I’m often asked what’s the best way to improve an average guitar? The first thing to consider is do you want to improve the sound it makes or the way it feels to play? The first is easy, strip out the pickups and fit something special, Bare Knuckle are probably my favourite, and their choices are […]
Tag: Electric Guitar Setup
Fender Telecaster setup
A quiet day in the workshop today, a couple of odd bits and bobs. Did have a rather nice Tele’ in need of a setup. Nothing really wrong with it, just needs a tweek here and there. The neck set was a little high, so about a 1/4 turn on the truss-rod. The action at […]
Epiphone Les Paul, Fret Dress and setup
It’s a sad reflection that some guitars are just not as good as they really should be. This is a lovely alternative to it’s Gibson cousin but still should be better. A little bit of attention to detail though and it’ll be better than the Gibson… The action at the 1st fret is a little […]
Gibson Les Paul Finished
With the cleanup finished all that’s needed now is to put it all back together and set it up. First then the curve in the neck. It had a little too much of a bend so I tightened the truss rod a little… I had a look at the action at the 1st fret, it’s […]
Jazzmaster Build – 4th update
While I’m waiting for the last couple of parts I fitted the strap buttons. Carefully marking the centreline… I thought that was all I could do today until the postman arrived. Again I marked out the centreline and screw holes, making sure everything is square. Drill the holes……. and screw it in place… Just the pickups […]
Jazzmaster Build – 1st Update
Started on the Jazzmaster today. My first intention was to have a look at how the neck fitted, but it’s going to need quite a bit of work. Not fitting very well, or at all actually. I don’t want to force it or I’ll damage the body and neck. To make things a little more […]
Telecaster Custom – Rebuild final update
The final stage, fit the strings and a setup, should be easy, not with this one…. more problems…. Starting with the neck set, a little large…. so a quick turn of the truss-rod. So far so good. The action at the first fret is a little high…….. so I cut each nut slot down a […]
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. […]
Les Paul# Copy
I’ve not had one of these Chinese copies before. I’m all for cheaper copies and cheaper lines. There’s nothing wrong with Squire, I’ve got an Electromatic Gretsch myself and I even built a “Rickenfaker” but I don’t like labelling things and pretending they are something they are not. However one of my customers took a punt on this […]