Elevating the Art of Guitar Repair




Text For Repairs and Setups : ( 519 275 1008 )

Precision work / Fast turn-around / Best price \m/ !


Guitar Repair and Design Courses ... Online !


Join the Students and TechDeck Owners around the World 
as you get the goods on Pro Guitar Repair techniques.

Become a patron


Binding and Purfling







Bridge Re-Glue






The Crazy Maple back !


BTW: That's Her Sister in the background 
same flinch of ( raw wood ) maple, same sitka top wood.



A 12 String Guitar that actually plays in tune ??!!??

Oh Ya ... have a listen ...


Ready for tapered end splice ...




Another flawless dovetail .....



Dovetail / spalted maple rosette /
soundport / cedar top

BTW: That's a left handed cutaway in the background 












Neil finished up the compensated nut 
on his American Strat.

Rick re-glued the the 12-String guitar bridge.





Ryan, laying out the compensated nut
for his 8-string ... we'll finish it up next class.









Guitar Repair and Design Courses

Looking for an intellectual, tactile and 
conceptual challenge ?

 Join us on Patreon , for an exercise
in Design Studies, Analysis,
Trouble-shooting, Problem-Solving, 
Geometry, Engineering, History
and more .... 

Check out this 60's era',
 Trini Lopez copy 


Kids in a candy shop ;^ ) !












My Patreon subscribers are happy
 to spend the money that they
 would have spent anyway .... 
learning to setup their instruments .... 
the only difference is ....

Now they are getting a front row seat
in my Luthier's repair shop ....

Acquiring a truck load of 
Guitar-related knowledge ....



Michael's Roster ....

All of theses guys had covered, or
 exceeded, the price of administration
 by their 4th class;
by saving the money they would have spent on 
Guitar Setups and calibration ;^ ).






Increasingly more and more students, are signing up 
on my Patreon 
channel, to learn precisely what is involved, in a professional 
guitar setup, and to have a clear understanding why 
Guitarists are willing to pay a professional price 
for a professional job.

BTW: 3 of the setups that I did in my own shop 
this past week, were brand new guitars that came with a
"free setup " from the place of purchase.

 All 3 of those customers 
were not interested in a free setup.

There were HAPPY to pay for a professional setup;
knowing that their guitars will be absolutely 
PERFECT when the job is done ;^ ) !




Many of these students have already
 " tooled up " 
and continue to do this type of work to 
generate a part time or full time income.












.....  we've worked on Epi 330 / 
Left handed Les Paul / a Classical 
Precision Bass / Fender Strat
a couple of Seagull acoustics /
7 string Ibanez / 
and more .... 

300 + Videos posted so far 
on Patreon

plenty more to come ...
stay tuned ... 
I am just ramping up ;^ )













For anyone old enough to 
remember these .... 

Fender's answer to the Gibson ES-335'






I just barely had enough "Real Estate" ( below ) 
 on the "saddle travel" to squeak out the intonation. 
The compensated nut was the final touch  ....
It is now 100% Perfectly in tune  .


This is now locked and loaded 
... ready for some rippin' guitar licks !

Customer's response, after the ultra-tweak ;^ )

I plugged her in when I got home and Holy S**t!!!!!! 
 Now that's a damn fine guitar!!!


It's totally changed the feel!!



Thank you for your Mastery Michael!


Terry



The Fender Starcaster ( above) ,
 was originally introduced 
in the late 70's ( 1977 / 78 ).


Warren ... moving right along with his 
Parlour Nylon string soundboard bracing !



Jordan will be gluing up all of his 
Steel String Parlour braces next class


Rob has the dovetail fitted and is now moving on
to the headstock overlay / binding and fingerboard.




This group of Guitar Enthusiasts 
"dug right in" on the first night ( Monday
of the 2014 Fall GRAD Session



Guitar Repair and Design















#guitarrepaircourses




Dear Michael,
You have been delivering this training through Continuing Education at Conestoga College for over 15 years now( actually 23 years ).  The quality of your courses and the feedback from your students is nothing but exceptional.  Your passion is contagious.  Your students respect your knowledge and you inspire them to further develop their skills and allow them the opportunity to apply what they have learned.  Conestoga College is proud to have you as a Professor.  You are expert in your field, reliable, punctual and a pleasure to work with!

Sincerely,
Sandra Schelling
Dean, Continuing Education and Corporate Training
Conestoga College

#collegeguitarrepaircourse






With 6 neck surgeries on the go,
we prepared all of the splines in advance. 




Guitar Repair and Design

Taylor Neck Reset / Les Paul ...
Norman Headstock Surgeries












#brokenlespaulneck


The customer brought this Gibson Les Paul in for neck surgery 
after seeing the "glued up break" ( no splines )
 let go, for the 3rd time !



This 1960 Gibson VOS LP neck, is now stronger 
than the day it was made !







Hamilton TechDeck owner, returning Level 2 student, 
Chris Knowles, jumped right in for 2 neck surgeries 
after picking up his neck surgery kit.


12 string back replacement, and 71' Jazz bass refret.


This Gibson LP V.O.S. 1960 Classic
neck, was broken previously, 3 times.











So when this one showed up at my shop; 
I decided to bring it in for the  "Real Time"
Neck surgery Video- tutorial, for my students and all of the 
TechDeck / NSK owners.



At a glance  ... you  
have to "really look", to see the
 "faint ghost marks" of the splines.


I'm OK with that ... 
even a complete headstock
 replacement will be seen ( scarf joint ),
"through the shader coats". 


The old glue was steamed out of the break,
it was then re-glued with hide glue;
sliced / spliced / and refinished.




There was so much damage to the soundboard bracing; 
that we decided to remove the back, 
to gain 100% access to the soundboard.
A new solid wood back, was fabricated,
to replace the old plywood back.





Rob  picked up his
 TechDeck ( and all the goodies ) 
a couple of years ago.


Chris and Tony setting up for the 5th + 6th 
neck surgery jobs for this group. 





Tony ( London ) is a very talented electrical engineer,
bass player and guitar enthusiast. Tony ordered his TechDeck
 from last Fall's production run. He picked up all of
 the accessories, last term.


Chris is setting up for his second neck surgery job 
this class. He ordered his NSK, and promptly 
performed two jobs, "right out of the gate" ! 






Kim ( St Thomas ) is a full time gigging 
Bass player. He is a Graduate of the
 Humber College Jazz program and 
a seriously good musician. 


Removing the neck on this old arch top Stewart
and resetting the neck angle; has been a great lesson
 for all of the students in this class.





Globe-trotting Mining Safety Expert, and big time guitar enthusiast
Tim; jumped right into Level 2 after completing his Level 1
and purchasing his TechDeck and all of the accessories.

 Tim's long term plan, is to retire in New Zealand
 and to continue doing his Guitar work in his retirement years . 


Sounds like a good plan to me ... 



You're off to a good start Tim !



Congrats !






So far .... he has removed and re-glued a 12-string bridge,
completed a neck surgery job and will be doing a compensated nut
for his American Tele.