merciful-evans Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 e-bay. A calculated risk of a buy. A Strat build by English luthier Paul Richardson. His brand ‘FingerBone’ was a small workshop operation during the 80s. This old girl wont win any beauty contests. I’m ok with the strat shape but the finish doesn’t appeal at all. Shame too coz the grain underneath is nice. I wouldn’t change it though. Disrespecting a rare and unusual model like this is something I just wont do. Other than the custom build, other attractive points in favour of the guitar is • Ebony fingerboard • Flat fingerboard (I got seller to send me pix of a 10” rad template over the neck) Its bigger. I would guess 14” • Good hardware: Schaller tuners. Kahler bridge. • Bare Knuckle pickups. A Stormy Monday HB in bridge and a Yardbird single coil at neck. It arrived couple of hours ago. When I opened the box there was an unpleasant smell of tobacco. It was far worse on the packing material than the guitar. I got all of the bubblewrap & cardboard out of the house pronto! I lost no time cleaning this old girl up. It didn’t look too dirty, but warm soapy water and some stiff sponge freshened it up pretty good. I cant smell tobacco anymore but if & when I do, I’ll clean it some more. Its heavy. On the scales it comes in at exactly 9lbs. I’ve never seen a bridge like it. It reads ‘Kahler USA HYBRID’. I checked online and these are expensive. There a locking screw at the back to disable the trem. This is now applied & the whammy bar has gone into a drawer with all the others. The frets are jumbo sized but too flat. I’m not sure if there’s enough height to allow a proper crowning job. Hmmm… I tuned up (it was sent with slack strings) and the action was far too low. I raised it a couple of times until the notes started to ring clear. It will play better when I get some heavier strings on. These are 9-42. Neck is comfy. It’s a V shape. I plugged it in to find that the pots are noisy. Theres also a weird wah-wah noise when turning the tone pot. At this point I’m still not sure that I’m keeping this guitar. I decided I was keeping it when I heard the Yardbird pickup. What a sound! A quick try turned into 40 minutes of playing indulgence. A superb hollow woody sound. Pretty good sustain; roughly the same as my Gibsons. Now: To make this usable: All new pots and wiring. Fret level & crowning or maybe even a complete re-fret. New strap pins (its got pins for some locking system at the mo). Maybe a new nut, or shim up the present one. This guitar is like a nightingale. Looks plain & drab, but a voice to die for. It is certainly got a nicer sound than any of my other electrics. This some info I found about FinerBone and founder Paul R. The latest post here is 2014. Though if you scroll down far enough to 2008, Paul Richardson himself has posted. The 2nd post by Dominic Whiten is pretty interesting. http://www.guitarsite.com/database/Guitars/rec/5246/wwwboard/messages/45.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 that is a pretty cool axe you got there... 9lbs is heavy for a strat.. what is the body made from? having a hard time figuring that grain out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted March 3, 2017 Author Share Posted March 3, 2017 Not sure of the wood. His guitars were always heavy. He used maple a lot but also lots of exotic woods. This doesn’t look ‘exotic’ to me. The grain looks maple-like, but I’m sure that proper maple would be a lot heavier still. This is best I can show with a phone-pic under tungsten light this evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Looks nice, congrats - I like a flat board.... The Bare Knuckle Yardbird is designed for a Tele (they say)..... https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=teles&sub=vintage_hot&pickup=yardbird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markini Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 The machining on all the hardware looks exceptional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Looks like a well made guitar. I am a great fan of Bare Knuckle pickups so I think that choice is very much a plus. Ebony fingerboard is another plus. Nice wide frets score again from my point of view. As long as she plays as well as she looks... Good buy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 These sort of guitars are normally great quality. They just don't have great resale because they aren't known. I'd have one. I bet it's nice to play. I wouldn't be so quick to change the pots and wiring. Spray contact cleaner in them and touch the solder joints with an iron to check there aren't any dry joints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 These sort of guitars are normally great quality. They just don't have great resale because they aren't known. I'd have one. I bet it's nice to play. I wouldn't be so quick to change the pots and wiring. Spray contact cleaner in them and touch the solder joints with an iron to check there aren't any dry joints. I hadnt thought of the hot iron. Good tip. Thanks Larry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Even better if you flow on a little bit of fresh solder Fron an aesthetic standpoint this isn't really my cup of tea but I bet it sounds really cool with that bare knuckle pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Nice guitar, congratulations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megafrog Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 I like the finish and love the Kahler! Nice find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Not sure of the wood. His guitars were always heavy. He used maple a lot but also lots of exotic woods. This doesn’t look ‘exotic’ to me. The grain looks maple-like, but I’m sure that proper maple would be a lot heavier still. This is best I can show with a phone-pic under tungsten light this evening. taking a guess.. alder or ash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 What an interesting thread and guitar! Bit of a sad story in the posted link. It's a crying shame it didn't work out well for him as it seems that his instruments were / are greatly coveted by those who own them. I hope his son finally ended up with one of his dad's guitars. Having read through the comments in the link in the OP I agree that to refinish the 'old girl' would be wholly inappropriate. Bizarrely two of those commenting in the link were discussing a guitar sold by my local mom'n'pop shop, Twang Guitars, in S-E London - just five minutes walk from my house! I'd never heard of Fingerbone guitars before and had a quick google to find out some more of their history. Not much info out there but I think I came across the original eBay listing for your guitar in which the seller states; "One piece flame maple body...". Fascinating little piece of English Guitar History you have bought yourself, m-e! Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 I'd never heard of Fingerbone guitars before and had a quick google to find out some more of their history. Not much info out there but I think I came across the original eBay listing for your guitar in which the seller states; "One piece flame maple body...". Fascinating little piece of English Guitar History you have bought yourself, m-e! Pip. I'm sure you're right about the ad Pip. I suspected that the description was wrong simply because maple is just so heavy. They wouldnt evem make LPs out of it. But I also just came across this from Poland. It seems to be the same guitar. Also described as maple bodied! Looks like it was in Poland in December! Another bit of evidence to support maple as the body wood. http://www.ebay.pl/itm/182382269111 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 ...I also just came across this from Poland. It seems to be the same guitar. Also described as maple bodied!...Looks like it was in Poland in December!.. Actually, m-e, THAT'S the ad I saw! In which case I DIDN'T see 'your' eBay listing at all! How funny! Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 I'm sure you're right about the ad Pip. I suspected that the description was wrong simply because maple is just so heavy. They wouldnt evem make LPs out of it. But I also just came across this from Poland. It seems to be the same guitar. Also described as maple bodied! Looks like it was in Poland in December! Another bit of evidence to support maple as the body wood. http://www.ebay.pl/itm/182382269111 If that isn't the same guitar then I'm a Dutchman. Maple is a very heavy wood it is true but maybe 9lbs would be about the ball park for a Strat shape. I still reckon it is a brill guitar m-e. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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