Sep 28 2019
The materials used for making binding, tuner buttons, and pickguards on many vintage guitars weren’t the modern plastics that we know so well today – like the polyethylene water bottles and the ubiquitous yellow vinyl rubber ducks that will inhabit the Earth long after we’re gone. One of the common plastics used back then was …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/making-a-gretsch-pickguard-from-scratch/
Aug 31 2019
Acoustic guitars can be designed to sound good, or can be designed to last – it can’t really be both. Most builders try to find a middle ground, and many are very successful at finding a perfect balance. However, guitars are mostly made of wood, and sometimes wood just won’t cooperate. Occasionally we see this …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/acoustic-bridge-coming-off-fixed/
May 16 2019
We rarely see Kahler equipped guitars in our shop – I don’t remember seeing any at all in the last seven years. Yet over the last two months we’ve seen at least five (three of which we removed and returned the guitar to stock, like so: http://www.strangeguitarworks.com/filling-a-kahler-route/). A few weeks back our friend Gregg asked …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/installing-a-kahler-into-a-prs/
Mar 18 2019
The day has finally arrived: we got a Plek machine. As many of you are aware, we always strive for perfection, and invest in tools of the highest quality to ensure that your guitar will be the best it can possibly be. Getting a Plek was the next logical step for us, and let me …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/enter-the-plek/
Jan 23 2019
There are two types of guitar players out there: those who use tremolo – (which is actually technically vibrato, not tremolo), and those who don’t. Sometimes permanent modifications are made to guitars to outfit them with a whammy bar – and perhaps those decisions are regretted later. A common mod for Gibson guitars is installing …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/filling-a-kahler-route/
Jan 02 2019
We repair quite a few broken truss rods here at Strange Guitarworks, and oftentimes it’s not a simple endeavor. Every repair is unique, which is one of the reasons we love our jobs: it’s never boring. Fixing this broken Gibson truss rod in this vintage Grabber was a doozy: the headstock was broken off, the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/fixing-a-broken-gibson-truss-rod/
Dec 04 2018
As an authorized Taylor Guitars repair center we often get calls from Taylor owners about damaged guitars and other warranty issues, and we’re almost always able to help. Even if the repair isn’t covered by the manufacturer’s warranty we’re still able to purchase replacement parts for most current Taylor models. That option may be the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/repairing-a-broken-taylor-neck/
Nov 12 2018
We get a lot of requests for swapping pickups on guitars and basses. It is, for the most part, a quick and easy way to change the sound of your instrument without too much hassle. Usually all you have to do is remove the stock pickups, pop the new ones into place, solder them into …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/routing-pickup-cavities-on-a-fender-jazz-bass/
Oct 25 2018
A request for a Gibson neck reset is something we hear all the time, and we’re very well practiced with this particular job. Acoustic guitars need a neck reset every several decades, as the guitar is constantly collapsing on itself and occasionally needs to be realigned to correct the instrument’s geometry. But this particular request …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/gibson-neck-reset-with-a-twist/
Oct 02 2018
We always enjoy Katrina rescues. Returning to life something the owner thought was long gone is a great feeling, and each one of these instruments we restore presents it’s own unique set of challenges. Plus they look really, really cool. We’re pretty firm believers in keeping these flood-soaked guitars as original as possible; to let …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/katrina-rescue-1971-fender-telecaster-bass/
