on the bench

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1976 Gibson ES-175D [6.9 lbs] :: new stainless steel frets, bone nut and setup [photo 3]

July 1, 2014

1976 Gibson ES-175D [6.9 lbs] :: new stainless steel frets, bone nut and setup. [photo 3]The original frets were pulled, board planed and new stainless steel frets installed and dressed.  Look back through my feed and you can see this was the f… — 1976 Gibson ES-175D [6.9 lbs] :: new stainless steel frets, bone nut and setup. [photo 3]
The original frets were pulled, board planed and new stainless steel frets installed and dressed. Look back through my feed and you can see this was the **first guitar in my new StewMac neck jig**. Can’t wait for the next fret job as this one went extremely well.
The bridge foot was better fit to the top [note the non-original tune-o-matic bridge top; originals are rosewood]. The fit of the **loose tuner bushings was improved** and the guitar set up for D’Addario XL EJ21’s [12-54 roundwound with a wound G].

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1976 Gibson ES-175D [6.9 lbs] :: new stainless steel frets, bone nut and setup [photo 2]

June 30, 2014

1976 Gibson ES-175D [6.9 lbs] :: new stainless steel frets, bone nut and setup. [photo 2]From 1975-77, Gibson used an oval waterslide decal on the rear of the headstock as opposed to their commonly embossed serial numbers.  At first I was not a… — 1976 Gibson ES-175D [6.9 lbs] :: new stainless steel frets, bone nut and setup. [photo 2]
From 1975-77, Gibson used an oval waterslide decal on the rear of the headstock as opposed to their commonly embossed serial numbers. At first I was not aware of this so my mind went immediately to “this is a fake!!”. After a bit of research, I was relieved to find that this was authentic and did not have to tell the client “bad news”. Good ol’ wacky Gibson serial numbers …

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1976 Gibson ES-175D [6.9 lbs] :: new stainless steel frets, bone nut and setup [photo 1]

June 30, 2014

1976 Gibson ES-175D [6.9 lbs] :: new stainless steel frets, bone nut and setup. [photo 1]The press-in bushing on this 1970’s Gibson have separate washers.  Over time these bushings can become loose and pull up out of the peghead.  These wa… — 1976 Gibson ES-175D [6.9 lbs] :: new stainless steel frets, bone nut and setup. [photo 1]
The press-in bushing on this 1970’s Gibson have separate washers. Over time these bushings can become loose and pull up out of the peghead. These washers are then free to make God-awful sympathetic buzzes and rattles. I tightened the fit of the bushings by using super glue to stiffen the wood fibers in the tuner holes. Before installing the bushings, I lightly glued the washers to the bushings so if the bushings rise up again in the future the washers will not be free to vibrate.

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2000 Washburn D42S [4.8 lbs] :: setup

June 30, 2014

2000 Washburn D42S [4.8 lbs] :: setup.This is one of the loudest guitars I’ve heard in a while.  And loud usually doesn’t mean great tone, but this one sounded pretty damn good! — 2000 Washburn D42S [4.8 lbs] :: setup.
This is one of the loudest guitars I’ve heard in a while. And loud usually doesn’t mean great tone, but this one sounded pretty damn good!

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2002 PRS CE24 :: set up for floating tremolo

June 26, 2014

2002 PRS CE24 :: set up for floating tremolo.Originally this guitar had the tremolo “blocked” with shims of wood wedged between the tremolo block and the body cavity.  Those shims were removed and an extra trem spring was added [this only had t… — 2002 PRS CE24 :: set up for floating tremolo.
Originally this guitar had the tremolo “blocked” with shims of wood wedged between the tremolo block and the body cavity. Those shims were removed and an extra trem spring was added [this only had two] because there was not enough spring tension to hold the bridge parallel at rest.