NGD: Hondo Chiquita!?

[kidsmoke]

This is a 1980 Hondo Chiquita, designed by Mark Erlewine and Billy Gibbons for Hondo, built by Samik.

It's a string through and NECK through, 19" scale, 23 frets, stock Dimarzio Humbucker screamin' demon. The sustain is incredible. No, I mean that. I do own a couple of decent guitars and the sustain on this is stunning. It's hard to play high on the fret board because of the short scale. the 12th fret spacing is equivalent to 17 on my 24.75 scale guits, and decreases faster than it does on those guitars.

Ok, enough info. Here's the pics. Taken at the moment of discovery in a dusty bedroom in central Mexico...backstory in another thread.

With it's original custom leather gig bag

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/La%20Chona%20Guitars/P1110999.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/La%20Chona%20Guitars/P1110994.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/La%20Chona%20Guitars/P1110998.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/La%20Chona%20Guitars/P1110995.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/La%20Chona%20Guitars/P1110996.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/La%20Chona%20Guitars/P1110997.jpg

For size reference

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/La%20Chona%20Guitars/P1120003.jpg

This thing is pretty playable. The boss is so excited to have the guitar, and the others which will be along later in the year, making music again, and not deteriorating in a dark dry corner. I can definitely see using it in the "all play" school classes I take, where individual tone etc is not key. I can put my Lanilei and this in a backpack and ride a bike, and still contribute mightily.

So, any of you ever seen or played one of these?

You may recognize it as the guitar that Michael J Fox used to blow up Doc's amp in the opening sequence of back to the future.

Word is that Erlewine is still selling 'em for around 600 in Austin.

Very cool and unexpected souvenir from our trip!

[FrankenFretter]

I remember those! Wow, a real blast from the past. Pretty cool score, amigo!

[progrmr]

That's pretty cool! Nice find!

[Tig]

Just my size!
http://www.collectorsaddition.com/manufacturers/ayechihuahua/Small/13689.jpg

[piebaldpython]

With that great sustain.....if it was ME.....I'd put a nut riser on her (the git) and turn it into a screamin' lap steel in Open E tuning. No doubt about it, she would scream like one of the old Supros.

[kidsmoke]

DUDE!!! That is a GREAT idea!
And thank you for clarifying which "her" you were referring to.

Is there a thread out there that talks about this idea? How much taller are we talking? Is it as simple as getting a Dobro nut blank? Do you have to worry about the saddles at all? Could you just have interchangeble nuts? What string gauges do you use for a lap steel? What is the normal scale length of a typical Lap steel?

[piebaldpython]

Tio.......will have to get back to you on some of this after research. Off the top of my head......it could be just as easy as putting a nut riser so that you have a straight (level ?) run from nut to saddle....in a Utopian world, you don't have nut saddles on lap steels because it's a 0 radius fretboard......you live in Chicago, there has to be a git-fixer shop out there of some repute who could handle this in the PROPER manner......string gauges are roughly the same as regular guitar depending on the tuning. That said, you want your two highest strings no thinner than 13 and 15.....lap steels can be all kinds of scale lengths. Most Hawaiian/country-western players prefer 22.5" scale for ease in playing slants on the lower-number frets. If slants aren't a BIG part of your repetoire (sp ?), then a longer length might be preferred to better sustain. My 3 custom-made steels are 24" scale and my Industrial steel is 22.25" scale.

BTW.....ahem.....is that your girlfriend holding the git? Perfect size for her.

[guitarhack]

Looks like a cross between a Rick Turner guitar and a Kay . . . very cool. Have fun!

[kidsmoke]

Tio.......will have to get back to you on some of this after research. Off the top of my head......it could be just as easy as putting a nut riser so that you have a straight (level ?) run from nut to saddle....in a Utopian world, you don't have nut saddles on lap steels because it's a 0 radius fretboard......you live in Chicago, there has to be a git-fixer shop out there of some repute who could handle this in the PROPER manner......string gauges are roughly the same as regular guitar depending on the tuning. That said, you want your two highest strings no thinner than 13 and 15.....lap steels can be all kinds of scale lengths. Most Hawaiian/country-western players prefer 22.5" scale for ease in playing slants on the lower-number frets. If slants aren't a BIG part of your repetoire (sp ?), then a longer length might be preferred to better sustain. My 3 custom-made steels are 24" scale and my Industrial steel is 22.25" scale.

BTW.....ahem.....is that your girlfriend holding the git? Perfect size for her.

If research is required, don't sweat it, I can do that. The point of all the questions was avoiding research!! Definitely have a skilled tech who loves all the weird things I dig up, so he'd likely love a shot at such a thing. And a couple folks I know dabble in lap steel (guitar). I can pick their brains as well.

Si, ella es mi novia. Her use of the guitar was definitely one of the ideas. She's dabbled, and being able to play open chords with out the arm stretch may make it more enjoyable for her. Either way, it's an instrument again, not a dust collector, and that was the point!

[piebaldpython]

I knew I had this link re string gauges on my work computer. Here ya go:
http://www.hawaiiansteel.com/learning/gauges.php