This guitar arrived at the shop in June 2026 after a short delivery route from North Central Wisconsin. After unpacking it on a hot summer afternoon, it was placed on the intake bench for its initial assessment.
The first thing that stood out was the finish. Even under a layer of dust, the deep red color immediately caught attention. It had more of a muscle-car red appearance than the typical red seen on many Strat-style guitars.
Initial electronics testing was completed with a multimeter, and readings were present in all five pickup selector positions. The original ceramic pickups measured approximately:
Neck: 5.9 kΩ
Middle: 5.6 kΩ
Bridge: 5.9 kΩ
The pots and selector switch were functional, but they clearly showed their age. While the guitar appeared to have been played, it did not present as an instrument that had been heavily used as someone’s main guitar for decades.
The frets were in very good condition for the age of the instrument, with only a few noticeable string divots present up to approximately the fifth fret. The original nut was plastic and showed visible wear in the string slots, but no open-string fret buzz was present during intake testing.
While attempting to bring the guitar up to pitch, the high E tuner button broke off, leaving the string unable to be brought fully into tune. The remaining strings were still usable for basic fret testing, and no fret buzz was found during the initial inspection. The tremolo bridge was sitting high on its posts when the guitar arrived. Because no tremolo arm was included, vibrato function and tuning stability under tremolo use could not be tested at intake.
Once disassembled, inspection began with the tuners. They were clearly past their expected service life and were not considered worth restoring for a rebuild intended to be reliable. The neck and sealed maple fretboard cleaned up with little effort. Some chipped paint was noted on the headstock.
The original electronics consisted of mini A500K potentiometers, a single capacitor shared between the tone controls, and a vintage-style import five-way selector switch. The pickups were ceramic, and the original wiring showed signs of age-related hardening. While the pickups and wiring could potentially have been reused, the better path for this rebuild was to retire the original electronics and upgrade the system.
The tremolo bridge required additional evaluation because it used an uncommon 60 mm two-post spacing. A search for a direct-fit replacement did not locate a modern bridge that would fit the existing body route without additional modification. Some bridges offered adjustable post-spacing ranges, but their full-size tremolo blocks would not fit the routed block cavity. For that reason, the original 60 mm two-post bridge was retained for cleaning, inspection, and reuse.
After all remaining parts were removed, the body was inspected more closely. The guitar body was constructed from multiple wood sections, which was a common cost-saving construction method for many import guitars from this general period.
Overall Assessment
Overall, this Dixon arrived as a cared-for instrument showing more age-related deterioration than heavy abuse. The body, neck, and frets were strong restoration candidates, while the tuners, electronics, wiring, nut, and several setup components had reached the point where replacement or thoughtful upgrading made the most sense.
The guitar’s uncommon 60 mm two-post tremolo layout, sealed maple fretboard, deep red finish, and harder-to-find Dixon branding made it a strong candidate for a careful Resurrection Tier rebuild rather than a simple cleanup and resale.
