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...