After finding the market value on this instrument to be far less than its worth to me, I abandoned the plans to restore the guitar to its original condition. As it was, I'd only gotten as far as sanding the body and rebuilding it (with the necessary electronics repairs) to test the guitar's sound.
I discovered it sounded a bit muddy, (though it had respectable tone) and lacked good output power. But after completing the modifications to the Pro-Custom guitar, I now had a good-quality extra pickup lying around. What do I do with it? Put it in the Harmony...what else? I also stacked a magnet from the pickup I'd removed from the Harmony onto the magnet of its remaining pickup to increase the pickup's sensitivity. As well, I ensured that the hight of both pickups brought them closer to the strings; these modifications effectively solved the problem of the guitar's output power.
One unusual electronic feature is the pickup selector switch I added. It's wired to keep the pickups in series wiring (as opposed to the traditional parallel wiring) when both pickups are selected.
The paint scheme was an adaptation of a large canvas painting I did last year. If you look closely, you'll see the Big Dipper in the stars, and there's a little river flowing from between the mountains (just below the output jack on the pickguard).
In paying respect to the original guitar, I've kept the original inspection stickers that were still intact on the neck plate.
So, there it is...It sounds just sweet. The modified original pickup (the black one) kicks out strong with a meaty punch and boom that reminds me of the higher notes on my Precision Bass. The Cort pickup just sings; it carries exceptionally smooth trebles and mids with just enough bass push, and a sweet sustain. Combined, they kick out a very versatile sound without too much bite or sting. Although it can be used for shredding, it would make a nifty jazz or blues guitar. In a word,'fun!' -and it looks great, too.
