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COMPLETED REPAIRS AND BUILDS
Yamaha Acoustic
This Yamaha took a big fall backstage in a theatre and landed on a sharp metal edge. It has a lot of sentimental value to the owner as it was played by him live onstage when he stared in a large UK Tour. He wanted a repair which was solid but showed its history so it became part of the guitars history and he left one happy customer.
Electric Ukelele - The Jaguker
I've always liked the Fender Jaguar but I struggle with the 24" scale length so when I wanted to make my first Electric Uke what better shape to choose. The body is made from an offcut of Walnut worktop, a strip of Beech in the centre, a spalted Beech top that was hand cut to a bookmatch as my bandsaw is small (not something I would like to do too often!) and hand made Poplar binding. The neck is Sapele with a maple fret board, an 18" scale length and an Ebony nut. The inlays are my signature aluminium and brass dots with a 12th fret inlay made from a disguarded Nos (NO2) canister found in the road near my previous workplace! I decided to go with an inlay layout that was a Guitar standard not Ukelele to fit the theme. This has Fender style cigar box guitar bridge and mini humbucker. This was my first Ukelele and I really enjoyed making it, next up is a cigar box one for a friend and his children and I may well make some more. If you fancy one like this or have your own ideas why not get in touch and see what we could do for you.
Squire Bridge Replacement
This is an unsual guitar to see in this country as they were only made for the eastern market. This was purchased by my client while on tour in Thailand and unfortunatly it ended up with a damaged bridge. The replacement had a larger block than the origonal, great for tone but there was an unfinished notch in the route of about 3mm but it was enough to stop the block fitting. This was soon sorted with a router and a lot of care!
6 String Cigar Box Guitar
This was a fun little build for me made from a Japanese chisel box a length of Sapele that my Dad had had kicking around for over 40 years! It has an under bridge piezzo pickup as well as an Epiphone P90. I was planning on putting an inlay on the 12th fret but althought the Zebrano (zebrawood) looks fantastic it chips really easily when working it so I decided not to risk it in the end. The bridge was made from an Ebony fretboard offcut and the string plate I made from some scrap metal I had lying around. It sounds like you would expect a cigar box guitar to sound just with a few extra strings.
Epiphone Explorer
This Explorer came in for a clean and setup and also had a chip on the headstock so it had a little stain added to colour match the existing finish and then a drop fill on the finish. It's not invisible close up but it certainly blends in a lot better than before!
50's Reissue Tele Refinish
This started life as a Blonde 50's Tele that had a hard life as a prop and was chipped to pieces so I stripped the body back and refinished with stain and oil. The frets were beyond rescue so it had a full refret, level and dress. Finally the single ply scratchplate was badly cracked so I replaced it with a hand made one from a vinyl record, as this was a Tele I thought a Status Quo one was highly appropriate! This was bought by somebody as a 21st Birthday present for his sister so I hope she is still enjoying it now.
'78 Tele Deluxe
This started life as a kit guitar but by now all that is left from the starting kit is the body and the scratch plate! This was where the guitar building all started for me with my first kit build. I was really pleased with the body finish from the off and swapped out the electronics straight away for Iron Gear Tesla Shark pickups and a Jimi Page switching system. Later I upgraded the bridge but although I loved the sounds I could get from it I never really played it as the neck was not good at all.
When I reached the stage of attempting my first neck build I chose this guitar and now it is one of my favourite guitars in my collection. It was the first time I designed my 12th fret inlay shape, this time in ebony. I tried to use a mix of metallic inlay powder and epoxy resin for the fret dots which didn't go quite as well as hoped but still works for me. The scratch plate is rough and in need of replacing and is on the list but everytime I think I have decided which way to go I change my mind!
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4 String Cigar Box Guitar
This was the first scratch built guitar I ever made. The parts were bought for me by my wife the Christmas after the author Terry Pratchett passed away along with a pack of playing cards with Discworld images on. As the box was quite plain I decided to set the jokers from the pack into the body as my own little tribute. Although it is unnecessary with a neck this thick, especially as I added an ebony fret board, I added a truss rod to practice installing one. I also wanted to try out veneering so I added some Zebrano to the head stock. This is also a constant reminder to me to count very, very carefully before installing the fret marker dots. Not a mistake I intend to make again and one that went unnoticed until the first time I put a slide to it and started to play!
