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Where are they now...

Strings Jr.

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Messages
670
Would you happen to know any information about my Spotlight Special ? It's serial number 83 023 I have owned it since the early 90s. Any information would be helpful I thank you so very much. This is a wonderful thread.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dkwc37gebrr82ol/DSCN0854.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/edoig7hc4ezrn8a/DSCN0852.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ml4sb2jqgilvch1/DSCN0850.JPG?dl=0

Thank YOU!

What a beautiful guitar :salude
The grain in the walnut strip gives this guitar it's "signature".

Didn't see your number in my book, but if you ever have the pickups out
be sure to look for my initials, RFL or RL. Also could be in the control cavity.

I did find 83 021. It was built on March 25th, 1983, so yours would have been
built around that date, give or take a couple of weeks.
Thanks!
 

cweckii

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2004
Messages
49
Hello,

strings jr - any infos about the Explorers you made at the time?

Would love to see a few pics.

Thanks and very best!
 

garywright

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 17, 2002
Messages
15,583
this is the most interesting thread I've followed on the lpf ..thanks Randy and also for the reply to my r9 work request
 

loduck

Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2003
Messages
89
Thank YOU!

What a beautiful guitar :salude
The grain in the walnut strip gives this guitar it's "signature".

Didn't see your number in my book, but if you ever have the pickups out
be sure to look for my initials, RFL or RL. Also could be in the control cavity.

I did find 83 021. It was built on March 25th, 1983, so yours would have been
built around that date, give or take a couple of weeks.
Thanks!

awwww that's too bad Strings I was hoping you were the father of this baby. I really wanted to learn more about the Spotlight model. Thanks so very much for replying to me. Mike
 

Strings Jr.

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Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Messages
670
Hello,

strings jr - any infos about the Explorers you made at the time?

Would love to see a few pics.

Thanks and very best!

I built my first Korina Explorer on May 27th, 1983.
Continued building them on and off for about a year after that.
Also built many with the Supertune vibrola.

I'll need to dig a little deeper to see if I can find any Explorer pics, but I did find this one.
This is one of the first Korina V's we built.




Speaking of V's, here's a special one. This was the first replica of Lonnie Mack's vintage V.
Right after this pic was made, it was delivered to Lonnie.
Some of Phil Jones handy-work on this one, including the hand-made Bigsby mounting bar.
Where is this one now?


 

bizzwriter

Active member
Joined
Oct 23, 2002
Messages
975
Damn -- this thread just keeps getting better and better! LOVE those V's! Thanks strings jr!
 

FretsAlot

New member
Joined
Jan 22, 2003
Messages
931
I assume the guitar rack pictured behind you may be the guitars you were tasked with doing your process to... Did certain guitars get put in your rack for reasons not yet covered... or was it just 'luck of the draw' what got turned over to you for final assembly? Did you maybe have certain guitars that were known to be your favorites or you had a certain expertise with that might influence what guitars were assigned to you?

Loving this thread,

Fretsalot/Scott
 

cweckii

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2004
Messages
49
Quote Originally Posted by cweckii View Post
Hello,

strings jr - any infos about the Explorers you made at the time?

Would love to see a few pics


I built my first Korina Explorer on May 27th, 1983.
Continued building them on and off for about a year after that.
Also built many with the Supertune vibrola.

I'll need to dig a little deeper to see if I can find any Explorer pics, but I did find this one.

I own 1 0004 in natural Korina and 1 0062 in Korina painted white at the factory.

Do you find these numbers in your log?

Thanks and very best
 

Strings Jr.

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Messages
670
I assume the guitar rack pictured behind you may be the guitars you were tasked with doing your process to... Did certain guitars get put in your rack for reasons not yet covered... or was it just 'luck of the draw' what got turned over to you for final assembly? Did you maybe have certain guitars that were known to be your favorites or you had a certain expertise with that might influence what guitars were assigned to you?

Loving this thread,

Fretsalot/Scott

Thanks Scott! Actually, these pictures were made inside the sound booth where my Father worked.
Once the tuners were installed, the Adjusters, as we were called, could choose whatever they wanted to build. But yes, anytime there was a prototype, special order, Artist Relations order, or anything that deviated from the norm, it was brought to me.

When we started building ES guitars, most people had trouble getting used to working through the F holes. Made it very hard to reach your quota for the day. So since I happened to be super fast at it, some days I would do nothing but assemble the hardware on them and someone else would string it up and make the adjustments.

As far as my favorites, anything with a nice top usually found it’s way to me. But my all-time favorites were the carved tops. There was no quota / time limit on building them. They had to be perfect. Period. Only me and one other guy were allowed to build them. I would do 100% of the hardware and setup on those, including the tuners, TRC, and pickguard. I also had to hand-sand the bridge base to match the top. When I finished, I would fill out the labels and install them too.

Good memories. Thanks for the questions!


 

FretsAlot

New member
Joined
Jan 22, 2003
Messages
931
Thanks Scott! Actually, these pictures were made inside the sound booth where my Father worked.
Once the tuners were installed, the Adjusters, as we were called, could choose whatever they wanted to build. But yes, anytime there was a prototype, special order, Artist Relations order, or anything that deviated from the norm, it was brought to me.

When we started building ES guitars, most people had trouble getting used to working through the F holes. Made it very hard to reach your quota for the day. So since I happened to be super fast at it, some days I would do nothing but assemble the hardware on them and someone else would string it up and make the adjustments.

As far as my favorites, anything with a nice top usually found it’s way to me. But my all-time favorites were the carved tops. There was no quota / time limit on building them. They had to be perfect. Period. Only me and one other guy were allowed to build them. I would do 100% of the hardware and setup on those, including the tuners, TRC, and pickguard. I also had to hand-sand the bridge base to match the top. When I finished, I would fill out the labels and install them too.

Good memories. Thanks for the questions!



Thanks for the info. Looking forward to more photos of the special builds :dude:
 

sgt_steiner

Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Messages
145
This thread screams "Good Times!" as much as any I've ever encountered. Like many of us, I think of these days fondly, and seeing these pics teleports me right back to that time and place. Man, I wish I'd taken more pics myself.

Cheers my friend! Thanks for sharing so much of your incredible journey!
 

Strings Jr.

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Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Messages
670


I own 1 0004 in natural Korina and 1 0062 in Korina painted white at the factory.

Do you find these numbers in your log?

Thanks and very best[/QUOTE]

Congrats on owning a couple of great guitars. Especially 1 0004. One of the first!
I didn't find your numbers in my log, but here's what I built on June 9th, 1983.
Your 1 0062 would have been built somewhere around that date.
Thanks!

 

jrgtr42

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Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
2,308
By any chance did you work any of the Firebrand SGs?
Late March 1980, I don't have my SN immediately handy, I can update later.
 

Strings Jr.

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Messages
670
By any chance did you work any of the Firebrand SGs?
Late March 1980, I don't have my SN immediately handy, I can update later.


Absolutely. They were the perfect "working musician's" guitar.
Lightweight, ebony fingerboard, good pickups, and best of all, very affordable.
Lots of people in the plant bought one.
 

jrgtr42

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
2,308
Absolutely. They were the perfect "working musician's" guitar.
Lightweight, ebony fingerboard, good pickups, and best of all, very affordable.
Lots of people in the plant bought one.

Yep, mine's my first electric guitar, got it used in about 91 or 92, for $300. Imagine finding a used Gibson for that these days...
It was beat to heck when I got it, and I've added my own mojo since. That's my #1 guitar, I'd be living naked on the streets before I'd sell it.
AIUI, they came with either mahogany or walnut bodies. Mine's mahogany. One of the original pickups was fizzing out, so I replaced them in
2001 or so, Duncan Alnico 2 in the bridge and Duncan Pearly Gates in the neck.
Had a refret around that time too, time for a recrowning pretty soon, I think.
SN 80810614
 
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