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20th June 2012

Guild Nightbird, 2 restoration projects and an Aria sandpiper with poor intonation.

We had the privelidge of working on this rare Guild nightbird. After a service, a new jack and set up it plays as good as new......Totally awesome guitar!

A couple of interesting guitars arrived for a make over. Epiphone Les Paul gothic and Gretsch Jet. They will both have single bridge EMG's with volume control. All other cavities and holes on the front are to be filled in and the fronts refinished black. With the cavities and holes filled they have been primed ready for black and lacquer coats.

An Aria sandpiper slimline electro was playing sharp so after a thorough investigation which revealed that there were no structural faults it was decided to widen the saddle slot and fit a slightly wider intonated bone saddle which cured the problem completely.

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8th June 2012

Gretsch country classic and Gibson Les Paul custom

The Gretsch country classic arrived needing a set up, and the hardware needed re polishing to restore its lustre. It also had some scuffs and indentations around the bridge area which needed attention. We calculated the bridge position and secured it with some double sided tape to prevent it from slipping.

The Gibson Les Paul Custom had some rather strange marks and imprints on the back of the neck. We  levelled the top layers of clear lacquer being careful not to lose any colour, then buffed and polished it. The marks are now virtually invisible. While it was here we treated it to a service and set up.

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8th June 2012

Danelectro guitarlin and Guild 12 strings

Work is progressing on this super rare Danelectro guitarlin. The finish has been stripped and it has been base coat primed. The body and neck has been painted in vintage off white nitro cellulose. Next it will have metallic bronze bursting around the edges.

These 2 gorgeous Guild 12 stringers came in for some bridge work to lower the action and correct the intonation.

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2nd May 2012

Testing grainfiller, curing sharp fret ends and high action.

We are testing some new products from Rothko and Frost. This is their new thixotropic grainfiller available in light, walnut and an exciting new red colour.....Excellent!

The Gibson BFG Les Paul had sharp fret ends, they had been cut rather square. We reprofiled the ends then dressed them so they are now super smooth.

This 70's Guild F50 had sharp raised fret ends which meant the E string caught under some of them. The fret ends were re-seated and sealed.

A Tanglewood with a bellied top had a loose brace right under the bridge. This resulted in a high action. The brace was secured and the rosewood bridge base was skimmed by 3mm. We then reworked the saddle slot and saddle for perfect intonation and a low action.

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23rd April 2012

Nuts, saddles, setups and paintwork

1977 Gibson Les Paul custom needed a new nut, a saddle dress and a set up to restore it to tip-top playing order.

This gorgeous Shuker 5 string Alice bass came in for a restring and setup.

The Danelectro guitarlin is from the early 60's and needs a complete overhaul. It is quite rare and beneath the many layers of paint it appears to be all original.

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23rd April 2012

After a short Easter break, guitars continue to arrive........

The Schecter body chip has been repaired and painted.

We were sent a Fender strat neck and hardware which we gave an aged finish. The neck was treated to some tobacco tinted nitro cellulose and the hardware has been chemically aged for a light relic look.

We have replaced the plastic dot markers in this 60's reissue Tele neck with clay dots.

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