Rare Bird Rescue

[Buddy]

So the rare bird in Question is an SX Isis, with a red to black fade on the body. Or, maybe it was just called a Sis at one point. Earlier than that, it might have been called a KY...something?

Anyway, this is the only place I can have this conversation with people who will understand what all that stuff means, and I'm happy to be back and catching up on all the posts I've missed.

So... A while back, I guess a few years ago, maybe 4 or 5ish? Maybe? Maybe a little more? I have a terrible head for dates and time. Anyway, it was after the Isis or Sis models disappeared from Rondo forever, because I wanted one really bad, and I was waiting and waiting for them to re-appear on the site, but they never did. One popped up, I think it was on Guitar Center used, but I'm not even sure of that, and I don't even remember what I paid for it, but I remember I pounced because I wanted one so badly. I remember getting it and looking it over and thinking, ok, that's a problem and that's a problem, ok, I'll fix them up and make it a player. So I set it aside on my To Do list. Along with 10,000 other things, LOL, and ultimately I forgot about it. Well, life happens, this and that, time goes by, things change, and I'm now in a position where I have to let go some of my collection, so as I'm going through guitars, figuring out which to sell, and which to keep, I came across this one again. I was so excited and happy to see it! It felt great in my hands! It's so lightweight! It feels like it "fits" me. And then I noticed it's original problems, all over again.

I feel like this guitar was both loved and hated at the same time during it's life. It had strap locks put on, so I know someone loved it. They didn't want to drop it or damage it. That shows care. I think it may have had a pickup swap, again, a sign of love, but I'm not 100% sure of that, and when I had the chance to check, when I was changing strings, I totally forgot to pop out the pickups. Brain fart. The body is in very nice shape, so someone cared for it. It was not abused.

But here's the part where I think someone may have hated it too - It looks like someone may have tried to spray over the SX logo, or sand it off perhaps, and there are what look like some small drill holes near the SX logo. Those could possibly be naturally occurring dings, but the size, shape and position of them make it kind of look like someone did it purposely. So I'm thinking, maybe someone loved the guitar, but had "brand shame," and maybe they were trying to hide the SX logo. I don't know if any of that is true. Maybe it was just sold as a B stock with a hazy finish on the headstock, and maybe the dings happened by accident. I don't know. Not accusing anyone of anything, and none of it matters now, anyway. Just playing detective.

So I decided to see what I could do with the headstock. It started out with a definite whitish film covering the majority of the headstock, but it was still kind of see-through. Again, not sure if it was spraypainted, or if it was sanded, or if it was a factory haze finish flaw, but I started after it with 2 rounds of rubbing compound. It improved a little, and it seemed like some darkish residue was coming off on the rag, so I moved onto a couple rounds of polishing compound, which also seemed to help a little more. Then I moved on to a round of scratch remover, which is pretty much the next lighter step after the polishing compound.

I've put a pretty fair amount of elbow grease and sweat into this headstock, and it's improved, but really, the truth is, it's still pretty bad. It's not pretty bad, it's bad-bad. It's not good at all. I think I'm about done putting muscle to it. At this point, I'm not getting a good return on my investment of time and sweat. It is either going to stay how it is, or it needs a refinish. Maybe an Agile style refinish would be easy - a simple black headstock? I Don't know. It would be impossible to match the red. So, I don't know what to do with that.

And the other problem is weird, but maybe I figured it out. Or maybe not. Maybe someone here has had a similar experience and can enlighten me. The nut looks normal. Fine. The bridge looks normal, and I went back to the Rondo archives to make sure that this model did come stock with this bridge, and it did. I don't think the bridge has been changed. The problem is, is that on the neck pickup, the strings go directly over the middle of the pickup pole pieces, exactly as they should, but on the bridge pickup, something is off. I don't have it in front of me right now, so I'm going by memory at this point, but I feel like the low E goes directly over it's pole piece, the A, pretty much lined up, as well, but then there slowly starts to be a difference, and by the time you get to the high E, the strings are off center by quite a lot! I'm thinking maybe 1/4 inch (maybe that's exaggerated because I'm not looking at it at this moment). So I started puzzling over it, how could that happen? With the nut looking right, the strings spaced evenly, and both E's being evenly away from the sides of the fretboard, The problem had to be the bridge. Maybe it was routed wrong? Maybe it was routed off to one side? Maybe it was a B-stock because of that? Hmm.. Maybe. But if the nut is right, and the bridge is right, maybe it's the pickup! As I said, I forgot to check the pickups when I had the chance, which I should have. Dumb on my part. But is that something that can happen? IF someone installed the "wrong" size pickup in it, is that how it would look? But wouldn't all the pole pieces be off center from the strings? How come it's lined up on the low side, but then so far off on the high side? Shouldn't the whole thing look whacky if it was the wrong part? Or no? I don't have experience with pickup swaps. Has anyone seen something like this before?

Anyway, I'm open to suggestions about what to do with this guitar. To me, it feels great in my hands. I want to play it because it's SO lightweight, and the neck feels very nice in my opinion. The body looks really great. But that headstock is an eyesore. Functionally, it's fine. It's just been defaced and looks ugly. As for the pickup problem (if the pickup really is the problem), I mean it works. It makes sound when the strings are played. But it sounds pretty muddy in my opinion, and I just know that's not how it's supposed to be lined up. Like, psychologically, that's going to bug me. Swap the pickups and see if that solves it? Sounds great, but here's the truth: I'll never get to it. I have too much other life stuff going on right now.

I'm not going to put it on Reverb. I feel like it's too much of a chance for return or a complaint, even if I enumerate these issues. Really, what I want to do, is play it! But it's an ugly duckling. And I'm a little shallow with that, even though I have no right to be. I admit my deficiency there.

What should I do with it? Refinish the headstock? Refinish the whole thing? Yeah. After the other 9,999 things get done. Meanwhile, it sits. Lonely. If I check the pickups and they are not the originals, should I just finally jump in and learn how to do pickup swaps? I think I could learn the skill of soldering. I think I could do that. It's just knowing which wire goes where and connects to what... that part is a little daunting to me. And the schematics look like a plate of spaghetti to me. And, again, when will I get to it?

Does anyone here want to give it some love? Anyone up for trying to rehabilitate this rare bird? Figure out its mysteries? PM me if you are.

I'll try to get some pics up tonight. Really, what I'm hoping is that someone can tell me why the strings don't line up with the pickup poles, and I'm hoping for a miracle chemical or technique to fix the headstock without repainting. Anyone got a miracle up their sleeve for me?

[Buddy]

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[Buddy]

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[Buddy]

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[Buddy]

See how beautiful she is? See why I want to save her? And in the hand, she feels just as good as she looks, and she is lightweight. See why it's driving me crazy? LOL

Looking at these pictures, I'll say the headstock still looks bad, but it was much, much worse before I did my treatments to it. It actually has improved a lot. But it's still pretty bad as it sits.

And it's got to be the bridge pickup, because if it was the actual bridge, or the nut, the neck pickup wouldn't line up. So the odd duck HAS to be the bridge pickup being the wrong fit.

Am correct on that? Sorry for answering my own posts, but I'm sort of thinking out loud right now, trying to reason through it, and it's easier here than only in my head.

I own a soldering kit, and I have pickups. Do I take the plunge?

Help me, @tobijohn, you're my only hope! LOL

[Tonray's Ghost]

I actually thought this was about a bird...

[Buddy]

I'm sorry for the false advertising! Well, the inlays are birds!

[dabbler]

Can't tell you what exactly is causing the misalignment, however, I consider this amount of misalignment purely cosmetic. I love KY1/ISIS/SIS models. So if I were in your shoes, I might change the pups, but since you say it feels good, I would def play it! I have enough of my own so I'm not interested in yours, but these are some of my fav Rondo guitars!

[toomanycats]

I own that exact same guitar! Bought it at a pawn shop about five years ago. A previous owner had installed humbucker sized P90s. As others have said, it's a great guitar. Very light, fast neck, and handsome to boot.

Get this . . . it's got the exact same haze on the headstock! It obviously must have been an issue at the factory on this batch. I've long contemplated addressing the problem, though the guitar has sit in the back of the pile for years now. I'm so glad that you relayed your efforts at polishing out the haze, because now I know not to do that. My plan will now be to slightly reshape the headstock (more PRS like), and paint it black.

[Buddy]

@dabbler - the one in the upper left of your picture is the one that had me gassing so hard on the Rondo page. I love that blond / natural finish so much. I had it in my cart a couple times and backed out, figuring I'll just get it next time, and then they disappeared forever. I couldn't believe my blunder.

@toomanycats - Wow! That's amazing! Obviously a factory finishing glitch of some kind! The haze on mine started out a little less than what is shown on yours, so by extension, you could get yours to look similar to the way mine is now with about 2 hours of time, a half gallon of sweat, and copious amounts of rubbing and buffing compound. Haha! Not worth it! However, I will say, I don't own a mechanical buffing machine /car polisher type instrument so if you have one of those, you might get better results than I did by hand.

I tend to agree, though, it will never look quite "right," no matter how much it is buffed out, and to make it look better, probably a black refinish would be the way to go.

Good luck with yours!! I hope it turns out great!

[Buddy]

@toomanycats
I forgot to ask about your pickup alignment. I can't really see from the angle of the pic. I do see that your pickups are different, which furthers my theory that mine had a pickup swap at some point, and that it's probably the wrong sized pickup causing that misalignment.

Edit - I see you said there were p90s installed, so I guess those were not the originals, but they do line up properly, correct? Mine has got to have the wrong size pickup in the bridge.

[dabbler]

@Buddy

Sorry, you missed out. I actually had 2 blondes, one with the trem and the one in the pic, but I sold the trem one because it was kinda redundant with my other trem ones. Then I found a 24 fret hardtail blonde Hadean, so I got it to complete my set.

[Buddy]

Oh, you are killin' me! Beautiful!!!

[toomanycats]

@toomanycats
I forgot to ask about your pickup alignment. I can't really see from the angle of the pic. I do see that your pickups are different, which furthers my theory that mine had a pickup swap at some point, and that it's probably the wrong sized pickup causing that misalignment.

Edit - I see you said there were p90s installed, so I guess those were not the originals, but they do line up properly, correct? Mine has got to have the wrong size pickup in the bridge.

The screws on the P90s are aligned properly under the strings on my guitar. They're Guitarheads Conversion P90. I assumed a previous owner had put them in because it didn't seem plausible that an SX would come stock with upgraded pickups.

[Buddy]

@dabbler
I see the differences in hardware, pickups and knobs between the sx and the hadean. From the pic it looks like the Hadean has "bluer" inlays. What are the other differences? Are the necks different? Weight? The Hadean, being even a lighter natural is just stunning to me. I really love it. Congrats on an awesome collection you've got there!

[jimbocaster]

So I had a SX ISIS CUS 24 NA at one point.
Stock pickups were a little off.

I ended up upgrading a bunch of things eventually getting it like this. P90's lined up nicely.

I eventually donated it for a silent auction a bunch of years back.
It was a nice little guitar.

[dabbler]

@dabbler
I see the differences in hardware, pickups and knobs between the sx and the hadean. From the pic it looks like the Hadean has "bluer" inlays. What are the other differences? Are the necks different? Weight? The Hadean, being even a lighter natural is just stunning to me. I really love it. Congrats on an awesome collection you've got there!

Sorry for the slow response, I was trying to think of a simple answer, but there ain't one. But here's the history:

1. I got the SX KY1 first and I loved it from gitgo. But the bridge prevented really good action, so I replaced it. The first replacement wasn't really right because to get it to intonate, I had to push it waaaay back, so much so that I needed locking studs to keep it from tilting. The bridge that's on it now (in the pic) is the second wraparound I found which worked like a charm. After I got the Hadean, I bought a black version of the same bridge for it.

2. I replaced the tuners on my KY1 with lockers, replaced the neck pup with a 4 wire Alnico (GFS Vintage 59) and the bridge with a generic 4 wire ceramic (from guitarfetish), rewired it with a switchpot for split coils (neckmost and bridgemost), and found some aftermarket bird knobs and a wood switch tip.

3. On the Hadean, I added locking tuners, changed the knobs to speed knobs and changed the bridge as I mentioned in #1 above.

I honestly think it's possible that both guitars came out of the same factory (even though the Hadean uses 3 screws for the truss rod cover) and these 2 are my favs of my KY1/ISIS/SIS collection.

[Buddy]

@dabbler
It's interesting you mentioned intonation problems. Mine does not intonate perfectly. It's not horribly off, but the low E is as far back as it can go, and it's still a few cents sharp. I thought it must have been something I was doing wrong, but now I see it's similar with someone else,.too, so that gives me reassurance.

Would you be able to link me to the bridge you had success with? Or even just a make/ model number/name, anything to put me in the right direction would be hugely.appreciated, so I don't have to go chasing and replacing parts by trial and error.
@toomanycats - do you notice any intonation problem on yours?
@jimbocaster - wow! She's a beauty! That was nice of you to donate her. (I wish I was there to bid!). Same question for you about intonation, and thank you for addressing the pickup alignment as well. Again, it gives me reassurance that I'm not doing something wrong or seeing something wrong.

So I'm probably looking at a bridge replacement, headstock refinish, and a pickup swap, probably to p90s, as those seem to be the flavor of choice for this beautiful instrument.

I can't say thanks enough for all the feedback and input, gents! Thank you!

[toomanycats]

@dabbler
It's interesting you mentioned intonation problems. Mine does not intonate perfectly. It's not horribly off, but the low E is as far back as it can go, and it's still a few cents sharp. I thought it must have been something I was doing wrong, but now I see it's similar with someone else,.too, so that gives me reassurance.

Would you be able to link me to the bridge you had success with? Or even just a make/ model number/name, anything to put me in the right direction would be hugely.appreciated, so I don't have to go chasing and replacing parts by trial and error.
@toomanycats - do you notice any intonation problem on yours?
@jimbocaster - wow! She's a beauty! That was nice of you to donate her. (I wish I was there to bid!). Same question for you about intonation, and thank you for addressing the pickup alignment as well. Again, it gives me reassurance that I'm not doing something wrong or seeing something wrong.

So I'm probably looking at a bridge replacement, headstock refinish, and a pickup swap, probably to p90s, as those seem to be the flavor of choice for this beautiful instrument.

I can't say thanks enough for all the feedback and input, gents! Thank you!

I haven't noticed an intonation problem on mine, though honestly, I say this having never checked it with a tuner. If after I get a guitar, play it up and down the the neck with both chords and scales, and don't notice anything glaringly off, then I figure it's "close enough for rock and roll" as the saying goes. Please take into consideration that I'm into pleasing dissonance, in the bluesy sense, and I'm almost always bending notes slightly sharp or flat for affect. Let's just say that somebody who plays country music and heavily relies upon the major scale played in harmonized 3rds may require more stringent intonation than myself.

What does slightly annoy me about the stock bridge on this guitar, and this applies to any guitar similarly equipped, is that it is designed to float. Whether they're Floyds or Fenders, I prefer my tremolos decked. Resting my palm on the bridge tends to make the strings go sharp, which is as annoying as an intonation problem.

[dabbler]

@dabbler
It's interesting you mentioned intonation problems. Mine does not intonate perfectly. It's not horribly off, but the low E is as far back as it can go, and it's still a few cents sharp. I thought it must have been something I was doing wrong, but now I see it's similar with someone else,.too, so that gives me reassurance.

Would you be able to link me to the bridge you had success with? Or even just a make/ model number/name, anything to put me in the right direction would be hugely.appreciated, so I don't have to go chasing and replacing parts by trial and error.

...

I believe the bridge on my SX natural KY1 is this one:

BUT, your guitar has the trem bridge not the hardtail wraparound. I never had a problem intonating any of the stock bridges in my KY1/ISIS/SIL collection. The only bridge that I had trouble with was the first REPLACEMENT stoptail wraparound I tried on my blonde KY1, and yes BOTH of my blonde ones came with hardtail bridges.

[dabbler]

...
What does slightly annoy me about the stock bridge on this guitar, and this applies to any guitar similarly equipped, is that it is designed to float. Whether they're Floyds or Fenders, I prefer my tremolos decked. Resting my palm on the bridge tends to make the strings go sharp, which is as annoying as an intonation problem.

So I'm guessing that you have installed a few trem stops?

[toomanycats]

...
What does slightly annoy me about the stock bridge on this guitar, and this applies to any guitar similarly equipped, is that it is designed to float. Whether they're Floyds or Fenders, I prefer my tremolos decked. Resting my palm on the bridge tends to make the strings go sharp, which is as annoying as an intonation problem.

So I'm guessing that you have installed a few trem stops?

A few over the years, all on guitars with full floating Floyds.

[andrewsrea]

The 'haze' on the headstock is called 'blush'. It is humidity, which was trapped in the clear coat to which the finished cured before it could evaporate. A nitro finish could be fixed using blush remover, but this finish is poly and can only be fixed by a strip and refinish.

I agree with @dabbler, in that the string alignment over the neck pickup, is not a functional problem. if memory serves me, this guitar had a wide-flat fingerboard (as in wider string spacing). The neck pickup appears to be a standard 50mm string spacing and would have been better served by a 51mm or 52mm. However, they would have been a custom size and expensive in comparison. Notice the bridge pickup is a 53mm 'F-spaced' model.