Jackson Dinky Overhaul

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

One of my most recent jobs required me to bring a Jackson Dinky guitar back to life! For quite some time, it seems the guitar had been exposed to dust and damp air – not to mention heavy playing – leaving it in a very sorry condition

Strings had totally rusted, as had some pickup pole pieces, and the electrics were crackling severely when used – if you could even get a signal out of it! The fretboard was also in need of much attention since the frets were pitted from lots of playing, as well as heavy finger residue which had caked on to the fretboard.

What followed was lots of heavy work on all of these areas, cleansing and conditioning the fretboard to a like-new finish, levelling, re-profiling and polishing the fret wire to a high sheen, cleaning the electrics throughout, and then intonation the Floyd Rose tremolo system.

The end result is something I’m very proud of – this guitar is a totally different best to the one that arrived, and it’s ready for many more hours of high-performance playing! The frets are gleaming, the guitar is solidly in tune, and it’s previous guise is now only a memory. I can’t wait for the response of the owner!

Solving Acoustic Guitar Bridge Saddle Problems

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

Troubleshooting problems with acoustic guitar saddles can often be problematic. This document is really useful to help one’s understanding and appreciation of just how important it is to set up these pieces of equipment well, and also suggest ways of fixing them.

Have a read, and if you’re not sure about something, please get in touch.

http://www.fishman.com/files/advanced_undersaddle_pickup_installation.pdf

Washburn Acoustic Action

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

This lovely Washburn acoustic has just had it’s action lowered – down by over 1mm at the 12th fret, so it now has a feel akin to an electric. It’s so easy to play! Lovely! The fretboard has had a new lease of life too, as I’ve got rid of he years of dirt and grime, and it’s as clean as the day it was bought. With a fresh set of Elixir Nanoweb strings, this baby sings!

Epiphone SG Switch Replacement

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

This Epiphone SG guitar required some much needed TLC in order to make the electronics work as designed.

A third-party selector switch had been installed in such a way that the pickups only worked independently of each other. This meant that the middle position did not work at all, so the choppy, funky, scooped sounds synonymous with this combination was inaccessible.

A replacement switch was purchased, and soldered back into the correct configuration – the previous switch direction was connecting the opposite pickup to the one described on the switch surround. Needless to say I corrected this as well.

The fretboard, frets and body received a thorough clean and polish, leaving the guitar looking and feeling much like it would have done in the shop, making this a very satisfying job to do!
Epiphone SG

Epiphone SG Switch Replacement

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

This Epiphone SG guitar required some much needed TLC in order to make the electronics work as designed.

The fretboard, frets and body received a thorough clean and polish, leaving the guitar looking and feeling much like it would have done in the shop, making this a very satisfying job to do!

Parker Fly Nut Work

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

This Parker fly is a real beauty. A problem with it however, was that the nut slot for the G string was a bit tight. This resulted in an accurate tuning stability when using the tremolo system, and when returning to pitch after use, the string would be sharp, leaving an undesirable sound.
In order to remedy this, I widened the slot slightly so that the string could pass freely after lubrication. I then attended all of the other slots in the same way as well, and then the guitar began to behave in the intended way.

This is a stunning instrument and a really interesting axe to work on!

PRS SE Hollowbody Fret Stone and ‘Sitar-esque’ Sound

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

This was an interesting repair to do. Not only was the fretboard in serious need of a fret stone/re-crown and set-up, but the instrument was also creating a sitar-type buzzing sound which was less than pleasant!

The fret stone was straight forward, taking out some fairly serious pits, then re-profiling and polishing to a crowned, smooth surface.

The next job was to fix the buzz. Typically, these sorts of sounds are generated by problems with either the nut or the bridge, and can be narrowed down by process of elimination.
The sitar sound was continuing to be created when any note was fretted, however it was eradicated when picking between a fretted note and the nut. Therefore, the bridge was the problem.

This was a pretty simple job to ultimately fix, and the guitar is back on the road and ready for action!

Blues Junior Rebuild

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

This month I spent a couple of days rebuilding my poorly Fender Blues Junior with the chaps at Vyse Amps in Pinner, London.

The amp has been my go-to combo for 8yrs, and being 12yrs old and seeing a lot of action, it has had a lot of heat cycles through the solder joints which is the root of the problems coming through. The power amp valves’ solder was beginning to crack, and the tracks on the PCB were lifting and ultimately breaking.

The solution to this – which would become endemic throughout the rest of the amp in time – was to remove all of the original components, and replace with a new circuit built in an old-school ‘point-to-point’ fashion which would enable me to make modifications or replace any faulty components much more easily for the life of the amp.

Since completely changing everything except the cabinet and reverb tank, the amp has taken on a different character, but is a beautiful alternative to the Blues Junior I knew and loved. It’s now got a Celestion G12H Anniversary Edition speaker, and in conjunction with the up-rated electronics is more articulate as a result. I’m still getting to know the amp, but can’t wait to see how it performs on gigs and shows as they come in!

Ibanez Jem 7VWH Setup

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

this Ibanez Jem was in need of a basic setup, only with a couple of extra tweaks.

The action was high for the player, so put a paper shim under the back of the neck to increase the neck angle, raised the bridge (to enable increased raising of pitch when pulled back – as it’s designed to do – with more ease).

I also straightened the neck a touch and checked the balance of the pickups… A Hipshot Tremsetter system had previously been installed, and since it was no longer required, the arrangement in the image was removed and replaced with a more conventional claw. I added an additional spring in the back to match the tension/balance of the strings, so it’s super sleek and more or less plays itself! Fantastic guitar!

Amp Servicing Course

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Aylesbury Guitar Repair

Today was a very interesting day – I went on an amp servicing course which was thoroughly revelatory! I highly recommend it to all guitarists and bass players as it can really help you appreciate how to maintain and sustain your kit.

The only slight downside is that an amp I took which I thought was fine and dandy turned out to have a fairly critical problem… It seems a trip to the music shop is in order…!