Cort MR600F Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar

Nice made-in-China guitar, this. Dreadnought with a Venetian Cutaway, solid Sitka Spruce top, Mahogany neck, back and sides; Ovangkol fretboard and bridge, body binding, Fishman preamp. What's not to like?

Now, the bad news. The Fishman preamp was dead as a dodo. The guitar was also covered in a year's worth of dust and grime. Guess it'd been hanging on a wall all this time. And don't get me started about the fretboard and frets, please. In any case, it was a guitar worth saving. Actually, the owner asked for a cheap and easy fix, and so that's the route I took.

The preamp remained dead despite my best efforts to revive it, so that was that. Then I disconnected the piezo pickup from the preamp and soldered it directly to the output jack, and there was sound! So now he'd just have to control output and tone from the amp he's plugged into. Yes, a cheap and easy fix indeed.

The guitar was cleaned up and polished with Gibson Guitar Polish, the fretboard degunked and reconditioned with lemon oil; and the frets given the Autosol treatment. After stringing her up with a fresh set of 10s, this Cort MR600F was good to go.

RCE HSS Solidbody Overhaul

Rumor has it that RC Stromm used to be known as "RCE" in its infancy. For those of you who aren't familiar with RC Stromm, it's a line of affordable made-in-China guitars and basses distributed in Malaysia by Kuantan Music. Which brings us to this particular RCE HSS sunburst solidbody; the owner's very first guitar. It was sent in for a major overhaul which included a good clean and polish, hardware servicing, electronics upgrade, shielding; and setup. And since the guitar was already in the shop; he also asked that the "RCE" logo on the headstock face be removed.

You know, lots of nice things have been said about Gibson Guitar Polish. Just do a search on YouTube and you'll see what I mean. And guess what? It's not all hype, this stuff actually works! As you can see in the pictures below, the whole guitar was covered in years of caked-on dirt, grime, crud and a greasy film of lord-knows-what. It was as if the guitar had been hanging on the wall of a busy restaurant kitchen for quite some time. I'm glad I had this polish on hand for this job, as it certainly got rid of all that gunk in no time at all.

Removing the RCE logo was a lot harder than I'd thought. I was expecting a waterslide decal, but it was actually some kind of thick black paint with a raised profile that you could feel with your fingertips. Trying to wipe it off with various solvents did not work, so out came the razor blade and a scrape-scrape-scrape we did go. This was followed by a thorough sanding job and refinish with Tru-Oil. By the time I was done, I dare say that no one could tell there had ever been a logo there.

Electronics-wise, all components except for the pickups were replaced. The two single coils were also rewired, as the leads were a little too short. Shielding was done in the usual manner; foil for the back of the pickguard and conductive shielding paint for the body cavities. And, of course, the rosewood fretboard was cleaned and oiled; and the frets polished. Speaking of fretboards, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this one had a radius of 14"; which is flatter than that of your typical Les Paul (12") or Strat (9.5").

OLP Tony Levin Signature 5 String Bass

Specifications

Manufacturer: Officially Licensed Product (OLP)

Country of Origin: China

Serial Number: F05111148

Colour: Natural

Finish: Gloss Lacquer

Construction: Bolt On

Scale Length: 34" (864mm)

Nut Width: 1.81" (46mm)

Fingerboard: Maple / Black Dot Fret Markers

Fingerboard Radius: 16"

Hardware: Chrome

Frets: 22

Body: Basswood / Quilted Maple Top

Neck: Maple

Bridge: Generic

Pickups: Single Exposed Polepiece Humbucker

Tuners: Generic Chrome, Open Back (4+1)

Controls: Master Volume, Bass Boost/Cut, Mid Boost/Cut, Treble Boost/Cut

Onboard Preamp: G&B Co. 3 Band EQ

References

Guitar Buyer (March 2006, pp. 56 – 60)

Bass Guitar Magazine (March/April 2006, pp. 50 – 51)

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