The Hub

Hi! This is a new build but suddenly it's also a finish repair. I tested Ken Parker's Epoxy + Tru-Oil approach on the fretboard of this ukulele before committing to the rest of the instrument. It's a single (very thin) coat of West System epoxy (using the clear hardener), then 3 coats (so far) of Tru Oil. It's well-cured, about three months. The bad thing happened yesterday: attempting to dress a fret end, I was using thick double-side…

We do amp repair in the shop and have been using JJ's for quite some time but recently it seems that the quality is not what it used to be, brand-new tubes are testing leaky, etc. So to the amp guys, what is your brand preference on tubes these days?

I had a customer that wanted a blower switch installed on his James Tyler HSS style Strat. Simple enough, except that he wanted the full humbucker to go through the volume pot as well. The HB was a 4 wire and incorporated a toggle switch to split coils. I scratched my head for a while, drew up a diagram and breadboarded it. It requires a 6PDT switch which was the hardest part of this job to find something that fits. When the switch…

I've done the Fender Grease Bucket Circuit mod on a lot of Strats and it always works. A customer recently brought in a 335 kit for wiring. It got 3-TV Jones humbuckers, each wired to a Seymour Duncan Triple Shot Mounting Ring, 3 separate volume controls and a master tone with the Grease Bucket circuit. My client wanted to see a clear diagram of the wiring, so I got GuitarElectronics.com to generate one. I've used them several times in…

After watching Jeff Jewitt's Touch Up for Builders video, I began looking for a source with a selection of pigments like he has. I started by looking at Mohawk Blendal powder stains, but they only had 6 of the 12 pigment colors I was looking for. I widened my search, and exchanged e-mail with a couple of Etsy vendors. I was fortunate enough to find KonstantasShop which offers 24 pigment colors. While I suspect this collection is targete…

Hello fellow Looths, I had a question in regards to a curious issue from a customers guitar. The guitar was brought to me in part because the customer was having an issue where the guitar was intermittent and would ground out. It's a partscaster with an HH pickup configuration, one volume, one tone, 5 way switch, and the tone control splits the humbuckers. The pickups are quick connect Dimarzio's. I took the pickguard off and noticed tha…

Hi. I recently got a strat where the middle pickup cuts out intermittently. I cleaned and, using a multimeter, tested all the components. As far as I can tell the pickup itself has an internal break somewhere. After testing the components I wired the middle pickup directly to an output jack. Tapping the top of the pickup caused the output to toggle on and off. I also re-soldered the leads at the pickup eyelets but that didn't resolve the…

Hi everyone,I'm kind of new to this and I don't have a lot of experience in finish work so I just wanted to ask for some very basic advice on repairing shellac. I'm working on a violin for my neighbor (it was made by her grandfather in the 1970s) and I think the only structural work it needs done is a new soundpost, but also the finish has a LOT of checking and some parts where it's uneven and looks kind of dirty, as well as a few place…

Hey everyone, Well I had a bit of a day today. The issue is a paint chip out on a matte finish 3 month old Ibanez RG 421. I was in the middle of a pup install and was backing out the screw holding the 5 way switch. As you can see from the pics there must have been some paint sitting above the screw and well viola! I thought it best to try to glue the chips back in but I used accelerator (BSI) because well I’m a dumb ass and it looks like…