am closer and not just hot rodding Chinese copies. Rick and the aftermarket companies each got double what I paid for the bodies from a domestic seller. So the copier didn't benefit. I'll be able to answer how real Rick toaster differ from the Chinese clones, both the eBay with single coils and the common humbucking ones from the factories. I'm almost done cleaning up the single coil clones. They are loosely goosey cheap single coils in the same case, no deburring on the inner plates, just phenolic paper coil stock and the smaller alnico rod magnets commonly available for pickups. The Rick magnets are fatter, more solid construction. Was going to pot, deburr and do some tightening with a bit of glue as they just look microphonic. Sometimes this winter I'll do some tests. Sorry I wrote a book here. Toilet time.

[@GordiansKnotHere]

That's actually a really pretty guitar. I like it!

[@johncitizen3361]

That was a steal for twenty bucks, nice find and repair. I would maybe try and wax pot those pickups, even if you can’t disassemble them it will still probably make its way in and might get rid of the problem.

[@kootenaystringworks1765]

The way that you have rewired that capacitor bypasses it so it is no longer being used. Caps have two legs on them, one in and one out, the one that broke off of that skinny bare wire should've been reconnected. Instead though you connected the wire to the cap leg whereas you should've connected the cap leg back to the cap. Have a look at it again and you'll see a little stump on the corner of the cap that is pokey wire. That is where you should reconnect that skinny wire. Sorry, tough one to explain.

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

Done and done! Thanks

[@michaelmillican5592]

I saw that too. Nice spot!

[@BrianLTanner]

Worth 20$ for sure. Gonna have to get some pickups for that thing.

[@pavil58yt]

I wonder if the pickups could be disassembled and potted in paraffin wax? I sounded like something was physically loose inside the one you were flipping aroound.

[@MrSparks54]

My guess is the routs in the headstock are reminiscent of the Rickenbacker 12 string guitars which are routed all the way through to accommodate the extra six tuners.

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

I think you're right!

[@insufferablethrashelitist9305]

That's really cool. Id be tempted to change the pickups too.

[@Kenny-g4r]

I own 2 very similar instruments, 6 string like this in Fireglow (mine's a little more red), and a project Sunburst 12 string that needs a bridge and tailpiece but is quite clean. My luthier said the tops are Spruce. Bolt on, bound necks but block inlay instead of shark fin. Super tiny frets. Guitars from Aria/Ideal/Encore (my 2) and possibly this "Pyramid" axe...were likely ALL produced by Fujijen at one time or another, as the factory stamped "Japan" or "Made in Japan" on the neckplate of these 3 brands pretty consistently. Mine also reads "Steel Reinforced Neck". Go figure... In my estimation, since the Ric 360 did not come out until 1965, the closest I can date these guitars according to pretty reliable guitar-knowledge people (who were not just alive then but playing) is roughly 1965-1975. In the 70s it seems like Japanese guitar manufacturers really focused on clones of Fender & Gibson models and by this time most of the 60s super-groups associated with Ric guitars had broken up and/or moved on to other gear (Beatles, Who, Birds, Buffalo Springfield etc.) so the allure of these instruments was diminished as I'm sure also were the sales of them, being that they were never inexpensive to begin with. These guitars also all used similar tuners, vol/tone pots and p'ups (yes, they're terrible & microphonic), but mine are like Hofner "Staple Head" type; weak humbuckers that read about 4.7-4.8 resistance. I can OD 'em, but straight up distortion...not so much. I dumped that crappy Bigsby and (plastic saddles!) bridge and put in a Winfield trapeze and a T.o.M. type bridge on the wood base. Improved sound 1000%, but the Gibson spaced bridge puts the strings a little close to the edge of the fretboard so at some point I'll re-do the bridge saddles & new nut to better specs. It's playable, but still a project. These guitars get LOTS of attention when you pull them out at the music store or the gig. The vibe they exude is undeniable, but Ric guitars (not basses), get ignored by most players unless they're REALLY into them, or the artists that use them.

[@tobiasz6613]

I like it. My electric is very similar to this (set neck and no trem). Ive not seen very many like it on social media and none in the wild. Thats a really cool find.

[@74dartman13]

What a great find. It would cost more than $20 for a piece of rosewood, just to make the fretboard. I'm sure it's worth quite a bit more now. Nice work!👍😎🎸🎶

[@robbysguitars8223]

That's a cool guitar, my friend. I have a quick story for your edification. There was once an Epiphone les paul that needed some fret leveling. The tech neglected to tape over the pickups before leveling. Naturally, all those nickel/steel particles migrated to the pickups and made them unusable. Had the tech been able to remove the neck to do the fret work, he prolly would have and damage to the pickups might not have happened.

[@DavidHBurkart]

You read my mind

[@ant1sokolow]

Old wives tale. The frets are non magnetic, and the file (which is) is way harder than frets and would not generale particle.

[@ParaBellum2024]

@@ant1sokolow People who don't know any better (yes, me, a long time ago) have been known to polish frets with 0000 wire wool, which _does_ create particles, and _is_ magnetic...

[@ant1sokolow]

@@ParaBellum2024 Does that cause problems ?

[@ParaBellum2024]

@@ant1sokolow Yes, because any tiny pieces of steel that come close enough to the pickups will be attracted to them.

[@gw2031]

Dip the pickups in a mini fryer at 130 degrees filled with paraffin wax until there are no more bubbles,clean them up and away you go !

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

Interesting! Maybe I'll try that!

[@gw2031]

Use a thermometer mate,I've seen a few melted lol!

[@goodun2974]

Pickups were styled similary to DeArmond "Toaster-top" pickups ---- i'd try wax-potting them to tame the noise. A set of actual DeArmonds on that guitar would be sonically awesome.

[@DeuceSchnozzle]

Look into wax dipping to remove the microphonic quality of the P/Us

[@laurencejohnson4106]

That was a great bargain!👍👍

[@garymagnusen6500]

I had one in about '66, but the name was Ideal and it was a 12 string. I don't remember what I did with it. I may have given it away when I got my 335 in '66.

[@dynamike7108]

I recently got a made in Japan ES 335 copy with the Gibson headstock. Bolt on neck, says “B B” on a little plate pinned to the headstock. Can’t find another like it. $20. Great video

[@mrbarbelbarbello2332]

Great find. Good work.

[@NLKINK]

I live in The Netherlands. I once bought a Dutch semi acoustic Egmond guitar on Queen's day (our former Queen Beatrix' birthday on April 30) for 7,50 Dutch guilders, at that time the equivalent of about $ 3,-. It was in such good condition that the costs restoring it amounted to 50 Dutch guilders, and that included strings😊

[@rodgre]

I have a very similar guitar under the Ideal brand. The difference with mine is that it’s bound on top and back and it has dot inlays. Same pickups. Very cool low-output single coils which sound a bit like the classic “gold foil” pickups. I replaced the foam under the pickups with something stiffer and non disintegrating and at one 😊point stuffed softer foam inside, thinking it would help with the feedback (not realizing it was the microphonic pickups). A very cool cheap 60s guitar.

[@rodgre]

I have two other Ricky copies from that era as well, one being just like the Ideal except not bound on top, but not as round as yours. Mine is more like a 330 to your 360 style. The other one is a slightly different body, more like a 360, but a little more meat on the top bout. That one has slots in the headstock for a 12 string, but this is only 6.

[@kenmh7357]

Great stuff, but that video game music after 10 seconds is annoying.

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

Fair enough... Lol

[@kenmh7357]

@@boechlerguitarsandrepair Thanks man for the reply. Just found your channel, looking forward to seeing your work!

[@georgehowell5877]

Yes...that video game noise has gotta GO...PLEASE..

[@FunnyHaHa420]

It's a nice find. Those old Bigsby knockoffs just never stay in tune.

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Better vood quality than 99% of the Mass produced planks of today. I had a "Shaftesbury" 12 string in black, it was my 1st playable electric guitar. If any-one sees a big sticker of "Robin" frim Batman series that was my baby.

[@thiscorrosion900]

What a find! Would be fun to run it through the Mosaic 12-string pedal just to see what it sounds like.

[@johnhuteson5627]

Fantastic find. Should tape the fret board before doing fret work.

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

I do tape on maple fretboards, on rosewood it's easy to clean up afterwards if there are any rub spot etc

[@1-eye-willy]

them older Japanize guitars can vary wildly in quality. looks like you got a pretty good one

[@TheBoabby50]

Frets need further levelling from 15th up. Definate string buzz up there and on first string. Great bargain find, but pups are disappoining.

[@kennethobrien6537]

Yr pickups would in fact be "Stereophonic" if it had the Rick-o-sound system and plugged in to two or more separate cabs.

[@edwinstovall3334]

I'm more than a little in the dark about guitar wiring, but that one loose cap put me in mind of a treble bleed. Especially since the tone controls both seem to have their own (oil) caps. How off-base am I?

[@petestaint8312]

Holy mac and cheese! U snagged a good one. 👍 thanks for posting.

[@tombrackettjr.9308]

I've got to go to more garage sales. I have become jaded by them. Because for so long the ones that I go to are a bunch of kids clothes and crap I wouldn't even take to Goodwill.

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

Good garage sales are few and far between, but every now and then you find a crazy one with amazing deals. Those are the ones that keep me coming back

[@Intrinsic.Recording]

Cool $150=$200 guitar...let alone $20. Get a new cap though, you just put the two wires in series! Nice vid. Those big ones are oil caps, but in plastic instead of paper. Probably 1950's. You see them in late 50's and early 60's tube amps, and they're usually leaking DC. However, in a guitar cavity, theres no heat, (and little to no voltage) so yours are probably just fine. Thanks for the effort and cool video!

[@stu-j]

The green cap was broke off at the leg so I'd replace that! Wax pot the pickups to dull down the micdophonic sound.. cheap enough to throw some full size alpha pots in it and I'd replace the switch also as they are normally garbage! Great find tho for the price!

[@rogerboswell5483]

Four years ago I got a maher flying v.. For 20 dollars it was brand new with dust on it.. Now i have 12 guitars 😊

[@matthewearl9824]

Lol look at that truss rod cover. It isn't even lined up with the nut. it is actually wider lol! I would totally rock that guitar.

[@Gerry-cg6kr]

Nice find

[@diegovazquezkm100]

its a beatiful japanese guitar...

[@Earthshaker1965]

Beautiful Rick copy.... I have a set neck Jay Turser JT-80 Rickenbacker 325 copy and absolutely love it!!! Keep rockin'. 👍🎸

[@timsterz1]

Sweet find!

[@Chuck-Bob]

Yeah that fretboard is gorgeous.

[@Chuck-Bob]

Nice job man.

[@mitchpalmer5116]

It's a very cool guitar.

[@MacPakinga-gl8bu]

Nice score a chibson from china or Japan who cares 🎸😂. Trying to buy a double neck 12 & a 6 string 🎸👍 no luck yet 😂🎸 thankyou for sharing 👍

[@soulgamblers]

any polarity issues with both of the pups pointing in the same direction?

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

Doesn't seem to be

[@ant1sokolow]

I don't think this guitar is from the 60' but more probably from the 70'.(up to early 80')when FujjiGen start to build OEM guitars for various importer brands in USA and Europe. In the 60' they were more into the domestic market. Models were less direct(less accurate ?) copies of US big brand ones.. A characteristic of FujiGen guitar of that era is the good quality of luthery and very poor pickups and electronics. The one shown is really nice but probably almost unplayable with that much microphony. . Perhaps wax potting can help, but the pups seems to be almost totally enclosed and i'm not shure it would work. Also the attachment to the body may be improved... Some more work...

[@tornadoh]

Definitely ‘60s, those pickups were one of the earlier types Fujigen used on Ric copies. I have almost the exact model with a slightly different tailpiece and cheap single coils with humbucker covers branded “Apollo” that is from ‘66-‘68. You also see this model being branded Greco out of the Fujigen factory starting around ‘68, with yet another different trem system. My guess is ‘65 or ‘66.

[@thewaygokid3135]

Unless frets are damaged, why would you file before checking action?

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

It was buzzing all over with high action, looking at eye level it had high spots. Confirmed before filing with a fret rocker

[@jamesm1938]

Really nice job, and awesome clone.

[@PatrickGeneLeBlancHardy]

I'm new to your KZbin Channel. Thanks for sharing 🎸🎶✌

[@saigawesnovember]

That’s a pretty good score. I would have paid more if I came across it. I can’t afford a Rick, that guitar is a sweetie.

[@fattony4961]

Nice find. 70’s Japanese fujigen made Ric clone. Don’t like the headstock though.

[@michaeld.mcclish]

It is a nice looking guitar and the price was right. But you HAVE to get different pickups, or solve the microphonic problem if you expect to sell it or use it. No one will put up with that problem nowadays.

[@curtiseverett1671]

yeah, it's Brazilian. Indian wouldn't have the dark stripes...... and Fujigen...... wow...... (I would like to see what type of nut slot files you used) awesome video...

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/luthier-tools/files/guitar-nut-file-set-10-files/ these are the ones

[@josephzummo9685]

Turn around sell it for$500! Go out and get another one! Repeat! Good stuff!

[@chuckschillingvideos]

For 20 bucks, that's a steal, even if you have to replace all the electronics (but I'm guessing you won't need to).

[@michaelblaney4461]

You could probably get some inexpensive goidfoil pickups to put in it fo not too much

[@JoeCostantini74]

I once found an acoustic electric guitar in the trash, I took it home. It is a "Morris". Not sure if anyone knows what that is. It plays perfectly fine though. I still have it.

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

Those are Japanese made acoustics that were made in the '70s, '80s, etc. They are nice guitars

[@hardlines5472]

Good job it was only a $20 guitar. Commensurate fix up!

[@3cardmonty602]

Such a great find

[@Krullmatic]

That is a gorgeous fretboard indeed! Edit: One of the worse things ever is fret buzz and choked out strings. That plink plink sound haunts me lol.

[@GahMehGrrrr]

new pups and its a winner. Are the pups wax potable?

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

They are fully sealed but I think there is a method to place them in boiling wax, haven't tried it

[@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG]

Just a 'bravo' for showing the dub version of the electronics repair...

[@bretfaulkner]

Cool.God bless.

[@Relayer6a]

Those routes are to mimic the Rick 12 string headstock.

[@lauralomenda2266]

A beautiful guitar. Lovely color. Good they put brand on top.🎉Not fooling anyone. Is it for sale? How much if it is? Beautiful shape for its age. Maybe buzzing frets, person gave up playing it instead of fixing it. A good deal. I bought a Lyle Plectrum Banjo. Someone changed the head. Strings too low and buzzing. Quit playing it. 1970's like new. Luthier just cut neck lower so strongs were higher. No string buzz. Plays perfectly.

[@lauralomenda2266]

Is that Chickenbacker for sale? If so, what price? Also, I saw that Canadian Inukshuk Flying V Guitar. Gorgeous Looking and Sounding and Wel Built. I couldn't get to his site. Do you have a way to contact him? Those are your 1st 2 guitars I looked at. Are you Canadian? From where? Funny. Some guy said that Inukshuk Guitarsand some guy in Alberta should get together. They don't realize the distance apart they are. LOL. Maybe not from Canada. Happy Canada Day, a bit late. I'm impressed with your site and your honesty.

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

Not sure if I'm going to sell it yet. Yes Canadian, I'm from Alberta near Edmonton. Here is James (creator of Inukshuk guitars) e-mail: [e-mail] Cheers

[@goodun2974]

​, I'm American but spent most of 1992 in the Calgary area. The Edmonton Folk Festival was by far the best music festival I ever attended, they had some great players that year (Ry Cooder and David Lindley, Martin Simpson, and others). Rock, blues, bluegrass, Irish music, African bands; slide guitar and fiddle workshops, jam sessions and collaborations....... something for everyone. This may have been before your time and I don't know what the festival lineups are like now, but boy that was one heck of a 3-day musical weekend !

[@DavidHBurkart]

That is a very cool find!!

[@Mr3DBob]

Worth $20, if it hangs on a wall. If it plays at all, bonus! If you can fix it up, winwinwin.

[@mikeross14]

Pot those pick-ups,or shield them! Other than that Great find !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@steev3d]

I think you need to pot those pickups in wax to get rid of that whole microphonic thing.

[@HarrySinanian]

Nice find..

[@HarrySinanian]

Apparently, Japan made hollow bodies for Danel3ctro back then too. Similar

[@EvilHomer1973]

replace pots and pickups too.

[@philovance1940]

I once owned a guitar identical to that guitar. It was an Aria Diamond. It had fake diamond set it the headstock. It was passed down to a younger sibling or something and it disappeared.

[@leeholzmann1023]

good guitar mate...

[@jimcamp2423]

Wow, 400V capacitors, those are never going to fry.

[@TempleOfTheMartyrs]

WE USED ONE OF THOSE ON OUR NEW ALBUM

[@precbass]

Yeah! Rickenbacker.NOT Rickenbocker!😁

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

😆

[@sentforth5]

60s, when FujiGen were perfecting their craft.

[@joelsdiy9469]

What a find!

[@yogiguitar1]

cool find man!

[@kronictonic]

Very cool

[@ijahtom]

That shows, there is nothing wrong with mini pots. Look how long they have last for example in this Videos old guitar. It really shows, reality says different vs the market adds and myths making. Well wishings and all the best furthermore.

[@noordcop1]

Wowwww. Great find man.......

[@Bikedueder]

I am somehow always surprised how knockoff guitars often sound quite close to the guitars they emulate. Hell of a deal. I would have given $50, hehe.

[@reijerlincoln]

Cover the pickups with tape! Metal filings will destroy your pickups.

[@boechlerguitarsandrepair]

It's steel wool particles that you need to worry about, which I do not use for fretwork. It's usually not an issue because I'm quite careful, but if any fret filings accumulate on the covered pickup (again not as big an issue on covered pickups) is takes a second to remove. If it was uncovered pickups, I would take extra precautions

[@harry9392]

Change pickups or wax pot them. Would be the way to go nice worth more than 20$

[@roncarlson7682]

Definitely not a Rick style bridge. They did not use rollers.

[@ianclevenger9714]

Reminds me of a rickenbacker

[@HappyHermitt]

I would leave 3 strings on it and play slide

[@Robster-Craw]

Sweet 600$ profit.