Gold top lacquer is go
I thought I’d share some photos of a Goldtop finish that a customer has sprayed with my Gold top lacquer. Here is what he said: “I must say that Goldtop Lacquer was incredible, quite possibly even better and more in keeping with the original 50′s Goldtop than gibson now spay their guitars with, it came [...]
Read MoreSome Interesting 80s Basses
Following on from the “70s Bass Extravaganza” earlier this year I have two early 80s basses in for set up this week. Gibson Grabber Bass The first is a lovely 1982 Gibson Grabber Bass. It was suffering from uneven frets and a rising tongue caused by some unwise heavy shimming of the neck with a [...]
Read More70s Bass Extravaganza!
Over the last few weeks I’ve been fortunate to have some unusual 70s basses in the workshop. It was a coincidence that they were all here at the same time, although the two fretless basses were brought in by the same person. Wal Pro II Bass The Wal Pro series of basses was introduced [...]
Read MoreJLD Bridge System in Gibson J-200
The top on this Gibson J-200 has bellied a bit, so much so that the lacquer on the top has started to crack. Consequently, I had trouble getting a low action and thought the guitar might be suitable for the JLD Bridge system, which can correct bowed tops. Installing the JLD system was straightforward enough. [...]
Read MoreGibson J-50 Partial Refret
This vintage Gibson J-50 played great but the lower frets were getting worn and needed attention. The original frets were wide and low, and if I dressed them, it would have resulted in very little height indeed. I agreed with the guitar’s owner that a partial refret was the best option. I replaced the first [...]
Read MoreGibson Lucille Varitone True Bypass Modification
The owner of this Gibson Lucille wanted to get a better sound from his guitar. Although position “1″ on the Gibson Varitone switch is supposed to be bypass, it does leave the choke in the circuit which loses volume and precious tone. As the guitar’s owner didn’t find the stereo feature of the guitar useful, [...]
Read MoreGibson Les Paul Traditional neck split
Here’s another nasty break, this time a longitudinal split in a Les Paul neck, caused by a fall. All that was required was to glue and clamp both sides before refinishing the back of the neck using my nitrocellulose lacquers.
Read MoreGibson Les Paul Headstock Break
This Les Paul was only a week old when it suffered this catastrophic break. Unusually, the fall was so severe that it broke the fibre headstock face right across between the E tuners. Although not an easy repair the break had plenty of surface area for glue. The repaired headstock was relacquered and the repair [...]
Read MoreAnother Gibson Les Paul Headstock break and collateral damage
Another week, another headstock repair! This one was trickier than most as instead of a nice clean break, the wood had splintered which meant that putting it back again too some care. This guitar had also suffered some collateral damage to the front and back of the body when it was knocked off the stand. [...]
Read MoreKings of Leon
A couple of tours ago I did some work on Jared Followill’s basses, and today the Kings of Leon brought me a couple more to work on before tonight’s gig at the Lancashire County Cricket Ground. I shielded both bases with copper foil and rewired them using CTS pots, Teflon coated wire and a solid copper [...]
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