Hi, I'm Aaron. I'm a custom guitar builder and stringed instrument repair tech by trade, and a musician and stage tech by night. I write and record original music under the moniker Atomic Tortoise, I co-founded the New Orleans rock trio War Bunnies, and I play bass in the Southern swamp rock band Them Ol' Ghosts. And when my hands aren't on a guitar, I'm probably out riding motorcycles somewhere...
Aaron Younce
Author's posts
Sep 28 2019
Making a Gretsch pickguard from scratch
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/
Jan 23 2019
Filling a Kahler route
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/
Dec 04 2018
Repairing a Broken Taylor Neck
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
Routing pickup cavities on a Fender Jazz Bass
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
Gibson neck reset… with a twist
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
Katrina Rescue: 1971 Fender Telecaster Bass
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/
May 21 2018
Replacing binding on a vintage Gretsch
This week I embarked upon a job of replacing binding on a vintage Gretsch. A lot of what we know about what works in guitar making we’ve learned from what hasn’t worked out over time. Plastic is one of those things we’ve learned a lot about over the years – now that we use it …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/replacing-binding-on-a-vintage-gretsch/
Feb 17 2018
Repairing A Broken Headstock Using Reinforcement Splines
One of the most common structural repairs we deal with in the shop is the case of the broken headstock. While guitars are generally pretty well designed to withstand the abuse we musicians tend to put them through, the headstock is their Achilles’ Heel. A couple of factors play into this: first, most Gibson guitars …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/repairing-broken-headstock-using-reinforcement-splines/
Jan 09 2018
Installing A Schaller Hannes Bridge System
Unlike most industries, the biggest selling electric guitars on the market have remained virtually unchanged since the 1950s, for the most part. We, the guitar players and collectors of the world are pretty well steeped in tradition and perhaps even a bit of nostalgia when it comes to this stuff. We covet our atom age …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/installing-a-schaller-hannes-bridge-system/
Dec 05 2017
Repairing bad pickup routes
Regarding anything we humans do in life, there are usually two potential approaches: the quick way and the right way, with all of our actions and efforts falling somewhere in line on that spectrum. This specimen fell victim to someone routing pickup cavities the quick way – with a hand held Dremel tool – so I …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/repairing-bad-pickup-routes/
