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Private member DiscussionDiscussions

Fender Jaguar Kurt Cobain edition Weight reduction

I’ve got a client requesting a weight reduction on his Kurt Cobain Jaguar My approach would be in 3 steps see how much I can route down the existing cavities (might not be a lot of weight loss) route under the pickguard without compromising the instruments integrity if additional weight loss is required, drill into the body with airline drill bits to gain a few more grams current total weight all including 4.2kg Any advice is welcomed 🙏🙏🙏

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Private member
Sounds good. If it works for you we can meet up in a Loothalong breakout room and work through it together. This might be a fun demo to do in the 3d club think tank if all works as intended. Jamie
Private member DiscussionElectric Repair

1966 Gretsch Country Gentleman binding replacement.

Good afternoon all. I have started the process of removing all the binding from the old Country Gentleman and it's going well. I did discover after removing the strings that the neck is pretty loose and moves around quite a bit (no surprises there). I removed the black plug on the back side of the body then removed the large regular (slot) screw that holds the neck in place. I thought the neck would just slide out considering how loose…

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Private member
Got it! I just had to sweet talk it a bit.
Private member DiscussionShop Organisation

MagFitt Vacuum System from Woodcraft

Like many of us, I work in a small space - a quarter basement with maybe 6 -1/2 feet of headroom. Sawdust is a problem. There’s no room for an extensive ductwork system or a blower setup. My shop tools (bandsaw, drill press, vertical belt sander, etc.) have a 1-1/2 inch connection for vacuum, but I have mostly been too lazy to use them. (note that I finally added a portable shop air cleaner with HEPA filters). When the most recent Wo…

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Tom Krebs
Thanks for this info, I have been using the Rockler expanding blue hoses and their Manifold shown here with great results.
Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

Matching Fender's Capri Orange

Hi everyone, I’m messed up, dinged a guitar and now I need some advice. I was relocating a screw hole in the top of a capri orange Mexican made telecaster when my drill bit broke and I punched an extra hole in the guitar top. 🤦 I called the owner and told him what happened and he’s going to let me try and fill it in. I don’t do much finish work so I’m not sure what the best method would be. I’m considering gluboost and their MasterTint pr…

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Private member
Hey Al, thank you for the suggestion. I think I'll give it a shot with the wast systems epoxy. I'll update you with how it goes.
Private member DiscussionNeck Reset Database

1970s Guild S-90

This thing had a conveniently placed hole in the neck pickup cavity that ran all the way to the end of the tenon, presumably the entry point for the long drill bit that drilled the access from pickup cavity to control cavity before the neck was originally fitted. I injected several pipettes of hot water into this hole while heating the fretboard extension area with a silicone blanket to loosen the extension from the body. Reactivated hi…

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Ian Davlin
That is crazy looking. Thanks for sharing !
Private member DiscussionTools and Jigs

Broken hex wrench piece drill jig

I just opened a repair shop and the first repair was to remove a broken 1/8" hex wrench ball end from the truss rod nut of a Turner RB4 Renaissance Bass. I read of all sorts of theories on how to extract/remove. None of them had recorded actual attempts of the theories. There's probably others on here but I haven't found them. The ball end was loose and mangled at the rear of the nut sleeve. I tried fairly benign methods first. Heat…

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Private member
Slick move. What a clever setup, well done!
Private member DiscussionElectric Repair

Broken les paul bridge post

This is a super sucky repair, I know. A customer brought this Goldtop LP in. He decided he wanted stainless steel posts. So he pulled out the post, then somehow broke a drill bit off inside the hole. The broken bit is still in there. Then he put the new stud in and broke it off too. He asked me to remove both the broken stud and the broken drill bit. 🤷‍♂️. This may impossible but any advice is appreciated.

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Private member
Thanks. Yeah, the screw extractor didn't work. I couldnt drill through the stainless post he installed, it's so hard it kept chipping. I ordered exactly what you said. I have the stewmac one for the…
Private member DiscussionTools and Jigs

Drill bit set recommendation

I recently realized its probably time to retire my cheap set of jobber drill bits (Robert Oven standard issue) that are almost a decade old at this point. Does anyone have a set they like or a brand they would recommend?

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Private member
I think the Harbor Freight Sets are good value, they have a graduated Imperial set that's cheap. I started buying separate packs of the ones that I use a lot and break a lot (1/4" etc) on Amazon sepa…
Private member DiscussionCustomer Relations

Telephone Tag Legends

I had lunch with a friend and client this week and we got on the topic of 'who did what and where' in the area, in terms of guitar repair. They brought up something that really felt like an object lesson in how rumors are propagated by people that don't understand the work that we do and I felt compelled to share. This was repeated person to person and originated from the shop it happened at: a certain someone at a certain music store…

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Ian Davlin
Ive done some crazy repairs on some expensive guitars and I've never installed a strap button with any amount of confidence.