The two closest to the neck were still troublesome, so I took the pickguard back off to have another look. I fiddled with the buttons a bit, and then noticed that I'd disconnected the ground from the jack to the volume pot. I would have to solder the ground.
In high school, I took an Electronics class. Soldering was part of our grade, and I wasn't very good at it. My soldering tends to be blobby. I didn't want to do any soldering on this guitar-that's why the Encore guitar is currently unplayable. But I had to do it to get this guitar working again. It came out blobby, but I got it done.
I have to wiggle the two pickup switches closest to the neck. Those two work in tandem, so though the buttons allow them to be selected separately, they seem to be happiest when on or off together. I decided to leave well enough along, and screwed the pickguard back on the guitar.
I found some Murphy Oil, which I used on the fret board, hoping that might keep the mold away, and polished up the guitar. This was all in the morning. I went to play with the kids for a while, letting the oil soak into the board, which seemed to help.
Then it was time to string it up. (In the picture, you can see my old Regal Parlor guitar that I bought for $50 in some antique shop 15 years ago. It actually has a nice tone, and might be the subject of another post some day). The strings went on well, and I tuned it up with my electronic tuner. There's a slight fret buzz on the low E, first fret. I set the action with the bridge just a bit high, which helps. Then I played it a bit. Everything seemed to work as it should, considering this was the first time I changed the strings in probably 20 years.
I tried to load some sound up, but couldn't, so that might be another post. It sounds okay, and the fret board is a bit rough. Then, I tried open tuning and used a baby jar I had in the garage, and that sounded pretty nice. I might have a half-way decent slide guitar. Now all I have to do is learn how to play slide!
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