Fret Press

My new setup for pressing in frets. These are going into a Rickenbacker that had delamination issues with the finish on it's bubinga fretboard.

Silvertone 1410L Converted To Lefty

P.A. brought me a nice Silvertone 1410L specimen for some structural repairs including a new nut and a new bridge to be cut & set up for a left handed player.

This instrument was suffering from "rising tongue" (upward sloping of the fingerboard after the 14th fret) which caused the notes to fret out badly after the 15th.

Rising tongue profile shot w/ frets removed.

The frets were not friendly about being removed from their slots.

No more rising tongue. Hard to tell from the picture, but trust me it's gone.

I put the old frets backs in and gave them a level n crown. No more fretting out.

Lefty nut and ebony truss cover

Lefty bridge made from rosewood.

Silvertone 1410L

Worst D.I.Y. headstock repair ever?

Since I've moved back north I see a lot more electric guitars from rock n' rollers which means I see a lot more headstock breaks. This Dot Epiphone was repaired not so well by the owner with epoxy and then carelessly doused with wood glue. I'll keep his name confidential, but he really loves his guitar and wanted me to make sure the headstock would not break again.

Before.

After.New veneer added for cosmetic and structural purposes.

A structurally sound memory.

I steamed the old glue joint apart and cleaned everything up. Obviously it was a mess but I glued everything back w/ epoxy (used for it's gap filling properties) and reinforced the break with my splint routing jig. I made a new veneer, sanded all the contours, sealed everything up and showed it to the owner. He was very happy with the repair and insisted that I not refinish the area exclaiming, "It looks like it's been in a fire!"

Said owner plays in a "noise rock" band.

SG Party

Three Gibson SG's in the shop for repairs! One for some set-up work, one for a headstock break and one for a full re-fret.

I'm still chippin' away at the shop but so far the work brought to me has been very encouraging.

THANK YOU!

Shop is operational

Here's a peek at my shop and what you see when you walk in the door. I am operating officially from 1pm - 7pm Monday though Friday and 1pm - 5pm on Saturdays. I'm also available by appointment. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my services.

I'm offering a $20 guitar set-up special for the month of December.

Estimates are free.

New shop on 46th and Nicollet

I moved into a place off of 46th and Nicollet in Minneapolis, MN on October 1st, 2011. Here's my first couple weeks of progress:

4534 Nicollet Avenue Minneapolis, MN

First bench.

Two benches.

Farewell to my job in North Carolina

Somewhere around 400 repair invoices for guitars, banjos, bouzoukis, cellos, upright basses, mandolins, ukes, dulcimers, a sitar and more.

A good start.

I've been back in Minnesota for 2 months now getting ready for winter and setting up shop.

Thanks Acoustic Corner and all the folks that trusted me with their fine instruments! It was truly an adventure.