Taylor’s Expression System preamp mounts very sleekly in the side of their guitars. If you ever have to remove one, though, you hit some bushings that can cause head-scratching. Check out the best (and safest) way to remove them.
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If you make a guitar for $200, that’s fantastic. That so many budget instruments are as good as they are is amazing. But, being realistic, there has to be some impact on quality, right? What if we address that after purchase?
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If you’re a musician, or if you hang around with musicians or luthiers – or even if you’ve ever read a guitar forum – you’ll have heard the handmade versus CNC instrument debate.
So what’s actually important?
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Where to start? This is one of the weirder things that’s happened me. There are some photos – not massively gory but, if you’re squeamish, you might give this one a miss.
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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…
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If you set your string action by ensuring the bottoms of each string are a consistent distance from the frets, doesn’t that mean the tops of the strings are now inconsistent because of the different string diameters? Is this a problem? Do you need to be concerned?
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Another look at the integrated saddle/piezo pickup. You’ll most often find these in Takamine guitars but there are variants around. Like this Epiphone pickup. The action needed a little finessing here and this version presented it’s own challenges.
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Keep those strings out of your way when you work on your guitar. It’s easy (easier) with string spreaders.
Check it out…
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Need to repair a really screwed-up nut slot? Can’t replace the original and have to work with what you have? Slot too damaged for the baking-soda-and-superglue trick? Well, I may have just the thing for you… Bone grafts.
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Nut slot too low? The baking soda and superglue trick can really get you out of a hole pretty quickly. It’s best as a temporary repair but can sometimes work longer term too.
Check it out…
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Paper or cardboard is usually a terrible, tone-sucking material to use as a shim. Unless you learn this one cool trick that Big Nut doesn’t want you to know. You won’t believe what happens next! 😉
Nah, seriously… It’s good.
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