On September 23rd 1999, the Mars Climate Orbiter—a 326-million dollar space probe—was accidentally destroyed in the Martian atmosphere. What’s that got to do with guitars? Well, let me tell you…
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You might have been tempted by a set of double-sided nut files being sold cheaply on eBay. Free postage from China and not much money for a set of gauged guitar nut files sounds great. But are they any good? Let’s review…
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A bone nut is a fantastic upgrade for a guitar or bass. I’m going to step you through how I make a great nut from a bone blank.
Check it out…
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Last time with looked at one of the biggest problems with installing vintage-style tuners in place of modern ones. This time we do the easy bit: the actual installation.
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Swapping out your modern sealed tuners for more of a vintage vibe presents a problem. Those newer tuners mean you’ve got a bigger hole in the headstock than you need. Here’s how to fix that.
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What direction to wind a string onto a tuner is something that can be confusion to some players, especially those starting out. Doing it the wrong way can have consequences so check out how it's done.
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Sometimes you can use whatever’s handy to plug a hole; toothpick, dowel, or whatever. Sometimes, though, actually cutting a plug is the better way to go. Check out the pros and cons…
Read MoreA nut with a low slot (or slots) is a pain. It buzzes when you play the open string and sounds generally awful. You could replace it with a nice new nut but, sometimes you’re in a hurry or on a budget.
Enter the shim…
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Word has been going around the internet recently about a cheap alternative to gauged nut files for guitar and bass. Since a proper set of nut files isn’t cheap, this is tempting. But is this alternative any good?
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Sometimes, it seems like elves visit your music room every night and loosen some of the screws on your guitar — usually the saddle screws. Why do these screws keep getting loose and rattling about?
And more importantly, how can you prevent it…
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It’s occurred to me that a lot of a guitar repairer’s time is spent removing things from guitars. Sometimes that just involves unscrewing some screws but, other times (often?), some additional effort and knowledge is required to safely remove something.
Like various ‘bushings’. Read on…
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Ever have a loose output jack on your guitar or bass? Ever tried to tighten it and been frustrated as it spun round and round inside the guitar?
Then, oh boy, are you going to like this. Check it out jack-spinners. 😉
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