'member when guitars were cool? cool shapes, wacky headstocks, silly pickguards? why are new
guitars so bland and boring? here at hipCRANK headquarters we take yawnsville strummers and turn
them into, well ... something completely different. recycling is in, so why not guitars?
see for yerself.
hipCRANKSTER
ORIGINAL AX:
a build it yourself guitar [strat] kit.
MOD:
lots of sawing. headstock shaped like old samurai Yamahas. body inspired by Fender Jaguars,
except with a sharp point, and a cutaway piece on the bottom similar to the zzRyder guitars
[you can play it 'tween your legs like a classic acoustic ... that is, if you want to].
originally intended to be painted solid teal, but wood grain was too nice,
so stained it instead, and painted the white pickguard teal instead [making the white pickups
jump out]. added the hipCRANKSTER logo on the pickguard and on the back cover plate. added an
additional black pickguard piece to the front to bring out all the colours.
NOTES:
kits are fun, but tricky. hardly anything fit properly, so there was a lot of work putting the
puzzle properly together. the finished guitar has a clean, solid sound and is surprisingly hefty -
must have lucked out with primo wood slab for the body. had to shield the cavity and
pickguard with conductive paint [she used to hum - now she purrs].
the hipCRANKSTER is the one that started it all.
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sgVIOLA
ORIGINAL AX:
a japanese SG copy body + a second hand schredder neck = somethin' new.
MOD:
major carving job on SG body turning the devil into a flunky, funky violin shape.
cut a hanging hole in the headstock and drilled in new tuner holes to add some pizzaz.
slipped in some vintage looking toaster pickups, chickenhead knobs and finished with tortoiseshell
pickguard and truss rod cover. added the hipCRANK logo for good measure.
NOTES:
is this the greatest looking axe in the world, or just plain overkill? you be the judge. turns
heads and plays smooth.
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elvisTOASTER
ORIGINAL AX:
an ancient, small Harmony acoustic beat to an inch of it's life.
MOD:
stripped original finish, leaving a nice stain pattern. thorough cleaning, sanding, and
gap filling. decorated with home made Elvis water decals, and sealed with Varathane.
replaced nut, saddle and strings.
NOTES:
a beater no more, but a plum decorative campfire geetar, with the added atraction of the Elvis
cheese factor.
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hondoBREEZE
ORIGINAL AX:
a nice Hondo acoustic with unplayable high action and an ugly plain finish.
MOD:
installed new brace behind bridge to straighten out the body. cleaned up fretboard,
sandblasted the body then out came the paints. slapped on a flowing sky,
water and land design. installed new, filed down compensated saddle.
NOTES:
a looker and now a player too - came with Grover tuners which is a nice bonus.
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yamaPENNY
ORIGINAL AX:
a kickass Yamaha D121 that in all likelyhood, was submerged for a couple of decades. no kidding,
there was greeny-blue oxidation powder on the frets, an output jack held together with duct tape,
and only sporadic electrical connections from one of the pickups.
MOD:
the lovely wood grain had to stay, with a homemade wood pickguard to bring out the details.
cleaned and resoldered the electronics. major cleanup of the fretboard
[wet-sanding and baby oil ... baby].
a new jack plate, new clear speed knobs [with Canadian Penny accent], painted pickup switch, and
copper accent plates added to the now bright pickups. another penny on the string retainer and
she's ready to rock.
NOTES:
just goes to prove a dumpster dive guitar is never unsalvageable. only problem is you'll wind
up shredding against your will.
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supaNOVA
ORIGINAL AX:
a nice little strat copy with a listless pickup but a fetching blue finish.
MOD:
chop chop chop and away we go! found some nice looking wood underneath - left that exposed for
accent. slapped on a chunky P-90 pickup, threw out the white pickguard and sculpted one out of
cheesy wood panelling material [thanks Mark], plopped on some vintage style metallic knobs, and
added shiny black plastic to finish it off.
NOTES:
NOVAs can be surprisingly good for a cheapo knock off, but hoo-boy, they're not much to look
at. until now that is. the supaNOVA is a great little guitar for small hands, or for travelling, but
with the added growl only a P-90 can elicit.
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hipCRANK WOODIE
ORIGINAL AX:
a deadly dull Esteban acoustic.
MOD:
stripped off the front finish [body, headstock and fretboard] elongated the sound hole, added a couple of "eyes" for a bit of
"The Scream" look. painted in a surf wavy design, and added hipCRANK logo on headstock.
NOTES:
not a bad player now, with added volume from the sound holes.
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WHITEY
ORIGINAL AX:
a shiny white small scale bass.
MOD:
a very nice instrument that was aching for a good clean up and a swanky pickguard. used a
fancy cut out tortoise shell to bring out the face parts, rounded off the truss rod cover, and
finished it off with primo metal volume and tone knobs.
NOTES:
sometimes a little dab'll do ya. [don't mess too much with a good thing].
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seeTAR
ORIGINAL AX:
a beat up small Pulse strat copy, with sticky tuners and electronic issues.
MOD:
pass the saw please. thank you. a total makeover, shaping the body into a bottle like sitar
form, painting it with sparkle car paint, adding heart shaped tuners, vintage chickenhead knobs,
and two-tone pearloid pickguard accents.
NOTES:
the project that just kept on growing - winding up with practically a brand new guitar. she is
the Frankenstein of the bunch.
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FIRST ACTOR
ORIGINAL AX:
A basic First Act guitar with one humbucker and a boring shape.
MOD:
rrrrrrreeeeeeooooowwwww. that's the scroll saw folks. took a nice chunk off the top, revealing
a nice grainy wood. sanded down the edges for the binding look [without the binding!]. painted the
humbucker to accentuate a neat little design hidden among the original dark colours. added a custom
pearly white pickguard and some matching touches to the headstock.
NOTES:
quite the looker now wouldn't you say? ok, maybe it's just me. but hey, it plays too!
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hipCRANK CARVER
ORIGINAL AX:
a vintage small bodied Japanese acoustic.
MOD:
new nut, new saddle, enlarged sound hole, decorated edges with solder iron creating a binding
look. carved wavy lines in the side panels. topped it off with black pearloid pickguard and truss
rod cover [even though there's no truss rod ... hah!].
NOTES:
a rattle box brung back to life. would have been a shame to waste those crazy tiger stripes.
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FENDER FACE
ORIGINAL AX:
a nice strat copy with surprisingly punchy pickups. suffering from some crackly controls and
a pedantic black and white motif.
MOD:
a little bit of saw reshaping got rid of that tired strat shape, then out came the paints.
finished it off with several layers of varathane to protect the painting, er guitar. then topped it
off by painting the pickups and switch knob silver, and replacing cheapo plastic knobs with some
cool retro vibe ones. also added a clear plastic cover for the back so you can see more faces.
NOTES:
an intensive paint job, with a hidden - not so hidden face angle. count them all! or not. oh,
and the name is a nod to local faves of yesteryear furnaceface [yay].
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XXX HOOCH SCHREDDER
ORIGINAL AX:
a nice blue sparkly washburn metal machine in need of a little cleaning.
MOD:
added a nifty little drinking flask below the bridge and a sparkly pink flame foam decal.
NOTES:
the flask is fully operational, and removable [held on by powerful magnets - thanks lee valley].
perfect for a shot of gatorade during a sweaty set.
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THE RECYCLER
ORIGINAL AX:
originally a salvaged dumpster dive special that was brought back to life with crazy glue,
new tuners, a floating bridge, and an ugly orange paint job. then i got a hold of it. heh-heh.
MOD:
a bit of sand blasting revealed a unique finish. scrapped original total paint job plan and just
varnished the thing. added some burnin' touches with a soldering iron, and slapped on a floor tile
pickguard [a rock design, so you can, uh, rock out].
NOTES:
the ultimate recycled guitar. actually a pretty good player now. a sweet strummin' campfire
guitar. folks can't keep their mitts off it.
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RAPTOR MAZE
ORIGINAL AX:
a nice Peavey Raptor EXP in need of a dusting and some rewiring.
MOD:
no dings or scrapes, so the saw gets a break. just an intricate paint job with graffitti
markers. did the pickups and switch knob to match. replaced tone and volume knobs with partially
painted clear speed knobs. layed down a mirror sheet on the pickguard
and back plate, just cuz.
NOTES:
the kids' fave cuz everyone loves a maze. perfect for those procrastinating times when you
should be practising f chords.
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KEY VANTAGE
ORIGINAL AX:
a very nice and hefty Vantage shredder with some crackly pots.
MOD:
screwed in a smattering of old keys, added a nice pearl pickguard piece around the volume
and tone knobs, which were accented with silver pointer arrows.
NOTES:
a deep and loud ax with the added metal touch due to the uh, added metal.
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LANDSCAPER
ORIGINAL AX:
a funky shaped bright yellow Striper (whateverthehell a Striper is?)
MOD:
sandblasted the surface and headstock, then painted with a rolling landscape design.
NOTES:
do you play it, or put it above the couch? maybe both.
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DINOCOUSTIC
ORIGINAL AX:
a shiny black parlor sized J Turser acoustic.
MOD:
a faux marbled stone pickguard courtesy of the Home Depot flooring section, and a dino skeletal
design from an abandoned 3-d wood puzzle (salvaged from the fireplace pile).
NOTES:
always a nice player, now a looker too.
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DANOFU
ORIGINAL AX:
a great Danelectric U2 reissue from a little old lady (hardly driven, er, played).
MOD:
Dano meet spiral saw. spiral saw meet Dano. a couple of tense and wild sawing moments and voila:
an F-hole. accented with bubbly white pickguard (from freezer wall material).
NOTES:
why have a hollow body without an F-hole? that's what i thought. and hey it's a Dano - so you
know it kicks twangy ass, now with extra volume from the cavity.
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YAMA WOODIE
ORIGINAL AX:
kick-ass Yamaha RGXD 121 shredder with H/S/H configuration, in horrible shape: lots of
electrical issues, and an awful dark brown stain job that had to go.
MOD:
inspite of my neighbour's pleading, a major saw job, totally revamping the ibanez-strat style metal axe
into an organic wood slab. lots of solder and repair work.
NOTES:
it is now the loudest quitar in the house. can you say crunch? - is
that a good thing?
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NORMAN JAG
ORIGINAL AX:
a discarded, and beaten to one inch of it's life Norman acoustic.
MOD:
major work, including refretting, new tuners, new bridge pegs, a total sand blasting, and
finished off with a dark stain, kinda like a Fender Jaguar motif.
NOTES:
turns out Norman's a respected name in the guitar world, and wouldn't you know it sounds
absolutely booming when brought back to life. couldn't resist the stain job, as i find acoustics to
be deadly dull to look at. now you can pretend to be playing a cool Jaguar without plugging in.
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SEE GREEN STRAT
ORIGINAL AX:
dark green J Turser strat copy with white pickguard.
MOD:
cleaned up the cavity and painted it solid black.
replaced white [yawn] pickguard with custom shaped clear plastic guard [3mm thickness],
showing cavity and wiring.
NOTES:
clear lucite guitars [Lou Reed] have always looked cool, but sounded crappy and were way too
heavy. this mod allows a peek at the cavity and all the purty coloured wires. sounds nice too
[wood vs plastic body]. this chunky plastic pickguard style is favoured by Danelectro,
though a clear one only appears on the Longhorn model, and that one has no cavity, which makes
the see-thru aspect kinda ... uh, pointless. also of note, there is no shielding [paint or foil], but
miraculously, no feedback or humming problems. huh [start your own shielding conspiracy theories
here].
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MIRROR PAUL
ORIGINAL AX:
J Turser mini Les Paul
MOD:
just some cleaning up of scratchy electronics, and added a custom mirror pickguard.
NOTES:
surprising full tone for a short scale axe - didn't wanna mess with that classic Les paul shape,
but couldn't resist adding the mirror for added pleasure. now you can see how dirty your fingernails
really are.
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Cu STRAT
ORIGINAL AX:
cheapo, light weight no name eBay special red strat with black pickguard and one humbucker.
MOD:
can you hear the saw buzzing? yup, a total makeover here as about half the body was sliced and
diced into a vintage style vibe. painted black, then sprayed copper metallic [ergo the Cu] on
front, with just a sprinkling on the back. tone and volume knobs, along with the pickup plastic
also painted copper to match. original pickguard cut to new guitar shape and sprayed with silver
splatter paint for a marble like finish. cut a hole in the headstock [perfect for hook hanging] and
painted top to match the body. later addition: a handle for easy transport and a bridge cover
(old salvaged drawer handle - filed to relic perfection).
NOTES:
a very light guitar with surprising acoustic tone due to large cavity - almost like a hollowbody.
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AQUA TELE
ORIGINAL AX:
J Turser vintage Tele, with loose, crackling input jack.
a nice guitar but with a pukey mustard finish.
MOD:
hand painted a wavy design [teal/white]. you can see
the brushstrokes [none of this car painting coating]. could not take the saw to this classic shape.
fixed up the input jack with some fresh solder, and tightened it all up.
NOTES:
a great sounding guitar with a beautiful twang.
the maple fretboard is a bonus.
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WASH N BURN
ORIGINAL AX:
a solid, well used Oscar Schmidt Washburn, double humbucker in need of TLC: broken wires,
missing pickup bolts, back plate, and pickup switch knob.
MOD:
cleaned up wiring and replaced missing parts [though the pickup bolt was a bitch to find -
why would washburn use metric?]. created a custom pickguard [for the bland black front]
and backplate, from clear plastic painted underneath in same wavy teal/white motif as the Aqua
Tele above. painted humbucker brackets to match, bringing out the pickups.
NOTES:
funny how a simple/original pickguard shape changes a deadly dull black axe.
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PEAVEY RAPTURE
ORIGINAL AX:
red Peavey Raptor EXP. nice strat with S/S/H configuration.
MOD:
big saw job, totally revamping the strat into a funky upside down heart, tear drop shape.
sealed the exposed [cut] wood on sides. painted white pickguard and backplate black and then with
silver splatter. sculpted out headstock and added picksized piece of pickguard to match the,
uh, pickguard.
NOTES:
one of the nicest guitars i've picked up. took a lot of self-convincing to start up the saw
- and lots of sweating during the not so delicate operation. turned out quite well, in a groovy
sixties way.
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YAMA HEE HAW
ORIGINAL AX:
basic S/S/H Yamaha starter strat, with sticky pots, pickup switch and wiring problems.
MOD:
lots of saw work, similar to hipCRANKSTER. headstock sculpted in a swirl hook, perfect for
hanging or twirling on thumb. replaced cheapo nut with nice roller one. sprayed white pickuard
with silver wavy pattern. replaced white tone and volume knobs with black ones. electronics
cleaned up, and tightened.
NOTES:
a nicely balanced axe that used to suck, but now kicks ass.
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next up: tackling a Rover!!!
comments always welcome, and by all means, if you have a beater collecting dust, keep us in mind.
bug@hipCRANK.com
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