My Second Daion, Another Rockson MDL

After buying my first Daion Rockson MDL in January 2013, I've been on the lookout for another one ever since. As you can see from previous posts they have been popping up, but mostly have been in other states, too expensive (relative to what I want to pay, not for their real value), or just not what I was looking for.

A few weeks ago one popped up, advertised as being a little rough around the edges, with the sound dropping in and out, but basically in ok condition. I'm not adverse to doing a little bit of work on a guitar, and if it's just a matter of a bit of soldering or other basic work I'm good to go.

So, this guitar fitted the criteria of the time perfectly. It was close by, around fifty minutes drive from my place, it was again a traditional Strat style, and at an asking price of AU$75 was in the budget, and even more so when after asking some more questions and asking if they were negotiable, said they'd take $60 for it! Needless to say a couple of days later I had it at home.

Overall it was very similar to my natural finish Rockson MDL except this one is black with a white pickguard, the neck was the same profile, and had also gotten a lovely golden yellow tint that typically comes with age, the machine heads were the same vintage style and it had the twin string trees on the headstock.

Unlike my other one, the saddles are a chromed cast type as opposed to what appear to be brass ones on my other one, and the pickguard is a vintage style 8-screw type unlike the normal 11-screw style.

After plugging it in, electrically the 5-way selector switch appears to be the culprit for the sound dropping in and out, although on closer inspection the earth wire to the spring claw has come loose, so this may also be part of the problem. In any case some further investigation will no doubt narrow down the problem.

The body has been knocked about a bit, but nothing too serious, and it definitely has that relic look about it. The rear trem route is a bit ragged around the edges, and the spring claw looks like it's been run over by a truck, but having said that all these things contribute to giving it just that little bit extra mojo!

Having said all of that, and considering the really old strings that were badly wound around the tuners, it did tune up ok and sounded not too bad. In any case this will be something I intend to fiddle with, nothing major, but a colour change is on the cards, and some minor fiddling with the pickup switching may occur as well to get a different sound from it compared to the other one.

For now here's some pics of it as purchased and a peak under the pickguard of the electronics. Are the pickups, pots and switch original, I have no idea as I've got nothing to compare it too, so if anyone has a Daion Rockson MDL I'd love to see pics of the guts to compare to mine.

As an aside, I'd read that the Daion serial number has the first two digits as the year of manufacture. The neck on this one has the number "76 90019", which would indicate a 1976 build date. However, I've also been reliably informed that Daion didn;t start making these things until 1978, so it would seem unlikely it's a 1976 model in that case. Again, anyone who may know something about the serial numbers, your info would be appreciated.