Thankfully, Some Guitar Problems Come With Their Own Solutions

One of the first things I did upon receiving my Glarry GTL Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar (not an affiliate link) was order new strings for it. The included strings weren't bad, mind you, but I like good strings. The classic Telecaster (this is a Tele clone) strings are Fender Super 250s, which were on sale at Amazon for $3.99 (not an affiliate link).

They arrived over the weekend, but I only got around to re-stringing the guitar yesterday, and ... well ... see if you can spot what's wrong with this picture:

See that little blue ring at the lower left? That's the end of the high E string. The other five strings come in through holes in the rear ... but that saddle was screwed on to the instrument slightly mis-aligned with the holes. I spent about 15 minutes trying to get the string in from the rear before I gave up.

Fortunately, the saddle is built so that you can string the guitar using the rear holes or holes at the back of the saddle. I'd generally do them all the same way, but the high E was the last string I got to and I didn't feel like removing and redoing all the others.

I didn't expect to get a guitar with that particular defect, but I knew it was possible, because I watched several video reviews of this particular instrument before ordering it, and one of the reviewers got a GTL with exactly the same problem. As it happened, that was the only thing that seemed to bother him about it.

For less than $100, I can't reasonably expect perfection from a guitar, and I'm still happy with this one. I'm just glad that there's a built-in way of getting around the problem without removing the saddle, realigning it, and maybe even having to drill a new hole in the body if it can't be aligned as is.

I Have a Weakness for Orphans

Last night I dreamed that I was at a yard sale and found a Martin D-28 for $100.

This morning I went to yard sales. I did not find a Martin D-28 for $100. Yes, I know, shocking.

But then for some reason we wandered into a Goodwill and there it was, sitting all by itself in a box of junk:

It's a Silvertone Model 319. That was a mid- to late-'60s guitar. Some quick web reading seems to indicate that from 1968 on they were manufactured in Japan, and this one is labeled "Made in USA" on the back of the headstock, so presumably pre-1968.

Is it worth the $9.99 I paid for it?

As a musical instrument, I doubt it. The action is almost nothing at the first fret and probably 1/4" at the 12th fret. By ear (I haven't put a tuner on it to check for sure), it does seem to intone correctly (12th fret one octave above an unfretted note). But that action ... although some Model 319s apparently had a truss rod, this one doesn't, so adjusting the action would involve things like raising the nut/lowering the bridge. It would also need new tuning keys and of course new strings. And I wouldn't venture to predict the results.

On the other hand, it's a 50-plus-year-old guitar that someone once loved  (there's even a sticker label with the former owner's name on it on the body below the neck/body joint)  It's beautiful in its own "good old days" way. So maybe I'll hang it on the wall next to my late great-uncle's equally non-functional mandolin. I just couldn't leave it there all by its lonesome.