I just completed a neck reset on this great Gretsch Anniversary. The complete process is documented here. If you are interested in the guitar contact Spacetone Music.
I just finished replacing the binding on this Gretsch Syncromatic 1014. I have posted all the photos and text here.
Today I recovered this Fender Vibrosonic amplifier for Spacetone Music. It had been recovered before and wasn’t looking too sharp. I stripped it down and sanded the cabinet clean before adding new Tolex and handle to match. It cleaned up very nicely. I dig that brown Tolex! If you are in the market for a great amplifier give Jason a call.
I just finished repairing this great Gibson L-48. Both of the tone bars were loose from the middle of the top to the end block. The trick to this repair was figuring out how to complete all the necessary operations with access only through the f-holes. Using a gooseneck web camera to see inside the guitar I managed to inject glue under the bars and clamp them with long reach clamps. You can see the whole process here.
I asked my wife what she wanted to do on our anniversary trip to Hawaii and to my surprise she said she would like to go on a tour of the Kamaka Ukulele Factory! Me too!
Fred Kamaka, son of founder Samuel Kamaka, took us on a thorough tour of the factory and recounted the history of Kamaka Ukuleles, including his recollections of working in the factory as a young boy. He showed us the original Pineapple ukulele, chronicled his father’s design innovations and explained some of the more subtle changes that led to the current Kamaka Ukulele.
Fred is a great tour guide with a wonderful sense of humor and the other factory staff are equally welcoming. If you are in Honolulu it is definitely worth a visit. You can see more photos from my visite here.
Chris Smart at the Robot Monster Booth in Arlington
I’m up in Arlington for the Guitar Show this weekend with Chris and Joseph from Robot Monster Guitars. I’ve never seen so many incredible guitars in one place.
Here is a Rick 4001 bass that I refinished. It had been stained brown and had carving in the back but it cleaned up nicely.
1974 Rickenbacker 4001 bass - Refinished
I’ve been working on resurrecting a 1966 J-45. It originally had a plastic bridge and adjustable saddle which I am going to replace with a rosewood bridge with a fixed saddle. Today I roughed out the new bridge. You can see photos here…
After allowing the finish to cure for a few weeks I realized that I was within hours of finishing a Telecaster that I have been building for myself. I took part of the day and knocked it out. I’ve been chipping away at it for months and it is finally done! I rubbed out the finish, shaped the nut, soldered the remaining connections, and assembled all the parts.
The body is made from two pieces of book-matched ash from a tree cut down in my neighborhood. It has some staining and a few imperfections but it has character, it has a connection to where I live, and it was saved from ending up in the landfill. I did about everything I could think of on the guitar short of learning to work metal. The pickguard is laminated Sapelle, Maple, and black dyed Costello finished with Lacquer. I wound the pickups from kits available from Stewart-Macdonald. I learned a few tricks along the way like how magnetize pickup magnets and how to measure magnetism using a homemade gauss meter employing a hall effect device. Perhaps that is a future blog. If you are interested the plans are available here.
I think it turned out quite nicely and it sounds great. You don’t have to take my word for it. Here are some clips of my friend Joe Reyes playing this guitar. Thanks Joe!
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I have added a new blog about rewinding a Gibson Humbucker.
A good friend sent me this link today. James Condino demonstrates how to hand apply a sunburst finish with water based dyes. It is beautiful work. The video is a companion to an article in their magazine. Check it out on the Fine Woodworking website.
I just cleaned and set up this great 1976 Fender Jazz Bass. It could be yours....Krazy Kat Music
