[JacquesP]

So, my friends, I've just retrieved my old, and first, electric guitar which dates back 1969 or 1970 !!!
It is in seriously bad shape though ... my brother had salvaged it (or should I say "rescued") when my parents moved from the old house to their one. I'm sure my Mom, knowing that she never keeps "old" stuff, would have thrown it away.
This goes back to the mid-seventies --- Gosh, That is OLD news!!

Anyway, I plugged it in this morning and it DID produce some "sounds" (with strings that would be at least 30 years old).
There is a fair amount of rusty stuff on both pickups and the No. 3 and 4 strings do not produce any sound at all. I suppose they are partly fried! (the pickups, I meant).

I would like to keep the old guitar as a "souvenir" of my very first electric guitar but it would also be nice if it could be played.

The big question: Would it be worth it?

I'll post some pictures when I have more time.
BTW, this thing does show any model/serial anywhere ... any chance of finding out what those are, if any?

 

[JacquesP]

Answering to both of you Greco and Gtone:
Here are some pictures Looks pretty rough!!
... yes, it is a "bolt-on neck" !! Bad, right?
As I said, it would be nice if I could play it, and the fact that the pickups (at least one of them) seem fried at the 3rd and 4th strings ... could well be a shot in the dark.
I wonder if I can find some old/original/replacement stuff.

 

[JacquesP]

More pictures ...

 

[JacquesP]

Looking forward to the pics. Please consider taking quite a few (we love pics), including closeups of the tuners, nut, frets, pickups, controls and inside the control cavity.

Once the pics are posted, someone should be able to help you with information about the model, etc.

I'll have more pictures ... for the control knobs and the insides.
Thanks for the replies!

 

[JacquesP]

I'll reply to all of you in a short while .. in the meantime, here are more pictures of the knobs, switch and the "insides" ...
Picture 1 and 2: the knobs and the "insides" ...

 

[JacquesP]

Pictures 3 and 4 : the switch and the "insides" ...

 

[JacquesP]

and, finally, the upper neck and its tuners/plastic knobs ... yes, they are showing some (lots?) of deterioration and they are indeed a little hard to turn with the strings on, but moving freely with no strings.

 

[JacquesP]

Just because the neck is bolt on doesn’t mean it is not worth fixing up. I have played some really nice bolt neck Les Pauls. You won’t get as much if you decide to sell it but if it plays well and it means something to you I’d restore it. Even if it needs new pickups and electronics you should be able to get the parts for under $150. Checkout guitarfetish.com. Cleaned up a bit and in working order if it’s a decent player it is worth at least $350 or so.

I did check that site: gosh! Loads of stuff there!
If I were to send an email for info, it does specify that :

"What Parts Fit My Guitar?
Sorry we cannot tell specifically what fits your guitar based on manufacturer, model name or serial #. Most manufacturers made and still make MANY, MANY versions of the same model with slight changes in hardware. We include measured drawings for almost all of our products, and a good hands-on measurement of what you have will be the first step to replacing parts. Many parts DO FIT, but need very slight adjustment to fit well." (quoted from the Guitarfish.com site)

 

[JacquesP]

Your guitar is in much better condition than I imagined before seeing the pics.
VERY NICE!!

Have you done any kind of work on guitars in the past?

Can you solder? Never tried !!



Many Teles and Strats have bolt-on necks. They don't seem to be all that bad.
Some people even like them.
(I'm ducking the flames...LOL)



It is interesting that only 2 strings are not sounding. I'm thinking it might somehow just be the ancient strings and not the pickups that are to blame.



Personally, I wouldn't even try. I would work with what you have for now.

More questions:

How do the tuners look? They are showing some degree of deterioration (see pictures) and they turn smoothly with NO strings but hars as hell with them on.
Have the plastic knobs on the tuners deteriorated? Do they turn smoothly?
How is the fret wear?...especially on the first 5 frets or so. I would say at least 50% OK .. playable with not much "buzz".

@laristotle is a friend of mine that has done a lot of of this type of "restoration" work with a variety of guitars. I'm sure that he (and hopefully many other forum members) will comment and make suggestions.

Sorry about all the questions. As you can tell, I like these projects and the challenges they present.

I've replied to some of your lines with a bold/italic lettering added to them.
Comments and questions well appreciated, thanks!!

 

[JacquesP]

I am looking for a 24-3/4" neck for a project. If playable please do not discard without contacting me.

I'll keep that in mind.

 

[JacquesP]

Tap on the slugs with a metal object to see if it’s the pickup or the strings.

Slugs ??
And what exactly do I attempt to do here?

 

[JacquesP]

Mansfield guitar brand started by the Peate Family who had a music store on Mansfield Street in Montreal since 1899. In the late 60s early 70s they had these good quality but low-cost guitars made in Japan to almost identical standards as the big name brands here in America. Hoshino Gakki (Ibanez factory) produced these guitars.

Start with a fresh set of strings and see how it feels.
Even as a wall hanger, it's cool to still have your first guitar.

Yeah ... I guess this is a logical first step.
Strange enough about those two strings not being "picked up" by the pickups!

 

[JacquesP]

You beat me to it.

The results of the testing will be interesting as only one pickup is "symptomatic" and this assumedly a bar magnet.

Mysteries are so much fun.

Screw heads

OK, good !
Time to get back to it then.
I'll "tap" on both pickups "slugs" ... we'll see what happens.

 

[JacquesP]

BTW, I'll have another piece of old (again) equipment that will need a bit of info ... old tube amp (head) from the late 60's!
Not even sure if it works ... haven't yet turned it ON, nor tried to.
In the meantime, I have to restring the old Mansfield with half decent strings which I do not have at the moment.
That'll have to wait until next week ... rats!

 

[JacquesP]

He`s about 6 hrs from me ! Just around the corner !

Thanks for thinking of me !

Hey Frenchy !!
I thought of sending you some pics of this very old tube amp ... dating back to 1969-1970.
I plugged it in today and it lits up; I couldn't plug an external speaker to it as I don't have one. Not sure if it works or not.
The last picture has blue arrows indicating where I can see the tubes lit up.
Anyway, the brand plate is gone: no way to know what this is. Made in Canada says the back info.
No idea about the wattage either. Probably very small in power.
Let me know what you can make of this.
BTW, where are you in Québec from 6 hours away? Gatineau?
Cheers!

 

[JacquesP]

Hi Jacques!
Thanks for the reply ! Much appreciated.


Based on the Pictures, this is a Stencil Garnet made tube amp. Serial number would place it 1973-74, the transformer numbers would determined this more. The picture is not clear so that I can make out the model number but I would imagine this to be two 6V6 for 17 watts of power.
I did see this on the plate: Model LN 90-P



NEVER !!! I repeat, never light up a tube amp without speakers connected. A tube amp needs a speaker load not burn out the output transformer... Ne jamais allumer sans haut parleurs....
Oops! I'll make sure not to do that again.


Greater Montreal region...
Gtr Mtl area would be about 4 hours from me ... if you drive at least 118 Km/h and do not stop too often.
This would make a nice little amp, its a small PA head, so great as is for bass.

(I did some replying within the quote ...)
Well, all I need to do now is to get back to my brother here in town and get this very heavy speaker box - the speaker had been replaced with a single 15" ... can't remember the brand, but it is apparently something medium-high grade (for the time period).
Supposedly, it still works.

Again, thanks for the reply and information.

 

[JacquesP]

@JacquesP
Did you test the individual pole pieces of the original pickups? How are they?

Thanks Greco.
Well, what I did was to tap (gently) with a small screwdriver on each pole, one at a time, for each pickup.
There is "sound" coming from each pole, however, it is scratchy and very irregular: sometimes it does produce a sound, sometimes not and this is very chaotic/irregular as I tried it while turning the volume knobs.
Seems also that two poles on one pickup act very strangely ... sometimes it does produce some sound, sometimes not.

 

[JacquesP]

Seems like you will be shopping for some pickups.

Please keep us updated regarding the progress with bringing the guitar back to being playable. Thanks

Will do !