mars_hall

espiti -- As you can see, it only has 3 knobs (2 non push-pull volumes, 1 tone) and a 2-position switch. Despite the state of neglect it was purchased, it still sounded wonderful. It has its share of nicks and scrapes but, overall, it's in pretty good condition. Besides the usual deep cleaning, it needed the input jack tightened, the pickguard adjusted (the tip of the bolt holding it on the bracket was touching the top so it had to be filed slightly and the bracket itself had to be opened slightly beyond 90 degrees). Of course, the truss-rod needed adjusting too, as well as the intonation (still in process) and string separation. The string spacing at the nut is slightly off too and, since the nut itself seems to be some kind of cheap plastic. The Grover tuners are their usual cheesy selves (compared to the current 18:1 Rotomatics) and will have to go. Happen to have a set of chrome Gotoh 510 Delta with the same mounting screw pattern so they won't leave any mark should it go back to the original. The fretboard still needs a good scrubbing and oiling but the frets look almost unused. According to its previous owner, it spent the last 8 years in its original case -- and it's believable.

--it's much lighter than my 157; I'd say about 9 lbs. One-piece mahogany body with very open grain--gotta be Honduran. --much sweeter-sounding than the 157; they are incredibly different. --the Air Norton in the bridge was installed backwards, I guess to warm it up. That wasn't necessary, since the guitar still has a sweet crunch when I turned the pickup around. It immediately gave off a "Sweet Child 'O Mine" vibe on a hot Marshall patch on my Axe-FX. I kind of like the Air Norton, actually, and am going to live with it for awhile before I decide whether go the boutique route. The Tone Zone in the neck has gotta go, though. Totally wrong for this guitar. --The fretboard probably isn't Brazilian, but it sure is nice and dark colored. --The guitar probably had Duncan Antiquities originally, since those are listed as stock in the catalog and the back-plate sticker doesn't list the pickups. --I don't know if it's factory, but it has vintage-type capacitors installed. RS Guitarworks? I don't know. My 157 certainly doesn't have this. --The only thing I'm not sure about, oddly enough, are the Sperzel tuners. Their motion isn't as smooth as I'd expected. All in all, I'm pleased. I was having guilt pangs for the last couple of days, thinking I'd pulled a Nigel Tufnel and gotten two of essentially the same thing for no good reason. But now that I've had a chance to fire up the rig, I realize that this 150 and 157 are much different flavors of "sonic ice cream" that are both very useful tools for me. And I have to laugh thinking about how much the Nashville gang would charge you for an LP Standard of the quality of this 150, assuming you could even get one.