The Hub

I'm restoring an old parlor guitar. I have just discovered that it plays 20 cents sharp. Thats not in and of itself a mystery, usually. This guitar however has exactly the same distance from the nut to the 12th fret, and from the 12th fret to the "saddle" which is now a small shim under the two E strings both are 12 3/32"...with room in front of the bridge pins to finesse the location of the saddle slot, which I have not routed yet) I s…

Hey everyone, I'm a technician at a music production school in London. As the most 'guitariest' technician on staff, I've become the de facto guitar maintenance person. A big part of my work is taking a look at each guitar once a week. Usually my "routine" is to check action and intonation, making adjustments if needed, then cleaning/polishing. The thing I struggle with the most is getting strings feeling good. We use D'Addario…

I have a customer with a guitar that has an intonation issue. It plays flat at the first and second fret on the D and G string. The factory spec says its a 25.5 scale but I measure from the nut to the 12th fret 12 5/8. I plugged the number for a 25.25 scale into the Stew Mac fret board calculator and the measurement is off from the nut to the first fret. Unfortunately I now longer have the guitar in my possession so I cant tell you exac…

I have a Yamaha Classical on my bench that's giving me a run for my money with a mystery intonation issue. All but the B string are perfectly intonated with the usual compensations we see. The B string however is almost an entire 1/2 step off (sharp) at the 12th. Right from the get go the scale starts going sharp incrementally at every fret. I can find the fundamental harmonic on that string but it's sitting halfway between the 11th and…

I have a BC Rich Mockingbird (Bronze) that I am practicing my tech skills on. I refretted it and that came out pretty good. I pulled off the old rusty wrap around bridge and am replacing it with a Wilkinson preset. I'm in the process of trying to locate the studs/bushings and I thought I had a good idea on setting the scale length but then I was watching this super elegant repair, where Dan comments to add 9/64ths(?) or so to the scal…

I'm working on a Japanese Strat with a Kahler tremolo I've never seen before. I'm trying to find where the adjustment point for the saddle intonation is. The back side has openings for each string for... something. It's not an allen wrench, and it's not a screwdriver of any kind. The threads are 6/32" and when I tighten a screw into the holes, nothing happens. I haven't been able to find anything on google about this particular bridge.…

Hello looths worldwide ! I once heard on the Loothalong Grace talking (figuratively) about for a list of all the things thay may cause rattle in a guitar, and after fighting with a setup lately I'm in for starting this list, from the headstock down : - Old strings : replace the strings. - Loose tuners : tighten the ferrules, tighten the screws (on the buttons / on the axis). - Nut : create a funnel for the strings to ease the path to the t…