Hohner – Re-Wire and setup.

A bit of a battered Hohner, in need of a little TLC…… The owner wants some new pickups fitting for a start, these pickups’ll sound fantastic but I fear it’ll need a little more than that… I think it’s a bit of a waste to fit a great set of pickups like that but leave the […]

Broken Rickenbacker

On no, I broke my first Rickenbacker!!! I can’t remember when I bought it but it must have been around 1979, London phone numbers changed to 4 digit dial codes a long time ago! I seem to remember fixing this once before.. However… Let’s see if it holds this time, I don’t think it’s replaceable.  […]

Epiphone Les-Paul, Fret dress and Bone nut

Epiphone make some great guitars, they can just be a little inconsistent sometimes. The action on this one’s way too high. I don’t need to measure the amount of neck set, I can see it’s way to large. It’s also got a broken switch, but that’s an easy fix. First thing then, take off the strings, […]

Squire Mustang – Setup

Here’s something a little different, rather than the usual round of Stratocasters etc.  An odd scale length for Fender as well, just a little shorter than the usual.  However it just wasn’t playing properly. While the string were off I also gave the fretboard a good clean…. and oil…. The scale length means none of […]

Custom Shop Fender Stratocaster

WOW What a great guitar!  It’s not often I get such lovely guitar on the bench.  However It wasn’t quite playing as well as it should, so I gave it a bit of a tweek here and there. This really is something special, when Fender put you name on it for you.  out of deference to […]

PRS Pickups

Wiring not really your thing?  Just getting inside some of these things can be a bit of a pain.  Once you get it all out it’s quite simple. This one had just a few minor problems, easily sorted. Getting the parts back together is the hardest part….

Fender Jazz Bass – New heads and setup

Nice Bass, rather worn machine heads though.  Managed to get a rather nice new set from Axesrus to exactly fit the old holes.All that’s needed is a good cleanup….and a lick of oil…Followed by a standard 5 point setup.. No.1 The neck set, starting with it as flat as possible…by adjusting the truss-rod.No.2 the action […]

Gretsch Double Jet – Setup

Nothing much wrong with this one realy, I think this range of guitars are excellent value for money, it just needs a little tweek here and there to optimise its setup. While the strings are off (It’s always worth fitting new strings before completing a setup) I gave the fretboard a clean and oil. The […]

Fender Telecaster – Intonation problems

Everyone loves a Telecaster, a cassic guitar, no-one should be without one!  There is, however, one fundamental problem with the original design.  The strings are paired up on the bridge saddles and so the intonation is always a compromise, perticulrly on the D and G strings. There is a simple solution though, compensated saddles.  I’ve […]

Gretsch Country Gentleman – Cleanup

Don’t look, it’s horrible!!!  What a poor old wreck, I’ve dived on less corroded ships at the bottom of the sea! This one was built in 1964 and, sadly, Country Gents built around that time all have dodgy binding that falls apart.  That may provide content for another blog, but, for the time being I’m […]