The Hub

I've got a Gretch G2420T with Bigsby B60 on my repair bench. When the customer plays, the strings are coming out of the saddles. We're thinking of replacing the B60 with a Bigsby B70 to increase the break angle over the saddles and bridge. Any concerns with that? I noticed the B70 is only on center block models. The G2420T is hollow body. Will the inside braces support the B70 enough?

A customer brought a Martin D28 in for an assessment and below is the main issues with the guitar. It has two loose braces and two warped/broken "stringers" along the back of the guitar. In addition, the guitar is a candidate for a neck reset, although I think I can possibly kick that can down the road, and my main concern is the loose braces. I'm wondering what the best way to repair something like this is? I don't have much experience…

I'm in the process of setting up a Parker (PDF-80 Maxx Fly Floyd Rose Special; Early-2010s) and one of the Floyd Rose saddles (G string) are stripped. Found exact replacement parts on StewMac and ordered in hopes of just swapping out one of the saddles and not having to replace everything: https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/bridges-and-tailpieces/bridges-and-tailpieces-for-electric-guitar/floyd-rose-tremolos/floyd-rose-special-s…

I have two guitars I am working on that are missing a few parts and wanted to see if anyone has them that they would like to sell. I have a customer with an early 50's L5 that he got when he was 10 years old. He wants to reinstall the dearmond rhythm chief but is missing the long beam that connects the controls to the pickup and the small bracket affixes between the string run between the tail piece/bridge. Second, I have a 1978 telecaste…

Hey y’all, I’ve got a customers Strat in, and it had a 30 year old preamp or boost circuit in it that died. So we’re gutting it and replacing it with a standard Strat kind of layout. However, the system was done with individual mini switches for each pickup. The customer would like it to function similarly. I’ve tried to do up the wiring from scratch but haven’t had luck getting it to work as I want. To put it simply, we just want it to be…

So, I’m a month and a half into this repair business and so far so good. I think I’ve got more than adequate skills to handle the physical, customers have been coming in and balancing a relationship with starting a new business is going well. But…… The scariest thing is how to handle customers and the things they love. So far, I’ve been able to test the waters on repairing fairly inexpensive, not too attached to instruments, easing my wa…

I have a customer who has a Peavey T-40 bass body that he wants stripped and refinished. Does anyone here take in work like that? I'm in northern VA but any VA/MD location would work if I could pass along your details. Cheers.

I am restoring a bass guitar unknown make and model and it has an odd sized necklace (smaller then standard necklace.) Does anyone know of anyone that can cut a custom necklace?

Customer brought in his D35 which he bought new 6 months ago from a local shop in here in Toronto. The way he describes it— the finish on the back of the neck began to ripple, and in one spot bubbled and chipped off about the size of a quarter. Where the lacquer has chipped off, there’s still sealer and pore fill underneath. I’ve heard about finish adhesion issues on Martins of various eras. The rest of the neck finish is starting to ri…

Has anyone got a cool trick for getting a bent kluson tuner straightened out?

Hello everyone, A customer brought in a guitar he's built for a refinish (he ask for urethane gloss). It have a curly redwood top, oiled with 'something' (he said 'red oil'). Problem is the top is so impregnated with oil that any sandpaper clogh and become useless in just 2-3 soft pass, and the top is barely under 4.5mm thick. Any idea?

Hey Looths, I have on my bench a 40's Gibson Banner J-45. At some point someone glued a supplemental bridge plate onto the original plate. I assume this was done in an attempt to reinforce with string balls having torn up the OG plate. My customer would like me to remove this and uncover it's secrets. Client usually brings in very nice instruments and understands the nature of guitars from this era so communication on this is pretty str…

I've had a customer bring in a Sire Marcus Miller with a faulty volume pot. Currently I have an alpha concentric pot installed but it's too big for the cavity with all the wiring, pre-amp etc. and the knobs don't fit the shaft. I tried using insulation to widen the shafts but the discrepancy between the centre of each knob (Upper and Lower) has them bumping up against eachother and moving in tandem. Does anyone know where to source thi…

Hi Everyone. I am planning to finish my latest electric build which has a Zircote top. I am going to spray Nitro Lacquer. Is there anything I need to watch out for in spraying over such an oily wood? Thanks!

Hello everyone, this will be a long post. I usually describe my passion for luthiery as a "fire." I can easily remember the day I realized that I wanted this to be what I would do for the rest of my life. It started as pure joy; learning day by day was like unwrapping a new surprise. I did everything right: studied, practiced, studied, practiced. I built my own jigs and tools, and I even did a small apprenticeship with a local luthier. Wh…

Any tips on matching this fingerboard up to the headstock with some type of stain before frets then looking to spray a gloss poly on after fretting. The original finish seems to have reacted with a moisturizing lotion the customer uses.

Hey there! Newbie here. I thought it would have been cool to show just a pic of a current work I'm doing for a customer. Basically this was a brand new bass, never played, cause it was delivered with non uniform fretboard, a broken truss rod and warped neck. I had to remove the old fretboard (ebony), reinstall a new double action truss-rod, compensate the eight of the fretboard with 2 layer of black veneer (since this is a neck-through t…