Cheap n Nasty (in a desirable way)

[maverickf1jockey]

Columbus Series 2 Telecaster copy (1970s Japanese I think) with a broken neck (picked up for £18.).

I've fixed the neck with some decent filler (it wasn't snapped but it looked like it was going to split down the middle if I upgraded the strings.

Due to a lack of funds I need to put it to the side.

Things that need doing:

Good tuners
New bridge
New pots
New knobs
Pickup rewind
Possible fret job

It is a nice playing guitar and, at its horrible condition upon purchase, I would have put it on par with a pacifica or a midrange squire.
Hopefully my mods will make it comparable to a modern Mexican or even Japanese Fender model at the very least.

[Jonny]

Oh, well I still have an anonymous RG model in the garage, a Dean Baby V and I suppose my RG08LTD but I just love it.

I'd love to buy a Stratocaster and pimp that.

[il˙ti]

I still want to get a cheap strat at some point, for Yngwie-ing.

[PhilKing]

I have a Richwood Explorer that cost me 105 quid off of Ebay.  I replaced all the metalwork, electrics and pickups (Warpig & MQ), and now it sounds great.  I also picked up a Raven Park West PRS Hollowbody clone which I did the same thing to (except this one got a set of AII Mules), and again it worked out great. 

[ToneMonkey]

Fenix are good and cheap and ideal for pimping.  They're well built and they weigh an absolute tonne.

I had a nasty Vantage which I hollowed out into a thinline strat.  A squire got turned into a cigar box guitar and I still have an old Ibanez Firebird clone which I'm 50/50 on whether to do up myself or just pass it on.
Got various other guitar fiddly bits in the shed, necks I've reshapped, bodies in various stages of slow death etc.

Depends what you're trying to do to it, are you just going to mod it gentle or are you thinking of breaking out a router and a drill?  If it's just for an experiment/learning then the cheaper the better as there's more things to fix.

[GuiTony]

I have a Richwood Explorer that cost me 105 quid off of Ebay. 

Co-incidentally, I have a Richwood Double Cut that I got from eBay.  I've actually de-pimped it by removing the VHIIs that it came with (they are destined for a Kawai!), and I'll try to sell it on shortly.  With the VHIIs installed it was a great playing and incredible sounding guitar - I really was surprised and tempted to keep it (except I would have been shot).  It was a match for some of the far-more-expensive guitars loitering around my music room.  Apparently, it was Korean made, so I guess that might explain the basic quality.

Since de-pimping it, I've still been impressed with the quality and playability of the basic guitar.  Properly set up with a great low action, no buzz and a decent easy-to-play neck.  It's a bit bling with the gold hardware and all the inlays, but amazing for the money!

[Sollophonic]

Im looking for a cheap Squier Strat to do what Sonny Landreth has done to his. Drop a Tele bridge and pickup in, and set it up for slide.

Mind you I do some pretty drastic things to Teles anyway (see avatar)

[dheim]

a year ago i bought two cheap ibbies, the cheapest being an RGR321. swapped pickups with a set of Pigs, changed circuitry and nut. and now it sounds great. and it's the kind of axe i can use live without too many problems... all for a starting price of 270€! (plus more than that to modify it...)
and it's very beautiful.

[ash96]

Shamelessly showing off:

Link to my modded Classic Vibe: http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=17525.0

ooohhh i REALLY like that!!!