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Travis Bean makes the scene
It’s kind of like seeing a unicorn. There were a mere 755 of these produced during the company’s relatively short existence during the 1970s. This one is a beauty! From Wikipedia: Clifford Travis Bean (21 August 1947 – 10 July 2011, aged 63) was an American luthier and machinist from California. In 1974, he partnered with Marc McElwee and Gary Kramer to start Travis Bean Guitars, which made high-end electric guitars and basses featuring machined aluminum necks. The aluminum center section ran through the instrument body, with the pickups directly mounted to the aluminum. The majority of these instruments featured solid Koa wood bodies and Humbucker pickups. Though praised for their…
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Black Strat with a crook in its neck
Today’s patient is a Fender Stratocaster, circa 2002. The initial complaint from the player was a “stripped truss rod nut, and it’s just not playable.” I made some quick measurements and found the neck to be quite bowed. This model of Strat is equipped with Fender’s BiFlex Truss Rod, which works differently than a typical dual action truss rod. A dual action setup utilizes a matched pair of rods anchored at the nut and at the heel of the neck, allowing for quite a bit of movement in either direction, as well as a good amount of man handling. The BiFlex setup utilizes a single rod, anchored in the center,…
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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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Martin Custom X gets a little love
Here’s a super-lightweight MIM Martin, which is on the bench for a Southeast Setup and a couple minor repairs. We noted a slight crack in the soundboard along the centerline, but after a thorough inspection we noticed that the transverse braces, the bridge plate and the tailblock were holding the crack at bay, and that it was structurally sound. Sometimes doing nothing is doing the right thing for the client.
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1998 PRS McCarty hollowbody archtop
Here’s a lovely 25-year old Paul Reed Smith McCarty hollowbody archtop on the bench for a Southeast Setup, including a new set of Ernie Ball Slinkys. It’s hard to not get lost staring into the beautiful figure of that tiger maple body! IMG_6516.480
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Martin “The Backpacker”
On the bench today is Martin’s travel acoustic guitar, “The Backpacker.” It’s here for a Southeast Setup, which includes a general look under the hood where we give the player a 19-point checklist of our findings. Oh, can’t they all be as easy as this one. This guitar, as simply built as it is, sounds and feels great! We dialed in the string action, making it a bit more comfortable, then gave it a clean bill of health! Safe travels, my friend!
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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?
Brooklyn Fretworks
Baltimore guitar design, repair and modification
