I had a little spare time this afternoon so had a bit of a play with the old Rapier. As I’ve not been able to find the proper bridge I decided to fit a “Tuneomatic” one. First thing I need to work out exactly where it’s going to fit so I needed to establish the […]
Category: Electric Guitar
Encore Strat Setup
This became more of a referb’ than just a setup. A bit of a mess to be honest, a prime example of what can go wrong if you don’t really know what you are doing. The guitar was also rather grubby so the first thing it will need is a good cleanup. At some point […]
Gibson Explorer – Service and Setup
A fairly routine job, fit a new set of strings and check the setup. I found a few other bits and pieces that also needed putting right along the way. I’ve never really been a fan of these sort of guitars, one of the inevitable problems is you always end up bashing the ends on […]
Les Paul rebuild
A bit of a bag of nails, this one is going to need quite a bit of attention. The fingerboard is filthy and the frets are badly worn. Neither of the pickups are even connected so a complete re-wire is needed. First job, get the guitar on the jig, dress the frets and clean the […]
1960’s Watkins Rapier – 5th update
Now that the neck is finished its time to re-fix it back on the body. Since I’ve filled in the screw holes in the neck I need to make sure the new ones are in the right place. The neck pocket is also a little tired and therefore a bit of a sloppy fit I used […]
Emperor Epiphone – 3rd Update
Now that the old holes are filled and a centre line accurately established its time to work out exactly where the holes for the new pickup rings should be. Using tape to protect the guitar top and some more tape to keep everything in place very gently drill the new holes. To make sure to top […]
Epiphone Emperor
The next big job. At first sight not a lot wrong with it, just needs freshening up a little. The main thing the owner wants is a complete re-wire, including all new pickups and controls. I’ve ordered most of the parts but the pickups are still on the way. I had a close look at […]
1960’s Watkins Rapier – 4th update
Got all the frets replaced with the ends filed down with a 45 degree bevel. Its impossible of course to fit all the frets absolutely level so a fret-dress is always needed. Just adding the tape to protect the fingerboard. Thinking ahead the neck plate is missing and I’ve not been able to find one that fits the […]
1960’s Watkins Rapier – 3rd update
Had a spare afternoon so turned my attention to James’s old Rapier. I’ve got some ideas as to what to do with the body, but more of that later. Since the neck has no truss-rod the options were to either completely remove the fingerboard and install one or, the easier quicker, and from James’s point of view, the […]
Precision Bass Final Update
All finished…. Now that the frets and fretboard are nicely finished the last thing to do is get the truss-rod tension set. Back on to the jig, this time with strings at normal tension, and adjust the truss-rod so that there’s about .004″-.006″ gap at the 7th fret (half way up the neck). Some people […]