The Hub

I just had something happen that I can't understand, and I am looking for theories. I was working on an '80s Kramer. The action could not be lowered any further than about 5/64" -- as in no further downward adjustment in the Floyd Rose -- so I removed the neck in case there was a shim in there. There was not. I put the neck back on and the action was now considerably higher. So off with the neck again, and I noticed the imprint of a coi…

Hoping to get some input on this touch up. Auxiliary pieces of rosewood were added to cover up the screw holes from a previous bridge many years ago. The footprint of those pieces was scored, in some cases deeply. There were spots where top material was missing. I grafted pieces from under the bridge footprint which (along the same grain lines ) I will replace prior to bridge glue up. The challenge here is the inability to blend bey…

I was recently asked to do some set up work on a Taylor GS Mini when I noticed the bridge beginning to lift at the back corner on the treble side. The pickups/electronics are mounted through the bridge plate and bridge, which is not something I've dealt with before and I'm wondering about how you all approach bridges like this. Any tips, tricks, warnings, etc. Would you tend to remove the bridge and reglue (if so, how nightmarish is it d…

I'm trying to touch up a finish ding and a couple of sand through spots on a black, mid-2010s MIM Fender Telecaster Deluxe, and I'm having a really hard time doing it well. I did a previous touch up on a black Squier Jaguar using Stew Mac's black nitrocellulose rattle can, and it blended so well I can't see the repair, but in this case the contrast between the original finish and the touch up paint is super obvious. I've since learned h…

I’m serious here, maybe crazy or funny, but please forgive me should it be obvious, because I don’t know shellac good enough to really know by experience if that’s doable or not would it be stupid to use some recipe on shellac for an electric Bass fingerboard finish? Would it be a good “filler” or way of giving some body in preparation for a finish like nitro or poly? Would it scratch like hell sooner than later? Could it be easily rebuilt…

I had a customer bring in a '76 Ric 4001 with a fretboard separation from the neck around the 3rd and 4th frets. I tried squeezing it closed and the board would not budge. I figured maybe dried glue, wood or schmutz was impeding the fb from laying back down so I made a special little palette knife with a hooked edge to clean it out. I instead hit metal. After a bunch of hemming and hawing since nothing was budging we opted to remove the…

I acquired this old single cut JR around 6 years ago. Was aware of the previous breaks and repairs, wasn't a particular concern as I acquired through trade. The headstock broke a couple years ago with a very small sideways tumble ( in its case). I used some clamps and rubber tubing to glue the break back together. Decided to scrape back the finish and see at the previous repairs. I see epoxy, carribbean walnut splines, carbon fiber 1/8…

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…

I'm wondering if people have advise on ways to be productive when having to work in multiple locations. Particularly curious about tool organization and portability strategies. I share one shop about 45 minutes from home, but also do some work from home. Mostly repair and setup stuff at home and building/more involved repairs at the shop. Some tools and supplies are simple enough to have multiples of, but for others it gets really expens…

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…

This is a rehash of the amazing Loothprint that Mike (@member@member@member) shared to the group (Surface Inspection Light – The Looth Group). I don't have a 3D printer so had to take a low(er) tech approach. The pics should be self explanatory. I have linked to a DXF and CRV (Vectric VCarve) file in case it helps. I do most simple tooling in Aspire as I can move more quickly there than in Fusion. Components needed: .75" Baltic birch ply Flash…

I recently picked up an inexpensive acoustic with a belly bulge and lifting bridge for some repair practice. I got the bridge off and used the TJ Thompson belly reducer to reduce a lot of the bulge. However, some of the wood stuck to the bridge during removal and the wood left on the guitar is now uneven and has some chipping. Should I remove the wood from the bridge, carefully remove wood from the top of the guitar to get the bridge area…

Someone came to me with an old Gretsch afflicted with binding rot. The cream binding was mostly intact, with some pitting and discoloration in various spots, and only a couple of pieces loose. The owner was aware that the only sure cure was the removal of the old binding, and then rebinding the guitar. They didn't want to invest that much money into a repair. I rediscovered a StewMac video from 2017 called "Guitar repair using kitchen…

I've done a number of traditional acoustic neck re-sets but I have never been in a scenario to do a re-set on a Gibson electric, and in this case, a 67 Gibson EB2 until now. But having never done one, it'd be nice to find out how. Anyone here feel to share some advice on how to go about this? I am always up for a challenge if that is indeed what I am up against. C

It would be good to have a section where we looths (wannabe in my case) can buy, sell, or trade materials, equipment, tools, etc. with one another. Obviously, there would need to be rules and policies, but I think we’re all some stand-up people so could be a good thing.

Not sure if this is possible… but is there a way for the forum to automatically downsize an image in case someone tries to upload something exceeding the 3MB limit? Many phone camera pics exceed that these days and image resizing is not in the usual mobile workflow, at least for me. I guess I could also ask: what’s the best way to resize an image on a mobile platform? Thanks!

I’ve come across several Takamine lawsuit guitars needing neck resets. These lawsuit guitars are from the 1980’s and are basically a copy of a Martin. Pictured below is a 12-string Takamine that came in for a neck reset. After several hours using heat rods at the 15th fret all of the the wooden dowels would not release. My solution was to take a putty knife with a sharpened edge and using a hammer slice the dowels at the joint. As you c…