1990 Fender HRR Strat

A client recently acquired this outstanding Japanese made Fender "Hot Rodded Reissue" Strat, and dropped it off for some TLC and a setup.  The quality of this line of Strats is every bit as good as a US made custom shop, and besides that it has a great Jeff Beck vibe.  The quality of materials and natural sustain of this instrument is inspiring, and if a locking tremolo is your thing you would be quite happy with one of these in the arsenal.

This particular guitar had been neglected for a while, and some surface rust had formed on the original Floyd Rose locking screws.  Some 500 grit sandpaper and mineral oil cleared that up easily.

These tremolo systems can be tricky to setup, but the main rule of thumb is that the string tension must be equal to the spring tension.  Once it's set to the height you want, it must also be shimmed to stop it from rising off the body even more as you tune.

The stock electronics in these models, unlike other offshore made Fenders, are actually very well suited to this guitar and sound excellent.  The DiMarzio humbucker was made exclusively for these models and has great tonal balance with the single coils.

All-in-all a great guitar that can be found at very reasonable prices ~ if you can find one!

John David Scott Acoustic

Here's a beautiful, custom made guitar by Burnaby, British Columbia Luthier John David Scott.  The owner has logged so many hours on this that it's time for a fret dress ~ a clear sign of quality when an instrument is so hard to put down!

The fretwear can be clearly seen ~ a common occurrence on frets 1-5 that can be easily remedied with a fret dress or partial refret.  In this case, there's plenty of meat left on these frets to endure a lot more before a refret is necessary.

This fretboard is actually bound ~ you can see a sliver of a gap in this area of the fretboard alone where some contraction in the wood has caused slight separation.  A very typical condition that is tough to avoid on a hard working instrument that is exposed to a variety of climates.  In this particular case, it's not a concern as it doesn't effect the integrity at all.  Once again, regular treatment with lemon oil when re-stringing and keeping it out of the cold will prevent this from becoming a serious problem.

After a fret dress and polish, this guitar was back in business ~ appearing live at a venue near you!

2010 Epiphone Casino

Here is a Chinese made Epiphone Casino that was brought in for a new Tusq nut and a fret levelling.  A fantastic looking guitar that sounds surprisingly good plugged-in.  Getting past the cosmetics, however, reveals less than meets the eye...



Why any guitar over $400 comes with a plastic nut (including many Gibsons!) has always puzzled me.  The improvement in tone compared to a bone or even more a Tusq nut is substantial enough to make the salability that much better for 1% of the retail cost.  The shocker with this particular guitar was that there was absolutely zero tension on the truss rod, which was likely the cause of the tuning problems experienced by the owner.  As much as the truss rod is there to set the lay of the fretboard, it is also there to resist movement.

With the neck pickup removed, it's clear why these Chinese made instruments are low cost.  With 2mm wide gaps on either side of the neck block, and a visible shim protruding from the bottom, it certainly makes the integrity of the neck joint quite suspect.  Looks great from the outside though!

Another manufacturing flaw ~ a clear saw blade mark at the end of the fretboard, hidden by the plastic nut!  This will be carefully sanded out to provide as much positive contact between the new nut and fretboard.






All taped up and ready for a fret dress.  Whenever you take in a guitar to have this done, always ask them to do this.  As you can see by the picture below (taken only after the first of nine passes), there is a lot of metal dust and shavings that you certainly don't want embedded in your fretboard!











With some attention to detail, these guitars can be "dialed in" to a much more serviceable state than the way come out of the box.  Most often it's a few tweaks of the "bolt on" components (electronics, nut, saddle, etc) that make a huge difference.

Pink Paisley Tele Reissue

Here's a project I completed just before Christmas... These Japanese made Telecasters are very well made and a great buy.  Although I'm not a fan of the basswood body, an upgrade to the electronics can produce a very believable Tele sound with a great retro vibe.  So much so that this one required a refret!

Unfortunately they chose to apply a rather thick laquer to the fretboard, which the owner claimed felt sticky and inorganic.  Although bare Maple can begin to look quite grey with use, treating and cleaning regularly with lemon oil whenever re-stringing usually keeps it looking very good.

Whenever sanding a fretboard, I always keep a portion of the wood dust as it may prove useful for patching dings and dents that occur with use and abuse on every instrument.  With so many different species being used for guitars, it's good to have a small inventory of different types on hand for colour matching.

Using 6130 fretwire for a wider yet lower profile feel was selected so that it would feel much like the neck of another guitar used regularly by the owner.  Luckily the old frets hadn't been glued in, which can make an unbound fretboard take as long as a bound one if you need to heat each fret to beat the glue.

All done!  I was pleased to hear a short time later that this guitar sounded as though a blanket had been lifted off of it ~ a big improvement in sound.