MAVIS Les Paul clone

This is an ongoing work in progress. Manufactured for Ishibashi Music as their own in-store brand and marketed as Mavis, likely made in China (MIC) but information is difficult to come by. Price was about $32US. Came to me with the typical amount of grime/scuzz/spooge/goo all over it. Lots of cleaning with rags, surgical brushes, tooth brushes, compressed air, etc. Got it to this stage:

But she has issues; some aren't a big deal, some are. First, she had those mini-pots. Super scratchy and no matter how much I cleaned them they were just not going to cut it. Pickup selector worked but if you sneezed it would move from the up position to the center. Even a little kitten-like sneeze would move it. Pickups sounded good but the switch was loose-goosey.

She does have a pretty good ding on the back near the edge. The top coat is starting to peel off of it and at the moment I'm letting it be, no idea how far back it will peel if I start tugging on it.

There's another really good ding on the front right on the binding but it is covered by a couple of cool stickers as you see below:

Now for the double-ugly. At some point she was dropped and the headstock broke off at the scarf joint. Some guitar molester glued it back on (functionally but not anywhere close to pretty). You can see it, feel it and the edges of the fret board on either side have some sharp-ish edges on them. In addition the binding has cracked along the fret board in multiple places. From a guitar buyer's perspective it's a "steer clear" guitar but for a guy like me it's great. Lots of cosmetic, electrical and functional issues to deal with in addition to the fact it actually plays pretty well as-is.

And that's where she's at for now. Keep an eye out, there's a VERY transformative project coming up that involves PARTS of this guitar.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about this Les Paul copy that I found for about $32US. If I could offer you any advise it would be this:

• Don't be afraid of damaged instruments. If you are looking to learn how to repair and restore guitars, the "ugly" section of your local music store may become your best friend. 
• Don't be a brand snob. If you're looking to learn you'll take ANY opportunity to do it- even if it is working on Bob's no-name guitar. 
• Don't look at a guitar as a whole- you may be able to buy it as a parts guitar to donate so others may live, and rock, on.
• Don't be shy in asking for help. There are many people who will gladly lend a hand (or an e-mail) to get you headed the right direction.  
• Have fun. If you are doing this as a hobby and are miserable, forget about doing it for a living. Life is too short to spend time doing something you hate.

If you want to see more of my adventures in the world of stringed instrument construction, restoration, and repair visit the Rattlecan Guitar Restorations YouTube channel, friend us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages and, if you're interested in supporting my projects take a look at the Rattlecan Patreon page.

Have a great weekend. Cheers!

James