Just got a used Hohner Rockwood LX90 from Goodwill auctions today. My first electric guitar.
Black body, white scratch guard plate
Some dings on the bottom of the body
Not sure whether neck plate and backplate are original (no branding)
Neck is in good shape, including frets. Think the neck/fretboard wood is maple.
Overall looks and feels good, BUT
1/4 inch input jack wire was loose. the socket was inside and I had to unscrew to put it back; fortunately the hardware was there but one wire was detached.
Questions:
Could solder the wire on. Looks like I would have to do soldering with a new jack anyway. Any recommendations: solder current part or get a new one?
Could get a new prewired pickguard plate as a pull out - drop and screw in solution. But would intrinsic value decrease with replacement electronics? (Obviously haven’t heard it with amplification, but seems to work, holds strings in tune, has tremolo bar. Looks like it was used for a while and probably sat in a closet for a while. Tone knobs were sticky, volume knob only one ever used?)
Where to look for a serial number, if it has one? (I may have figured this out soon - just got it delivered today, unpacked, tuned the existing strings, discovered the loose plug socket, put it in the closet to deal with later.)
About me: I am an elderly guy with essential tremors just getting back with guitars, doubt I will ever get past beginner/student stage skill-wise. Part of the fun is rehabbing an inexpensive guitar. I once repaired a classical guitar (from Goodwill) which had been strung with steel strings, and the bridge had come loose and previously repaired with nuts and bolts to hold it in place. I replaced the tuning pegs, added an electronic preamp and piezo under bridge pickup, and glued a new bridge on it. Gave it to a family member. In the end, it had a nice acoustic sound. Don’t expect the Hohner LX90 to require that much work.
The LX90 is an inexpensive model, I saw one on EBay today for EUR90. These appear to have been manufactured from the mid 1990s onwards, and the list I have gives the price as DM420 in 1998, so I don’t think you should worry about its intrinsic value decreasing if you need to replace any parts. If you’re handy with a soldering iron, best just fix the loose wire yourself.
I’m not sure where the serial no. is located, but they’re generally visible. If you can locate it and post it here, we may be able to date the instrument more precisely,
I will look for the serial number and my soldering stuff this weekend.
I only paid about $50 USD plus tax, so it is a good value. The “Buy Now” auction price was around $130 USD. Will post photos once I get it operational and clean off some of the dust.
Assuming there was a sticker with the serial number, it is definitely not there now. In looking at the photo of the back of the headstock, noticed what appeared to be markings. Serial number remnant? Could just be a Rorschach test - see photos below.
Managed to solder a 1/4” socket into the existing wires, or vice versa, tested it, and got a sound. Goodwill did not warn of it being “untested” or it not being able to produce a sound without needing to repair it. They wanted about $130, I paid $50. Not complaining, but caveat emptor.
My first electric guitar, unscrewed the plate holding the neck in place, managed to get it back in place after loosening strings. May need to adjust again… high E string a bit off near the top three frets?
Several white (paint) marks on back of body came off with a bit of moisture and a bandana. A few dings in the black finish reveal wood, can’t tell whether solid or laminated/plywood (without taking off more of the finish).
A couple of closeups and enhancement of the indentation on the edge of the headstock under the A string tuner: Looks like “Picasso” or “R something something 0340” maybe. Or a Rorschach test…
Finally, the pickups and volume and tone knobs. I can see the E string is slightly off center over the pickup, which explains the less than robust sound from it. Will get new strings, clean up the guitar a bit better, and do some research before trying to adjust it. For my first real electric guitar, it seems a fair value and a decent instrument for the level of use it will get. And it will sound ok for me to jam to “Joe’s Garage.”
