Col the Plunker

Thanks everybody for your answers and contributions. Made some interesting reading, and some great model photos. Just before Christmas, I privately bought a Marshall amp. The owner asked if I would also take his old black and white Strat off his hands too for a meagre £30.... It was an exact double of the one in my original post with identical headstock and weight. Well...you can guess the rest! Cheers again for all of your input.

Thanks Skinny man for your reply, and the info. I did as you suggested and stripped it down as the neck needed a shim anyway. So feeling a bit of a guitar detective, I took the plunge and offed the neck. Sweet FA unfortunately! I even forgot to see if the truss adjuster was in the neck-end. The body pocket still retained dark brown sawdust and blurred ink markings... nothing really to go on, but it was worth a peek. So I levelled the big jumbo frets and slapped it back up, added the shim and got the neck in true. Adjusted string height, freed up the trem and she was good to go. Trem is unbelievably good considering that I could only loosen the two most important outer pair of screws. The rest are seized solid with rust, but it returns in tune despite albeit careful dive bombing... so that is a bonus. At the time back along when I obtained the first Strat, Encore were strongly promoting their guitars in many guitar mags. That's when I noticed the now softened headstock shape. This must have been around 1989 and must have as you mentioned, been a new drive under JHS. Even then I didn't know how old this first Strat was. I ended up giving it to my eight year old lad towards his birthday, but told him to flog it to me if he ever sold it as all the newer ones had the naff headstock. That fell on deaf ears. (boys will be boys). So when I saw this identical Strat all these years later, I just had to get it. Luckily it had just been in an older chaps collection that his mate was selling off for his now widowed Wife, and not road worn or knackered. The proprietor of my local guitar shop says that the first Encores were made in India from ash, and weren't bad quality wise. That it plays so well after all these years is certainly testament to that. Thanks again for getting back to me on this subject. Cheers and belated happy new year. Cheers, Col.

Hi folks, My latest acquisition is this old Encore E76 Strat sporting Fender style headstock, and it's in really good nick. This is a real piece of nostalgia for me as I bought an identical one second hand back in the early 90s. It too had the rare Fender style headstock. It still has that same spanky sound which turns raw and barky when overdriven...happy days! So my question to fellow axe wielders is... with no distinguishing serial no, only the original shop logo on the back. Any idea how old this immaculate vintage guitar could be. It may even have been made in Japan, but most likely India. Like when did Fender pull the plug on the copied headstock??? It's only the 2nd of that model I've ever seen. Bit of an ask I know, but like they say "if you don't ask..." Lovely yellow aged pickups and knobs, and they're genuine as you can see the tidemark when the pups are raised up. It's pretty weighty...not plywood, looks to me to be ash which is a surprise as back in the day they cost half as much as a Squier. Neck has jumbo frets. Looks like the truss rod adjustment is in the end of the neck under the pickguard. The roller string tree is new. .

Hang on, a reply may take some time. I still have about 35 guitars half dozen basses. Still got my Tokai. Off now to pick up a Trace Elliot GP7 300 4x10. May prove a tad difficult sneaking it past Wifey... Have to compare amps too. Catch up later.

Hey Ezbass... Talk about parallel lives!!? My first electric was a twin pup Kay, right on par with an Audition or Teisco. My second ever guitar was a sunburst Aria Les Paul, which was the axe that I started to make real headway on. Man, I wore that poor thing out. I also own an Eko Ranger 12 string. Be interesting to see what bass guitars and other instruments have been through our similar hands.

I started playing guitar at the age of 15 because... My Dad wouldn't allow me to have a bass guitar which I had yearned for. I wasn't a spoiled brat demanding and precocious. I earned the money myself by means of a cleaning job in a local factory after school (I had lied and told them I was 16). So after a few months and furnished with said funds my Dad and I visited one of three local guitar centres in Reading. Problem was that the smallest bass amp available was 30watts (in 1975). Our stereo system at home was also 30w per channel, and flipping LOUD. I watched momentarily as the cogs turned in my Father's head as he weighed this up. "No, you're not having one son". Crestfallen, I fixed the sales assistant with my most beseeching gaze, to which he then softened and replied: "Sir, if your young lad chose a normal six string electric guitar, then we can supply a small battery powered magnifier...cheaper too". You see where this is going? The budding guitar hero was born! Cheers.

I absolutely love watching Phil X, whether he's with his band The Drills, or on the now aged Fretted Americana vintage guitar programs. This guy can sing and play ANYTHING, and a songwriting talent to boot. His energy, drive, and humour is extremely contagious. He never fails to fire me up when I'm feeling a bit stale and start me scrabbling for a pick. He really packs the fun element into our guitar world. Check him out.

Me too, I was surprised and delighted with the results. To be honest, my expectations were not great. I took a gamble on Artec hot rails to replace the bridge pup in my Squier Tele. The original single coil was just too tinny sounding. What a transformation!! As the rail is really a small humbucker, the axe has a richer tone, more sustain, and NO more buzz. It fit perfectly too. If the arch in it is effecting the volume in the outer strings, then you can grain it down flat like I did for my Thinline. (l sprayed it black as I sanded through the chrome) I even fitted one on my vintage Jim Harley Strat to beef it up. For the money they are a no-brainer, and I'm amazed at the results. Just goes to show that you don't always need pricey replacements.

Wilkinson pickups are decent, and won't break the bank. I used them on my H.Benton homebuild SG. The Wilkinson mini humbucker may possibly fit a P90 route. That would be interesting.