NEW LEASE OF LIFE

I’ve taken up guitar in my 70s and have one lesson a week. My tutor has a lot of young kids who can’t afford much and so, for a while now, I’ve been buying cheap secondhand guitars from various sources – Gumtree, car-boot sales, etc. Then I clean them up, respraying if necessary, before sorting out the frets and electrics and generally getting them into a good playable state. They can then be sold to the kids for what they’ve cost me. With a bit of careful work and setup, these cheap instruments made in the Far East can become usable for the amateur player.

Recently, however, someone gave me a couple of wrecks that he no longer wanted – an Encore LP style that I passed on to a friend to restore for himself, and a strange Strat-style shape that I’ve done myself. The latter was covered in dust and grime, the electrics were shot and, strangely enough, it had an angled back headstock and the scarf joint was broken. My initial thoughts were to scrap it, but looking at it made me wonder about its history. The six-screw trem bridge had been replaced – badly – by a two-point one, there was a hole on the lower horn (as if a left-hand strap button had been fitted), and while it had an unpainted body, it had dents and black marks all over it. But somehow it still had character. I’d never seen an angled head on a Strat before, so what was it? If it could talk it would probably tell quite a story.

I stripped it down to its component parts, reglued the scarf joint, levelled the frets, etc, and finished the neck in Tru-Oil and wax. To retain the character of the body I just gave it a light sanding, filled the old screw holes and gave it the same treatment as the neck. Having seen a YouTube Darrell Braun test of some cheap Alnico V pickups, I bought a complete scratchguard with these and the electrics pre-wired – less than £20 from eBay can’t be bad. I have to say that with some careful setting up, I’m very pleased with the results.

However, I’m coming to the conclusion I’m more Leo Fender than Les Paul. My playing isn’t up to much, but my guitar rebuilding skills have improved greatly. Tony Bagwell via email

Thanks for sharing your sleek, Strat-like creation with us, Tony – it does you huge credit that you’ve so lovingly repaired overlooked instruments so they can bring music to youngsters and avoid the depressing waste of becoming landfill. Yours is an uncommon devotion to bringing guitars back to life that’s against the spirit of our disposable age and all the more impressive for it. We hereby award you our Star Letter prize to help you tune them up.