Dec 31 2012
Today I worked on a Gibson Les Paul that had already seen some heavy duty fretwork, insomuch as it had been completely refretted at another shop. Unfortunately, it was still buzzing and not playing very well. What gives? Upon closer inspection, it appears that the fretwork wasn’t done properly, and was causing problems. There were …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/a-case-for-great-fretwork/
Dec 30 2012
[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] Today I took on a refret project on an old Danelectro bass that was in need of some major help. Early Danos don’t have truss rods, and over …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/anatomy-of-a-refret/
Dec 13 2012
Today I’m working on an old Ibanez USATK bass, which has got a pretty good kink near the heel. This is a fairly common issue, and it causes many of the notes in the upper register to fret out. Truss rods don’t really affect the area of the neck beyond the 13th fret very much, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/guitar-neck-heat-press/
Dec 10 2012
One of the most overlooked component of the guitar is the nut. The way a guitar nut is cut dictates the overall playability of the instrument as a whole – string spacing, string height, and intonation. If it’s not perfect, there is nothing you can do to your guitar setup to make it feel right. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/7-string-guitar-nut/
Dec 08 2012
In an effort to outfit my guitar repair shop with the best tooling possible, I picked up a Taylor Fret Buck. This will make doing a refret on acoustic instruments worry free. Check it out: This tool has been out of production for a long time, and were quite expensive even when they were being …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/dont-fear-the-refret-taylor-fret-buck/
Dec 06 2012
[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] Today I did some fretwork on a Gene Simmons Punisher bass. I am told that there were only 1500 of these made, individually signed and numbered by Gene …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/fretwork-on-a-gene-simmons-punisher-bass/
Dec 03 2012
Nerd alert! Over the past several years, I’ve become increasingly interested in microtonal music. I’ve done tons of research, lots of listening, and have modified several guitars and basses of my own to play non-standard scales. This one is my favorite: This guitar started out as a Playboy special edition guitar, made for Steve Clayton …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/behold-the-angry-inch/
Nov 26 2012
[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] The secret to great fretwork is great tooling, and the skill to use it. Today I finished building my custom neck jig. Check it out: So what exactly …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/now-witness-the-power-of-my-fully-operational-neck-jig/
Nov 23 2012
Today I started work on an old Ibanez USATK, made for them by Bunker Guitars back in 1995. Bunker Guitars uses an ingenius neck design, which utilizes a single steel bar instead of a truss rod. This supports all of the tension of the strings, allowing the wood in the neck to resonate without being …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/disassembling-an-ibanez-usatk-neck/
