A Geek Goes Flying

🐦‍🔥 (or maybe 凤凰 ?) I haven’t played the MH-100QMNT all that much. I thought about selling it, but realistically I won’t get much for it , and I  have  been getting back into “super strats” more lately. This thing is cheap (made in China, and I paid $170 for it including a ratty but functional hard case), but capable. And I could use a lessons / rehearsal / gigging guitar I don’t care  that  much about. I started imaging loading it up with higher end Seymour Duncan pickups etc., but then, brakes screeching, thought: Why would I put $400+ into a maybe $175 guitar? Decided to see what I can do using only budget components. Carefully selected budget components, but budget pieces nonetheless. This project took longer than I thought it would, both because not everything was delivered with Amazon speed (the pickups and other electronics took ~7 days to arrive), and because this was my first time doing an electronics project like this.  Tuners & Bridge and other...

Another Facebook Marketplace bargain, though this one was in rougher shape than I realized initially. A 2001–2002(ish) ESP Ltd EC-300, in See Thru Black Cherry. Made in Korea. This one had been modified with Seymour Duncan pickups, and was missing the pickup switch top . The EC-300 was the top-of-the-line non-Deluxe Ltd when new, and had an MSRP of $699 (about $1,300 in Spring 2026 dollars). Original specs: EC-300 Set neck, 24.75" scale Mahogany body Maple neck, rosewood fretboard Flag inlays Black hardware Tune-o-Matic bridge with stop tailpiece White binding on the neck 24 XJ frets EMG-HZ H-1 pickup set (passive) 2 volume, 1 tone knob, toggle on upper horn “STBC” color way (See Thru Black Cherry) It came to me mostly stock. The seller represented on Facebook Marketplace that it had been “modded with real verified Seymour Duncan 59 and JB-1” pickups, but when I had everything apart I saw the pickups are the  Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Humbucker set  with a JB (SH4)¹ at th...

Yesterday I stumbled across a great deal on an ESP LTD Deluxe H-1001 in “Violet Andromeda Satin finish.” ESP LTD H-1001 in Violet Andromeda Satin finish This thing is  sweet :  The first thing you’ll notice about the new LTD Deluxe H-1001 is its Violet Andromeda Satin finish. The Andromeda finish makes the guitar appear various shades of blue, violet, and even green as light is reflected from various angles. The H-1001 is the first LTD version of this outstanding design in a satin finish. It also features a set of direct-mount Seymour Duncan Sentient (neck) and Pegasus (bridge) pickups with push-pull coil splitting, a Hipshot bridge with string-thru-body, and stainless steel frets.   Maybe someday, this will be me?  Anyway. It checked  almost  all of my boxes:  ☐ Made in Japan ☑ Made in Korea ☑ Passive pickups ☑ Non-Floyd Rose (i.e., hard tail, Tune-o-Matic, EverTune [1]) ☑ Set-thru neck ☑ Locking tuners My (at this stage in life) dream g...

Much to my surprise, I found myself with six guitars[1] (seven, if you count the battered 10 year old JS34 Dinky I keep at the office, that I bought off a guy from Taft in the alley behind the Virgil ). And my small space was starting to get cluttered. Most of the cheap stands I found on Amazon were too big, or only fit a smaller number of guitars, or had enough 1-star reviews to make me nervous. $130 isn’t a huge splurge, but it’s more than I wanted to spend - but I’m glad I did, on this  String Swing Guitar Stand for 6 Electric or Bass, or 3 Acoustic Guitars for Home or Studio (CC34) . (After being inundated with ads for their stuff on Facebook etc.) (I kinda want to wall hang, too (or, like, shelf-hang, maybe with something like this ?), but I have no idea where I could do that where it would look “right.” I’m planning on wall hanging one guitar out in my living room where I’ll be reminded to pick it up every day.)   The CC34 stand with one acoustic, five electric guitars ...

The modified EC-500 guitar So Facebook Marketplace showed me this guitar (a made in Korea  circa 2006 ESP LTD EC-500 ) when it was listed for $280. I wasn’t that interested in a Les Paul style guitar, the price was good but not jaw dropping, and the seller was all the way down in Orange County. But. They dropped the price to $200 and I happened to be going down to O.C. to meet a friend at Disneyland, so, well, you know ... Original equipment / specs vs. as-modified: SET NECK CONSTRUCTION 24.75” SCALE MAHOGANY BODY 3-PIECE MAHOGANY NECK EBONY FINGERBOARD MODEL NAME AT 12TH FRET EMG 81 (B) / 60 (N) ACTIVE PICKUPS (replaced with “Hot ceramic pickup”) VOLUME & TONE CONTROLS W/3-WAY TOGGLE BLACK HARDWARE (Now mixed...) GROVER TUNERS (replaced with “Hipshot locking tuners” ( these? )) EARVANA COMPENSATED NUT TUNE-O-MATIC BRIDGE  (replaced with “Babicz bridge” ( this? )) W/STRING-THRU-BODY 24 XJ FRETS Anyway. It apparently had an MSRP of $899 when new. So far, I  love...

ESP LTD MH-100MQNT Finally sat down last night (er, early this morning) to restring and setup the new-to-me ESP LTD MH-100QMNT guitar (which isn’t made anymore; the lowest end offering they have now in the MH line is the 200-series). Before. I haven’t owned a “Tune-O-Matic” guitar before, so I watched a quick YouTube video on how to change the strings . (Easy.) That video producer recommends Dunlop Fretboard 65 Ultimate Lemon Oil for the fretboard (but not  for maple fretboards), but not having any of that, I just kinda scrubbed away the grunge with the fretboard conditioner that came in the  D'Addario Accessories Instrument Care Kit I got a few months ago (which also comes with a cleaner, wax, and detailer for the body, the mat I put the guitar on to protect the body, the neck support, etc). The MusicNomad string changing kit is still proving its value. It cleaned up nicely: After. A couple of tiny imperfections in the finish on the back; wondering if something like ...