HONDO GUITARS, anybody ???

[reddavid]

I've got one. Poor thing - bought it from a charity shop for £10 because, through some hideous mess of crude hacks, it had been transformed into an eight string acoustic. I don't remember how it sounded, but I did have fun sanding all the paintwork off, painting the guitar with blackboard paint, stringing it with steel electric guitar strings, and scrawling Nirvana lyrics all over it in chalk. Fun guitars, t'be sure, t'be sure.

 

[timothio]

bargain!

I just bought an old hondo II from a boot fair, must be late 70's or early 80's les paul styley but with double cutaways, tobacco sunburst, dimarzio pickups... Really battered and bruised with chips and scratches everywhere, but looks all the better for it in my opinion. Cost: £4.- Thats $8.- I had to rewire the bugger, havent had a chance to play it thru my amp yet but sounds promising without... Surely I've got myself the bargain of the century here?!

 

[eyema_believer]

My only experience with Hondo was a bass from nearly 20 years ago and it was the worst playing POS I've encountered to date. Even so, I've gigged with it. However, the quality as a whole of low end instruments has dramatically increased since then.

This has been my experience to a "T." (Whatever that means.)
Every Hondo I ever play had a horrible soft plastic nut, bad intonation, and action that made my fingers hurt. You can take a $100 today and buy 10 times the guitar that you could buy in the eighties for $100. I spent $350 on a plywood Kramer Striker in about 1985. I don't think you could even find a POS plywood guitar like that anymore. I was mortified and hearbroken when I found out that guitar was friggin plywood. Shoot, for $350 you can almost get a mexican telecaster, can't ya?

Peace!

~Shawn

 

[Farview]

This is a 2 1/2 year old thread about guitars they thankfully stopped making 15 years ago.

 

[ocnor]

This is a 2 1/2 year old thread about guitars they thankfully stopped making 15 years ago.

Where do these old threads keep coming from?

 

[stevieb]

My son found a Honda 'Paul, obviously had been underwater from Katrina. Now a wall hanger. I would love to rebuild it, just to say I did. No way it would be worth it if I had to buy the parts, but maybe folks here could donate parts, I could put it back right, and we could auction it off and donate the proceeds to charity?

 

[ocnor]

It probably looks like it was underwater because someone had used it as a boat paddle which is about all those things are good for. Put it back right? That would be difficult considering none of the Hondo guitars were "right" to begin with.

 

[mrnanya]

hondo acoustic

I have a acoustic old hondo sounds so so but i like it it;s durable and fun to play

 

[jimmy1740]

I had one many many years ago, but I have to say it sucked. I mean really sucked..

 

[flyingv659]

hondos rock

Do not listen to people who say hondos are cheap.I have had mine for over 30 years.IT is one of the best guitars I have ever owned.I have played many shows with it both indoors and outdoors it has never let me down ever....Now I recently turned it over to my son who also plays bass.all his friends love that old guitar they cant believe the look,feel ,and sound of my old hondo.I have owned fenders and gibsons but none have lasted as long as my old hondo.GREAT GUITAR for the money..........

 

[ocnor]

IT is one of the best guitars I have ever owned.

That's ruff man..my condolences.

I recently turned it over to my son

In some states that would be considered child abuse.

 

[flyingv659]

child abuse very funny

YOU must be the type of person who believes you can take a guitar hero guitar plug it into an amp and call it a great guitar. MY guitar is a hondo 2 the one with pearl inlays on the neck it was one of the last good ones they made.I do agree that the acoustic and pointed neck versions do stink.thanks for the comment.

 

[Axxe2000]

you sound like an authority on Hondo. Great! Back in 85 I went shopping for my first guitar and played a Randy Rhoads Hondo. It was neck through
black and red zebra print with shark tooth inlays and I fell in love. Only drawback, it was $800. and I was 15 and very limited. I can get one now but
I cant seem to find one like it. Would you know where I can find one?

 

[Farview]

you sound like an authority on Hondo. Great! Back in 85 I went shopping for my first guitar and played a Randy Rhoads Hondo. It was neck through
black and red zebra print with shark tooth inlays and I fell in love. Only drawback, it was $800. and I was 15 and very limited. I can get one now but
I cant seem to find one like it. Would you know where I can find one?

You are going to have a couple problems. one is that you just posted in a thread from four years ago, the other is that those guitars didn't last long because all the hardware was made from cheese. If you relplaced it with good hardware, it would cost as much as replacing it with a similar guitar from a company who makes guitars with resale value. (like Jackson)

 

[flozram]

you sound like an authority on Hondo. Great! Back in 85 I went shopping for my first guitar and played a Randy Rhoads Hondo. It was neck through
black and red zebra print with shark tooth inlays and I fell in love. Only drawback, it was $800. and I was 15 and very limited. I can get one now but
I cant seem to find one like it. Would you know where I can find one?

Axe2000, that was my second guitar, wish to this day I still had it:
That guitar went through everything played amazing and after new pickups sounded incredible.
I dont remember it costing that much, i think I only paid about $350

 

[fuzzsniffvoyage]

I love Hondo's. Had one in high school, a LP copy. I'd like to get another one.

 

[domvac]

I have a 70's Hondo HII that I bought in a thrift store for $20.00. I had some strat pickups kicking around and some old Grover tuning heads so I put the thing together and voila!.... a decent guitar. The original pickups sucked, the tuning heads were crap but the maple/rosewood neck is really comfortable and plays well. The body? I dunno...it's red. The bridge sucks but I don't have a spare and I'm not willing to buy a new one because I have a '73 Strat and don't need to spend the money. The Hondo plays and sounds pretty good as long as I don't touch the whammy bar. For the $20.00 and the time spent, it's a pretty nice guitar.

 

[Mark7]

Check this out.

According to a friend of mine the vibrato on these is actually very usable.