Marketplace Find Guitar Rescue (Part 1) | Hondo II Project

This old Hondo II has definitely lived some life, my friends. In this episode we start digging into a marketplace rescue project that’s got everything from mystery electronics and plywood surprises to fretwork, tuner hole repairs, and enough fingerboard funk to require a full-on cleanup mission. We trace a little guitar history, test pickups, uncover some questionable routing decisions, level frets, clean up years of grime, and start bringing this old LP copy back to life one step at a time. Along the way we talk guitars, garage bands, old-school repair tricks, coffee, peach pie, and life. If you enjoy budget guitar projects, vintage guitar restoration, DIY guitar repair, fretwork, and hanging out at the workbench, pull up a chair and come along for the ride. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:07 Marketplace guitar buying spree 00:25 The storage unit story 00:42 Why I bought all four guitars 00:57 Introducing the Hondo II LP copy 01:13 My first guitar memories 01:48 First look at the Hondo II 02:15 Specs teaser 02:25 Hardware overview 03:12 Testing the electronics 03:47 Dead bridge pickup 04:04 Heading to the workbench 04:23 Closer look at the guitar 05:03 Diagnosing the electronics problem 05:27 Removing hardware and strings 06:17 Removing the old tuners 06:49 Checking the truss rod 07:16 Plans for the project 07:35 Removing the pickguard 08:02 Discovering the plywood body 08:27 Loose tailpiece screws and wiring 09:18 Testing the pickups 09:42 Discovering DiMarzio pickups 10:15 The pickup works — bad pot confirmed 10:40 Cleaning the filthy fingerboard 11:01 Planning the fretwork 11:49 Cleaning and conditioning the neck 12:32 Letting the neck settle overnight 13:09 Day two at the workbench 13:23 Deep cleaning around the frets 14:03 Ronnie Nicholls shoutout 15:09 StewMac fret end file discussion 15:39 High fret diagnosis 16:04 Trying to identify the Hondo II 16:37 Hondo II neck specs 17:03 Beginning fret leveling 17:26 Cracked nut discussion 18:07 Fret leveling and polishing process 19:13 Protecting the headstock 20:10 Finished fretwork results 20:43 Electronics parts arrive 21:02 Homemade peach pie discussion 21:15 Filling old tuner screw holes 21:38 Diamond tuner replacement talk 22:05 Toothpick and wood glue repair method 23:19 Cutting and trimming toothpicks 24:03 Step-by-step tuner hole repair 24:39 Furniture marker touch-up 25:12 Final tuner hole repair results 25:55 Cleanup and tool discussion 26:08 Bamboo toothpicks and workshop talk ____ Shoutouts: @plentyobass @sparkyguitars971 (Sparky) @harrisongrass (Ronnie) @deadpolevault (Pole Vault) @SunshineArcher (Sunshine) @CDNelson87 (Chris) @TimRock1269 (BBM) @Roy_Gaber (Roy) @2bikemikesguitartopics145 (Mike) Buy Me a Coffee (or a diet coke and a soft pretzel - smile) https://buymeacoffee.com/tedtalksguitars Checkout our playlist page for more series and journeys https://www.youtube.com/@TedTalksGuitars/playlists Special Thanks to our channel members "The Jacks" Want to support the channel? Feel free to explore Channel membership options: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBr6kaWeOvldTHvntB3tnMg/join Ted Talks Guitars & Life Merch Store: https://tedtalksguitars-shop.fourthwall.com/ Amazon Affiliate Link: https://amzn.to/3W3PZox *If you click on this link to shop at Amazon the channel will receive a modest financial commission from your purchases. Disclaimer: This video is not sponsored. Some links are affiliate links. If you buy something I may make a small commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Guyker Referral Link: https://www.guyker.com/?ref=tedtalksguitars If you use the link you will save 15% at Guyker Use the coupon code: TEDSMITH #hondoii #hondoguitar #guitarrestoration #guitarrepair #fretwork #fretleveling #vintageguitar #diyguitar #guitarproject #electricguitar #guitarmaintenance #guitarmods #dimarzio #madeinjapan #lawsuitguitar #luthier #guitarworkshop #budgetguitar #guitarrehab #guitarsandlife