A small Alembic for large double bass duty!! < Back Alembic Essence Bass Free Consultation Book Now Recommissioning Alembics need little introduction - they are phenomenal instruments and this early 90s Essence is a small body light weight active model with the expected build quality and quality feel. All this needed was a good recommissioning as it had been in storage for a while. A few hours on the bench took out a slight bow on the neck - the dual rods in these make that nice and easy. A really good clean and levelling of 2 frets get this neck as good as it is supposed to be, and a thorough clean of the electrics removed the scratchiness of the pots. The pre-amp and pick-ups were perfect. The brass hardware now shines again and a set of nylon wrap flats now have this Alembic looking to get that double bass vibe - a small adjustment to the saddles for these strings required, but now it is wonderful. A professional grade bass with an interesting set-up for a talented professional. Gallery ← Previous Next→

Family heirloom now perfect < Back 1959 Hofner President Free Consultation Book Now Restoration Many family photo albums have a few pictures of a relative playing a guitar, and then the guitar is discovered in an attic, or a storage facility following house clearances - more often than not the conditions of storage are devastating to instruments like this. This beautiful Hofner President had a gentler life following the owner's passing - it was a permanent reminder and hung on various walls - wherever life took it, it would be on a wall, finally ending up on a wall in France. Still with 5 of its 6 strings from the 1970s, the various temperatures and humidities had left their mark on this - the frets were almost 100% rust, the finish had lost all its lustre, and all other metal parts severely tarnished. But everything was original, everything functioned or was capable of functionning, so a gentle recommissioning started. Nothing complicated or particularly challenging here, just care, patience and determination to restore the original parts. A set of Thomastik-Infeld Plectrum 011-050 now on which make the guitar sound so characterful, and also keep the look of the guitar as the family remember. It will go back on the wall, but can now be taken down and played by visitors. Memories now truly brought to life. Gallery ← Previous Next→

Strattifying and unstratty Strat < Back Fender Custom Shop Free Consultation Book Now General recommissioning Many of our 'Friends of the Show' have a large fleet of guitars - always turning up with something different for me to marvel at. Many head next door for a quick fettle, but some need the third degree and consensus amongst a select few to plan a course of action. This Custom Shop Strat is a strange one. It's a glorious one, but not as Stratty as it appears. This fret gauge was probably specified to pacify a Gibson guy - the not-quite-stoptailed bridge doing its best to emulate a ToM. The challenge is to make this unstratty Strat more like a Strat, but without changing its underlying soul. Basically soften it a bit then. Some fret-work magic and bridge adjustment took place and as usual, we had a few nerves at the handover, but none were needed. The owner bonded with it as he originally expected to. A lovely guitar now made lovelier. Gallery ← Previous Next→

Maximizing a Tele < Back Pelicaster Free Consultation Book Now Full Electrics Upgrade A Tele with disappointing pick-ups won't stay in your rack for long - they need to be good, and occasionally you need to fill a gap in the tonal palette it offers. We usually wind a set of Tele pick-ups to suit - we can do any output and character, even add dual output on an S-1; but the simplest most useful upgrade is to add a bit of beef without reverting to the traditional reverse phase or series option. Neither of these options really keep the character and soul of a Tele so we have a solution. We have a 4-way switch in these - the neck tone and bridge tone where you want them to be on the switch sweep; and 2 middle positions. One is the traditional both together setting, the other is a tone that fills in the mids, and does a fairly good impression of a decent filtertron, but we really don't think we have heard this tone before on anything solid bodied before. Judge for yourself in the video. What's with the name? Because we developed it for Pelican Tom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u32H06mmEF8 If you come to us chasing a sound and we manage to achieve it, the chances are we will name it after you! Gallery ← Previous Next→

There is no remaining evidence to show that this guitar was ever sat on and crushed by its future owner < Back Hofner Club 40 1959 Free Consultation Book Now Neck repair and restoration to original specification What happens when the future inheritor of a rare piece of Bubenreuth history, identical to Lennon's starter guitar, accidentally sits on it? Valiant attempts to piece it together again. Looking right but doing a decent impression of a sitar. In our capable hands, it has now been re-built and restored to its original condition. The guitar received a full neck reset, a new original spec genuine Höfner pick-up and control panel, cosmetic repairs and a sensitive clean. A fresh set of Thomastik-Infeld JS111 flatwounds now have this old girl sounding like it did back in the day. A really lovely heirloom that hopefully won't be sat on again in 15 years time... Gallery ← Previous Next→

Underrated and rarely seen Tokai rescued from previous fretwork < Back Tokai LS70GT Free Consultation Book Now General recommissioning We are lucky enough to have some really talented guitarists pass through our rooms here - none more talented than Ron Sayer Jr. A proper gent too. His lovely LS70GT was suffering from a previous re-fret attempt - it played OK, but not as it should. Our job was to restore his trust in the instrument - allow him to unleash the P-90s live on stage without holding back. The key to succeeding here was to make sure the neck geometry was perfect before improving the frets and ensuring they were correctly shaped and finished to suit the player. A very comprehensive set-up perfected the intonation, and a subtle tidy up of the wiring ensured the earthing was correct, and that lovely but heavy Bareknuckle APO capacitor remained connected. Re-united with its owner, there were nerves, but the beaming smile on his face as he played it was reassuring. We take enormous pleasure in not only restoring lovely old guitars, but also owners' confidence in them. Check out Ron's music - https://www.deadbeatcats.co.uk/ and https://www.sayermusic.co.uk/ Gallery ← Previous Next→

Full rescue! < Back Aria Pro II LS600D VS Free Consultation Book Now Restoration Most folk only realise how great these guitars are after they have traded them in for Gibsons. Sure, the brand doesn't have the universal aspirational appeal of the Gibson, but the actual guitar itself punches well above its weight - back in the 1980s, these were actually obtainable; not a huge volume available, but at a price that could be saved up for. Functionally, this was the model with all the toys - massively powerful pick-ups that blow hot T-Tops into the weeds, 2 albums worth of tones, and that probably unnecessary booster, but always nce to have even more on tap. Silky smooth to play, a decent weight and materials that compare favourably with any high end contemporary Gibson - everyone that traded theirs in eventually regretted it. This one had undergone a very traumatic attempt to recommission - I think the technician probably came off worse than the guitar - these are complicated beasts. No reliable formal technical guides exist for them, and you either know how these go together or you don't. Luckily we do - it is what we exist for. With only the bridge pick-up making any noise, and the mini-toggles behaving like kill-switches, a valiant attempt had been made to re-install the original pick-ups. This really was a rip it up and start again full re-wire, and now we have the coil splits and the phase reversal doing their jobs, and that lovely creamy neck pick-up is back. The booster and Varitone are now configured correctly again, all the little details are right. This now feels like its a few years old - beautifully played in; but most importantly has all its functions again. They really don't make them like this any more. It's hard to believe, and easy to fall for all the super-slick marketing efforts of modern brands, but until you play one like this, you don't have the right benchmark. They were built to outlast us all, maybe provide a nervous breakdown for Gibson worshipping technicians, but look after them and they'll look after you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7df_5ijWDsg Gallery ← Previous Next→

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