Hondo 945 Deluxe

I believe it is an 81 model, Made in Japan, iwht 22 frets, Laminated 335 Style Electric with the standard 3 way switch, 2 volume and 2 tone Knobs. 2 passive humbucker pick-ups (I believe made by Dimarzio)
The Construction / Scale length... are very much typical of Gibson / Epiphone style 335 guitars. Identical timbers used and the neck is set in the same manner.
Finished in natural Blonde coloured wood tone with a clear gloss coat over the timber.
The Bridge is an amazing set-up. It is a 1 pc fixed bridge, but features Fine tuners like those commonly found on Floyd Rose trem systems. This is brilliant. Why don't Gibson use this??? For live gigging it is a priceless feature.
I'll give it top marks coz it is well built and the tuning bridge makes it a far superior design to the standard Gibsons!

I play everything from Softer Jazz, Country, Blues, and Hard Rock, and even the occassional Heavy Metal tune.
Soundwise this guitar surprises me. I own and have owned several Gibsons over the years (Les Pauls and SG's mostly) Currently have a 99 Studio.
I have too many amps to go right through, but my main amps are a Roland Bolt 100 (Think Mk1 / Mk2 Boogie sounds) and a Roland 408.
I bought the guitar a year ago, played it heaps....and recently had a jam with a couple other Gibson fanatics, 1 was playing an original early 60s Les Paul, the other a mid 70s SG. We Swapped amps around a lot, just feeling out each others gear, and this thing stood up impressively to the whole night. The Pick-ups were louder, and cleaner than both the other guitars. It definately has that superb Gibson tone in spades, Sustains like I would expect a semi hollow style too, feeds back nicely when used appropriately, and sweet sweet Gary Moore / Slash / Santana type tones easily coaxed from the pick-ups. Clean sounds were just all over Gibson, sweet and funky.
Obviously it can't sound like a Strat, or a Tele, but that is why I have my Strats and Tele for those sounds, but for all those great Gibson style sounds it is superb.
I love the sounds, and won't fault it at all.

For a 20 plus year old guitar this is in remarkable condition. I doubt it had ever been gigged before I got it. Most of the Gibsons this age I have played have shown a lot more signs of age, with binding cracks... and varnish wear. This was like new and still is.
Someone has changed the machine heads somewhere along the line. They have fitted Gold tuners, and the plating is wearing off. Other than that everything is honky dory.
The entire construction of this guitar really does amaze me. I have played a lot of Gibsons which could only aspire to be this well made!
Other than the gold plating (Which is not original anyway) wearing off the guitar is very very well put together, from the fret wire finishing, to the neck joins.

I've used it live countless times, and it rocks!
The only hassle with using it live is the amount of extra power in the pick-ups of this guitar compared to my other stagfe instruments, meant that I had to make up a few fx patches especially for it at lower volumes. I go straight through a Yamaha GW50 Mulit FX unit into the desk live (Solo gigs) to save having to lug around my Roland Valve amp or my other Roland / Peavey / Vox... and it was easier to set up patches for this guitar than it is to try and re-balance the volume each time I switch guitars.
I changed the strap buttons to Schaller Lockers. Have them on all my guitars. I would expect the standard buttons to be fine, but I prefer the extra security of locking strap systems.
I would feel comfortable using it without a back-up, but I always take at least 2 electrics and an Acoustic to each gig, simply for sound variation.
I would have liked it to have a coil tap so i could split the Humbuckers for extra versatility as that would eliminate me carrying extra guitars to shows, but I would not have it modded to do this as I love it as is.

I think Hondo are now out of business. They were made by the same people who made several other big name guitars, which I won't go into. Since it is over 20 years old this section is not applicable.

I have been playoing over 25 years, have a collection of guitars ranging from Fenders, to Gibsons, Samick, Valley Arts, Vantage... on the Electric side and Acoustics by Ovation, Fenix and Ibanez. Heaps of Stompers from Ibanez, Boss, Korg and Yamaha, and my Yamaha GW50 Multi fx. Amps by Vox, Roland, Peavey and Yamaha at present. I have owned everything imaginable, from Fender & Marshall Amps also over the years and Kramer, Charvel / Jackson and several other guitars also in that time.
I am looking for another of these guitars at present, but have not even found someone who knows someone who knows someone who owns one...
The only downer about it is that it is not a recognised good brand. Other guitarists tend to look down on it till they hear it abd play it. Man I had students palying cheapo Hondo guitars 15 years ago, and I looked down my nose at them. It is amazing how much respect I have for this particular guitar (and brand) which I never expected to acquire.
Compared it to... well recently a Gibson SG and Les Paul, (My own Les Paul is on Perth presently so I have not had to chance to play them back to back) I used to have an original ES335, which I loved (then it was stolen) The sound is comparable, smooth and rich. I also had an Ibanez 335 copy some years ago, which would not ahve come close. I saw the same Ibanez model in a hock Shop locally a few weeks back and tried it out. The difference is like test driving a Ferarri against a clapped out Morris Minor. I have also tried out new Epi' and Samick models recently and this is the better instrument by far.
Best features, the Pick-ups produce the most fantastic sounds, louder and cleaner than Gibsons, plus the Fine tuning bridge is a must have on this instrument, if not on all live stage guitars. Again why aren't Gibson doing this to their 335 style instruments.
I never thought I would pay $350 for a 2nd hand Hondo, geez there was a time when I would not have considered paying that for a new one, but now I am looking for another Hondo so that says something.
I believe this is the top model Guitar they made according to info I have heard through Shops and other Musicians, and I know that Hondo produced some absolute pieces of junk. But this guitar is a real Jem!