Another guitar I picked up on Ebay is this Washburn. It needs a little repair work and TLC.
Here’s the listing text:
“Washburn Maverick Professional Series BT-2 electric guitar. Easy project to while away those dark winter evenings. The guitar is in pretty good condition physically, bar a few dings and scratches on the front of the body. The neck is good and straight with very little fret wear. One of the Grover tuners has lost the cap off the back, but they all work smoothly. The issues that have to be fixed are simple ones.
The pickups are loose in their mountains and need to be fixed into the pickup rings. That will require some springs and the right size screws.
The tone knob is loose. It needs pulling off and the nut on the pot below it needs tightening.
The jack on the side is loose. The mounting needs increasing and the nut needs tightening.
This is a very good quality guitar and it is well worth fixing up. And it is a pretty easy project. A good first project if you are planning to fix up a guitar.”
So the black pickup screws and springs arrived so was able to fit them. The pickup height will need adjusting later but we’re good for now.
Next I take a look at the 3 way selector switch. Because it lost it’s knob I got a replacement 3 way les paul switch. However I then notice that the original switch doesn’t hold one of the positions, when you try to put it into one of the settings it clicks back to the middle. So I open it up to take a look at how easy it will be to swap for my new switch. Clearly some soldering work will be needed and I need to figure out what the intended wiring scheme was. Time to take pictures and read up on how these switches work. It looks a little convoluted but I guess that’s to allow for the middle position to do both pickups, hence some messing about with jumper wires is going on I think. Red is the wire from the bridge, yellow is the neck wire, grey is from the volume.
As I handling the guitar I notice another little flaw. One of the caps on the one of the tuners/machine heads is missing. I’m pretty sure this hasn’t popped off since I started working on it.
So though I will replace the 3 way selector switch I strung it to get a feel for it. I really like it. Other than my epiphone ES-345 this is my only other guitar from the gibson, epiphone and so on side of things, the rest are all fender clones.
I do like it though I need to check the wiring as the output jack isn’t 100%. There is also that dodgy 3 way selector switch which lacks its knob and wont stay in the bridge pickup only position. So it’s turning out to be a little bit more involved than advertised but I think it’s worth while.
There is also that missing cap on one of the machine heads to deal with. That’s purely cosmetic but niggles of course.
As I am practising I think this is becoming my favourite guitar. Currently learning Takin’ it Easy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YjECvHK1bE
I managed to swap out the selector switch and fit the new one in. Was a bit tricky as there wasn’t much play in the wire to the output jack so fiddly soldering work in a little cavity.
So another little repair required. I don’t know where it went but the bottom strap pin came off, luckily it wasn’t when I was wearing it so the guitar didn’t fall. I got some lovely looking grover strap pins to replace the old pins
Link to Grover eagle strap pins on amazon
I really like these strap pins. Very pretty!
Since I am playing this guitar a lot, I thought I would treat it to a humbucker upgrade on the bridge. After some failed bidding on ebay, I got a new Seymour Duncan SH-1B ’59 Model Humbucker pickup and installed that. I also fixed the bridge as I had put it on upside down.
So next time it gets restrung (I managed to swap the bridge round and change the humbucker by just loosening the strings) I will swap the Grover tuning peg that has lost its cap.
I decided to add a Seymour Duncan SH-1N ’50 Model Humbucker pickup to the neck.
Cost of the Project:
Washburn guitar from eBay £37.65
Washburn postage £12.60
2 x pair black pickup screws & springs £3.95
Magideal Khaki guitar strap £3.99
JD Metal 3 way box toggle switch £6.99
Grover artist strap buttons eagle £12.99
Seymour Duncan SH-1B ’59 humbucker £77.00
Seymour Duncan SH-1N ’59 humbucker £72.20
Grover Rotomatic tuner £8.49
Total project cost £235.86
Robbie's Guitar Projects 