Look carefully at the photograph above and check out the humidity levels. If you own a solid-wood instrument, are situated in North India, and the humidity is below 45%, this post concerns you and this post should concern you. In this scenario if you’ve left your solid-wood instrument tuned to pitch and standing in a […]
Category: Uncategorized
Guitar repair: Baby(ing) a Taylor-made instrument!
This was the first instrument of its kind that I had the opportunity to work upon – well, not actually work, but assess and recommend changes, if any. It qualifies to be the first instrument in its category because this is a previously loved instrument and the new owner decided to run it by me. […]
Guitar repair: in-trouble APX600 healed!
A six-month old acoustic instrument is equivalent to a day-old infant in life-span comparisons. If that infant develops a problem, it is very troublesome, and indeed, heart-breaking. This Yamaha APX600 came to me a while back with an issue of high action. Learning that it was just six months old (if I remember correctly), and […]
Guitar repair: Fixing this l’il one’s shattered back!
As far as breaks in tops and backs on acoustic instruments go, there’s little to differentiate between classical guitars, flat top guitars, ukuleles and even violins. Either the seam separates or a trauma causes a fracture. This tenor ukulele had been sitting tight at home in its soft case till when it was taken out. […]
Guitar repair: Bringing a relic back to life!
Another one of those instruments that is stood up in a corner of a room and forgotten about. It had more dust and dust worms than the Sahara Desert has sand! Just the thought of the amount of elbow grease I would need to put in to get this thing operational, was making me sweat. […]
Guitar repair: A belly bulge and some TLC for a Washburn!
Remember, how I say that problems/guitars of a certain kind/make seem to come together? Well, here’s another belly bulge though not quite as dramatic as some of the ones I have recently tackled. This instrument came in sometime back with all the tell-tale signs that it had been given up on. But it wasn’t half […]
Guitar repair: Even Martins require help!
Some time back, I received a phone call asking me if I could work on a Martin. In mood for a little fun, I said that if it was an Aston Martin (the car that James Bond drives), I wouldn’t be able to do much! The caller latched on, laughed and conceded that it was […]
Guitar repair: Another belly and my screw-up!
Want it or not, here’s one more helping of a guitar belly! This came in at a time when there were five other guitars waiting for their turn to be loved. This one was an Epiphone, some five or six years old (just a guess) but it had managed to develop quite a belly. What’s […]
Guitar repair: The belly – whys and wherefores?
The last few posts of this blog – quite by chance – have had one common problem: a belly. This post too, is about a belly. I realised that I hadn’t quite explained what it was and why it happens. If I have, here it is one more time. Over the years, string tension keeps […]
Guitar repair: Busted bridges & belly to boot!
Here’s wishing a very warm, happy and prosperous 2022 to all the readers of this blog! As promised, the workshop, blog and I are back at it after a break. Starting off proceedings in the new year is this Squier Did I hear someone say, ‘Ouch’? Yeah! Do pause a while and concentrate on the […]
Guitar repair: At last a Yamaha worthy of the name!
(welcome to the last blogpost of 2021!) It is always such a pleasure to work on an instrument that is well maintained – nearly dust-free, spotless inside, tuning machines snugged-in, fretboard clean, fretwires untarnished, a good shine all around – it makes you want to put in that much effort to make it that much […]
Guitar repair – The break that almost broke me!
Every once in a while a repair comes along that not just challenges you but makes you doubt your abilities and all that you know. This Tanglewood was every bit that and more! And it was such a pretty guitar! Just look at that soundhole rosette, and that back! Earlier, I have made my fondness […]
Guitar repair: Another (initial) set-up, another happy customer!
After the action on your (acoustic) guitar rises above comfort levels, there are two things that can be done: a) get it rectified by someone you trust, or, b) wait till you find someone you trust. This Ibanez belongs to the latter category and came to me after standing (somewhere) for almost a decade. As […]
Guitar repair: Another set-up, this time a Tanglewood!
Tanglewood is a UK guitar company and some of their models (I have seen some in my hometown) are available here in India. The more I see of Tanglewood guitars, the more solid that belief becomes: I think I like Tanglewood guitars! This one came to me for just a set-up, some months ago. And […]
Guitar repair: Again…why that first set-up is so important!
This slotted-headstock Pluto came in some time back for its action to be reduced. One look at the saddle and I went, “oh, crap!” in my mind. With the tilted saddle, the action was like this This is how the owner had been playing the instrument for four or five years (I guess). If the […]
Guitar repair: Electric guitar fretwires are fun too!
Just a quick, mid-week post to remind you all that I work on electric guitars too but only if they are catastrophe-struck: a headstock break, a neck break, etc. Don’t expect me to set your axe up. You probably know more than me! Fretwires/fretboards? Now, those are fun jobs as long as you don’t keep […]
Guitar repair: Mr Bigname Cherryburst gets set up!
I’ve raved and ranted about bone nuts and saddles but in all those mentions, I don’t think I’ve ever said this so unequivocally: using just a bone saddle or just a bone nut, with the other element being some other material, is just half the fun! You want to see what your acoustic guitar can […]
Guitar repair: A facelift with a snazzy, new pickguard!
If you didn’t know, I do that too: fashion pickguards. You choose a design or bring your own, choose the pickguard colour and I will do the rest. This Guild landed up on the counter for two reasons: a) the owner had set his heart on the (Gibson) Hummingbird style pickguard and wanted that on […]
Guitar repair: Repair? This was a scene outta ‘Jaws’!
After a glut of the mundane, along comes something that forces you to burn the midnight oil, go that extra mile to provide healing – both to the instrument as well as to the owner. Not too long ago, I got this phone call from Gorakhpur (a city some 300 km and a six-and-a-half-hour train […]
Guitar repair: This instrument won’t require professional help for at least five years!
I have said this many times before and I will say it again: a set-up of your instrument is imperative as soon as you have bought it. That initial set-up tunes up the instrument for its journey ahead. In an expert technician’s hands, while things (minor adjustments) that will make it a joy to play […]
Guitar repair: This Hertz, vibrating at the right frequency, for the first time (I daresay)!
Tilting saddles, while they are the perfect recipe for a bridge split, are also cause for much heartburn among (acoustic) guitarists. Why? Because once the saddle tilts (almost always forward), the scale length changes and you can say bye-bye to intonation. Case in point is this Hertz (HZA4900BK) that landed up on my counter some […]
Guitar repair: A Squier under fire!
This Squier came to me in a fair bit of trouble. It’s bridge, besides being cracked, was lifting from the bass side. It was off-putting to see Fender put in some cheap wood, dyed dark, for the fretboard and bridge. One could see the white wood through the crack on the bridge, while wear due […]
Bridge splits – whys, wherefores and this Cort
The other day, in a conversation with a prospective customer, it became apparent to me that I had failed to correctly convey, to the readers of this blog, all that transpires between the stages of a bridge developing a split and me making it disappear. “Oh, you’ll fill it up with a mixture of saw […]
Got ‘The Li’l Guy’ out of big trouble, or so I thought!
There are primarily two ways in which a log of wood is cut – flat sawn and quarter sawn – to be used for construction purposes or to build musical instruments. In flat-sawing, the log is passed through the blade cutting off plank after plank without changing the orientation of the blade or log. The […]
Acoustic guitar nut job: No fool’s play!
Gentlemen, when you get a suit stitched (yes, it is always advisable to get one stitched than to get a readymade one; ladies, think of a Western pant suit), the tailor will make a rough stitch and call you for a trial. At the trial, he will tuck in the garment at places, open the […]