Well, there was always going to be something I overlooked here…can’t believe y'all didn’t stop me 😉Basically, a pretty huge oversight was that I failed to take into consideration the fretboard radius (7.25) vs the bridge radius (12!!!) hahahaha… So, I had two options, remove some frets and sand in a compound radius, as it wasn’t too big a deal between 1st and 12th, which would be the responsible thing to do. OR - do the thing that I don’t recommend you out there ever do, and sand that compound radius right onto the frets. Why don’t I recommend it? Well, it’s fine if it’s your guitar, like this is mine, and thankfully these brand new frets were tall enough to take it, but it’s just, it’s pretty lazy, and not something a customer should ever expect. You also run a huge risk of taking off so much fret, that the whole thing becomes a bigger mess than it already was, so - don’t do it. In this instance though, I got lucky and it all worked out, and feels pretty darn okay. I got, very lucky. 🍀#custommistakes #crisisaverted #telecaster #shortscale #guitar #guitartech #ineedanadult #repair #rectify #cursedobjects #brisbane #beexcellenttoeachother

Rebuild complete! Far out, I think it’s just under a year ago that this Charlie Christian style pickup, completely fell apart as I was about to install it. I was majorly bummed out, first the top plate just snapped in half, soon followed by the rest of the pickup just crumbling to bits, even the magnets fell off! @leddinvintageguitars took the rebuild job on a while back and he did an immaculate job of it, it’s essentially been built from scratch. All that was left for me to do, was build a new top plate, which I’d been putting off for a long time. Today was the day, annnnnd it actually went a lot smoother than expected! I made a template out of some clear guard material by first cutting a slot down the centre for the blade, and then with a combination of eyeballing and every now and then measuring, came pretty damn close to the standard design. Then I just glued that, to some 3 ply, shaped and slotted that, pulled the temp of, epoxied it together, and there you have it, ready for something special! #guitarepair #guitartech #tymguitars #leddinvintageguitars #brisbane #guitar #pickups #charliechristian #telecaster #rebuild #repair #fortitudevalley #beexcellenttoeachother (at Tym Guitars)

Somehow, this wasn’t the biggest repair challenge this year! If you missed the original post regarding this guitar, the owner who I’ve known for a few years was pretty destroyed when it slipped out of his van after a gig and split almost straight in half (btw, it’s a set neck and just ever so slightly avoided splitting down the neck).

He literally turned up at my place early this week and gave it to me (as it was) as a gift, to “part out” and do what I wanted. Which was WAY to generous. Like, really.

I don’t often get a chance to do something like this and really, his kindness needed to be repaid so I simply decided without telling him, that this guitar needed to be back in his hands, in one piece. I know how much this thing meant to him so, y'know, parting it out was never really an option.

Anyways, he’s hopefully on his way over this evening as I told him he left some important stuff in the case (which he also wanted me to have). So I’ll just put this in there, and hope I haven’t given him a panic attack by telling him it’s pretty urgent that he collects his “important stuff” ;)

There’s also the chance this is a cursed object, and he just wanted rid of it, but I have enough of those around here so, be gone with you! #guitarrepair #repair #gearnerds #guitartech #toomuchparty #woodworking #luthier #guitar #brisbane #australia #supportyourlocal #blackcatboneguitars #present #doalittlegood #wabisabi #kintsugi

Too much party. An old acquaintance brought this to my place today as a gift for me to “part out” what I could, for free. Thing is, I know how much he loved this guitar before it fell out of its case, and out the back of his van… so I think instead, I might just surprise him in a few weeks with it put back together. There is plenty of timber to glue this all back together with and really, though it doesn’t seem like it, I don’t think anything critical has been ruined. Plus it’s nice to surprise people with a sneaky present every now and then. #guitarrepairshop #guitar #toomuchparty #guitartech #repair #wip #woodworking #luthier #brisbane #australia #doalittlegood #thiswillnotbuffout #blackcatboneguitars

One thing with restorations that I learnt a long time ago, is to know when to use restraint. With the rust removed from the tailpiece, and the ring cleaned and gently polished, it’s time to leave the hardware alone. What I’m getting at is, it’s over 80 years old, and there is no reason/it would be foolish, to try and make it look “brand new”. That’s 80+ years of character right there. #restoration #luthier #banjolin #antique #vintage #gearnerds #repair #bluegrass #folk #brisbane #blackcatboneguitars

I found this John Grey & Sons banjolin under my Uncles house about 7 years ago while I was renovating it. All my other jobs are currently in the process of curing or waiting on parts so, thought I’d get a start…7 years later ;) #banjo #mandolin #vintage #stringedthings #repair #wip #bluegrass #luthier #antiques #brisbane #blackcatboneguitars