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Taking a quick break!
We are going out of town from October 17 – 21st. The shop will not be open during our absence. Please plan accordingly! Cheers! – Chip
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The UproariousRBG
Here’s a Re-imagination project we just finished. We took a 1972 Stella and turned it into a Rubber Bridge Guitar. We pulled the original tiny frets, then added a 12″ radius to the fingerboard. (Show of hands who knew that these catalog guitars had maple fingerboards hiding under the brown paint?) Then we fit it with larger nickel frets that modern players prefer. We added a K&K Pure Mini pickup attached to the soundboard under the rubber bridge saddle, and put in a split rail humbucker at the neck position. A set of Stringjoy Signature 11’s make her “Uproarious!” She’s finished in shellac. She’s likely to hit the market…
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1965 Gibson LG-0
Here’s a 1965 Gibson LG-0 that came in for its bridge replacement. It happens to all of them, eventually. Read the page from the great textbook “Gibson’s Fabulous Flat-top Guitars” for further information. We were able to remove the “Edsel,” strengthen the bridge plate by adding a 3mm thick slab of maple and affix an adjustable aftermarket rosewood bridge. While we were at it, the player chose a new hand-carved nut and saddle to go along with the Legendary Southeast Setup. We also repaired some damage to the bass side sheet. This “$85.00 (1960’s pricing) Gibson” is ready for another half century of making music! Thanks, Ken, for letting us…
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Curt Mangan Fusion Matched Strings
Brooklyn Fretworks is now an authorized dealer for Curt Mangan Strings! These fine strings are made by artisans in Colorado. The have over one zillion varieties (possible exaggeration on my part) and surely a set to fit what you’re playing, and how you like to play it. Check them out on the web at Curt Mangan Strings.
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The folks from Voyage Baltimore were kind enough to reach out…
It’s nice to know folks are noticing what we are doing here in Brooklyn, MD! https://voyagebaltimore.com/interview/inspiring-conversations-with-joseph-chip-tait-of-brooklyn-fretworks-llc/ Onward, and upward!
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1974 Epiphone Caballero
Here’s a circa 1974 MIJ Epiphone Caballero acoustic guitar. Someone wasn’t very nice to it in the past, but that’s why we are here! The neck block was broken, and the side sheets and soundboard were detached. We were able to repair most of the damage, then gave her the Legendary Southeast Setup, along with a new bone bridge saddle. She’s ready for another fifty years of joyous music! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joseph “Chip” Tait (@brooklynfretworks)
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Brand new G&L Doheny in for the Legendary Southeast Setup
So why on earth does a brand new guitar need a setup? Well, most factories don’t have time allotted to do a final setup for every instrument that travels down the line. And even if they did, some guitars travel a long way from the plant to the player; half way around the world in this case. When you bring your new axe to your friendly neighborhood luthier, they can take the time to bring the instrument that final mile and make it sound, feel and play its best. In this case, the player wanted it set up to play in D standard tuning with 11 gauge Stringjoy Signature strings,…
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1992 Ovation Collector’s Series
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joseph “Chip” Tait (@brooklynfretworks)
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Fender Squier VI
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joseph “Chip” Tait (@brooklynfretworks)
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Ibanez “Black Beauty” modification
Yes, we can! My client first tried to take this job to a couple well-known guitar stores that offer repair services. He was met with refusals each time, because those stores didn’t want to do the routing work necessary to complete this project. We routed and added a middle Seymour Duncan pickup, operated through a push-push switch on the volume pot. We also installed a Fishman Powerbridge TOM Piezo pickup along with a Powerchip on-board pre-amp. The stereo output jack allows the player to split the piezo and magnetic pickup signals to feed into separate amplifiers. The addition of a mini 3-way switch allows all of the pickups to be…