Hondo 740 Deluxe

This axe was made in the good old days... the 70s!!
It has 23 frets and your classic Les Paul Copy pots and 2 Humbucker pickups configure. Except these are lovely Dimarzio pups with lots of character.
Solid Alder top and the Japanese knew even then how to finish guitars. This one is a red burst effect and transparent finish. Nice!!
The only thing I dont like about the body of the gat is that the neck bolts on istead of glued.
The hard ware looks and feels cheap and the machine heads would be the worst Ive used. Im loathe to change them because I want the authenticity to remain. Nice action with jumbo frets.Has nice pearl inlay albiet a bit roughly installed. With a cold chisel I suspect! (no offence to Jimmy and the boys). Has a tune-o-matic bridge and a stop type tail piece.
I bought this second hand for 305 dollars NZ.

Heres where the name Hondo becomes "the sleeper".
You dont have to have Gibson etched into the headstock to geta great sound. This thing rocks man and I mean smokes most of the competition of the stage. I play Mayall blues,Zepplin,Jack Johnson,AC/DC a whole raft of different covers and the lead sustain is great. The pickups are bright enough to break through on lead and british enough to produce that classic British crunch and warmth for rythmn when required.The lead socket is cheap but a good lead end will snap in and wont move around. Dont use crappy leads anyway.

Great action and the strings were set up perfectly for my style. As with any guitar make sure the thing is set for you,your fingers, your style and your music. I use Ernie Ball 9's on mine and man can it sing the blues.Pots are original and a bit scratchy but it doesn,t cut out or anything.Not bad for a 32 year old!

This is a live guitar but you would have to change the tuning pegs.They are a nightmare. But apart from that and the pots this guitar will outlast you or I.

There is none!

Ive been playing for years and I love sleepers like this. You get up there to play and the purists are looking at your equipment and see Hondo written on the headstock, they shrink away - that is at least until you play an opening volley of AC/DC or even old Clapton and they quickly forget what's written up there.My favourite feature is just that - the sound is what's important. It looks good too.Just wish it would stay in tune. I own a Japanese strat a Canora Les Paul copy ( another sleeper)and a 73 Ibanez SG copy. This axe is up their with them all!!

Made in Korea, around 1983.
Has 23 frets.
Its a Solid Body, pretty heavy Mahogany body (one piece) and Maple on the neck.
Four controls, two for volume an two for tone.
For pickups it has 2 humbuckers, Di Marzio (excellent tone and sound!) Has a 3-way selector.
The finish is Red Cherry, beautyful.
The body is similar to a Les Paul.
Had the original case but change it for a new one. In fact, the place I took the instrument for a general check they told me that this instrument is a jewel because it's made with the same wood that is used to manufacture a Gibson, in a few words this item is never coming out the same way again!. It was a present from my Grandfather, brand new i think it cost around $300.00 and it's been with me ever since (around 18 years) and is solid as a rock. Also, i contacted the people at Hondo just to obtain the exact year of manufacture but the answer they gave me is that they are a new administration and my instrument was manufactured prior to the new administration. I wondered around the Internet but it's been a waste of time, that is why i am putting this information here.

It has a great sound, i play anything. Love latin rythms and Afro-Cuban sounds, Jazz, Blues, Flamenco, anything that sounds good i want to play it. I use it with a Fender Chorus amplifier or a Yamaha JX35, also use Korg pedals with several effects (chorus, flanger and distortion), it covers an ample variety of sounds because of the rich and high sound of the pick-ups and the body sustains pretty well the notes.

I did have to adjust a little bit the action, i think it could be much lower but i don't want to mess up something and then regret it. The guitar has withstand a lot of abuse since it was my first electric guitar and after the overhaul it went recently in electronics and in appearence, i don't even think in sell this guitar.

As i told you before, it is solid as a rock, has withstand abuse for 18 years and since I have learn to take proper care of the instrument, it is going to last a lot of time.

Well, for the electronics i took the guitar to the store where it was bought (Republic of Panama-SUPRO), it was just a resistance that gave me a little problem because of the humidity, but the rest was ok. For the appearence it went to a local craftsmen to work on minor scratches, looks brand new and it sounds great! But the support does not exist at all. For this you have to know the right people and technicians.

Since it is no longer manufactured i will probably buy a Gibson. I do not tend to compare since every guitar has a particular feature that i like, in this case it's the sound. The thing i would like to change is the action, just a little bit more closer to the neck. I have two American Stratocasters, one semi-acoustic steel string Craftsman guitar (looks like an Ovation, very good sound), a semi-acoustic nylon string Samick and a twelve string Yamaha (acoustic). Also an Ibanez 405GR Bass Guitar (five strings) excellent instrument!