Cagey
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For my next trick, I'm going to refinish and assemble an old Warmoth PRS-style VIP. I managed to snag this body off Craig's List about 2 years ago or so. It had been up for sale for many months on end, with no takers (he wouldn't ship it - you had to come get it - and he lived in BFE). Guy kept lowering the price, to no avail.
Anyway, it came with a chrome Gotoh 510 bridge, but the finish leaves something to be desired. Considering you can't get these any more, and the modern version of this would run about $700, I think I got a good deal at $200 even if I have to refinish it.
Here's what we have to work with...
The main differences between this and a modern VIP are the cutaway at the lower horn, and this one is only 1 1/4" thick vs. 1 3/4" for the modern version. There are other subtleties, but aren't worth mentioning.
The main carcass is Mahogany, but it's not a particularly attractive piece. As you can see in the second picture above, It has some goofy grain swirls to it, and it's poorly bookmatched. So, I think that's going to end up with an opaque black finish. The top will be a darker blue, and I haven't decided yet whether to burst that out to a midnight blue that transitions into the black, or just run the blue to the edge and call it a day.
The necks is a Warmoth-headed Rosewood/Rosewood part w/ gold 6100s. It'a an unusual piece you'd have to see to appreciate. The fretboard doesn't look like Rosewood, or at least not the Indian Rosewood they claimed it is. It's super-dense, like Bloodwood or Ebony, and has some pretty wild grain pattern to it. Everyone who's seen it thinks it's Brazillian Rosewood, but I can't say and I doubt they know any better, either. Whatever. It's nice.
Gonna use gold hardware, mainly because I already have it all. If I were starting from scratch, I'd more likely go chrome as that goes will with blue. But, gold looks good with anything, so no harm done.
I'll start stripping it later, so stay tuned.
Anyway, it came with a chrome Gotoh 510 bridge, but the finish leaves something to be desired. Considering you can't get these any more, and the modern version of this would run about $700, I think I got a good deal at $200 even if I have to refinish it.
Here's what we have to work with...
The main differences between this and a modern VIP are the cutaway at the lower horn, and this one is only 1 1/4" thick vs. 1 3/4" for the modern version. There are other subtleties, but aren't worth mentioning.
The main carcass is Mahogany, but it's not a particularly attractive piece. As you can see in the second picture above, It has some goofy grain swirls to it, and it's poorly bookmatched. So, I think that's going to end up with an opaque black finish. The top will be a darker blue, and I haven't decided yet whether to burst that out to a midnight blue that transitions into the black, or just run the blue to the edge and call it a day.
The necks is a Warmoth-headed Rosewood/Rosewood part w/ gold 6100s. It'a an unusual piece you'd have to see to appreciate. The fretboard doesn't look like Rosewood, or at least not the Indian Rosewood they claimed it is. It's super-dense, like Bloodwood or Ebony, and has some pretty wild grain pattern to it. Everyone who's seen it thinks it's Brazillian Rosewood, but I can't say and I doubt they know any better, either. Whatever. It's nice.
Gonna use gold hardware, mainly because I already have it all. If I were starting from scratch, I'd more likely go chrome as that goes will with blue. But, gold looks good with anything, so no harm done.
I'll start stripping it later, so stay tuned.
