Manchester Guitar Tech
This 50s archtop acoustic is a Zenith Standard 21 “Bijou”. Zenith guitars were made by Framus in Germany and re-badged Zenith by the importers, who were the major instrument distributors Boosey and Hawkes. This one has Ivor Mairant’s signature in ballpoint pen on the label inside, but I don’t know if it is the signature …
This Australian-built Maton Supreme 777 is getting on for 50 years old and has seen some action! It came to me needing a refret, a new nut and a general fettle. The Bigsby vibrato was in a sorry state and needed rebuilding with a new arm and spring. The pickups had been cut off at some …
A regular customer of mine recently bought a 2006 Les Paul and brought it to me for a setup. As soon as I straightened the neck, which had been somewhat bowed, I realised that the 1st string was buzzing against the first fret as the nut had been cut too low. I suspect that the relief …
This beautiful 1989 Gibson L4 CES was brought in with a bad electrical buzz. I traced the buzz to a disconnected bridge earth wire which I reconnected. I noticed however that at some point early in its life the guitar had been rewired with different pots. The pots have solid shafts and whoever did the work …
I was brought a Fender Japan 70s reissue Telecaster with a broken truss rod for repair. The threaded part truss rod had broken at the headstock. I extracted the truss rod from the heel of the guitar and found that there was still over 1cm of thread left on the end. My solution therefore was simply …
Here’s another Gibson Les Paul headstock repair, the second within the space of two days! The owner of this guitar had left it in his rehearsal room and come back to find it broken. It was pretty clear from the break and other damage on the body that someone had taken the guitar out of its …
The Stewart MacDonald bushing press is a great tool for safely inserting and removing tuner bushings, avoiding finish damage that may be caused by less elegant methods. Full instructions for using the bushing press are on the Stewmac website. This Gibson Les Paul Classic was in the workshop for repair to a nasty headstock break and …
Finish Repair A customer had had an accident with his Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray 5-string bass. He had dropped it and knocked a large piece of the finish off the lower edge of the guitar. I filled the damage with matching lacquer so that the damage was no longer noticeable. Sunburst Gibson L6-S finish repair …
The Squier Vista Series Jagmaster is one of my favourite guitars. The Squier Vista series was made in Japan to very high standards and comprised around 4 models. If you are going to do this remember that rosewood dust can be an irritant so wear a dust mask when sanding and cutting it. This Jagmaster …
Headstock repair This early 70s Les Paul Signature had suffered a headstock break many years ago and had been left unrepaired. I was told by the owner that it was this very bass that turned Peter Hook on to semi-acoustics! Luckily the owner was careful to keep all the parts and I was able to …