Jazzmaster Build – 3rd update

I didn’t manage as much as I wanted today, it’s been another of those days.  However I did finish the wiring, apart from the pickups which are on order…. It fits in place anyway. While I’m waiting for the last of the parts (tremolo tail and pickups) there isn’t a great deal more I can […]

Telecaster Custom – Rebuild 6th update

Well I finally think I’ve got it worried.  I did hope to have it finished this afternoon but then, what was I thinking, anything on this guitar was always going to take twice as long as planned! Next then the neck picukup cavity.  Needs to ba at least this much bigger… With a small router […]

Epiphone Les Paul – Setup

The first step is to check the amount of curve in the neck.  It should bend up slightly and is measured half way along the neck using a notched straight edge and a feeler gauge. The tension in the strings pulls the head up, increasing the curve.  This tension is balanced against the truss-rod which […]

USA Fender Telecaster Tuning problems

A really nice Tele’ but the owner’s unhappy as it won’t stay in tune. There is always the problem with the standard Tele’ bridge.  The Intonation is always a compromise so I’m going to change them for a compensated set…   With the strings off I’ve had a good look at the machine heads.  They […]

US Stratocaster Setup

Had a rather nice US Stratocaster on the bench today.  Nothing major, just a clean and setup. I rather like the body, nice paint finish over a very nice piece of wood…. The fretboard was a little grubby… A quick rub down with some steel wool will remove that and polish the frets at the same time.  […]

Fender Flame

Wow, what a fantastic guitar!  I guess I’m lucky, just now and then someone brings in something really nice….  All it needed was a new jack socket so it was an easy fix..

How many strings can you change in a day?

I think I’ve set a personal record, 72 strings in all… A dozen guitars from Lincolnshire Music Services, a quick cleanup, new set of strings and fix a few minor problems.  Most of them had very rusty strings…. and grubby, dry fretboards. The bodies will clean up easily enough…. The fretboard will also clean up […]

When is a speedloader really slow?

The answer is, “When you can’t get the strings anymore”. It’s a great idea, you can change strings in seconds, just hook the string in at the nut and clip the bottom end on the bridge.. It was a fairly simple conversion,  Change the nut for a locking one… and install a set of machine […]

Very Green Ibanez!

Quite a long job this one, been on the go for a couple of weeks.  The customer wanted a really nice setup, which really ment a fret dress before he had the body re-painted.  I though it was a bit daft to do the setup twice so ended up pulling it apart and doing the […]

Fretless Hofner

Well it was fretless when I started! Someone elses project, already started, so all I’ve been handed is a body and neck. The first stage of the project is to fit new frets.  So, step one, make sure the fret-board is nice and level.  There are a couple of deep points but it’s mostly in good condition. […]