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Hi, I bought at Variax 500 from a guy who bought it from you J I can replace the jack for you, no problem. I’d have to order the AA battery holder. -Guitar MD Isn't the cable connecting the Variax to the PodXt Live (or similar Line 6 gear) just a Cat 5 cable? The company wants you to buy a Line 6 cable, but it seems like the Cat 5 works fine. It is a cat 5 cable, but the shell on the guitar end has the RJ45 in a shell that is like an XLR mic connector that locks into the guitar’s jack. -Guitar MD
Q. I have a Taylor 514CE with fret wear and would like to have the frets dressed (although I'd consider having the worn ones replaced if it was your recomendation after seeing the guitar). Do you have access to matching Taylor fret material, and would you install them to Taylor factory specs? Frank, I have the same wire Taylor uses (Dunlop 6260) and have done plenty of complete and partial refrets on their instruments. A level, crown and polish can run between $75-120, and a partial refret usually runs between $120-150. -Guitar MD
Q. Subject: Lefty vs Righty Andrea,
Q. I'm thinking about buying a new Fender American Standard Strat. The stock pickups from Fender have always
been on the weak side to me. My question is would Seymour Duncan
5/2 SSL-52 staggered single coils be a good replacement for neck, middle, and bridge? If so, can
these be purchased as a calibrated set? I play blues, southern A. Hey Alex, Hi! Q. I have a custom made guitar that came with a bad Sperzel locking tuner. I changed the whole set of turners out, now my low E keeps popping off the nut. It does not seem to seat well in the nut, but I'm not ready to file the nut yet without troubleshooting through you first. I stayed with Sperzels for the swap-out. Should I just bring it in? A. The thing to look at here is the angle of the string from the nut to the tuner. If there is insufficient string angle the string will “ping” in the nut or jump out.
Q. I am lucky enough to own two ES5s - One has the 3 Alnico 6 pups and it
sounds fine - the other has the 3 P100 pups which get a little muddy,
what pups would you recommend to change out on this and how much would
it be for your shop to do the work - I know from the factory it came
with the option of humbuckers or the P100 pups, is there a good set of
buckers that would work in the guitar.
I play lite rock up to hard and allot of blues. A. Steve,
Q. Hello Guitar MD, A.Steve, Q. Micheal, A. A light level and dress are included in a setup that costs about $85 for a Stratocaster. It also includes checking all the hardware and electronics, restringing, adjusting the truss rod, the action at nut and bridge, intonation and pickup height. This service will make your guitar play “better than new!” Currently turnaround time for guitar repairs is about a week. Q. Hey Mike, A. Anytime!
Q. Hi,
I have 2 guitars with signatures on them.
I would like to play the guitars eventually without damaging the autographs.
Do you knw somewhere I can take the guitars or can you instruct how to cover the signatures? A. Paul, usually this involves spraying a clear finish over the autographs.
What the sigs were done with (Sharpie, paint pen, etc) will determine
what kind of clear coat should be used. We do not have the facilities
here to do finish work. My best recommendation for guitar finishing is
Pat Wilkins in Los Angeles.
Q. Hi i have a 1943 Gibson j-45 i just got from my grandfather its in excellent
condition all original but the truss needs adjusting i know how to do it but I'm
scared because of its age. could i do it or should i bring it in. A. I’d recommend bringing that one in. At it’s age it should be adjusted by a
person with plenty of experience.
No second chances there J.
If it’s just a truss rod adjust I’ll do that gratis for ya.
Q. I have a "beater" mandolin I use at work for practice.
It's a cheap Johnson I got on craigslist for $20.00 and it works ok for my purposes.
However, the E fret (9th fret on the low G string) buzzes. In fact, it's worse than a buzz.
It's more like a thud with some added white noise thrown in. Suffice it to say, that fret doesn't work.
But the Eb and the F right next to it work fine. This old Johnson does not have a truss rod.
Someone told me that all you have to do is file down the fret to make it work but this isn't something
I would want to mess with. Since it's only a practice mando, I can live with one note that doesn't work, A. Ken, this may be a matter of one high fret, or one low one.
For a fret level, crown and dress a typical job is about $75.
However for your mando I can probably do a light fret dressing,
adjust the action at nut and bridge and put on a fresh set of strings for that price. Q. Is that the kind of thing that if I brought it in today, you could fix it A. Depending, I may be able to do a "quick and dirty" type repair for about $40 Just a note to thank you again for getting rid of the buzz on my mandolin. I
The ax man cometh By R.V. Scheide This article was published on 02.01.07. The guitar is a deceptively simple-looking instrument. Slap together a hunk of wood, a bunch of knobs, six strings and presto: kertwang! But as every guitarist knows, mystery hides within this instrument’s alleged simplicity. Tighten a string too much, and snap! The string breaks and nearly takes an eye out. Stow it away in a hot, musty closet, and the neck will warp faster than Jerry Falwell’s mind in a red-light district. Neglect to perform the proper maintenance, and it’ll soon be playing sour notes. While some guitarists prefer to do their own maintenance, it’s safe to say that most do not. These are the musicians who keep Mike Gardner, the guitar-repair dude at Skip’s Music, in business. Gardner sits way in the back at Skip’s in this cramped little room with guitars and basses hanging on the walls. It’s kind of like that setup the robot repairman had in Blade Runner, except Gardner works on guitars. He also constructs guitars for various high-profile clients, which makes him a full-blown luthier. It should come as no surprise that Gardner, in addition to repairing and manufacturing musical instruments, is a musician himself. Currently, he plays bass in the Urbanfire reggae band, which has opened for international acts such as Steel Pulse, Burning Spear, The Itals, Israel Vibration and Eek-a-Mouse. The group’s playing schedule can be found at www.urbanfire.net. Monday through Saturday during working hours, you’ll find Gardner in the back at Skip’s, most likely fixing yet another neglected instrument. How does one become a guitar repairman? I learned my skills on the job. I’ve always been pretty good at taking things apart and putting them back together. I also gained some electronics skills in the Air Force. The guitar has been called an imperfect instrument. They go out of tune, the neck and body can warp, etc. Do you agree that it is an imperfect instrument? Absolutely. It’s a piece of wood, which is a pretty unstable material in general. The intonation and the tuning methods are a little imperfect, but over the years everybody has gotten used to hearing it that way, so it’s pretty much considered normal. Who are some of the more high-profile musicians you’ve done guitar work for, both nationally and locally? The first ones that come to mind are Ronnie Montrose [of Montrose] and Frank Hannon [of Tesla], and numerous regional players. I’ve built Ronnie several guitars, refinished a couple, installed a B-bender in one. Frank, I’ve mainly done general setup work for small bits and pieces. I met Frank when he was in a band called City Kid, at the Oasis Ballroom. I think he was about 16 at the time. How is making a whole guitar different than repairing a guitar? You’re turning rough wood products into a guitar. You’re starting with lumber, not just pieces and parts. Are there different guitar setups for different styles of music? It’s not so much setup for style as it is for what a player likes, what different people think is appropriate for them. That’s a real personal taste sort of thing. If you could tell guitarists one thing about taking care of their instruments, what would it be? Don’t leave your guitar anywhere you wouldn’t leave your kid or your dog. Avoid extremes of temperature and humidity. Do you have a favorite model of guitar for your own personal playing? Well, I’m mostly playing bass these days. I’m playing bass in the Urbanfire reggae band. [Gardner plays a fairly expensive Sadowsky bass.] I’ve seen good and bad in just about all brands. You evaluate each one on its own merits, and you either like it or you don’t. Would you rather play music or fix guitars? I’d rather play music. I’d much rather be playing music for a living. But, you know, there’s a lot of people starving trying to play music, and repairing guitars is much steadier work. It’s still being involved in the music industry in one way or another. How many guitars do you fix per day? Per day, eight or 10, maybe. Some days it could be two or three, others it may be a dozen. It depends on whether it’s big work or just a few strings and some adjustments. What’s the most messed-up guitar you’ve seen? Anything that’s been left some place you wouldn’t leave your kid or your dog--that guitar that was left in the car on a hot summer day. At about 140 degrees or so, the glue starts breaking down. Have you ever injured yourself working on a guitar? I’ve stuck myself with knives and chisels, little scrapes and stuffs, but not anything I’d really call an injury. It’s no more dangerous than being a cabinet worker or a woodworker of any other kind. |
