Freshman – Setup and lower action

This is another nice one.  I’m not a great fan of Freshman but this one feels right. Nothing much wrong, just a little high in the action.  The neck had just a little too much set in it for my liking. so flatten it out just a little.  I did that with the old strings […]

Classical Acoustic – New Nut and Saddle

This needs a little TLC if it’s going to play again.  The bridge saddle is badly damaged so I’m going to make a new one. The nut’s broken as well, so that’ll need to be replaced as well. First the nut.  From a bone blank. Next the saddle, using the old one as guide. One […]

11 String Tanglewood – Bone Nut

An odd one this, one of the strings wouldn’t stay in it’s slot.  I thought the nut was broken but the slots were at a bit of an angle.  Easy answer, a new bone nut. A nice guitar though. While the strings are off, a good clean. and oil… I don’t have any 12 string […]

Fender Acoustic – Action Height

Here’s a common problem.  A nice guitar but the action is a little high.  It can put you off, you’re not going o persevere if the guitar is hard to play.  However don’t worry, as long as the guitar is basically sound and the frets are level it can be sorted. Looking up at the 12th fret the […]

Washburn – Cleanup and Re-String

Now and again I get a really simple job, for example just changing a set of strings.  While the strings were off it also needed a good clean, you can see the build-up on the fretboard.  It can be quite tough, but I find the best thing to shift it is fine steel wool. With the dirt removed […]

Martin Acoustic-Electric conversion

Want an acoustic with an electric pickup?  There are lots of simple conversion kits out there, this one more simple than most… First thing first, drill the hole for the new jack socket/strap button. It’s a little larger than even my largest drill, so it needed a little work with a round file.. The pickup […]

Martin – Bone Saddle and Setup

A nicely put together guitar… just a rather high playing action…. Looking at the neck I think it had a little too much set in it as well. so the first thing I did was to bring that down. The only way to reduce the action is to take a little off the bottom of […]

Baby Taylor – action height

I just love these.  I think they’re probably the best value for money you can these days, and absolutely ideal as a starter for a youngster.  This one just has a bit of a high action. The neck set was also just a little high…so a tweek on the truss-rod….The actin at the 12th fret was way […]

Freshman – Bone Nut & Saddle

Nice 12 string, just wants a bone nut and saddle to make it into something special. I’ll make the new nut from a large blank since I don’t have one for a 12 string. First of all make sure it’s flat and square…Then shave it down to the right thickness.. Once it fits the slot […]