Guitar Man Joe brought us another funky classic—a tobacco sunburst Hondo II Les Paul copy. Joe even has the original sales receipt for this guitar, bought for $120 in June 1980 at Sam Ash in Paramus, NJ!
The Hondo II reborn, repaired, and ready to rock!
Home Repairs Gone Bad
These instruments are praised for the quality of their construction, with a lineage that goes back to the famed Matsumoku factory in Japan and the Samick-run factory in Korea. Joe’s Hondo II is a beefy beauty; she weighs in at 8.5 lbs but feels heavier. She came to us in rough shape—a broken input jack, a bowed neck, and a backwards bridge pickup, pickup rings, and tune-a-matic bridge.
Rock Ready
Cleaned-up and repaired—including installing a chrome pick-up cover and a black selector switch tip—the Hondo II was back in action. This almost 40-year-old instrument plays and sounds great, delivering a vintage Gibson tone, with classic clarity and crunch courtesy of the DiMarzio bridge pick-up.
Check out Guitar Man Joe’s Hondo II on the tracks below!
-
- Joe’s Hondo II was in wonky shape, with a dead input jack, an upside-down pickup, and backwards bridge.
-
- Hondo II — it ain’t a Gibson, but it’s still pretty good!
-
- Many Hondo II guitars came standard with DiMarzio pickups, but this one looks like it was added sometime in the ’80s.
-
- The Hondo II reborn, repaired, and ready to rock!
-
- The sticker says Made In Korea, sometime in 1979. (This guitar was originally sold in June of 1980.)
-
- This cool tobacco sunburst finish makes we want to smoke a cigarette!