Beater Guitars - We've seen your best, now show us your BEATERS!

[animalfarm]

In the past, all my beater gits have been project gits from refinishing and

modding. I would eventually sell those on Craigslist, then use the $$$ to fund

the next purchase.

Now, all my current gits are in top-notch shape, and I don't really have one that I would

risk bangs and dents to without a second thought. This means I now have to BUY one so I can

have a Beater Guitar.

(Pay attention guys - this is the PERFECT EXCUSE for your ladies).

"Dear - I CAN'T risk my other guitars, I HAVE to buy a BEATER GUITAR"....

 

Closest I can come right now is a recent purchase - an SX HAWK Strat copy w/ P-90s

from Rondo Music for $119.00. But I don't WANT to bang it up...

 

[Not-Too-Late]

Sorry, but you will have to give me a little time on this. As of now I own . . . oops, my wife owns . . . but one solitary guitar. But I'm working on a second, since the ONE was a gift to my wife.

[Charles Obscure]

Hey Animalfarm, I had one of those Rondo P90 "Strats" once when they were called SST I think. I ended up sending it back for various reasons though.

Most of mine are in good shape, and there are a few I don't worry too much about when taking them out on camping trips, jamming parties or similar occasions where dents and scrapes may happen.

Alvarez-Yairi DY-48. My "go-to" acoustic sixer:

 

Gibson B45 12 string that's seen better days missing pickguard (I recently had a new pickguard made for it):

 

Fender Jaguar with so much wear and tear I wouldn't notice a new dent or scratch:

 

The next ones are in relatively new condition, but are eligible for taking out to jam at parties and such.

Cheapo Dano 63 that's in nice shape, good for slide guitar:

 

Squier CV 50's bass. Cheap but good for solid bottom end:

 

Rogue fretless. Good for party jams but it becomes increasingly difficult to play the more I drink. It's in front of a G-DEC and B-DEC which are the amps I use playing out where I don't need more than 30 watts:

[brianh]

I guess you could call this my beater guitar since it's out all the time:

 

 

So is this one:

 

 

This one's a "vintage" beater:

 

[Charles Obscure]

I guess you could call this my beater guitar since it's out all the time:

 

 

 

I like that Junior! Especially with the shiny bigsby and pup cover!

[Supersonic]

[musicmaker99]

I guess you could call this my beater guitar since it's out all the time:

 

 

So is this one:

 

 

This one's a "vintage" beater:

 

 

OH NO, NO, NO! A GENESIS cannot be a beater...no way, no how! Well, except that pos I got a few weeks ago :

 

 

[musicmaker99]

My beater is a white Samick strat I bought at a pawn shop for $65 about 15 (at least) years ago. It was my one and only electric guitar for many, many years. Plays like butter, pups are well defined and relatively hot. Since Samick made a great many of the Epi's it feels VERY familiar, LOL.

 

[29Tudor]

I treat all my guitars the same, I don't consider any a Beater. However,

if I did this would be it. A no-name Strat knockoff, cost me $24.50

on Fleabay (+$12.50 shipping), tobacco burst, the name on the

headstock is a joke, one of the guys I used to jam with was a headstock

name snob. I dropped in a set of pups from a Korean Squier, it sounds

great! Lightweight plywood body, an EXCELLENT neck, one of my

easiest palying guitars. The tone is a chunky-smokey sound that I

really like, especially is position 4.

 

[Hungrycat]

^The reason it's a "beater"^

^ ^

[Pete B]

Damn it, I just put two £15 bids on ebay for a modder guitar. You shouldn't have started this thread

[Heilly]

Here's my beater. My 7 year old daughter plays it more than I do.... lol! It's a screamer though.

 

[Heilly]

Even it is a beater....

 

it is crying for black or black/silver knobs

 

 

 

....or just 4 of the same color knobs! hahahaha!

[RobinTheHood]

All of my guitars are beaters. Which one do you want to see?

[mrw1960]

Here is a pic of "Betty". She is a 2008 Squier Standard Strat HSS that I upgraded the pups to Fralin Blues Special Singles, and the Humbucker is a SD Pearly Gates Plus. A huge difference in sound. I bought the git for $120.00 new. It has chrome knobs and Black matching headstock. One of my fav gals, Betty Page,on the neck plate.Just a novel touch. It sounds just as good as my Squier CV 50's Strat.It has a 5" tremelo bar. The Humbucker is overwhelming to say the least.

[Heilly]

 

 

NICE!!!!!! I like Betty. You weren't lying when you said she was a "Beater"

[L5Larry]

Here's my archtop beater, 50's Silvertone.

 

 

It just got back from being in the trunk of a car for a 2000 road trip to play a wedding on a beach. I had to wipe the sand off it when I got home. It may be my beater, but I played tons of gigs with it.

[BlueEpiphone]

All of these guitars would be a pleasant surprise to find atop any dumpster. Please call me before you throw away your guitars.

Mine is the Junior with experimental finish #12 (I believe). The acrylic finish is not durable but it is a safe finish to apply spray indoors. The compressor is down for repair so that's why 2 weeks have passed without a new paint job. The tuners are very nice Levinsons. Has anyone heard of these before? I aplied some brittle wood glue inside the neck pocket before installing a new shim. There is a subtle change in tone that I (believe) I can hear. Next will be the bridge thread insert trick (as per animalfarm's tutorial). The pickup was also made milder by removing 2000 ohms worth of winding and it sounds OK by me. I don't know anything about winding pickups but unwinding them is a start. The little 3-way switch is a series/parallel/coil cut and pretty quiet even w/o humbucking.

[tweed2]

Here's my archtop beater, 50's Silvertone.

 

 

It just got back from being in the trunk of a car for a 2000 road trip to play a wedding on a beach. I had to wipe the sand off it when I got home. It may be my beater, but I played tons of gigs with it.

Love those old DeArmond gold foil pickups.

[ajzwart]

^The reason it's a "beater"^

^ ^

 

Eesh! Looks like a pretty clean break tho! I hope you fixed it! I broke an old epi studio, the break looked about like that one and I fixed it myself. I'm pretty good at handling my wood tho

[mrw1960]

NICE!!!!!! I like Betty. You weren't lying when you said she was a "Beater"

Thanks!! LOL!! Right!!

[Hungrycat]

Eesh! Looks like a pretty clean break tho! I hope you fixed it! I broke an old epi studio, the break looked about like that one and I fixed it myself. I'm pretty good at handling my wood tho

 

That's actually the second break, and it's anything but clean. Those two black lines sticking out of the headstock are the splines from the first repair. It's a hot mess. Right now, it's just sitting in it's case broken. I've actually thought about trying my hand at making a maple neck for it. It's just sitting in it's case broken. Maybe...

[tonello]

I've got a few beaters (I don't have my camera working right now so I'll add pictures later).

 

My favorite Mod Beater is my first Squire Strat (yes first, I have bought several more later on to use as Partcasters). About a year after playing the ocean blue handmedown from my uncle, I replaced the stock pups with Seymour Duncan Invaders.

 

My favorite Gig Beater is the same guitar. The Invaders sound ******* righteous on rhythm.

 

My favorite Bass Beater is my Epiphone Thunderbird. I picked that thing up for about $60 at a garage sale. The owner modded it up, and it looks like complete **** with paint peeling away, but I'll never get rid of it.

 

All time favorite though? Warmoth Partscaster that I assembled. I purposely made sure that I didn't get a finish of any kind cause I took the neck and body and painted it a solid black satin, and then sanded away most of it. Then I got a Seymour Duncan Dave Mustaine Live Wire set and installed them.

[Kong]

I sold this one, but it fits the bill as a beater. Got it for free on Freecycle, guy put it out with the trash. Threw in tuners and pickups I had laying around, and bought a cheap bridge and tailpiece for it. It was a fun project.

 

 

Here's a link to the original thread I posted on this guitar...

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/47970-goofy-les-paul-re-build-not-epi/page__p__652893__hl__freecycle__fromsearch__1#entry652893

[SketchyEtchy]

My Junior is my beater, just sits around the house being move and banged around. Gonna give it to my mum for a bit so she can learn the guitar. Yesterday it fell down the the stairs (this was my 7 year old sister and cousin monkeying around with it), but nothing broke off, just another added ding and tiny chip which is crazy.