Attic find!

[jmartyg]

Here is an odd one.

One of my co-workers brought in a guitar for me to look at today. He found it in an attic he was cleaning out. My best guess is a 60's Espana 335 www.myrareguitars.com/pictures/espanaup.jpg

It has heavy finish wear, an attempted refinish on the back (that since wore off to either the amber from the sunburst or bare wood around the belt buckle), no nut, no bridge saddles (this one has a different tailpiece than the one pictured). The pots are crumbling and only has one tone knob left. Pickguard is gone and has a filled hole by the neck from what i'm assuming is a screw for the guard. Only 5 tuning pegs left.

There are filled holes around the existing tailpiece (3 of them, so it could have had the tailpiece as the one in the link.


The good news is that the neck is straight. Serial number on the neck plate is 1050 and says 'made in Italy'

So I have no knowledge of hollow bodies, so is this worth it? He wants to turn it into some sort of furniture but he won’t do it unless i tell him he’s not throwing away a gold mine.

[jmartyg]

this is a better representation:

www.fetishguitars.com/html/crucianelli/335/1966espana335sunburst.html

the one im lookign at right now though, has the truss rod adjustment at the other end of the neck.

[sumgai]

marty,

The Vintage Guitar Price Guide doesn't list them separately, they're lumped in with a lot of other European knock-offs. No value beyond utility, I'm afraid.

To fix it so it's playable would be one thing, probably cheap enough to make it good beginner's guitar. To restore it to as-new condition would be nigh onto impossible, you need a lot of exact replacements. In fact, you might actually make some money by offering it on eBay as a 'repair parts special' - it's loaded with parts ready for restoring other guitars. ;D

HTH


sumgai

[jmartyg]

yeah, he wants to take up guitar if its good.
but the thing needs a bridge. and im sure it is not a standard tune-o-matic replacement (life would be too simple).

I guess he can weigh his options.

[sumgai]

marty,

It came with a prototype roller bridge, made of what's known as pot metal - essentially a cast aluminum that's not very strong. Plate it with chrome, and ship it!, that was the motto, back in the day.

You can safely put on almost any bridge, so long as the string spacing is approximately where it should be. The nut can be any material, but you probably want a pre-cut one, so measure the neck width before you go shopping. Replace the whole set of tuners (properly called 'machine heads').

You've been here long enough to know the drill on the pots and the like, right?


If you hadn't said that the neck appears to be straight, I'd say that this was door-stop fodder. As it is, you have a duty to make sure it's actually playable, before you turn him loose on it. If he gets discouraged because the thing is a log, we'll take away all your attaboys!

;D

HTH


sumgai

[ChrisK]

If he gets discouraged because the thing is a log

You mean this log?

A Log of Renown

[jmartyg]

If it was that, i'd tell him it was worthless and i'd gladly take it off his hands to dispose of..


anyway, the bridge screw (pegs, things, whatever, 6 beer in me) are 2 3/4" centere to centre. so that pretty much seals the deal as a cheap, quick guitar for him.

A closer inspection on the pots leads me to believe they are useable. what i thought was crud is actually rotted-away rubber. theye tight to turn(in the good way). no real way to know antything about the electronics until its plugged in.

this was played and played alot. the red paint has one spot worn to the bare wood. The frets are flat, but dont show any wear.