you just gotta love it!

[jeffmarshall67]

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 04&alt=web

What's the worst thing you ever did to a guitar? I decided long ago a beautifully kept 60s era Yamaha 335 type guitar needed it's neck sanded down, f holes "altered", stickered up, every shred of electronics totally altered and a weird bridge replacement. I now see them going for $1500 regularly

[KenC]

The worst I've done were a couple of Krylon paint jobs to a '78 Jazz Bass that would have done Tim Page proud . That bass had been thoroughly trashed by the previous owner. I bought it used in '81; in three years its finish had faded from red to light pink, a seam in the body had opened up, the control cavity had somehow become packed with beach sand, and the maple fretboard with block inlays had been planed down and covered with an adhesive-backed rosewood veneer. The rosewood veneer was exactly as thick as the fret tangs, so as the adhesive dried out entire sections of the board lifted - frets and all. I saved enough money from college summer jobs to buy a '69 Precision neck and have the body professionally refinished. The P-bass neck came to me without frets, so I did a very mediocre refret that's lasted me almost twenty years. I will probably get it to a good luthier for a proper refret soon.

I have a couple of G&Ls that were treated badly by previous owners, and are in need of restoration. The worst case is an '82 L-1000 that was spray painted metallic purple and put back together while the paint was still wet. I've gotten about 95% of the purple paint off, and just need to decide on my options for refinishing. The body is very tight-grained ash, and the bass plays like a dream.

Ken

[guitar_ed]

I got a '60s Gibson EB-O bass that some goober had decided to modify in honor if his favorite bass player, Jaco Pasatorius. He pulled all the frets and sounded down the fret board so that you couldn't see where the fretlines were. And sanded off the finish, without removing the hardware.

I have since returned it to playable condition

edg

[john o]

uh, this was my first electric guitar, a 60's Hagstrom Kent.
I left it in the trunk of my dad's camaro on a hot summer day, and when I retrieved it, the tailpiece screws had all pulled out of the body, and the tailpiece was lying between the pickups. Guess it wasn't the best/hardest tone wood! I was able to rebuild it, use it for another 6 months, and sold it for $60. They go for a bit more than that now!.

[yowhatsshakin]

A little less horrifying than the mutilated Broadcaster headstock shown above:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-G-L-BROADC ... 3a9e63aa6d

Not exactly what I would have done with a Broadcaster. And finding the proper (period correct) neck pup is less trivial as it is made out to be in the blurb. But alas ….

- Jos