Need some guitar advice...

[project_c]

I found an old electric guitar up in the loft, it's been sitting up there rusting for about 8 years, and I need some advice on whether it's worth bringing it back to life or not. I never really bothered with guitars, especially since getting into playing bass, so my knowledge on them is non-existant.

It's a Columbus Series 3 (Is it a Strat copy with a humbucker? Not sure..), it looks tired and old and dirty, I gather it's a cheap japanese brand and it's probably from the late 80's, so it's not going to be worth money, I have no great expectations from it apart from keeping it to mess around with. I put some new strings on and plugged it in, and it sounds pretty good, especially on the back pickup, and the neck felt good too, very playable and quick.

So here are the problems:
- Apart from the bridge pickup, the others sound like crap, and there's an awful lot of hiss.
- There are weird issues with intonation. It's perfectly in tune on the open strings and around the 12th fret, but it goes out of tune around the second fret, up to the 7th or so. I don't really understand what that means.
- The machine heads feel rusty and a bit unsteady, and the guitar generally doesn't like staying in tune for too long.

So with all these issues, do you think it is it worth bringing back to life, or would it just be a waste of time and money?

[Stilettoprefer]

Did you check th relief? If theres too much relief, the middle frets can be out of tune. and that E saddle looks odd to me... Another possibility for the intonation problem is the nut. It could be too high.

[poorbassist15]

To me, looking at it and reading what you've written, I wouldn't spend much on it(probably not worth it). But, if it has sentimental value to it, by all means, go for it.

I have no clue about the hiss

I think your tuning problems may either be the bridge, or the tuning machines. Tuning machines are easily replaced, just go on Warmoth, or any guitar parts suppliers, and they should have a bunch to look at.

[project_c]

thanks for the replies- the saddle is definitely odd, I agree. as for neck relief, I'm not sure but it sounds like taking it to a tech to fix everything might be more hassle than it's worth... unfortunately all this has given me guitar GAS, and that's a whole world of pain I'd like to stay away from...

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Try to see if you can get the intonation and setup right with some new strings and fiddling.

If you can get it intonated and it plays alright, then why not keep it. You can get pretty decent guitar pickups for cheap, if you do decide to keep on playing it

[Randall]

Just picked up a "cheap" (80$) squire strat the other day so i know what your are dealing with
Hiss is probably the "single coil" strat copy pickups.
Bridge looks to be a humbucker so that will be why it is quieter.
Most cheap guitars have poor setup from the factory so you may have to cut the nut to the proper depth and adjust the intonation and truss rods.
I have also found that "cheap" guitars have poor quality tuners and if it has a tremelo that is usually junk and will cause it to go out of tune real easy.
Good luck getting it into playing shape

[stratovani]

I'd take it to a guitar tech and see what he thinks. It might need less work than you think, maybe a good setup and some shielding to quiet down the hum. My rule of thumb is, so long as the body and neck are in good shape then it's worth fixing up.