How to replace modern tuners with vintage-style Part 2

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.

Guitar RepairGerry Hayes3 September 2019repair, tuners, headstock, guitar, bass, diy

How to replace modern tuners with vintage-style Part 1

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.

Guitar RepairGerry Hayes27 August 2019repair, tuners, vintage, fender, guitar, bass, diy, headstock, bushing

The problem with guitar forums

Why don’t you contribute to forum discussions, Gerry? Mainly ‘cos of these guys.

OpinionGerry Hayes23 August 2019guitar, bass, forum, opinion, humour, rant, guitars

My Guitar Won't Stay In Tune

Because there are many variables when it comes to tuning problems, it’s not terribly helpful to give your guitar to a tech and say, “It won’t stay in tune.” Having a think about some stuff beforehand can make a good result more likely.

Guitar Repair, OpinionGerry Hayes20 August 2019tuning, tuner, guitar, bass, repair

How to Remove a Takamine Preamp

Getting a Takamine preamp out of the guitar body is something that’s confusion to many. There are no obvious screws or clips. There’s a hole that might do something but, just one. What gives?

Guitar Repair, Guitar WiringGerry Hayes13 August 2019repair, guitar, acoustic, takamine, preamp, electronics

Taylor ES Preamp Removal

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.

Guitar Wiring, Guitar RepairGerry Hayes6 August 2019guitar, electronics, taylor, bushing, preamp, acoustic, repair

External Quality Control

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?

OpinionGerry Hayes30 July 2019quality, squier, budget, luthier, repair, guitar, bass

Handmade Instruments or CNC?

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?

Build and Finish, OpinionGerry Hayes23 July 2019guitar, bass, luthier, hand-built, cnc

Bizarre guitar-related freak accident

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.

HousekeepingGerry Hayes13 July 2019guitar, bass, strings, string tension, injury

How to String: Winding Direction

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.

SetupGerry Hayes13 July 2019guitar, bass, strings, stringing, tuners, diy

Plugging Holes: Plugs Vs. Dowels

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…

Guitar RepairGerry Hayes9 July 2019repair, hole, glue, plug, dowel, guitar, bass, diy

String radius from the top or bottom of strings

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?

SetupGerry Hayes3 July 2019setup, action, strings, guitar, bass, radius

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