Welcome to the Guitar Repair @ String Tech RU-vid 2024
After teaching the "Guitar Repair and Design Curriculum" at the local community College 23 years, I created this channel, in order to continue sharing these tips and observations on Guitar Repair / Restoration / Adjustment / Calibration / Intonation for my students.
I have always been passionate about openly sharing valuable insights into the world of guitar repair and maintenance.The StringTech Workstations and the accessories that we offer, were designed to help you work safer, easier and more efficiently; allowing you to achieve more precision with less effort. The Fretting Kits, Bridge Slotting Jigs, Neck Surgery Kits, Neck Removal Jig and pre-profiled compensated nut blanks will help to speed up your output and augment your repair offerings.
I am currently developing a new private " Coaching / Membership " model. Contact: michael@mcconvilleguitars.com OR mcconvilleguitars@gmail.com
Very helpful video, thank you very much! At 8:27 you showed the loose inserts of this guitar. I have the same one, Memphis, 2010 in red. It has the same issue with one insert (high e side). I don't have intonation problems at all. But should I fix it? And how? I can't find your video you mentioned for this problem. Thanks very much again and have a nice weekend! Sven
I love my gibson 339 but the one thing that bugs me is that the G and B strings detune quite easily when I bend it (compared to my telecaster). I noticed your G string detunes quite a bit as well in the demo during your solo. Is there something that can be done to improve this issue? Thanks!
Hi Mike - would you recommend sealing the raw wood with a bit of shellac when doing a job like this? Thanks again for your generosity in sharing your expertise.
That is a " big time " moving target. The scale length / string gauge / tuning / action preference. I do cover this in more detail with spec sheets and numerous examples for my Patreon Tier 3 Subs.
I noticed you painting a pretty liberal coat of yellow glue in the entire nut seat on this 335, including the fretboard end. Some say just a couple dots in the bottom of the seat does the trick because it's just to keep the nut from moving side to side or falling out and getting lost when all the strings are off. I don't have a hard rule about it and do what seems right for a given job. If the nut dry-fits well and secures solidly with string tension I usually skip the glue so it'll be easier to remove next time. I can see where a compensated nut correcting negative intonation values and cantilevering out over the fretboard a little, such as in the video, would be a different ball game and a thorough coat of glue would be a good idea. Any quick thoughts though on glue possibly absorbing some resonant frequencies and hurting the sound? Is that even worth worrying about? I imagine you are meticulous about getting a good fit. Me too. But some folks unfortunately use glue as liquid crack filler. 😁 Beautiful 335 btw, I love that natural finish. Sounds great!
The original nuts are exclusively put in with super glue. The wood glue is nice because if and when you need to remove .... 4 minutes with a hair dryer ... and it'll slip out without any of the grief associated with super glue. This poor guy bought this astoundingly beautiful guitar, and essentially cringed for the first 12 years of ownership; hoping somehow, to be able to tune it. I was so delighted to be able to finally transform this into a guitar that plays as good as it looks .. Lol ! Cheers Mark !
@@StringTechWorkstations Yeah Titebond's good stuff, I've been using it for decades as a custom woodworker but just started doing guitar stuff a few years ago. So far, so good. Appreciate the reply and advice, as always!
The light touch of lemon oil has been my practice too since the 1960's, and not a clue who taught it to me, but someone did. Recently, another tech has been encouraging the use of boiled linseed oil, even sparingly, and I'm thinking noooo not a good idea and of course I don't remember where or why that's in my memory either. Maybe it's okay. Mike perhaps in a future video, you would teach us about your experience with the various oil and finish treatments. Thanks again for these great videos!
@@StringTechWorkstations Oops, bought a secondhand archtop jazz guitar today. They say Framus "5/51 Studio", 1962-ish, but I doubt that, the soundholes are different, but it is very close to that model. However, I usually oil the fretboard with a bit of almond oil, the smell is good, can't find it and applied a bit of boiled linseed oil. Rubbed it with a cloth, the top layer will cure, and maybe that was not the smartest thing to do. The fretboard was dry as a desert, and it is rough, bending the strings feels coarse, maybe I should go to a luthier for advice. This linseed oil got absorbed, it looks far better, I just don't love the smell, and the fretboard being rough is a question mark, for it looks like plywood with a thin hardwood veneer. I do not want to sand that, it is pretty thin and I guess it makes the sound of this guitar to what it is, sanding too far could change the resonance of this neck. This is a vintage guitar, better not change it, it sounds very okay with a new set of strings. So, thanks for the fretboard oil tip.
I started utilizing your foam string deadening technique and it makes intonation much easier! I couldn’t find any foam pieces around the house but I did have some extra weather stripping. I cut two lengths and put them sticky side together to get the height needed. I made two of these, one for top and bottom. Thanks for the tips Mike.
I am starting up a membership group so that you and others can be brought up to speed on these and many other techniques. Email: mcconvilleguitars@gmail.com for a link to the first Zoom Meeting on Sept 26th at 7:00 PM. MMcC
Good question Peter. In most cases, the pearl is plenty thick enough to handle the small amount of sanding needed. This is more of a concern on fingerboards with fancy inlay. The outside edges are barely touched when executing this job. I’ve never run into an issue with simple dot inlay. Thanks for asking. MMcC
Having worked on guitars since being a kid in the '60s, I find it so hilariously entertaining and marvelously instructional to still be learning so much from twenty minutes of your teaching. Mike, you're a gift to the art.
I wish I was in your neighborhood. I live in Phuket Thailand. I’m an old American retired my guitar is fantastic but it has intonation issues 1942 southern jumbo Gibson re-issue. If I ever get one of my friends heading up to your neighborhood, I’ll be having him drop my Guitar off
Michael, you sir are a scholar and a gentleman. Wow, I would absolutely love to take a class, or 20 with you. Just awesome work as usual. Thank you, so much.
Good job! Those variations in headstock and tuner dimensions can be a challenge. I had one awhile ago where the headstock was too thick to get the string through the hole in a shorter high E post. Both neck and tuners were from Sire, different years. When I get one of those shorter center to center six in a line mismatches, I find it helps to start from the D and G positions and work outwards. Ahhh, the conundrum of creative arts vs. standardization 😅
Good point... starting at centre and working outwards. These posts were the opposite ... protruding a bit too far above the surface of the face. Luckily the replacement roller trees were a bit higher than usual ... worked out to be the perfect match ! Making it work .... !
I don't question the "why" and "what if" ... I fix the issues, get the job done and let the customer and Gibson ( or whatever other company ) sort out whatever way they want; if they choose to pursue it. Because of the "moving target" nature of these issues .. scale length / string gauge / tuning preferences / action height ... etc ... no manufacturer can possibly address every case scenario. They need to have a general setup that meets most needs most of the time .. that will be as close as it ever gets. I have been addressing these issues for decades. This customer had an "unplayable" guitar for 12 years. I am not interested in playing politics. These guitars that I calibrate; will never sound better, play better or be more accurately in tune; than the day I hand them back to my customers. The Taylor 812 CE Deluxe that I just finished the full treatment on; will have travelled 3200 miles by the time the customer gets it back ( Edmonton Alberta ). The step by step processes that I use to reach this level of precision are shared openly, with my Tier 3 Patreon subscribers. Thanks for asking. MMcC
Im doing this at the moment with an ebony fretboard, from 9 to 16. It took me 2 hours with my 80Grit radius block to give up and look for a better way. I saw you using a straight beam and that made quick work of it. 2 hours wasted, but a lesson learned! Thanks alot for the video.
The sanding blocks that I send out in the fretting kits, have a thin layer of leather on the jointed hardwood surface. This allows just enough "flex" to allow the sandpaper to follow the fingerboard radius. I generally accomplish the fingerboard levelling and radius in about 4 minutes.
Wow, that is quite a radical change ! But I get it, flatter radii are definitely better when it comes to low action and bends : did you have any problems with the inlays on the fretboard ? I'm really thinking about re radiusing an Ibanez JS, from 9.5 to 12 ' and was wondering about the dot inlays ?
Сколько людей столько и мнений ! У меня камерный Гибсон и когда я его покупал я об этом даже не знал ! Сейчас это одна из моих любимых гитар так как меня в ней устраивает полностью все а меня удовлетворить тяжело! Так что все гитары Гибсон крутые !
Nicely done Appreciate the tips and tricks Gives some confidence to make some minor corrections on my own, before having it done professionally. Sometimes there's quite a waiting list for people like you who are true professionals.
Would this neck removal jigg work on old acoustic Levin guitars. As I understand the necks at least on some of them are attached a little different than usual. I think most of the older ones where ladder braced but that does not mean they are bad guitars but probably one of the reasons why they often need a neck reset. I have a few that still works pretty good but many of them need some attention.
This Jig is designed for Dovetail Joints like Martin + Gibson; although I have used it for other brands with dovetails ... like Larrivee and Hensel. The Levin guitars ( from what I've seen ) are a simple butt-joint ... removed ( after heating ) with a sharpened probe or spatula. As you probably know ... the latest Levin guitar use a mechanical neck joint like so many other manufacturers. The Murikoshi Fasteners, with the flat pan-head and a hex-drive are the most common ones.
Hi - this is really informative content here. Thank you so much. Is it your preference to remove all frets and level fret board to remove the "hump" on all neck resets ?
That is the best case scenario. It guarantees an even action across the entire span of the neck. AND .... in combination with the Comp Nut and Comp saddle .... precise intonation from the open strings to the last fret.
