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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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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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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…
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Brooklyn Fretworks is now an authorized dealer for Fishman products
It’s official! We are now authorized dealers for the full line of Fishman acoustic and electric pickups, preamps and accessories, including the Fluence series. As with all suppliers, clients will receive a 20% discount on parts and accessories purchased through us when we are doing the installation. Life is pretty good around here these days!
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Updated 1960s Harmony Parlour guitar
Here’s what we came up with for the 1960s-era Harmony G-100 parlour guitar I picked up a few months back. We fitted it with a new trapeze tailpiece, and with new MIJ tuners. A new floating rosewood bridge with rubber saddle was added. We also installed a passive Fishman pickup. And painted it black, with a new black pickguard. What do you think?
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1994 Yamaha FG-335ii
Here’s a lovely instrument that was rescued from a Glen Burnie Pawn (gun) shop. When it came into our shop, there was mold? mildew? funk? all over the fingerboard, and the rest was quite filthy as well. No idea how long it had been hanging around in its current state, but the neck and bridge both were both overly angled toward the sound hole. Our first thought was that it may require a neck reset in order to make music again. First we cut away the strings, and gave the guitar a thorough cleaning. Then we allowed it to relax in a properly-humidified space for around two weeks, so that…
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Sears Silvertone ready for a new home
This circa 1973 Sears Silvertone by Harmony MIJ acoustic guitar has been brought back to good playing form and is ready for a new home. We cured her bellyache, fixed the cracked bridge, reattached three braces, hand crafted a new compensated bone saddle and performed the legendary Southeast Setup. She’s ready for another fifty years of beautiful music. Spruce top, Mahogany sides, back and neck, Rosewood bridge. See listing on FB Marketplace here: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/188095234247575/
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Sears Silvertone Acoustic (c) 1973
Here’s another project I started before I had a web site. It’s a circa 1973 Sears Silvertone acoustic guitar, model number 319.12171100 that I picked up from a Healey Wizard named Gary several months ago. It had a terrible bellyache, three popped braces and a cracked bridge. Gary tells me it was made in Japan by Harmony. I rehydrated the box and held it under clamps for around two months, which brought the solid spruce top back into shape wonderfully. Then the popped braces were re-attached, and the bridge was repaired. Moving along, I created a new bone nut and bridge saddle, then performed a Southeast Setup. She’s sounding like…
Brooklyn Fretworks
Bespoke guitar design, repair and modification
