Semi-Acoustic Setup

This is nice, just not quite finished off very well. The top of the bridge isn’t terribly well shaped, it needs a little wood taking off to bring it to a sharper point. the bottom hasn’t been finished off very well either, there’s quite a gap between the ends of the bridge and the body. […]

Gibson ES335 – Setup

What a beautiful instrument,  Gibson seem to be doing a bit better with their quality these days, just needs a tweek here and there to make the most of it. It looks like Gibson are finally getting their act together, the frets are nice and even at least. It’s even got a nice Bone nut.   […]

Squire Stratocaster – Service and setup

There comes a point when even the best of guitars need a service and setup.  Most people will have their car serviced regularly, why not your guitar? While the strings are off I always give the fretboard a good clean. The heads were a little stiff so a little light oil. and a bit of […]

Snap Dragon, folding guitar – Setup

Here’s something unusual, a folding travel guitar.  I’ve never come across one of these before.  I’ve seen some folding guitars before, but never one that really seems to work.  Getting the folding joint right, so that it snaps into place accurately is a real problem, but these people have cracked it.  Unfortunately the playing action […]

Tanglewood – detached bridge

Ah here’s a fairly common problem, the bridge has come away from the top of this one.  It should be a fairly simple repair although it’s been complicated by the owners attempted repair.  Well you would try and fix it wouldn’t you. The biggest problem is to remove the glue that he used, it’s very tough […]

Tanglewood Setup

This one is a little unusual. Normally when someone brings an acoustic for a setup it’s because the action is too high…. But once I’d put the new strings on this one was a little low… The truss-rod was actually to tight so there was too much curve in the neck as well, that’s only […]

Ibanez – Setup

Here’s a lovely guitar, just not behaving properly, needs a little work. The first thing is the bridge. The trouble with the wooden bridge is that intonation is always a bit of a compromise. The “Tune-o-matic” option means each string can be adjusted separately.  Since it’s a floating bridge the tape is there just so […]

Fender Acoustic – Action Height

Here’s a common problem.  A nice guitar but the action is a little high.  It can put you off, you’re not going o persevere if the guitar is hard to play.  However don’t worry, as long as the guitar is basically sound and the frets are level it can be sorted. Looking up at the 12th fret the […]

Fender Acoustic – Action height

I quite like these Fenders, good value for money but sometimes in need of a little extra work to make the most of them. The action on this one was just a little high… The neck also had rather too much curve in it as well, which isn’t helping much. First things first then, tighten the […]