This month we’ve been sorting out a lot of different problems for guitarists. Some of them were straightforward and some were a bit more complex. Here’s a few of them.
Ibabez Joe Satriani Series Neck Re-Finish
Now this is a lovely guitar. I’m not a big fan of the Floyd Rose style guitars but their JS Series instruments are really very well made. The owner needed the neck re-finished, and the guitar generally cleaned up, so we re-sprayed it with lacquer and polished it to a high finish.
Gibson SG Faded 3 Truss Rod Adjustment
It always surprises me when I see a guitar from a big name that has not been set up from the factory properly, but really you would expect better from Gibson. This guitar came in with a neck with three times as much relief as there should be. The owner wasn’t able to fix this because for some reason Gibson had fitted the guitar with a non-standard adjustment nut.
We sorted out the relief problem, but I also noticed that Gibson hadn’t set the nut up properly. Still, it’s a lovely guitar despite these easily remedied issues.
Luna Acoustic Headstock Break
Probably the most dramatic thing that can go wrong with your guitar is the headstock snapping off or developing a severe crack after it gets dropped.
Most people would think that it’s bin time, but a broken headstock is usually one of the more straightforward jobs. This acoustic guitar came in with a clean break and it was relatively unproblematic to clamp and glue it back on again. A good wood glue, properly applied, can result in a stronger joint than the wood itself.
Fender Telecaster Re-fret
Eventually, every guitar is going to get to the point where the frets have worn down, making the guitar unplayable. Sometimes this can be sorted out with a fret level, which is not an easy job but it is quite quick to do. But there are times where so much material is missing that the only option is a full fret replacement. Changing the frets is a long job and not inexpensive, so it’s got to be an instrument that you really value to make it worthwhile.
This Fender Telecaster is ten years old and we replaced the frets as there really was nothing left to work with. Luckily we had the correct fret size in stock so there was no hanging about. The rosewood was quite soft, which gave us some issues, but the end result is the restoration of a lovely guitar.
If you've got a guitar problem you'd like us to have a look at, contact us for a free assessment.