It’s coming along, slowly, but then re-shaping and polishing each fret is rather time-consuming. There really is no other way of doing it but one at a time with finer and finer micromesh cloth. Neck complete. The next step is to make a new nut then bolt the neck back on the guitar. To see […]
Category: Electric Guitar
US Fender Stratocaster – Re-Fret
Just now and again something really nice comes across the bench. In this case an early 90s US Stratocaster. What’s nice, and almost a little odd is the condition. The frets are badly worn, it really has seen some use. However it’s also been well kept and is in fantastic condition, this guitar really has been loved. Really […]
Fender Stratocaster – Setup
A nice new Stratocaster. Nothing much wrong with it, but the owner just wanted the action lowering and setting up. Starting at the top; the string height over the nut (measured at the 1st fret) was fine. The set in the neck was a rather high (0.023″) so I’ll straighten that out a little. The action height […]
Custom Build
I don’t quite know what to call this one, it started out as a fairly cheap second-hand Washburn, but I’m going to turn it into something rather special. So far I’ve pulled it apart, taken out all the electrics and taken the neck off. I bought a set of machine heads but might not use […]
Telecaster Build – Final Update
Got the Tele finished this afternoon. Not before the neck caused me more grief. Next stage, wire in the electrics. A slightly unconventional wiring with a 4 position switch so that the pickups can be selected singly, in parallel or series. Once the wiring was done It’s the final lap, put the strings back and […]
Telecaster Build – 3rd Update
Added most of the hardware today, even that proved more difficult than I thought. Since the pick-guard is of a very early design there are no holes for the neck pickup screws. I’ve mounted the pickup on two springs with screws directly into the body. Since the pick-guard has to fit over the pickup but under the […]
Telecaster Build – 2nd Update
Carrying on with the Telecaster I’ve come upon a problem. Its caused by the fact that the neck is second-hand. It doesn’t sit entirely square so over the length of the strings the bridge will be out by about 3mm. That leaves 2 choices: A. Line up the pickup mount with the bridge which will require […]
Telecaster Build – 1st Update
Had a go at the Telecaster today. The first step of course is to fit the neck to the body. Not quite as easy as I would have liked as the neck pocket was just too small for the neck. However with a coupe of hours work and some very sharp chisels and it’s in. Since […]
Telecaster Build
I’ve been asked to put together a Telecaster for a customer. He has most of the parts but wants it put together professionally. Most of the parts are new, apart from the neck, it’s from an old favourite guitar so he wants to incorporate it into the new guitar. Its seen some action so the first stage […]
Les Paul Upgrade
Got what might seem to be a strange request. To upgrade a modern Les Paul with old style electrics. The modern Les Pauls have all their electrics built in a modular fashion, which I guess make assembly much quicker and easy. What this guy wanted was very specific, I like it when the customer knows exactly what […]