a messed up john birch

[WezV]

i may be crazy for bidding on this but i know i can fix the issues it has







yes, the body is split.  yes, its rather messed up.... but nothing that isnt a rather easy repair

best case:
fix structural issues and its playable

worst case:
fix structural issues ans refinish and make it playable.. and maybe need some original pickups too ( or modern jaydee remakes of JB pickups)

[Telerocker]

At least you won't have to relic it.  :lol:

[WezV]

well thats the thing... once i fix the structural issues i have to decide if i want to respay it.... and then i have to decide if i should relic it

you know John birch did the blue to white burst that gibson made famous with the robet guitar.... i am considering that and the green burst along with the original tobacco

[Telerocker]

well thats the thing... once i fix the structural issues i have to decide if i want to respay it.... and then i have to decide if i should relic it

you know John birch did the blue to white burst that gibson made famous with the robet guitar.... i am considering that and the green burst along with the original tobacco

That's is going to be a lot of work. Wish you succes. But, blue to white would make a cool guitar. Plus a set of BKP's.

[WezV]

not sure... plan is to get it playable first, see how it sounds and then get JD to make replicas... I know Phil King cant get tim to make JB replicas so i doubt i stand a chance

[gwEm]

i know you've always fancied working on a john birch! good luck

[WezV]

I know, i have always  been A bit of A JB/JD fan because i am a builder that normally ends up screwing things together on a kitchen table .... although he is 30 years a head of me and his kitchen table is more vintage than mine!

This may be a keeper when its done... and if i could own a zemaitis too i would be a happy man

[gwEm]

would be cool to get some original pickups.

have been playing my JB V alot recently in fact, its a funny guitar.. i don't think its amazingly well built, my agile les paul has arguably better workmanship and playability. can't argue with the sound though of those JB pickups!!

[WezV]

exchuctly

these things were top notch in the 70's and i know jaydee still makes old boy replicas with old boy pickups so its worth a go if i can get it sorted.

John Birch is a proper guitar hero for me... i know he never built perfect guitars and i know he could be a bit of an arse... but he did build guitars from the ground up with very little help

my guitars hero's seem to be john birch, brian may and tony Zemaitis for this reason.... i doubt i will ever get a zemaitis at this price but if i do  the wife will be more pissed of with me than she is now

[Philly Q]

i doubt i will ever get a zemaitis at this price but if i do  the wife will be more pissed of with me than she is now

And how pissed off is that?  :lol:

I like it.  The back of the guitar looks awesome with that big circular control rout.  Very Heath Robinson.

[kevinr]

I had 4 JBs at one stage, 1 was this LP style which he called Cobra! it had std sized humbuckers  they were not very good at all ( this one looks like it had these p/ups) the other three had his own size and style p/ups, two were beautifully built and two average.

[PhilKing]

If you do get it, call Alan Exley - he might be able to put a set of original size JB together for you - he rewound one of mine.

[WezV]

cheers phil - i may do that

first thing will be taking it all apart to assess what needs doing... i am hoping the pickup cavities were not altered for the humbuckers - but we will see.  I am quite curious what pickups it has in it, i would guess that bridge pickup is a dimarzio but we will see

[HTH AMPS]

well done taking on that project, its nice to restore someone's work like that.

is there nobody who'd do repros of those old JB pickups? - if Tim isn't interested, maybe Spence at Shed Pickups would be interested or the guys at Wizard Pickups.

[WezV]

well there is john diggins and possibly alan exley as mentioned above - both worked for john birch. Diggins still makes john birch style pickups for his old boy replicas,  Exley seems to hoard old parts

there is also the occasional ebay auction to keep my eye open for - like this one
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1975-John-Birch-Hyperflux-G-Guitar-Pickup-RARE-/130448510622?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item1e5f564e9e

the problem for most pickup makers is the metal work - i absolutely want the original look if i can get it... i already have normal pickups wound to sound like an Iommi pickup