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An acoustic guitar with a dodgy, onboard preamp that had to be replaced.
What should have been a straightforward job became a little more complicated becauset the original preamp had a particularly large footprint. It was an older, discontinued model and the manufacturer was unable to supply a replacement that was as large. As it turned out, it was pretty difficult to find any manufacturer that had a unit that would cover the existing hole (and patching and recutting wasn’t favoured for cost reasons).
After quite a bit of internet rooting, a …

Workshop »

In a previous post, I gave my opinion on what I saw as the problems with the neck-joint design of a guitar I’d recently worked on. I thought you might be interested in some more detail about that repair (without my whinging about design issues). While some of the steps undertaken in this repair are common with any job that involves removing a guitar’s neck, you might find it useful to, first, check out some of the ways in which this guitar differed.
The guitar had taken a knock and its …

Featured, Workshop »

I should definitely preface this post by stating that what follows is my opinion only. It may be that I’m alone in these views or it may be that other guitar builders and repair-techs agree. The post below, however, is my take on things.
I recently had a Tanglewood TW130 through the shop for repair.  It’s a nice little acoustic—I’ve always been a sucker for all-mahogany acoustics. The guitar had taken a fall and the heel had come away from the body. I’ll detail the steps taken to assess and repair …

Accessories, Featured »

Take a look at that string. Notice anything?
This is from Rotosound’s Super Bronze Acoustic String set and it’s a bit different. At least from anything we’ve seen in a while. Click on the image to embiggenate.
You see, in 1974, James How, the founder of Rotosound released an acoustic string set with a difference. Those strings, called ‘Country Golds’ at the time, had the windings start a little away from the ball-end and tie – the core of the string was exposed for a short distance. The idea was that the …

Acoustic, Featured »

I AM NAVARRO. TREMBLE, MORTALS, FOR I BRING YOU ROCK – ALBEIT NOW IN A MORE ACOUSTICY, THINKING MAN’S STYLE – AND LEATHER PANTS, AND… ERM… KITTENS. YES, I BRING KITTEN PILLOWS.
FEAR NAVARRO, MORTALS. FEAR HIM GOOD.
So it seems that Dave Navarro has worked with Epiphone to come up with a signature acoustic guitar.
And here it is. Decked out in scary black with a scary, ‘dead branches with crows’ pickguard and some scary hexagram inlays, this guitar will terrify any kitten you wish (except perhaps an evil kitten). …

Featured, News »

Wonder how long I can get away with those cheeky titles.
Anyway, a little while back, we let you know about Taylor Guitars offering a 0% interest financing offer on selected instruments. Taylor have announced that they will extend this offer until the end of the year. So, if you’re considering treating someone special to a special Christmas gift or, if you’re considering treating yourself (who’s more special, after all?) to a spanking new Taylor, you might be able to organise a 12-month purchase plan at zero percent interest. Not too …

Featured, News »

0% interest, that is.
Yep, for the next few months, you can get your grubby hands on a spanking new Taylor through a financing agreement with 0% interest. If you’ve been hankering after a new guitar, and considering financing it, now might just be the time. Until September, 2010, Taylor (in partnership with GE Money) are offering zero percent interest on 12-month finance agreements.
The offer covers new guitars (obviously) from the following series:

500 Series/Acoustic 5 Series and up
T5 Standard and Custom
T3 models
All SolidBody models

Check out how to get your …

Featured, Guitar 101, Workshop »

What the hell is a neck reset and why the hell would you want one?
You’ll often hear talk about neck resets (or sometimes, neck sets) but the reasons it’s required are often glossed over by saying it’s just something that acoustics need sometimes. It’s all pretty simple and it has to do with geometry (stay with me…) and wood.
Huh?
Let me try to make a little sense of that.
Why would I need a neck reset?
When an acoustic guitar is made, it is designed and constructed such that the guitar’s string height …

Featured, Workshop »

The third and last article in the story of the restoration of a pre-’34 Martin guitar with a broken bridge. The first two parts of the Martin Custom Bridge Replacement cover removal of the broken bridge and the carving of a replacement.
The first step in getting this replacement back on the guitar is ‘fitting’ it to the guitar top. Like many of us, over the years, pretty much all guitars gain a bigger belly. Under a lot of tension from the strings, changes occur in the wood of a guitar. …

Featured, Workshop »

This is second part of the story of replacing a broken bridge on a, rather lovely, pre-1934 Martin. This update is slightly tardy so feel free to catch up on part one (where we remove the broken bridge) first.
Done? All caught up? Splendid.
Now the broken bridge is off, this is how it all starts. You can see the removed bridge sitting on a block on Brazilian rosewood that will become its replacement. Brazilian rosewood is in extremely short supply and is very tightly controlled species as it was over-harvested for …