Franklin's Workshop

Gibson J-160E John Lennon Limited Edition

Franklin — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:27:02 +0000

My friend with the nice guitars let me take his John Lennon Limited Edition model for a test drive. He was taken aback by the lack of responsiveness of his new guitar (his guitars are actually for his studio). I got the guitar home, popped open the case and began playing. No doubt this guitar is of a different flavor. First of all, it has a P-90 pickup. Haven’t seen too many acoustics with that! Carefully using my mirror to inspect the inside of the guitar revealed the source of its unique sound - ladder bracing on the soundboard. A little study revealed that ladder bracing was sometimes used (not always) in this model guitar. Ladder bracing is a much stiffer type of bracing normally reserved for the back of an acoustic guitar. So, why has it been used on the soundboard? As I said, this guitar has a P-90 pickup - a pickup ordinarily found on an electric guitar. This guitar is truly an electric/acoustic, and I found that it sounded quite nice through a normal amplifier. This isn’t a guitar that I would play every day, but it certainly could be utilized for some great live sounds, and I would like to hear it recorded in the studio on particular pieces.

Back in the workshop

Franklin — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:23:21 +0000

Working as a CFO, I don’t get nearly the amount of time in the shop that I would like, but I have had some opportunities early in the morning and on the weekends to work.

Recently I did set-ups on three very nice guitars: Fender American Deluxe Telecaster, Taylor 914CE, Gibson Les Paul 50s Reissue. Yes, I have a friend with very good taste, and I am grateful to him for entrusting their “tweaking” to me. Of course, the nuts needed replacing on the Taylor and the Les Paul, so it was a bit more than the normal deluxe set-up that I do. The Taylor had been used and abused a bit by different users. In their haste to change strings, they cracked the sides of the D and G strings. I replaced the standard Taylor nut material with bone, which brought out the tone of this beautiful instrument. The Les Paul’s slots were too deep. Not only were the strings way down in the slots, they also had been cut too low. When I re-shaped the top of the Les Paul nut, the string was no longer pinched and revealed its true character: Mr. Buzz. That’s all been fixed now, and I hope that my friend is a little more judicious with the crowd he lets play those beauties!

Now that I am writing this, I am wishing that I had taken more pictures. Maybe next time……

Tele Delux stain

Franklin — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:10:41 +0000

I’ve been working on the finish for the Custom Tele Deluxe. I’ve used Tru-oil for the neck and a red mahogany stain on the body. I’m very pleased with the way the body came out - the African walnut actually looks like mahogany. It gives the guitar a very 70s look.

This weekend I’ll be on the prowl for a good place to buy nitrocellulose. If I can get that and a spray unit from PreVal, I’ll be on my way to mixing my own lacquer. I don’t have a proper paint room at present, and I’m hoping to use this rig to spray the neck and body.

Pickup Testing

Franklin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:52:07 +0000

For the past few weeks I’ve been working on guitar that’s loosely based on a Telecaster Deluxe. I’ve just finished lining up the neck with the bridge, installing strings, and making the nut. I’ve done the string spacing, but I haven’t done the final height. Today I want to hear what it sounds like with the pickups I’ve chosen.

The original Telecaster Deluxe had wide-range humbuckers, but they are in high demand right now. They’re selling on Ebay for around $300 apiece, and I didn’t want to spend all my money there, so I shopped around for humbuckers that would sound good on this guitar. I finally settled on TV Jones TV Classics in a TV’Tron mount.

Having tried the guitar out, I have to say that I think the sound is really good. The neck pickup has a lot of meat to it, and the bridge pickup has the nice bright sound that you want out of a telecaster. Have a listen for yourself.

My next major decision is exactly what finish to give this guitar.