1956/58 Stratocaster Re-Build

Here’s another interesting project.  Another mixture of old and new.  A good friend of mine, Russell, has been colleting some fine old parts and has decided it’s time to put it all together…. Some of these parts are older than I am, a 1958 neck and 1956/58 pickups, tremolo, neck and back plates etc. all in fantastic condition. The […]

Stratocaster – New neck

Here’s a bit of an oddball.  This guy’s just got hold of a great guitar, the only trouble is it’s got no neck!  Yeh, it’s a complicated story, but I’ve sorted out a new one which should do nicely… The profile is really nice and it’s got a great finish too.  The only trouble is it’s got […]

Yamaha – Partial re-fret

This one has seen some action, mostly up at the “paying end”. First thing then, off with the strings and nut. The first 3 or 4 frets are very very worn, beyond dressing, so I’m going to replace them, along with the next 3. Heating up the fret with a soldering iron loosens up any […]

Tanglewood – detached bridge

Ah here’s a fairly common problem, the bridge has come away from the top of this one.  It should be a fairly simple repair although it’s been complicated by the owners attempted repair.  Well you would try and fix it wouldn’t you. The biggest problem is to remove the glue that he used, it’s very tough […]

Tanglewood Setup

This one is a little unusual. Normally when someone brings an acoustic for a setup it’s because the action is too high…. But once I’d put the new strings on this one was a little low… The truss-rod was actually to tight so there was too much curve in the neck as well, that’s only […]

Vintage Metal XX – Setup

I’ve never been a fan of this sort of thing, and Vintage Guitars are not the best, but this one worked out quite well. There are a couple of bits missing, but they should be easy to find… The trem’ was a little gummed up, so I stripped it all down to clean each part. […]

PRS – Pickup Upgrade

I’m still not really sure about these.  There’s certainly nothing seriously wrong with them, in fact they’re terrific for money.  I just can’t put my finger on it. Anyway, I’ve had this one on the bench before and already done quite a bit to it, I’ve dressed the frets and performed a full setup on […]

Fender Jaguar – Fret Dress and Setup

This was an interesting one.  A 1970’s Fender Jaguar that’s seen some use!  It’s actually in quite good condition, just a little worn.  I’m sure it can be recovered and turned into something special…. The body’s been rubbed down to bare wood at some point, but looks cool! One of the switches has been broken, […]

Epiphone Les-Paul – Fret Dress

Nice looking guitar, just not playing right. The problem is with a couple of rather uneven frets. Unless they’re sorted out it’s never going to play well. With the strings off and the neck levelled it’s just a case of grinding the frets down to the lowest common point. You can see where the 4th, […]