OffsetGuitars.com

My first guitar was a white UC-2 that I had to trade back in for my LP Custom. I've wanted to replace it for a long time but they've gotten to be more expensive than I'm willing to pay. I noticed this one locally in STL for a reasonable sum, 600, so I jumped on it with the intention of refinishing it white. The switch tip is missing and I'll have to make one, but otherwise it's all there and stock. The threads were broken off the trem arm but I cut new ones (5mm x 0.. The truss rod nut (6mm x 1) was pretty tightly connected to the surrounding wood but I was able to break it loose, polish it up, and now it works fine. The intonation is a little wonky so it probably needs a nut but I haven't examined it closely yet. These things aside, it's in such good shape I think I'll leave it as is.

I've always been a fan of these and basically all of the univox weirdo guitars. I love the body on these.
How's the weight?

panoramic wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 06, 2023 8:04 am

I've always been a fan of these and basically all of the univox weirdo guitars. I love the body on these.
How's the weight?

It's a chunk at 8lbs 10oz, but manageable.

Very cool guitar! There's a lot of cool details on these. I'm a fan of those pickups too.

luau wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 06, 2023 8:07 am

panoramic wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 06, 2023 8:04 am

I've always been a fan of these and basically all of the univox weirdo guitars. I love the body on these.
How's the weight?

It's a chunk at 8lbs 10oz, but manageable.

that's a lot of meat! My mustang weighs a little less, he's a fat boy 8lbs 6 oz

Congrats Luau

Nice looking UC-2... and a case. Bonus!

RE truss rod:

Thought you might like a few pics of a neck that I removed the fretboard from many moons ago. Just in case that notion ever crosses your mind.






Regards,

Mark

Very cool! Love the position of the fretboard inlays!

Agree, the Gretsch-y inlay placement is great. Really beautiful guitar in a very nice, original, unabused condition.
I like all the offset influences that you see in the older Univox guitars, did not exect it to be so weighty. What's the
body thickness on these? Did you measure the nut width already?

UC3 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 06, 2023 12:00 pm

RE truss rod:

Thanks a bunch, those could come in handy. With 10s and no tension on the rod, it's a bit flat for me but close. I'll try 11s next which I think will make it about perfect.

shigginpit wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 06, 2023 12:59 pm

Agree, the Gretsch-y inlay placement is great. Really beautiful guitar in a very nice, original, unabused condition.
I like all the offset influences that you see in the older Univox guitars, did not exect it to be so weighty. What's the
body thickness on these? Did you measure the nut width already?

It's surprisingly clean. There's no buckle rash at all and only a few very light bits of worming on the back. The side under the jack has some predictable wear as it's not at all chair friendly.

And yeah, the inlays are super cool.

The nut is narrow, 1.6", and challenging to play as a result. The body is actually wider at 1.67".

luau wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 06, 2023 1:15 pm

The nut is narrow, 1.6"

Well, I love a B width neck but that's just what I'm most accustomed to and it all really depends on the frets and, in fact, the neck itself. I couldn't play an A width neck with any level of articulation to save my life though.

Might be awkward with one where it comes in just under what you're accustomed to as a "B width" though, like just that extra micrometer of room between the strings spacing could really throw you off, as it can be when you buy a pair of pants or shoes that almost fit but not quite. I wouldn't change the nut though, unless the nut turns out to be really excessively worn and has a really narrow E-E stretch. Some older made in Japan instruments do have very narrow E-E diameter beyond what the neck requires.

Anyways, nice score. Love to see more pics sometime.

E-e is 1.35". There's a little extra room on the neck to spread it out but it even so it would still be too narrow, so there's no real point. I think there is a high spot in the middle of the G slot though so it either needs shimmed and re-slotted or replaced. Since it's broken on the outside of the E, I'll probably replace it.

To top off the almost-but-not-quite feel, it's a 24.5" scale length and the frets are low so I have to really pay attention.

I don't have a stand that will hold the thing, but it's supposed to be nice the next few days so I'll get some more pics.

True to form, univox was parroting mosrite with the low frets, narrow nut and extra short scale. Mosrite also had moved from 24.75 down to 24.5 after standel went belly up.

Does not look like it has the zero fret though, so this was somewhere in-between influences. And yeah, if the nut has a chip you could try and repair it with superglue and bone shavings or whatever people like to use these days. If it's a plastic nut, I agree with replace being a good option.