Wax potting microphonic pickups

Today I was tasked with wax potting a pickup from a cool old Telecaster, as it’s Lindy Fralin pickup had become extremely microphonic. Microphonic pickups tend to amplify non-musical sounds, such as taps and bumps on the guitar’s body, and will oftentimes squeal like a pig even at low volumes. Usually the root cause of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/wax-potting-microphonic-pickups/

Acoustic guitar belly repair

Over the years I’ve come to realize that there’s two major philosophies that one can follow when building an acoustic guitar: it can either be built to last, or it can be built to sound good – but it can’t be both. Guitars that are built to last tend to utilize heavy internal bracing and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/acoustic-guitar-belly-repair/

Recycling guitar strings

Like many musicians, I’ve often wondered how to go about recycling guitar strings. I go through a TON of guitar strings, and I’ve always felt conflicted about just throwing them in the trash. Since New Orleans recycling programs post-Katrina still seem to be lacking, there really hasn’t been a good option for recycling guitar strings. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/recycling-guitar-strings/

Customizing guitar electronics

This week I worked on a custom Warmoth bass guitar for my pal Dave, who is one of the owners of Algiers Music Point (one of my favorite music stores in New Orleans). This is his go to bass, and understandably so: Warmoth makes killer parts, and this one had a wonderfully resonant walnut body that …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/customizing-guitar-electronics/

The inside scoop on the neck jig

[NOTE: We no longer use the neck jig, and have moved on to using a PLEK machine for all of our fretwork. Read about it here: strangeguitarworks.com/plek] Recently, I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries into my custom built neck jig, which I designed and built myself and am very proud of. While the idea …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/the-inside-scoop-on-the-neck-jig/

1968 Gibson EB-0: Katrina survivor

I love my job as a guitar tech in New Orleans – I am sometimes privy to the coolest instruments with the coolest stories behind them. This week, I was presented with one such specimen: a 1968 Gibson EB-0 bass that survived hurricane Katrina. I understand that this bass was found floating in the muck …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/1968-gibson-eb-0-katrina-survivor/

Repairing a broken classical headstock

Over the weekend I repaired a broken classical headstock. Headstock breaks are pretty common (especially on Gibson guitars), but it’s rare that I see a classical guitar with it’s headstock broken, which is odd because classical guitars are generally much more delicate instruments than their electric counterparts. But when they break – hoo boy, does …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/repairing-a-broken-classical-headstock/

Fixing a Taylor Expression System

Alright! Vacation is over, and it’s time to get back to work. On my first day back I fixed up a non-functional Taylor Expression System. Boy, this one wasn’t fun! At first it seemed simple enough: there was no sound coming out of the output jack. Nine time out of ten the output jack itself …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/fixing-a-taylor-expression-system/

Slotting a Badass bridge

Many bass players swear by the Badass bridges, invented and manufactured by Leo Quan. They’re well built, drop right on to a Fender bass without modification, and some say it improves the tone and feel of the bass. They’ve been in such high demand for decades that many bass manufacturers install them stock. But a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/slotting-a-badass-bridge/

Fixing a broken Gibson headstock

This week I encountered an all too common problem: a Gibson Les Paul with a broken headstock. This happens ALL the time – Gibson carves their necks out of one piece of mahogany, leaving end-grain exposed and thus creates a very weak point right where the headstock joins the neck. Couple this weak point with …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/fixing-a-broken-gibson-headstock/

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