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Eko 500 / 4V (DONE!!!!)

Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 3:31 pm
by raphaël
Hey,

First of all, this is not my guitar.
I have this 10 yo boy I give guitar lessons too. It's very fresh as we had, today, our second lesson.
The boy is great, and he doesn't have a guitar...so I let him grab one of mine at home, a Lawsuit Strat I don't really care of cosmetically ;)
His mother, wich is a new family friend, told me I had to help buying him a guitar. First of all, he didn't see all of my guitars...and he picked a Jaguar as a first choice!!!
Neat.
Then he saw mine, and yes, that's it. Plus the shorter scale might fit his shorts hands.
Anyway, I called the mother, we spoke a bit about that VM sunburst Jag he'll have for christmas, and she told me this : "Oh, by the way, my father had a guitar back then, in th 60's. It sat under a bed since the past 25 years. But it's a junk, and pouhahahaha, it's covered whith an ugly blue sparkle finish!!!!!!!!"
I was like :mellow:
And I answered something like : "OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG !!!!!!! 60's + blue sparkle in the same sentence!!!!! It has to be a Goya or an Eko!!! no junk no junk no junk!!!!"
She said ::) and also that she'll bring it to me, just to check.

She came with the guitar today...
AND IT'S A FREAKIN' EKO 500 4V IN BLUE SPARKLE FINSH WITH RARE YELLOW PICKGUARD!!!!!!
The mother and her family clearly didn't know what they had in their house in the last 25 years. She told me they used to pick when they were young and when they dressed up into futuristic glam rock stars.

Ok it's not a '59 Les Paul or a Fender Marauder prototype, but I had dreamed to have one of these since forever.
And man, this is beautiful.

But she won't sell her, like ever...the guitar belonged to her beloved father who passed away when she was 20.
It's her father's legacy for her children, and for the boy.
So restoration time!!!!
I'm so happy for doing this for her, for her boy...and for me, as I will have it as long as it lasts :D
And the boy still wants a VM Jag...as I said, it's a good boy ;) .

The thing needs TLC, and she let it to me for a vintage correct restoration prefered.
As far I saw, all of the pickguard screws are missing, the input jack too et one of the thimbles.

Does anyone know where I can find some vintage 60's italian parts? Eko would be great?
It's a bit hard to find some places to source those kind of parts.

Anyway,
I will post pics tomorrow, or later...but soon!!!
I'm just waiting for the sun, for the glitters to shine...

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 9:29 pm
by Pacafeliz
Cool story Raph, but MAN WE WANNA SEE THAT GUITAR!!!

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 1:01 am
by antisymmetric
Pacafeliz wrote:Cool story Raph, but MAN WE WANNA SEE THAT GUITAR!!!

What he said :) I was going to do the usual PICS OR IT DID'NT HAPPEN, but that might be a bit harsh. ;)

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 1:06 am
by raphaël
Oops, I realised I did a loooot of mistakes while typing the story. I'm sorry, it was very late, and the wine was very good :D !!!
As for the pics, I'll try today...

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 1:23 am
by Shadoweclipse13
raphaël wrote: and the wine was very good :D !!!
:D :D :D Put me down for the list that would love to see pictures!

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 7:54 am
by raphaël
I took a lot of pics, as usually...

With flash:
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no flash:
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I don't know if the pickups are working or not. I could be nice if they could be working!!
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And fun too:
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The logo is missing:
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The neck is a bit bowed, but juste a bit.
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One fret is missing though...but they are in poor shape. I don't know if I will be able to do it myself or not.
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And I can't move the tuning pegs, it's all stuck...and feels cheapy too.
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The bridge is a Coronado doppleganger:
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There is a hole in the back of the top horn:
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It's completely hollow there.
But then I removed the pickguard and found a swimming pool!!!
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So it's solid and hollow...

Here is the missing Eko logo's shade:
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THIS is really nice:
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This red line totally makes it...and with the gold tape around the two faces body and really beautiful...really Tommy Hilfiger like, or white Converse like...if it makes sense for someone else :D .
Love it.
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It misses some wiring and the input jack:
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Now this is weird:
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Never seen that before.
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Everything is rusty, like the trem arm and the pots...I can't turn them :wtf: !!!!
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I need to find one of these too...the quest...
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Sooooo,
This is doable, but it will take some time to source some parts, like this thimble.
But it will be fun :w00t: !!!
And she looks good on strap too!!
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I really like the overall feel and look of this guitar.

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 9:30 am
by mgeek
raphaël wrote: And I can't move the tuning pegs, it's all stuck...and feels cheapy too.
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Nooo- those are Van Gents, really decent tuners, most European guitar manufacturers used them, and Gretsch did too for a while in the sixties.


Obviously gonna need some serious WD40-ing but they should spring back to life if you give the oil time to do it's thing and don't force them.

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 10:25 am
by Pacafeliz
Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
raphaël wrote: and the wine was very good !!!
Put me down for the list that would love to see pictures!
MAN I LOVE FRANCE!!! :-*

...oh and nice guitar, too. Not my thing, really, but nice!

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 9:24 pm
by Shadoweclipse13
Not my thing either, but that is really cool!!

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 2:20 pm
by jeff m.
Raphael,
I can help, at least partly !
I had the 'champagne sparkle' ( at least, that's what I called it 8) ) version of this guitar many years back. I remember putting gold Gibson-style speed knobs on it to match the finish..as a result, I have the original Tone & Volume knobs sitting in my parts box.

If you want them, PM me & I'll send 'em to you..I'm in Australia, but I doubt shipping such a small package would be much. Yours gratis if you want 'em !

Lemme know.
Best,
Jeff.

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 1:00 am
by Squirrel
mgeek wrote:Nooo- those are Van Gents, really decent tuners, most European guitar manufacturers used them, and Gretsch did too for a while in the sixties.


Obviously gonna need some serious WD40-ing but they should spring back to life if you give the oil time to do it's thing and don't force them.
Yeah, just dump some oil on all the moving parts and they'll be fine. I've had several guitars with those tuners on them, they're fantastic quality and work waaaay better than any modern tuners I can think of.

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:42 pm
by jeff m.
Raphael.
Got your PM..replied, but not sure if I've done it correctly !

Just shoot me your address, man..I don't want any $$ for 'em, happy to help a fellow vintage guitar nut ! Don't worry about the postage.
Best,
Jeff.

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2017 6:02 am
by raphaël
Hey guys,
Thank you for your inputs on the tuners, I didn't know them.
I know this is not everyone's thing, the glitter and all, but the absolute kitschness makes it perfect to my eyes :)

Oh, and Jeff, you're a gent!!!!
Thanks!!

Btw, do you think I could use olive oil on those tuners? I do this on my acoustics I don't relly care of, but that one I don't know. Any possible damage with olive oil?

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 12:30 am
by mgeek
raphaël wrote: Btw, do you think I could use olive oil on those tuners?
No, just get the proper stuff. Here it's WD40, not sure if you get that where you are but it's not expensive and worth having around.

Re: Eko 500 / 4V

Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 12:41 pm
by crianlarich
I've got a similar project (EKO electic mandolin). I did use something from the kitchen on its stuck and very oxidized tuners. Vinegar helped a lot, before getting to work with the mineral stuff. (but there, the gears and plates are brass...)
very interested to see how this evolves.