How to Make a Cheap Guitar AWESOME!!!

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Website: mcgguitars.com
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READ THE COMMENTS BEFORE ASKING A QUESTION. I keep answering the same questions repeatedly. I have no problem helping you guys out and giving you tips, but it's exhausting when I have to repeat myself so many times. So do me a favor and look through the comments before asking a question.
And yes, I can do custom modifications and builds for you, just PM me for details.

[@peterhoran1649]

Love how the kid puts a new ding on it within 10 seconds of getting it out of the case.

[@indyclarke9429]

Yea when he hits the head stock on the car lol

[@petar470]

He hits the case not the car

[@davidjohnson4381]

Point is it only takes 10 seconds of not paying attention dent the end of the headstock. I bought a brand new RR V once and opened the case to show a friend, walked five feet away to set down my drink and he decided to flip it over in the hard case and he taped the corner on the case chipping the paint. Then he says to me "it all looks good except this little chip in the corner". He didn't even realize HE did it. I'm like "I just looked at the corners and was impressed with how clean they were and I just saw you do that and he was completely oblivious and thought I was messing with him. Cost me $200 to fix. Some people just can't and should never touch nice things. It's like they only view life through a 2 inch circle.

[@JunkCCCP]

Let's be real though, any guitar that is actually used will get more than a tiny little ding on the headstock pretty quickly. Wear and tear is all part of the game, case queen guitars are lame and so are the people who are so afraid of putting a scratch or a dent into their guitar that they handle it with kid gloves all the time.

[@darrellcummings9139]

Peter Horan it's not your guitar to have a big fucking cow over that light touch you moron!!!

[@MichaelMartin66]

what's this??? Pimp my guitar??

[@Jacobus.J]

That would be a cool T.V. show!

[@SuperSlipknot911]

LOL

[@WizardOfToasters]

BaconDawgBD I second that.

[@Jacobus.J]

WizardOfToasters Why that?

[@braindamage7128]

Michael Martin I want a pimp my guitar youtube channel

[@stankyst4nk39]

"It's a Huntington. Not sure what model. Probably P.O.S." I laughed so hard when I heard that. You did a super nice job turning such a crap guitar into a screaming rock machine. Props to you.

[@gergoretvari6373]

*PRS

[@legatomisterioso7]

Gergő Rétvári: No I think it’s P.O.S, as in Piece Of Shit

[@stankyst4nk39]

@@gergoretvari6373 yeah but I'm pretty sure he says POS for Piece of shit

[@stankyst4nk39]

@@gergoretvari6373 0:56

[@superfit60]

Huntington is VERY budget brand, some are okay and some are POS

[@Real_Boye]

Pimp my Guitar...

[@leonardobustamante759]

+LukaANDkrusty there should be a tv program like that hahaha

[@bradchervel5202]

If I was that dude getting that I would have freaked out at the difference.

[@godzilla964]

Guys tend to not do that.

[@aliensporebomb]

I love the reveal. - look on his face says it all! You did an AMAZING job taking something that would soon be in a landfill and making it a rock and roll hotrod and shining like the sun with all the chrome and sparkle paint. BRAVO! Your skills = excellent! Tutorial = liked!

[@alexjc1482]

*gets guitar back like new from shit*, *gives the headstock a love tap on the case soon as he picks it out* Yep. This ones probably got some good dents in it by now.

[@DavidDexterMusic]

+AlexJC That's what I thought! Damn.

[@TheIkaika777]

That's not dents, that's relic.

[@alexjc1482]

1

[@ubk95]

he gon' bring it back to him pretty soon and we're gonna see a new video just like this

[@redviewstudio]

LMAO XD that is exactly what I thought, that idiot kid don't know how to even hold a guitar LOL

[@davidcrawford6505]

Nice job. Screw all these negative comments. There's a lot of satisfaction in taking a piece of junk and bringing it back to life.

[@74dartman13]

David Crawford that's so true! I've taken so many things, not just guitars, that were hideous and brought them back to life! Houses even! It's satisfying! He only spent $100 and his time to do something nice for that kid. He was so happy and couldn't believe his eyes! That's priceless!

[@downsouthgeorgiaboy7660]

Like new? How about 100,000% better than new?! This guy's work is pristine and sounds amazing! That kid had better treasure that guitar because it has plenty of blood, sweat and tears put into making it that amazing!

[@musicbruise]

Someone wins friend of the year award

[@akeeperofoddknowledge4956]

one of the best guitars I've ever owned was a "spare parts" guitar assembled at a guitar shop. Start body (probably not Fender), Strat style neck with skunk stripe, 2 JB Player single coils and Gibson mini- humbucker from a 1962 Hudson Firebird (?), Schaller in-line tuners and , unfortunately, a Fender tremolo system. Oh, and 5way knife switch selector. I called it my Frankenstrat. Cost : $165.00! I up graded the whammy to a Turbo Trem for $30.00. Best guitar per dollar I ever owned.

[@EDKsurly]

Youre a good friend. Nice work! Nice skills on the guitar too!

[@jamesmcdonald3798]

Great job. Good to see someone working with there hands and not just throwing everything away. Nice job!!!

[@MetalxMasters]

People work with their hands all the time, dumb ass.

[@dropd8288]

bondo has what guitars crave. its got electrolytes

[@tedolightbulb8849]

I got that reference 😐

[@12manny34]

I literally just watched that movie a few hours ago.

[@jaredsanda1440]

Drop D Best comment ever. love that movie.

[@snowh1te208]

Drop D XD

[@ronzilla768ty]

Great reference to the movie Idiocracy.

this video inspired me a year ago to upgrade my guitar, BUT it made me interested in becoming a luthier, so thank you kind sir for your video

[@aazz0099503]

Is that that kid from stranger things at the end

[@pb-angler]

aazz0099503 that's who I thought he was,,

[@jedfiekel9809]

He wasn't cussing... couldn't have been

[@nathananderson9003]

This is one of my favorite videos on youtube. I've probably watched it like 20 times.

[@tomasronan]

the look on the kids face, priceless!

[@johnpalmer1005]

This came out great. I really like the finish. The metallic pick guard looks cool against it. Sounds good too. The kid looked really happy with it.

[@Lockemeister]

I think it's great to see a youth of today, like yourself, take such initiative and do the hard work to make something that looks and sounds great. I see too many young drones today who have their faces buried in their i-phones, have 5 second attention spans and look up on the internet what they should think about something. You had a vision and made it happen. GREAT JOB!!! PS. Your friend was delighted. Man, his eyes lit right up seeing his guitar resurrected into a playable work of art!

[@guitagious9464]

If that had been my guitar, my reaction would have been a LOT different. After passing out, I would have gotten up from the ground and freaked out again in joy and gratitude! What Mills Custom Guitars did for this axe is like "shock and awe"! Great upgrades and it sounds really good now too. No doubt the guitar was sentimental to the owner - or maybe that's all he could afford at the time. But now it's a guitar to proud of no matter what it USED to be! A real "one-of-a-kind". Only a true friend would invest this much care into an off-brand guitar like this for someone and make it so nice. Great work MCG!

[@benalloun5230]

This is amazing work, you are truly a fine craftsman sir! No offense though but your friend has no idea how good you did ; you would've returned my guitar like this, I would have freaking jumped around and screamed at how BEAUTIFUL it is now. Damn.

[@tyrssen1]

Hey, this vid is proof that fixing up POS guitars is fun. And when all is said and done, that (IMHO) is the bottom line. Thanks for this, I really enjoyed it.

[@happycline]

who cares how it looks? so long it sounds good. personally I prefer my guitars to have lived, and look lived. I don't throw stickers/dent it purposefully, but if stuff happens to it, it's just part of the aging process, and I leave it there.

[@blackraid1]

plus it gives character to that guitar . its a testament to what it has been through. 10 years from now you will look at it and remember that the things that you went through in that period of time as soon as you pick the guitar up

[@HOLYMACGUYVER]

same hear i have an old dean evo thats seen seven levels of hell and back and plays amazing

[@johnqpublic2013]

I think ppl are missing the point, the bigger picture, is he worked with what he had. Great Job shelbyfanss!

[@JesusIsMySaviorILoveJesus]

Should have scrapped that crappy company name off it and put your own fancy name on it to make it even more special

[@waizmusic6552]

I'll do it on mine 🤣

[@inkusaido]

10:05 ALREADY HIT IT WTF DUDE

[@Tha.Riddick]

lol

[@james_fisch]

goddammit mr walker

[@Sarjantbob]

I think he's the reason the guitar looked like shit to begin with

[@bobbyparks801]

iNK

[@figure.09]

This makes me want to make my own guitar haha

[@figure.09]

***** XD

[@TheRedmage420]

Its actually not that hard, I rebuilt an Alexi ltd from the ground up, paint job, hardware installations, everything. It's just trial and error and a whole lot of patience. The worst part was the floyd rose, I hate those fucking things.

[@davidwallace7411]

Great job, the important thing to remember is that you helped a young player who is climbing the ladder like we all did. He looked thrilled to get it. the important thing is you took the time and cared. Hopefully years from now he will pass on his skill and knowledge to some other young player.

[@kassemir]

Looks sweet, though I think it could'be been kind of funny to just leave it as it was and just install the new pick guard, certainly would be a unique look :)

[@ChickoGamingCallofDutyHD]

think you should of sanded away the Huntington log but the guitar looks brill, great work!

[@sjsphotog]

+1 agree 100% after all that work that cheap company doesnt deserve to get credit for such an awesome piece of work

[@ChickoGamingCallofDutyHD]

There we go, someone else to say what I didn't know how to word. Thanks! :) I totally agree!

[@ElitesEngineering]

Exactly what I thought, either leave it empty, or put your own brand name in :p

[@void870]

Or make a bad pun out of it and call it the Huntington Bitch

[@2011littlejohn1]

Impressive and beautiful reconstruction and modification but I would like to have heard it with some clean sound settings rather than just distortion.

[@evilwarcow]

You took a piece of crap that seen much better days and turned it around and made it seriously legit. Good work sir! Good work!

[@MikeStoddart]

Wow, amazing restoration. And the playing isn't bad either!! I have absolute respect for people that have the patience and ability to work with guitars like you do.

[@gear772]

Tnt custom fucked me over. I bought a beautiful strat neck for $150 but one I put it on the body and added strings, just the tension of the strings caused an enormous neck bow. I realized it was a problem beyond my skill level and was more than a simple trus rod adjustment, I left it over night and just the string tension made the skunk stripe of the neck pop out. The neck was obviously crap. I told them about the problem and they said(pretty much)"we will not replace or refund any products that have had hole drilled". They sold a defective product and they never tried to make it right

[@denverdeans]

Same exact thing happened to me man. I bought a beautiful(I thought at the time) flamed maple strat neck and I was exited to put it on my guitar. Turned out the neck was junk and the truss rod did nothing but spin. I contacted them about it and they said there was nothing I could do.

[@finisrobinson]

Holy crap dude! Awesome job! It looks fantastic!

[@Davepurington]

Nice job, the kid looked happy and you proved you could take a relic and turn in back into something worth looking at and playing.

[@n00bje]

10 seconds out of the case and he already bangs it 10:05

[@napalmhardcore]

Lol, I noticed that too.

[@angelofaraday5280]

n00bje I was thinking the same exact thing. Like, wtf bud! 😂

[@CockBlockula]

10:14 he then proceeded to jam the intro of through the fire and flames furiously for the rest of the day.

[@redmarvandersluys9691]

How did you replace the bone nut with a locking nut? And why didnt you route out the space for the floyd rose tremolo? Great job btw, you gave the guitar a new life again.

[@jeremyrafuse5330]

Maybe use Google.

[@redmarvandersluys9691]

@@jeremyrafuse5330 Haha I waited 7 years for this solution! How haven't I thought of this. Thanks!

[@gfrank8058]

I'm very impressed by how you prepared your guitar. You didn't waste a bunch of time stripping it down to bare wood. Instead you used the existing finish, and built off of that. And I was impressed by your use of spray cans and air brush for detail work. Great job your finish. And by your choice of replacement parts. Great job, well done. GF1 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😎

[@StricklandAssistantManager]

If I was working on that, I'd make it look like yours (as intended), but a relic'd version.

[@michellestanton7640]

You're fucking everywhere, aren't you?

[@StricklandAssistantManager]

Michelle Stanton The power of propane gives me the ability to be anywhere I need on the world wide web.

[@ironmaidenfan66670]

+Hank Hill That reply is legendary

[@GioGuitarDude]

You forgot "and propane accessories"... IMPOSTER!!!!!!!

[@StricklandAssistantManager]

GioGuitarDude I sell propane and propane accessories, but the internet itself is more of a propane accessory. I thought that was common knowledge so I didn't bother saying it.

[@rokstar807]

Dude, this is fuckin' SICK!!! I wasn't even gonna watch the vid after the first few seconds, but, DAYUM! Kudos, bro!

[@FL-BEACH-MAN]

Piss on a cheap guitar - i wanna build an expensive guitar - all in all the kid was happy to see it all built up. He made his friend happy and i liked the video - job well done

[@mylemonblue3070]

Fantastic gift! The kid is young. I hope he gets what kind of hardware he has in his hands. Amazing work on that one.

[@rocknrollcowboy1620]

You have extremely awesome taste in back ground music!!

[@cynan1019]

"Yakety Sax" is a pop novelty instrumental jointly composed by James Q. "Spider" Rich and Boots Randolph. Saxophonist Randolph popularized the selection in his 1963 recording, which reached number 35 on the rock charts. Wikipedia" *Also known as the Benny Hill theme* :)

[@broocooliewestrek6856]

Colin pollard its a song calles debonair by the band dope also used in the fast amd the furious

[@julianhill1914]

Nice Job, am suprised that the neck/frets didn`t need work but perhaps you were lucky there ?

[@zomgitzakitteh]

I thought guitar set up was super delicate. how did you KNOW everything would work when you put in the floyd rose? doesnt like 1 small error mess everything up?

[@treason4life]

It wasn't reverse routed. When you flat mount a Floyd it makes owning one so much easier.

[@MalquiLans]

Right from the start I knew I'd seen this vid before but I stayed with it as I reckon you can't get enough of Benny Hill sax & dudes who do the do with guitars. I wish I could do the paint finish real good - I've just built a toolbox guitar which I was glad just needed a few rubs of tru-oil into the wood. My admiration goes to you, once again.

[@DeathcoreGandhi]

Looks dope man, great job!

[@chazthegr806]

That turned out great, good job.

[@PlaybyRaine]

your passion and creativity is fun to watch! Good job!

[@Sephnroth]

honestly, I know you said don't bother doing this but I think this is one of the best things you can do - take a ruined guitar and give it a new glory. Just saved that thing from a bin! Also goes to show that generally the difference between a good guitar and a bad one is a bit of love.

[@tidiestflyer7570]

I'm probably the kind of guy who would want all those dents to be left on there. Like I'll hold on to one pair of shoes for years also.

[@davecarpenter7266]

Tidiest Flyer agreed. A guitar should show the glory of its war wounds.

[@paigehawkins1945]

Dude, my beauty board/ 04 American Deluxe strat has quite the stories per ding, scratch, missing finish/paint. Oh well, they seem to play and sound better to me.

[@phililpb]

I was thinking the same. the old stickers were so random they where cool.

[@jacklarson6281]

@@davecarpenter7266 yeah, just look at Stevie ray Vaughn's old Number One

[@MusicisPartofMe5]

great video but i would've taken off the huntington name and written my own name, or his name, or something cool

[@foreverforgotten4036]

i would've kept the name on it to show that i didn't make the guitar by me, you know.

[@jaycase105]

Nice work my friend very crafty but all that work and that kick ass amp and top notch effects made that sound ok not super bitchen extraordinary but o.k. That Floyd Rose is worth more than the whole guitar. But I must commend you for your excellent craftsmanship Great work.

[@firmestshrimp710]

Great job. I love getting off or unheard of brand guitars on the cheap and fixing them up. Best part is making them your own.

[@RockandMetal645]

Fucking awesome dude. Too bad I'm not in arizona, otherwise I'd buy a cheap guitar and pay you to make it this awesome. lol

[@proffeserdude]

MESHUGGAH!!!!!!

[@tunelessspy807]

He acted like he didn't like it.. It's kinda disappointing with all that work you went through

[@JPelus]

+Andy Handarean seemed more like the camera awkwardness than a lack of appreciation. I would have flipped out, but maybe more internally if I was being filmed lol

[@cheath8705]

+tunelessspy807 I was thinking, "Oh bang it already!" when he bumped the neck to the box on the car. ;)

[@cheath8705]

+Andy Handarean Nah! I'm just being smart about it ;-)

[@timidgazelle8762]

+John Peluso I agree, the camera definitely would have made things awkward, he should have recorded him playing a short guitar piece instead of first reaction.

[@wolverine9632]

Seemed to me he loved it, made him speechless. Plus he doesn't run a KZbin channel, so...

[@leegenix]

I worked in a music store years ago. The owner's husband was a mechanic that repaired a guitar worse than in this video. It looked like a thousand dollar custom job and resembled an Alembic guitar. Some people have all around skills and can fix or build anything.

[@SimbaLion]

It's no surprise it had a bunch of dings in it, look at yer buddy bang the head into the case after holding it only a few seconds. I had a feeling he would, he has tunnel vision on the body and wasn't paying attention to the upper half of the instrument. Does it still look that beautiful, or is it all banged up again? Awesome video btw.

[@MrGavinspoppop]

I think he owes you a dam lunch !! at least !!

[@KeepoHdee]

***** pretty sure he did

[@RM-en9gk]

Is it true my friend told me, wood guality doesnt has nothing to do with the sound quality the guitar will reproduce. Its the guitar pickup quality its the responsible of the sound quality it will reproduce. So that means by putting a top end fender pickup into a $50 dollar electric, it will sound like a fender?

[@MillsCustomGuitars1]

+Ricky Montes No, that's not true. It can be to an extent, but technically no. Everything you do to a guitar effects how it resonates and vibrates when you pluck a string. How the guitar vibrates gets translated into the strings and then picked up by the pickups. The pickups play a big factor in how a guitar sounds, and changing them is the easiest way to change a guitars tone. But actually even the type of paint you use and how much there is of it will affect the tone. Most people can't hear the difference but that doesn't mean it isn't there, it just means they aren't able to hear it where a more trained ear might. If you play high gain rock and stuff, your tone becomes less and less of what the guitar is doing and more and more of what the amp is doing. If you play clean guitar, you will hear the most difference in tone woods. But I can still hear the difference. I made a Frankenstrat replica with an ash body and then I made a second one with an alder body so it would be a bit lighter. Ash and alder are somewhat similar in tone, but everything else about the guitar was identical and I could still pick out which guitar was which in a blind test.

[@bzarembareal]

+Ricky Montes Not quite. It is true that wood has a minute effect on the tone of the amplified guitar. But besides the pickups, the bridge, the nut, the frets, and the type of potentiometers (pots) also have affect the tone

[@joejack6576]

+shelbyfanss yep run a squire through a friedman be 100-- then everyone will agree with you- inflections on strings and pickups are them main sound period--in metal emg - the alder body was deeper wasn't it--- GREAT BUILD LOVE IT__

[@xPBKM4x]

Your friend is WRONG!

[@geovani60624]

+Ricky Montes your friend eat shit or somethimg like this?

[@adriyanmusic]

You are from another planet man , thank you for making the kid happy....great work by the way ..

[@RobbySk8erBoi]

I'm surprised you didn't get a copyright flag on the Benny Hill music.

[@user-eq8mw9pd4n]

illuminati confirmd ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@REEFBLUENOTCH]

Not sure of a few notes as such are ascribed to a guy named benny hill. geesh, that is some sort of a "chicken" song or w/ever that's played all day long at ball games and such.

[@RobbySk8erBoi]

REEFBLUENOTCH Look up Benny Hill Theme or Yakety Sax. That is the song.

[@minsu2000]

Robert William Or look up 331erocks benny hill theme meets metal

[@toneconsultant]

A lot of haters. I thought he did a pretty good job at creating something out of nothing. What did everyone expect?

[@paulallenscard8553]

Will you please put up a tutorial on how to put a floyd rose on a guitar? (measurments, etc.)

[@MillsCustomGuitars1]

+Silas Sell I did, I just set it to private. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2rSgputpNd1lac

[@higorguedes4413]

+Mills Custom Guitars Hi man! Your work is awesome!! Hey, you told about removing the gloss in the guitar neck, and i recently bought a 2008 Gibson Les Paul Studio, but i'm used to Jackson guitar necks, without gloss, just satin, and my Les Paul's neck have gloss on it, and when i'm playing, the neck become a little sticky and such... Don't worry, i wash my hands before playing guitar XD.... I can take the gloss off without leaving very visually noticeable? How do I do that? Thank you, and sorry for english mistakes...

[@MillsCustomGuitars1]

+Higor Guedes I would suggest trying some 0000# steel wool. It's a subtle satin finish that looks and feels great. You can also polish it back up fairly easily if you ever change your mind.

[@robertdunn7913]

Higor Guedes If you don't want to mess up the finish on your guitars you can use chalk on your palm like on pool stick playing billiards

[@tolerbearALTII]

That was awesome. Especially the look on the kid's face when you gave it to him. Totally worth it I'd say.

[@bobsaturday4273]

soooo.... you made a $250 guitar outof $1000 worth of parts and work ?

[@MillsCustomGuitars1]

More like $100 of parts and whatever my time was worth.

[@lachcik5084]

where do you get $1000 of parts? haha. def not $1000

[@bmxxxxxxxx]

Just looked it up at Guitarpartsonline. $75 bucks for the pickgard and pickups. Only additional costs are paint, gloss, polish, and puddy. $100 total.

[@ijabbs143]

bmxxxxxxxx You forgot the coslty FLoyd Rose tremelo. They cost a few hundred bucks.

[@aerobob427]

I think it was worth it just for the gratification of a job very well done.

[@cpgoimy]

His friend's reaction is dissapointing

[@ME16510]

w0t 0s th3 f0rst s000ng? 0:01

[@Tyler_The-Kid]

Bleed by meshuggah

[@TaralgaBushAdventure]

..and I'm back after first seeing this in 2012, trying to understand how to fix up guitars. Thanks for the help way back then - this vid is still an awesome lesson.

[@cravinbob]

A solid block of "wood" and a neck then it is painted and parts worth several hundreds of dollars plus labor. Why not get a better piece of wood and an after market neck? What you started with was not even a guitar or a cheap guitar at that. But what the hell you had fun right?!

[@MillsCustomGuitars1]

I was doing what my friend asked me to do. A lot of people give me a hard time for doing this to a guitar that wasn't worth the time or money, but they forget that I was only doing what my friend asked me to do. I owed him some money, so instead of paying him cash, he asked me to do everything seen in the video. Was it worth it? It's not really our place to say, it's what he wanted. Would I have done the same thing if the guitar belonged to me? Absolutely not.

[@cravinbob]

shelbyfanss I wasn't giving you a hard time but wondered if your friend considered other things. Seriously, I have an old oak toilet seat I have been thinking about making into an electric for fun. People say I play crappy : ) Anyway, I think you did a great job.

[@Cowbelldude319]

Are ya gonna beat his ass when he puts his first sticker on it? LoL

[@teeze65]

What da ya mean “ thank you so much”. Pay the man!!! Ain’t nuttin free in life.

[@annihilus10]

The look on the kid's face at the end is great. Well done again!

[@hopguy666]

I can never do pig squeals... if someone has a tip, please help x.x

[@sidgar1]

Lots of gain and a good bridge pickup for starters.

[@hopguy666]

I get that but I just never get the right angle with my thumb or something, I can't get the right of doing it right

[@sidgar1]

Try flicking the point of your thumb (the 1st knuckle joint) downward immediately after you pick, into the string to sound the harmonic. But it's also a large matter of knowing where along the length of the string where you have to pick the harmonic. There's a lot of dead zones on the string and you have to get a feel for where the "sweet spots" are. Try plucking some "natural" harmonics along the entire string length and note where they ring out once you get past the end of the fretboard and try hitting those same harmonics with your picking hand using the technique I described. Hope this helps!

[@hopguy666]

sidgar1 I know in my case on my Ibanez it's right at the edge of the neck pickup, since that's where I got a diff sound whenever I try to do it.

[@sidgar1]

OtakuGavinDrac That spot will vary depending on which fret you're trying to do a squeal on. The higher the fret, the closer to the bridge that sweet spot will move. Keep that in mind as well.

[@TheCanesVenatici]

You can give a good player a ahitty guitar and he will make it scream. But you cant do the same with a shitty player and a good guitar.

[@HumpX]

you came to that conclusion all by yourself champ? kudos oof

[@TheCanesVenatici]

***** You came up with that reply all by yourself, Piddles ?

[@christph3118]

Canes Venatici lol...

[@Verkrustet]

You can polish a turd all you want, but the cheap materials will always catch up with you. For example, even after the reparations you attempted, the strings looked like they were a mile off the neck. The kid's gonna deal with a lot of warping and frustration.

[@Digitalinkarts]

where in this video can you see the strings are a mile off the neck?

[@Verkrustet]

Digital Ink Arts - When the kid's inspecting the guitar in the driveway, pause the video as he turns it to its side.

[@MillsCustomGuitars1]

I have no idea where you're getting that, I set this guitar up very nicely, it had medium action just like it was requested to have. It played like butter too. Perfect intonation, good action, no fret buzz, etc.

[@Verkrustet]

Mills Custom Guitars - Right, that's all fine and dandy, but my point was that you can only get so far with cheap base materials. The strings _did_ appear quite high off the neck, though, upon further inspection. Much higher than they should be. Many luthiers do that to overcompensate.

[@ihategoogle4717]

No! there is no point in this video at all that ever shows the strings off the guitar! (Other then the start of the video if we go by that then the strings are OFF the guitar.) I'm guessing that's why you don't link a time. As for my comment "wood is wood" means there is only 3 true suppliers on earth that import the wood. Cheap guitars are made from the same wood as any other guitar, end of story! Guitars have been made the same cheap way from the start of guitars nothing has changed at all ever! But I am sure you already knew that since you have a majors in guitar history and build 1000's of hand made guitars everyday and Gibson and Fender call you up everyday to make sure there guitars are set up with just the right string height with your super laser vision that can spot an off string in .0000001 of a second.

[@csjkd1179]

Dude, you made that kid's day. Was it a crap load of work for a guitar that wasn't worth the money you put into it? Yup. Are you a really good friend for hooking him up anyway? Damn straight! Good on ya, man!

[@KudosCultureCartel]

10:05

[@niptodstan]

As we say in the UK. 'You can't polish a turd'. Sorry. Waste of money. For what the parts cost you could have got a used Yamaha Pacifica or an Ibanez. Much better and a slight resale too.

[@tussk.]

***** Or, as we say in the UK, this isnt the 1800's anymore.

[@lukefenderrhodes]

and as we say here in united states you cant polish a turd but you can make it shine

[@tussk.]

if it shines then its been polished. mong.

[@gustavrubbestad1559]

Or as we say in Sweden, nu tycker jag att vi sansar oss

[@Chord_The_Seeker]

Not to mention however many hours of his life it took to do all that work. It looked like it took forever.

[@saultrain]

Who cares about the paint? Waste of time in my opinion. It's a piece of shit. No need to hide that. I'd rather spend that time leveling the frets. Just make it play and sound cool.

[@tuck234]

Well, as you noticed, the guitars electronics were completely gutted and replaced with new wiring, slightly better stock pickups. BTW this is his friends guitar, so he might have asked the guy to do a complete remodel of the guitar. Most likely his friend will later opt to go for maybe some Seymour Duncans or DiMarzios. Nothing wrong in making a guitar look nice, because most of the performance is all in the amp, pickups, electronics, and most importantly, the player. Most of your entry level guitars have nice woods, just minor fixes here and there and most likely have to get rid of all that wiring and tone and volume pots.

[@toshineon]

tuck234 I have a $300 or so guitar that's made of mahogany, the electronics aren't that great, though. I'm thinking of swapping the hardware on it and put some Gibson PAFs in it, it might sound and play pretty nice.

[@tuck234]

toshineon Mahogany, huh... Well I heard that mahogany guitars are quite warm sounding. Check out some demos of The Seymour Duncan JB bridge and Jazz Neck... Gibson PAFs are nice too... What kind of guitar is it and what kind of music are you into playing?

[@toshineon]

tuck234 The guitar is a Cort M200, it's a double-cutaway style, sort of like the style PRS guitars often are. I play all sorts of music, ranging from indie pop to death metal. I tend to gravitate more towards music like Staind and Nothingface, I guess you'd call it alternative metal.

[@SRNF]

I agree + a fucked up paint job gives it some character.

[@lestian666]

Hearing the Guitar after all that work is the icing on the cake respect

[@mikecorey8370]

I hope you got paid before this clown took his guitar out of the case, or took it home.

[@marksusername]

youre the only clown here jackass

[@marksusername]

+TheAppleManGames just saying. shouldnt be talking shit when you aint perfect yourself

[@theapplemangames6194]

+marksusername 1. did you not see the comical trend I trued to start (common language) I was making a joke 2. I know for a fact that you're far from perfect, so why exactly did you talk shit before, you fucking hipocrit?

[@marksusername]

+TheAppleManGames Giving someone what they deserve isn't talking shit. Im doing the right thing

[@treyowens4944]

+Nick Shumar your the only asshat here, Ricky Dillon

[@jaysontherriault166]

This video has inspired me to the the same thing. I still watch it every once in a while! Love your work!

[@alexmalcolm8409]

Good job mate. Everyone always thinks about money but i think it is cool seeing this restoration. Money comes and goes but to have something to call your own is worth the money. I am building a guitar at the moment and most people would look at it and say its CRAP but it means a lot to me. I encourage everyone to build their own guitar and then they wont complain about how guitars are built. Its definately an Artform. Hats off to ya bro.

[@rockers2rockers616]

The smile on that lads face was priceless!

[@TheCanesVenatici]

Nice! I did similar with a FrankenStrat. Mexico body, Mighty Might neck. Sperzel tuners. Stock tremelo from a 70's Strat I had replaced with a Kahler tremelo. A set of 20 year old Dimarzo Stacked single space pups, they are the D-1, can't think of the right model number. I prepped the body and painted it midnight black. and several coats of clear. The finish looks like it's in water it shines so well. Put a tortoise shell triple layer pick guard on it. Replaced the nut with a bone nut. I get many compliments on the sound and looks. I play through a vintage Peavy TubFex digital effects, rack mount into a 300 watt per channel Studiomaster MOSFET amp and a 4x12 Peavy cabinet wired in stereo.

[@rostlaur]

Contagious Inspiration! If you open all the 'sub' sections of this page, print to PDF you have a 157 pages collectors document of a true Master Luthier in his early years.

[@sydbarrett68]

good job. The smile on you friends face made the work worth you time.

[@theharlequin7280]

That's one hell of an upgrade. Gotta say, I kinda like the headstock shape.

[@hazor777]

Paint Removal HACK : get chemical paint remover from HD OR LOWE'S etc... mix it with DAWN dish detergent. The paint will dissolve in thick clumps that easily are scraped off with a scraping tool P.S. - for TONE : leave the neck pocket RAW WOOD (no paint, no wax , no oil ! ) - you may consider doing the same to the pickup section as well. This was a Hendrix trick used on most of his Strats

[@SA8TER21]

btw two guitars do not sound alike and if they do its extreamly rare. Plus the difference in tone is all subjective. 10% of a musicians sound is from gear the rest is on the player. Not bashing you so don't take offence to it. And dont tell me I dont know anything I work in a custom guitar company and have built MANY guitars. But out of all of that I will say the less the finish the better the sound from a guitar. But raw wood no oil or anything is a no no because then you absorb moisture which in turn will change the sound of a guitar. That's why in acoustics you have to keep a humidifier in the case to prevent cracking and warping.

[@hazor777]

SA8TER21 I was referring specifically to the neck pocket of a Strat -like , bolt on neck. Yes, I realize wood expands & contracts with moisture - even cracks after age & moisture etc.. - but I really don't think the small area or the neck pocket , being unfinished without any oil or sealer, would pose such a big problem that it's going to make the guitar non functional. I grant you the "authority" title - you build guitars, but Like I said, unless you're confined to 1 guitar and are a serious gigging professional, I not so sure it would pose such a big risk. And I totally agree - a really good guitar player's "sound" is mostly from his hands .

[@sydaball9882]

That song always puts a smile on my face, you know the one....

[@hoosierdaddy2308]

Wow, you are the type of friend everyone needs that plays guitar.. LOL. Great job man. I don't know if I would have put that much work in it, but if you did it for the challenge, I'd say you whipped it big time!

[@bradleynorman]

Seemed to me that the young guy you did this for was really happy. I thought it was a super cool video and it looked and sounded great. Keep doing your thing man! To hell with those who don’t like it!

[@jackleyton5504]

Gret job on the axe and your friend look pretty happy about the change, as he should be. Very nice of you...

[@The-Real-Blissful-Ignorance]

Really great job!!! Anyone who has negative things to say about your work is CLEARLY jealous of your skills!

[@TomTobin67]

This video is one of my favorites because its was a favor for a budding musician.

[@BobBerardjr772]

You did a buddy a lot of great work..! he seemed very appreciative