As some of you may know, I have been planning for some time to attend Lutherie school in Michigan next year.  With the blessing of a trip to the USA this month for vacation, Ree and I thought it would be in our best interest to do a bit of investigation.  I convinced my parents that this would make a good road trip, and so they drove us up to what I fondly call “the oven mitt” of the USA.

On our way up, we made a stop in Lansing to visit Elderly Instruments.  I was in heaven, and my family was wonderful enough to put up with my need to see everything in the store, resigned to wait until my hunger to overcame my GAS. Read more…

I recently did a crack repair on a Takamine EN10 (moral of the story: if you’re flying Turkish Air, don’t check your guitar) and I posted photos of the process in the Gallery.

There were two long cracks along the lower bout of the soundboard that had separated from the braces underneath.  I used hide glue and a variety of clamps including rare earth magnets to create a seamless repair. You can still see the crack, but it came together nicely. I also placed a few cleats in strategic areas (where there were no braces) in order to reinforce the stability of the sound board. I did not have the time/facility to do a complete refinish on the front of the guitar, but I did as much as I could without sanding through the original finish.

The other day I received an Ibanez Bass that had a broken tuner. I pulled it out of the case and noticed dark streaks on the maple part of the neck. That doesn’t look so good, I thought. I rubbed at the mark, when to my amazement, I realized that that mark was at least a year’s worth of sweat. The fretboard didn’t make me feel any better.

You know the old adage “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? This is certainly true in the world of guitars. Wiping your guitar off after playing is a great way to eliminate buildup. Get yourself a cotton instrument cloth and gently wipe down the fretboard and body after significant playing, and you will also help your strings last a little longer.

Cleaning a guitar isn’t rocket science, but it only takes using the wrong thing to ruin your guitar. Read more…