This guitar arrived at the shop in early February 2026 with the high E string broken, a condition commonly found on many neglected auction guitars.
The first inspection raised immediate concerns about the guitar’s long-term storage conditions. Every exposed metal component showed visible rust or oxidation, and any area capable of trapping dust, dirt, or fibers had collected a noticeable buildup. The body displayed heavy scuffs and signs of rough handling or extended storage wear. The autographed pickguard was slightly warped along one side, most likely from a combination of being screwed down too tightly and long-term exposure to heat in a non-climate-controlled environment.
When plugged in, the guitar produced no signal, preventing normal electronics testing at intake. The pickup selector felt as rough and compromised as the exterior hardware appeared. The volume and tone pots had inconsistent movement, suggesting that even if signal output had been present, the controls would likely have been noisy, uneven, or unreliable.
Despite the visible rust, the tuners remained functional enough to bring the remaining five strings up to pitch for basic neck and fret testing. No fret buzz was found during this limited test. A notched straightedge showed that the neck had appropriate relief and remained structurally usable.
The frets, however, were in poor condition. They had not been dressed, and many had sharp ends, making inspection and play testing uncomfortable. The guitar arrived without a tremolo arm, and the exterior condition of the bridge made it clear that the bridge assembly would need to be replaced rather than reused.
Further disassembly revealed spider egg nests and dead spiders inside the tremolo block cavity. The tremolo springs also showed rust, though not as severely as the exposed exterior hardware.
The tuners were removed and found to be stamped JIN HO, indicating they were a better-quality OEM tuner set than might be expected on many entry-level promotional guitars. Unfortunately, even their higher-quality construction could not overcome the extent of corrosion and long-term neglect. Replacement tuners and string trees were determined to be necessary.
The original plastic nut remained usable for basic testing, but it will be removed and replaced with a bone nut, consistent with the standard approach used on most Back From The Dead Guitars rebuilds.
The electronics cavity was unshielded and routed in a full “swimming pool” configuration, allowing for multiple pickup layouts during factory production. The original pickups were ceramic. Once removed, the pickup readings were:
Neck: 5.32 kΩ
Middle: 5.25 kΩ
Bridge: No reading
The electronics consisted of unbranded A500K potentiometers, a single capacitor shared by the two tone controls, and a printed circuit board-style selector switch commonly found on entry-level import guitars.
Overall Assessment
This guitar arrived in non-working, heavily neglected condition. While the neck and body remained structurally viable, the hardware, electronics, bridge, tuners, string trees, nut, pickups, and frets all required replacement or major corrective work before the instrument could be returned to dependable playing condition.
Because of the extent of the required work, this guitar was not treated as a simple restoration. It became a full rebuild project intended to turn a neglected promotional display guitar into a reliable, playable instrument.
