Guitar questions-help needed! Please give it a read

[Godbody]

I'm posting this on Talkbass because I've already done a search on ultimateguitar for relevant information, and turned up nothing relevant; I don't want to start a thread there, because the responses will be sub-human retarded.

So-I recently acquired a Magnum guitar. I can't find a single thing about the manufacturer, there's no model name or serial number on the guitar.

Its currently non-functional; I have to track down an electrical issue (I'm guessing a bad pup).

The guitar is reasonably old, the body is a single piece of mahogany with a clear coat (except for bad buckle rash and pick scratches), a one-piece maple neck with maple fretboard, all gloss finish. The fretboard has some wear on the frets and the board itself, but I'm hesitant to fix it because the feel of it is just excellent, its the smoothest-feeling guitar I've touched in a long time.

Headstock is Strat-style, body is vaguely Gibson double-cutaway shaped, but with a much wider waist; the body is remarkably large (I doubt it would fit in any 'standard' case).

The nut and bridge are brass (also a big mother, looks heavy), the truss rod is on the body end of the neck, and has a brass cover plate.

For electronics it has one humbucker, two pots (vol/tone) with speed knobs, and two mysterious single-throw switches. I could see one switch being a coil tap, but what would the other be??? A kill switch?

So first, does anybody know what in the blue hell this guitar is? It can't be terribly cheap, considering the single-piece body and neck.

Second, any guesses (informed or wild welcome at this point) on how the electronics are set up? What do those switches do?

Third, I think I might wind up swapping out the pup even if it turns out to be functional. Since I have limited funds to work with, any tips on where to find some cheap-yet-reliable pickups that'll fit a humbucker route (don't necessarily have to be a bucker, just has to fit) would be appreciated.

Finally, I'm thinking of sanding off the clear coat since its dinged to hell anyway and missing in spots, and putting on a light oil finish, such as tung oil. If you highly recommend any particular oil for mahogany, please chime in.

I really hope you can help me!

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by Godbody

I'm posting this on Talkbass because I've already done a search on ultimateguitar for relevant information, and turned up nothing relevant; I don't want to start a thread there, because the responses will be sub-human retarded.

So-I recently acquired a Magnum guitar. I can't find a single thing about the manufacturer, there's no model name or serial number on the guitar.

I googled "magnum guitar" and got tons of hits.

[Godbody]

Originally Posted by ggunn

I googled "magnum guitar" and got tons of hits.

I got around a million hits too; none of the first 50 were useful or even remotely relevant, so I gave up on Google.

A brief update: I monkeyed with the guitar on my lunch break. Seems that one switch is indeed a coil tap. The other seems to be a booster circuit, possibly you flip it on to do a solo or lead, and then flip it off to fall back into the mix. I sprayed a little contact cleaner into the jack, that made it semi-functional. Can't get at the electronics cavity because the screws are stripped :-/ that's the next phase of this project.

[Stumbo]

Pics?

[Godbody]

Originally Posted by Stumbo

Pics?

oh believe me, I would if I could. But I can't, and now it's a painful process describing it.