PCB Perception

Gibson’s addition of PCBs gets a lot of criticism. Is it justified? Mostly no but with a little bit of yes.

Guitar Repair, SetupGerry Hayes25 May 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, nerds

Presets can be a little tricky to explain as a concept, but a travel guitar that came in for a setup gives a really clear illustration of what's happening.

Guitar Repair, SetupGerry Hayes18 May 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, nerds

Aligning a bolt-on neck

Installing a bolt-on neck you have to be careful to get the alignment right. Get it wrong and the strings can fall off the edge of the fingerboard and that's never good. Here’s a tip to help.

Guitar Repair, SetupGerry Hayes11 May 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, nerds

The Haze Super Light

If you do this job, you'll find yourself needing good lighting in really awkward areas. I decided to do something to try and make this easier.

Guitar Repair, SetupGerry Hayes4 May 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, nerds

Repairing shrunken and separating guitar binding

Part two of the shrunken and separated waist binding repair on this Martin acoustic. Let's get this glued up and back in shape

Guitar Repair, SetupGerry Hayes27 April 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, nerds

Repairing shrinking waist binding on acoustic guitar

Binding shrinking at the waist is a pain. It can be repaired but does involve a little work to do it right.

Guitar Repair, SetupGerry Hayes20 April 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, nerds

On it or behind it: Correct capo placement

I don’t feel like I’m a thought-leader when it comes to capo placement but people keep asking me about it. Time to nail my colours to the mast.

Guitar Repair, SetupGerry Hayes6 April 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, nerds

Some foam is more equal than others

Some body mount pickups can be installed using foam underneath. This is not without its problems though so be aware of the following when you’re considering adding or replacing pickup foam…

Guitar Repair, SetupGerry Hayes16 March 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, shim, neck, neck-angle, nerds

The Space Between The Notes

There’s no real rule that says we have to divide an octave into twelve equal parts. That’s just how it’s historically been done in western music. Some players are digging into the space between the notes and playing microtonal guitars and basses. Check it out…

SetupGerry Hayes9 March 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, neck, nerds, microtonal.

Seeking Continuity

Lets talk about electrical continuity. It’s an important concept for any wiring troubleshooting job so we should get a grip on it.

Guitar Repair, SetupGerry Hayes16 February 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, nerds

Jazzmaster/Jaguar Trem Lock and Operation

An interesting repair I’ve seen a few times. Also a discussion on the operation of the Jazzmaster and Jaguar tremolo/vibrato tailpieces and, in particular, the trem lock function. Read more…

Guitar Repair, SetupGerry Hayes9 February 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, jazzmaster, jaguar, fender, tremolo

Fancy-Pants Tuners. Do you need one

Strobe tuners are incredibly accurate and operate in a cool, nerdy analogue manner. Should you get one to up your setup or tuning game?

Setup, OpinionGerry Hayes2 February 2026guitar, bass, repair, luthier, tuner, strobe

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