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  • Jody from Vanderbilly was at it again. He drew this cool picture of me and my friend Clay. The guy is talented to say the least. Thanks again Jody.
  • Mark is holding his Stingray Bass that I serviced for him. It is a sweet Bass!. He knows how to make it sing too!
  • I built alot of guitars last year. These two Strats are my lastest projects. I was building one for my friend Scott so when I bought the body I bought another body just like it. There identical except for the pickup colors and knobs. The one with the white pick ups I made for Sharif who is in the next picture. Both are wired up with series/parallel wiring.
  • This is Sharif. He is the lead singer and guitar player in my sons band "Poor Mans Copywrite". He had just about wore out his old Stratocaster so I made and gave this one to him as a gift. I just could not do anyting to his old Strat without a complete overhaul. I don't have to tell you how happy he was. Just look at his smile!.
  • This is a customer of mine John. He came by to pick up his Strat and hang out for a while. Here he is playing my Stratocaster. Cool hat John!
  • This is Alvin. He is picking up his two guitars that I worked on for him. One is a EVH Special and the other one is JS-100. The EVH I just did a set up. The JS-100 I replaced the pickups, cleaned it up (it was really dirty with rusty frets and no shine on the finish), and set it up. He was very happy with the turn around I did on the JS-100. It did turn out real nice.
  • This is Terry holding his Washburn Falcon. I have never seen this model before. I serviced it and set it up for him. It has a very unique Tremolo system on it. It is not only a beautiful guitar but sounds and plays as good as it looks.
  • This is a Stratocaster that I built for a raffle on Vanderbilly.com. The body is a Guitar Fetish body. The color is called "Gretch Rock-o-billy orange". The wood grain really shows through the finish but it does not show much in the picture. I put in a set of Guitar Fetish vintage over wound pickups. They have a nice little bite to them but not to much. I also wired it up with the series/parallel wiring. The next picture is the wiring I did to it. The guitar turned out really nice. Looks good and sounds good. Mike D at Vanderbilly won the raffle and received it a couple of days ago. He told me he loves it. Congrats Mike!.
  • This is the series/parallel wiring I have been talking about alot lately. In my opinion the series/parallel wiring is the best wiring mod for a Stratocaster. You have your regular 5 way switching plus you can blend the pickups together just by turning a knob. Plus on this mod you also have a tone adjustment for the bridge pickup.
  • This is Jennifer holding a Reverend Slingshot that she bought for her husband. He was looking at it on Craigslist and she noticed is interest in the guitar. So she contacted me and asked if I would look it over if she bought it for him for a Christmas present. When she told me what guitar is was I laughed to myself because I knew the owner George. He was a friend and customer of mine. Because of who owned it I already knew that the guitar was just like the ad said. So when she came over to pick it up she told me that she just does not get the guitar thingy but she knew her husband wanted it. I told her that in the guitar world she would be called a queen because she went through all the trouble of getting me to go over it and check it out before she bought it even though she did not care for guitars herself. She thought that was funny and smiled at me. But I know all you guitar players agree with me that he is lucky to have a wife that would do this for him even though guitars was not her cup of tea. You are a lucky man Mark!!!.
  • Gregory is holding his very nice 1963 Martin D18 acoustic guitar I set it up for him. This guitar was in really nice shape and has been taken care of. It not only played really easy but has a great sound to it. I really enjoyed playing and working on it.
  • A member at VanderBilly.com (Jody1985) is an artist by trade. He did this cool drawing of me and sent it to me. He has already given me a drawing of Astroboy playing a guitar. I thought that was really cool of him to do it again for me. Thanks Jody!.
  • Here is Rich again holding his new blood spash Charvel guitar. I serviced it and set it up for him. The pic does not show how nice the finish is on it. I don't know if you have ever played one of these guitars. The necks on them are one of the best out there. You can grab the guitar and you notice the feel of the neck instantly. One of the most comfortable feeling necks you will ever play.
  • This is one of Rich's guitars. It is a Gretch solid body with a very cool mirror finish on it. It sounds and plays as good as it looks. It looks really cool in person.
  • This is my crew!. We had a community cookout early last month and I gave everyone of my friends here SharpenYourAxxe hats to sport for the picture. If you are wondering I let them keep the hats,lol. It was a good time by all and I got the chance to try some other types of food. I think everyone hit the food at least twice. I know I did, it was really good.
  • My friend Bill is holding a guitar I gave to him. It is an Ibanez Gio. Here he is picking it up after I did some upgrades to it. I replaced the stock pickups with Seymour Duncan SH-2 and a SH-4. I also replaced all the pots with new ones and added 2 push-pull pots with orange drop capacitors to tap the pickups for single coil sounds. It might be a low end Gio but this thing really rocks. It not only plays perfect but now with the good pickups and electronics it sounds righteous. The bird inlays are Bill's idea. They are actually stickers and they look pretty good. You really can't tell that they are stickers even when you look close at them.
  • Longtime customer and friend Jay is picking up his new Ibanez. He bought it an brought it to me becasue he did not like the factory set up on it. I know how he likes his guitars set up so now he is happy with the guitar. It does play effortlessly. Nice score Jay !!!.
  • Russell brought this rare Electra guitar in for some repairs. Someone had been in there and tried to install push-pull pots. Nothing worked on the guitar. No volume, tone, or anything worked. So I pulled out everything and put in 4 new pots, capasitors, and new wiring less the original pickups. I also cleaned it up and did a set up. It is a very cool looking guitar and plays and sounds fantastic.
  • This is a B.C.Rich J.R.V. Standard. I am guessing it is a rare guitar. I have never seen this model before. It was brought to me in rough shape service wise. The guitar is just about in mint shape though. So I did my thing to it. I cleaned it up, serviced the fret board, and set it up. This is a players guitar. By saying that I mean it plays effortlessly and sounds incredible. The pick ups are B.C.Richs standard Rockfield's but they just scream and sound better then most I have heard before. It's hard not to do harmonics with this guitar. Most people don't know that B.C.Rich made some really nice intermediate and high end guitars. Most only are familiar with the ones you see on Craigslist like the Warlocks and such. This is a real nice quality guitar and is a blast to play.
  • One Saturday night I was cleaning my sun room and ran across this Stratocaster body I had been messing with all summer staining and painting it. The last thing I did to it was sand it down and spray it with clear Lacquer. It looked pretty good so I left it like that. I had enough spare parts to make the whole guitar. This is the finished product. The pick ups were the only new part I put on it. They were GFS over wound pick ups and they sounded real good with a nice bite to them. The guitar turned out nice and plays good. I ended up giving it to my son Jason.
  • This beautiful guitar is a Coobeetsa. My friend and customer Rich bought it off eBay. He brought it to me for a set up. Everything about this guitar screams quality. I can't figure out which is better. The way it looks, sounds, or plays. The answer is all of the above. It is one sweet guitar!
  • This picture is my friend and neighbor Bruno. He asked me if I could put together a guitar from a kit if he bought it. I said yes so he bought this PRS hollow body kit. He took my advise and upgraded all the hardware. He also bought Gibson pick ups for it. I clear coated it with about 40 coats of clear Lacquer. It is a set neck so I had to glue it in with Hide glue. The picture of him is the second time he is gigging with it. It even fooled some of his band mates. At first they thought it was a real PRS.
  • This is another one of my builds. Mike (pictured) asked me if I would build him a Jazz Bass. He bought all the parts from Music123. He also bought D'marzio pick ups for it. He was really happy with it when he came to pick it up as you can tell by the smile on his face. He kept saying "oh I like this".
  • Rich is holding his new guitar that I built for him. It has a red sparkle finish. He wanted the electronics as simple as possible so I made it with 2 humbuckers and a 3 way switch. It turned out really nice. Rich said he loves it.
  • This is Jared holding his Dean explorer. It's the first time I have seen this model. The finish on it is really nice. It is a late 90's model. It sat in storage for a few years so I serviced it and set it up for him.
  • This is my new guitar. It is a 2010 Gibson Les Paul double cutaway. I have been wanting one for about 5 years but I could not find a used one in good enough condition. I saw this on sale so I bought it. It has pro rhythm and pro lead in the neck and bridge. I am very happy with it even though it came with loose strap buttons and the screws were different sizes.
  • This is a guitar I built for myself. It has a Artic white finish with gold hardware. It has Seymour Duncan pick ups with coil taps. My friend Bill came over the day after I finished it and asked "what is that". He asked if he could play it. Well that was a mistake on my part. He would not let go of it. I had no intention of selling it but he wanted it really bad so I had to let it go. I only got to play it for about half an hour.
  • One of the forum members "Jody1985" at Vanderbilly.com was telling everyone he was thinking about painting one of his guitars. He is an artist by trade. So I asked him if he could do a drawing of astroboy playing a guitar. He did this ultra cool drawing and sent it to me. Thanks Jody, you da man!!!
  • My friend Bill had this custom made leather guitar strap made for me. What a nice gift for someone who plays guitar. Astroboy058 is my on line handle that I have used for years. I am very humbled by this gift and never thought of a strap with Astroboy058 on it. It was a complete surprise. Thanks Bill !!!!!.
  • This is my new customer John. He brought in 4 guitar's for me to service. He had me set this one up with 13-57's. That's right 13-57's. Takes a little effort to bend these strings. I played it for about 10 minutes after I was done with the set up. I could already feel my fingers talking to me. I do like the beefy sound you get out of heavy strings though. Be careful if you shake John's hand. He probably does not know his own finger strength and might break something.
  • This is my latest creation. I was going through my stock one day and noticed I had enough parts to build a Stratocaster less the body. So I get on line and order the body from Music123. They sell for $139.99 and come with the great finish that you see. I had found a wiring diagram for series/parallel wiring a while back so I thought I would wire it up like that for something a little different. This is a great modification for a guitar. You have your regular Stratocaster switching but you also have some added tone options. There is a master volume, master tone for all three pick ups, and a blend pot to combine the pick ups. When you blend the pick ups you get a much fatter sound. Check out the demo of the wiring on the front page.
  • This is the GMC Tele that I put together for the raffle on Vanderbilly.com. We raised almost $2500 for cancer research. 3 of us at Vanderbilly had our turns in making this beautiful guitar. Chris V (cvidal) made the body and painted it, Mike (sixstring63) made some custom pick ups for it and they sent everything to me and I assembled it and set it up.
  • This is a guitar I built for my friend David who lives in Texas. He is the head moderator at Vanderbilly.com. The man spends half his life/time on line at the site to make sure it runs right and we all have a great place to chat and learn guitar. I wanted to build him this guitar as a thanks for all he does for everyone there. I built it to his specifications. It has Seymour Duncan pick ups, 3 way switch, coil taps for both pick ups, vintage style tremolo, and a rosewood fret board. It plays as good as it looks and it looks good. Enjoy David and thanks.
  • I have built quite a few guitars in the last few months. I saw an ad on Craigslist for head stock decals one day so I contacted Butch through the ad and had these made for me. They turned out really good. Butch is a really cool guy and he gave me great service and a good price for a whole sheet of these. If you need some done then contact me and I will give you his info. I like great customer service and that is what I got from Butch
  • Here is Rich again. He brought in this Warrior guitar. It is the first Warrior guitar I have ever seen. This is a high end guitar and man does it sound and play nice. It is just effortless to play and the pick ups are true and clear. Very nice guitar.
  • Jordan stopped by with his new guitar. It is a LP style guitar that was built by Heath Nelson. I serviced it and set it up. It sounds amazing and plays perfect. Nice score Jordan!!.
  • ZZ Top would be proud. A sharp dressed man holding a sharp guitar. Rob picked up this nice Ibanez jazz box. I set it up for him with some heavier guage strings. He is going to do some recording with it. For the price of the Ibanez AF series it has to be one of the best buys out there. They not only look great but play just as good.
  • This is a B.C. Rich EM1 guitar. A good friend and customer of mine "Bill" came in and said "I wanted to give this to you for always taking care of me". I was shocked to say the least. It is in mint condition. He brought it in to me about 2 years ago and I upgraded the pick ups with PRS Dragon 2's with coil taps for each pick up. It plays just as good as it looks. I have never seen this model before. I just love it. Thank you Bill !!!!!.
  • I don't know why but one day I was looking on eBay and saw this Saga PRS style guitar kit and decided to buy it. It cost $149.95 plus shipping. Here is a warning for you. Don't think you can buy a kit, put it together and play it. It does not work like that, lol. The body was really nice and the neck was to but everything else was really cheap. I leveled all the frets myself as I was missing 7-8 notes. I replaced all the wiring, nut, and hardware with better parts. I had to work on the neck pocket too so the neck would sit level. I put some used Epiphone pick ups in it. They were a major upgrade compaired to the ones it came with. So after quite a few hours and about $90 in parts I got it to play right. It does play good too!. I let a handful of customers play it and they all said it plays awesome. I ended up giving it to my son Jason. All in all it was fun to see if I could get it to play like a guitar.
  • Long time customer John came all the way from Frederick, Md to drop off his Custom Strat. He took the best of two guitars and made one nice one. He wanted me to straighten out the wiring and set it up. So I pulled everything out and replaced it all. New pots, 5 way switch, orange drop cap, and a mini toggle switch for two additional sound options for a total of 7. I also replaced every wire in the guitar. The next picture is the wiring I did to it.
  • This is the completed pick guard before I installed it on the guitar. It has Lace sensor pick ups which he loves. The guitar not only looks good but plays and sounds good. There is nothing worse then playing in your church band and having to worry about whether you guitar is going to make noises or stop working because of an electronics problem. Now he does not have to be concerned about it anymore.
  • This is another Custom Tele I just finished. It has a Rosewood fret board, Chrome hardware, Neovin noiseless pick ups, Wilkinson locking tuners, vintage 6 saddle bridge with chrome cover, orange drop cap, and a natural finished body. This one is going to be given away to some lucky student in a free raffle at Cedar Lane School. I teach a guitar class there on career day at the end of March. I can build you one just like it for under $600. If you are interested I have one in stock already done that you can come by and check it out and play. Build time is about 2 weeks.
  • Tom brought this Squire Tele custom in for a pick up upgrade, set up and service. It had Duncan Designed pick ups in it. They did not sound to good. He had me install a set of Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups. After seeing what pick ups he brought I told him before he left that he would be shocked with the difference in what the guitar would sound like. When he came to pick it up he said "wow, I am impressed". He did not stop playing it for about 20 minutes. I also replaced the old style barrel input jack with one that bolted on the outside of the body because it kept coming loose and shorting out. Now the jack is way more secure and won't be giving him any more problems.
  • This is my friend Gospel Bill. He is holding a Custom Strat I built for him for his Birthday. It has a Mighty Mite 2 tone body, Mighty Mite neck with a Ebony fret board. Wilkinson locking tuners, GFS pick ups with a orange drop cap, vintage style tremolo, pearloid pick guard and tr em cover. He was very surprised when I handed it to him. Happy Birthday Bill!!!. He is also holding a mid 80's MIJ Telecaster. You should hear how good the pick ups in it sound. They really sound like nothing that is made today.
  • Mike contacted me about getting some work done on his San Dimas Charvel. He wanted to try some different pickups in it. He also had a EVH D-Tuna that he wanted installed and a set up. While working on it I noticed some issues with the wiring. So while I was in there I replaced the 3 way switch and the volume pot with a push-pull pot. I knew there would probably be problems down the road if I didn't address these issues now. It turned out really nice and Mike is really happy with the way it sounds and plays.
  • Here I am posing for a picture at Cedar Lane school with Arin who won the raffle for the free guitar I built. It was career day there and I was invited to teach a guitar class again. I had a very good time and hopefully I will get invited back next year.
  • Lee came all the way from Silver Spring Maryland for me to work on his guitar. It is a 2003 Fender Strat with a Roland synth. Sweet guitar that needed a little attention. I set it up and serviced it. I thanked Lee for traveling all that way for my services.
  • Chris is one happy camper. He just picked up this very nice PRS 245. It has the 58-08 pick ups in it. He left it for me to set it up. He has been here enough that I know how he likes his set ups done. When you bring your guitar in here for the first time I don't know you good enough to know what you like so I usually set it up to where I think it plays best. But some players like lower action and some like higher action. I will let you play a few of mine the first time you are here to get an idea of your preference. I forget alot of things like most people but I always remember how you like your guitar set up. Getting back to his 245. The 58-08 pick ups sound so good that he could not stop smiling while playing it. Nice score Chris!!!.
  • My friend Clay's B-Day was a few Sundays ago. I had given him my 1986 Tele about a year ago. He loves it but it hums badly under his fluorescent lights. So I told him I would take it home and put in some Neovin noiseless pick ups in it for his B-Day. That's not what I had in mind. I had already ordered the parts to build a new Tele for him. Here he is holding his new Tele. It has a natural finish, Neovin noiseless pick ups, 6 saddle bridge, Rosewood fret board, Wilkinson tuners, and what really sets off the look is the chrome trim ring for the neck pick up. It turned out so well that I am going to build myself one just like it. Happy B-Day Clay!!!.
  • Todd got this guitar as a present from his wife. She saw him looking at it on line one day and got it for him for his birthday. It is a Agile double cutaway with p-90's. It plays and sounds incredible. Happy Birthday Todd and a big thumbs up for the wife.
  • This is my friend Bill and my son Justin. A little jam session going on there. It's always a good time!
  • This is Larry holding his custom Tele style guitar. He had bought the body, neck, hardware, etc about 10 years ago. He contacted me about putting it together. I said "bring it by and let me take a look". So he came over with the body, neck, and a bag of parts. He got the body from a place going out of business for about $60 bucks. It is beautiful!! It has a Mighty Mite neck and GFS premium pick ups. I set it up with standard Tele wiring with a Sprague orange drop cap. It takes me a while to do these because there are no pre-drilled holes accept for the 4 neck screws. It plays as good as it looks. Larry was very happy with it. He also rips it up on the guitar!
  • My friend Bob stopped by to pick up his Lace guitar. Don Lace is better known for his pick ups but did make a few guitar's too!. You don't see many of them. This one plays like a champ. Bob calls it "peanut".
  • My good customer Cliff contacted me about changing his pick up options on his PRS. He had a 5 way rotary switch. So after we talked about it he decided to replace the rotary switch and install a 3 way toggle switch with 2 push pull pots.
  • This is the wiring I did to it. I put a black 3 way switch to match the hardware, treble bleed, and a Sprague orange drop capacitor. If you notice I usually use green wire for the grounds instead of black. Just my choice and I know if I have been in there before. He now has 8 different settings instead of 5. He e-mailed me a few days later and says he loves it.
  • A few friends stopped by on Friday night to jam with me. Left to right is Brian, Mark, and Glenn. They showed up with 4 or 5 guitar's. So before the night was over we had all played every guitar in the house. All of mine and theirs. It was a blast and we all had a good time. A couple of glass's of wine and we sounded pretty good.....I think.
  • Chris and Amy stopped by to pick up Chris's guitar. Sorry Chris but there was no contest on who would look the best holding the guitar for the picture.
  • This is Patrick holding his PRS. I serviced it and set it up for him. Can I detail a guitar or what. It's all in the products I use. You will notice in most all of the pics here that the guitar's look really good. That's because on every set up I clean and detail the guitar, polish the frets, clean and condition the fret board. I will even remove the saddles just to clean under it. I charge $60 for set ups on most guitar's. I don't charge for the other stuff I do to it. I try to make your guitar play, look, and feel like a new guitar again.
  • This is a guitar I built for Vanderbilly.com. They had a contest on their site the first part of December. I offered to sponsor the contest with the winner getting a guitar that I would build. I decided to do a Tele. It turned out pretty good. I put in Neovin noiseless pickups, 3 way switch, sprague cap, Mighty Mite neck, Wilkinson locking tuners, roller string trees, 3 ply pearloid pick guard, and a sunburst body. It wasn't done when this picture was taken but as you can see it is a looker.
  • This is Eddie Van Hale...... I mean Mark. He is a friend of my friend Glenn who does my site for me. He is holding his Peavey EVH Wolfgang. He had never had it serviced or set up. Cool guitar, they have their own sound and feel. The set up was pretty whacked out. Every screw and nut on it was loose, even the saddles were not locked down. It plays nice now.
  • Rich is picking up his brand new Gibson Les Paul Classic. I played it for an hour after I was done servicing it. I played it before Rich did. It was delivered and he came straight over to me with it. It's a keeper Rich!!!!.
  • This is Joe. He brought in his PRS SE Mark Tremonti guitar for some upgrades. I put in a set of PRS Tremonti pickups and replaced all of the pots and wiring. I then set it up, serviced the fret board and detailed it. When he came to pick it up he played it for a minute or so and started smiling. Good quality pickups really make a guitar come to life. He is now a very happy camper.
  • Mike contacted me about getting a set up done on his Music man bass. When he got here and opened the case I said "wow". Beautiful guitar. It is a family reserve Bongo bass. It has a rosewood neck. This is only the second all rosewood neck that has come through here. The neck is so smooth and playable. You don't even have to plug it in to feel the quality of it. I told him "you know Mike you can't get out of here without me getting a picture for my site". He smiled and said no problem.
  • The proud owner of this guitar is Brian. It is a 1965 Gibson Melody Maker. He started playing again after a hiatis for a few years. He told me it was tiring to play and had some other issues. I said I would take care of it for him. I replaced all the electronics less the pickups. Did a set up and fret board service. I also replaced the nut with one with the correct spacing. The old nut was the wrong one for this guitar. The strings were so close to the edges that the strings would slip off the end of the fret board while playing. Now it plays like it should. He is very happy with the results. He hung out for a while when he picked it up. We played and talked about guitars. It was alot of fun.
  • Custom Shop Jackson with snakeskin finish. It was dropped off for a set up and service. The owner Rich had just bought it. I played it before I started work on it. I noticed the 5 way switch did not have anything in the 2 and 4 position so I pulled the cover off to see what was wrong. The next picture is before I fixed it.
  • Someone had been there and replaced everything in the cavity. Notice the big ball of solder where the grounds were. The next picture is after I was done with it.
  • I pulled everything out less the 5 way switch. I put in new pots,cap, ground wires and a push-pull pot for the humbucker in the tone position. I cleaned up the solder points as best as I could. I cut off the ball of solder to show Rich. I pulled the pickups out too as they were sitting wrong and I could not adjust their height. They were mounted with rubber but the rubber was cut to short making no room for adjustment. I cut some springs to fit the adjustment I needed. I then set it up with 10's, cleaned and conditioned the fret board and detailed it. Rich will be very happy with it now.
  • This is a Mint 2007 Gibson Les Paul Standard that I picked up recently. Someone saw it and said it was a standard plus but I don't know. It is chambered with the slim neck. I have never owned one before. I have played and worked on them many times but never really sat down and ran it thru it paces. After I played it for about 2 hours I was hooked. I have not put it down for 2 months.
  • This is a Agile PRS copy. It belongs to my friend Clay. It plays as good as it looks. I heard that they quit making this model because it was to close to a real PRS. After working on it and playing it I probably believe that statement true. It is one nice axxe!!!.
  • My good customer Rich dropped off this Taylor solid body electric guitar for some service work. Fantastic design. 1st class all the way. Whoever designed the neck pocket is a genius. It plays just like you would hope. The pickups sound really good and the neck fits your hand like a glove.
  • Bill is holding his all Koa Peavey Unity Bass with Gold plated hardware, vintage circa 1990-91. I set it up and serviced it for him. Beautiful guitar.
  • This is a 1986 Japanese Tele. It was given to me by Ceder Lane School in Vienna. It had the old style Gotoh tuners and saddles. It was in need of major TLC. The neck was a little warped so I put on Mighty Mite neck that I purchased from Ant Hill Music for about $91.00. I also put Fender tuners from a MIM strat I had. It has it's bumps and bruises but it sounds and plays really good.
  • A few months ago I was asked by the music teachers from Ceder Lane to come in and teach a guitar class. At first I was a little hesitent but they said there was alot of interest from the kids so I agreed. I was somewhat nervous at first but felt better after I saw the genuine interest from all the kids and teachers. It ended up being a blast for me.
  • I also worked on 4 students guitar's while I was there. Here I am explaining the adjustments of a set up. I also gave away a SharpenYourAxxe gift pak. A SharpenYourAxxe hat, 4 sets of strings, fret board conditioner, and wax with a applicater pad. I gave everyone who attended a raffle ticket and picked the winner at the end of the class.
  • This is Abaad Behram. He is a music teacher at Ceder Lane school in Vienna. He is a very talented guitar player. He can play pretty much anything. Back in the day he played with a touring band called Raff. He is playing a 12 string Dean that he brought in for a set up. It's a real blast to just to sit and watch him.
  • My friends Clay and J-Reid came over for a visit and started jamming to Dixie Chicken. It was the first time they had met. They sounded pretty good together. There are many years of playing experience in this picture.
  • Christian is picking up his Jackson. What a beautiful guitar. I pulled out all the pots and wiring and re-wired it with a push/pull pot on the tone control. I also put in a new 3 way switch. It has no issues and plays like a dream. He was very happy with the results.
  • This is a Switch Inova 4 custom. I traded some guitar work for it. The company went out of business after a short time. They had the right idea though. The body is made out of a material called Vibracell. It has locking Grover tuners, Wilkinson trem, Mother of pearl inlays, and binding on the fret board. To my surprise it came stock with 4 wire pick ups. They weren't tapped from the factory so I pulled out all the electronics less the pick ups and installed 2 push-pull pots, capacitor, and new wiring. The pick ups sound fantastic even when tapped. I am totally impressed with the design and quality of this guitar.
  • Cliff his holding his nice PRS CE24. I think he said it was about 15 years old. What a beautiful looking axxe. It has the vintage HFS pick ups in it. The set up was pretty bad. I had to remove the neck and put a shim in it before I could do attempt to set it up, but once I got the neck sitting right then everything went smoothly. How does it play ?. Well, I don't think you can get a guitar to play any better
  • Bill is holding his 1977 E-335 and a 1990-91 Yamaha. The Yamaha is a Weddington AC Custom model. First one I have ever seen. I serviced both of them. He added the Bigsby on the E-335 when he bought it back then. They both are in fantastic shape and have no issues. I really had a blast working on and playing both of them.
  • Alain is picking up his RG. I set it up and serviced the fret board. It has a grey satin finish and is a real player. He also dropped off a orange quilt top Rg that I serviced for him. They are both RG'S but play and feel totally different from each other. I guess no two guitars are ever the same.
  • This is my neighbor Bruno. He is picking up his PRS Hollow body 1. Very nice guitar. It has the peizo system in it from the factory. About as versitaile a guitar as you can get. He is the lead guitar player for his band. Check them out at www.TheBrunoSound.com.
  • Shawn is holding my guitar. Well not really. I saw it on Craigslist a few times and almost pulled the trigger and went to look at it. He called me and said I have a Studio for you to set up. I was really surprized when I opened the case and saw it. It is a Les Paul Studio supreme plus. Probably the most beautiful guitar I have ever seen. It plays as good as it looks. I told him I had first crack if he ever wanted to sell it. Am I jealous, no not at---yes I am. Nice axxe Shawn.
  • This is Jaime. He is picking up his Ibanez guitar. I installed new Duncan pickups in it and replaced the volume pots with push-pull pots. It is a really nice guitar and with the pickup and pot upgrades it is that much better. He was a very happy camper. He can now get many different sounds out of it.
  • This is my son's friend Jordan. He had me replace the stock pickups with a new set of Bare Knuckle pickups. I also replaced the volume pots with push-pull pots and orange caps. These pickups are very pricey. About $300 for the set. But I will tell you that these might be the best pickups I have ever heard. Even when coil tapped they sounded extremely good. Very clear and true. Awesome Jordan!!!. The next picture is the wiring I did to it
  • Standard LP wiring with orange caps and coil taps.
  • Kevin is picking up his Aria Pro 2 Metal Master guitar that he recently bought. I replaced the bridge pick up with a Burstbucker 3 and rewired it with new electronics. When I told him about the mess I found under the pick guard he asked me to take a picture of it. The next picture is what I found. Enjoy!!!.
  • What a rats nest. It had some ground problems and it had been worked on a few times I suggested to Kevin to replace it all and then you won't have any more issues with it. He really likes this guitar and he agreed that would be the best thing to do. The next picture is after I was done with the wiring.
  • I wasn't quite done with it when I took the picture but you get the idea.
  • Russell brought in this very nice Gibson Blues hawk. I cleaned it up, did a fret board service and set it up. It is in fantastic shape and plays as good as it looks. I only see one or two of these every couple of years. He left it here for about 2 weeks so I was pulling it our of its case every few days to play it. If you ever get a chance to play one you will see why I kept going back to it.
  • My buddy J-Reid is showing off his acrylic B.C.Rich. I did a set up and service to it. You think a LP weighs alot. This guitar will take your back out if you are not careful. I did not weigh it but I think its close to 12-13 lbs maybe more. It also has the lights that come on around the pick ups but I for got to have him turn them on for the picture. They say the memory is the second thing to go. What is the first?. I can't remember,lol.
  • I just finished this one. I had the body for almost two years. I finally found a MIM Strat neck for it. I also put all gold hardware on it. It turned out pretty good. Looks great and plays great. The humbucker pick up sounds good but the singles should be upgraded to a better quality ones. Still It's a nice axxe for the money I have in it($200).
  • Kate has her hands full with her Onyx electric guitar and her son.. She bought this guitar in Australia in 1994. I had to put the nut back on it, replace a tone pot and fix some broken wires, set it up with a detail. She loves it now. She e-mailed me and said it's a whole new guitar. I think her son will be a guitar guru when he gets older. He was trying to get his hands on it the whole time she was here.
  • John is holding his BFG Les Paul. He did not like the factory set up of the electronics so he contacted me to get it set up the way he wanted. He wanted it set up like a traditional Les Paul. I pulled out all of the pots, switches, wiring, pickups, everything. Then I put it back together with all new pots with orange drop caps, 3 way toggle switch, input jack, and new wiring throughout the guitar. I also installed push pull pots in the 2 volume controls. I then replaced the tuning keys, set it up and did a fret board service. It has a Seymour Duncan Pearly gates in the bridge and a P-stack in the neck. It is ready to rock.
  • Jim is picking up his nice Godin bass guitar. I replaced the input jack assembly for the active pickups. I also changed the strings, cleaned and conditioned the fret board, polished the frets and detailed it. This one is very light and feels great when holding it. Sweet bass Jim!!
  • Double vision ?. The one on the right is the very first MG100HDFX special edition series. The amp on the left is one I bought off Craigslist and gave to my son a few years ago. He bought himself a Fender tube amp so I reminded him that I had the receipt for his PRS and how nice the two red amps would look together and he said come and get it. Ahh yes, the power of dad. I run a Korg AX3000G through one and a RP150 and Boss MT-2 metal zone through the other. The gain on the heads are adequate at best but the clean channel with the 4-12 cabs are very nice. With the effects pedals running through the clean channel I can get great sounds and at low volume.
  • Glenn is checking out his American Stratocaster. I set up the electronics to the more traditional style. I replaced the 3 way switch with a 5 way switch, put in new pots and cap, and rewired it. I then set it up and detailed it. I think Glenn has found his main axxe.
  • Cliff brought this in because of issues with the guitar. It is a AllParts guitar that was built with quality parts from the body up. There were quite a few small problems that had to be straightened out before it could play right. Now he has an extremely well playing guitar. When I was done with it and was playing it I was thinking that Cliff was really going to like it now. It has Lollar pickups and custom electronics with a master volume and tone and a blend pot. All kinds of possible sounds there.
  • Here is a 2004 Les Paul Deluxe that Josh brought in. Beautiful guitar. It had the mini humbuckers in it. I replaced those for a set of Lindy Fralin P-90's. I also set it up, cleaned and conditioned the fret board and detailed it. It really screams with the good pick ups in it.
  • This is a very nice G&L S-500 Strat. I like the tremolo design on these. The finish is flawless. It plays as good as it looks. I think these are way better quality then a MIM Strat.
  • This a real beauty. It is a Minarik Goddess. It is not only a nice playing guitar it is a real work of art. The pick ups are called Tone Perfect and they really sound as good as any pick up out there. When you open the case and see it for the first time you just stare at it.
  • Lucy, I'm home. This is a Epiphone BB King Lucille. I didn't know Epiphone made this model. It's nice, real nice. I did my normal set up and services to it. You can see how nice the finish is by all the reflections on it. A very versatile guitar.
  • My buddy Bill dropped by to hang out a while the other day. He was singing and playing and my daughter came in and she said "I know that song" and started singing along with him.
  • This is a Minarik Lotus gold top that I just picked up. You can find them online for about $500. Fantasic guitar for the money. The quality and detail on this guitar is as good or better then most $1000 dollar guitars. I was really surprised how inexpensive it was when I looked it up online. Everything is nice about it. Even the pots and switch feels high end. Great sounding pickups and a really nice neck. It plays very easy. As some players would say "it plays like butter".
  • Bruce is holding his nice Taylor 414. I set it up and cut and fit a new nut for it. I also did a fret board service and detail. Phenominal sounding guitar. It can make a bad player sound good. Well that's what my friend said "sounds good, nice guitar. I knew he was not talking about my playing,lol.
  • Steve brought in this Steinberger Spirit for a service. I did a set up and cleaned and conditioned the fret board. I had never played one before. It was a new experience for me. At first it felt weird because I am so used to seeing the headstock. The guitar was very balanced but my mind would not let go of the missing headstock. So I had to stare at the TV and then play. After a minute or two I was thinking what a nice guitar it was. It plays good, low action, no buzz, and nice sounding pick ups. Travel, hobby, or stage guitar. Take your pick. It does it all.
  • Damien came by with this mid 90's Squier 51 for me to look at. He did some nice upgrades to it but needed a little help getting it to play right. I cleaned up the fret board and polished the frets. I also set it up and filed the nut slots to accommodate the heavier strings.. He was really happy with the way it played after I was done with it. It has a Seymour Duncan SH4 in the bridge and a Kent Armstrong in the neck. Your hand fits like a glove around the neck. Very easy to control. It is a real nice player.
  • John is holding a Electro Hawaiian lap steel. I replaced the stock pick ups with a set of Lollars. I also upgraded the bridge to a Tone-pro, replaced the pots and installed a orange drop capacitor. A nice detail, new strings and it is ready to go.
  • Neil is a happy guy holding his new guitar. It is a Joe Satriani JS100. Very cool body style. He had me put in some Dimarzio pickups. A Tone Zone in the bridge and and a Bluesbreaker in the neck. I also set it up and serviced it. Man does it play and sound good. You can bet I played it for awhile after I was done with it.
  • Patrick bought this Fender Toronado off eBay and brought it in for a set up and service. The guitar weighs more then one would think. It is very solid guitar. The sound quality and playability of this guitar is really nice. I was so surprised with how good the pickups sounded. It plays about as good as any guitar can. I just started jamming with my loop station and got lost in the music. It is just effortless to play.
  • Here is a real nice Big Baby Taylor acoustic. I did a set up and fret board service to it. The guitar sat for a few years and needed a nice detail.It has a very smooth deep volume to it. To me it has a whole different sound then most other acoustics. Very nice, very nice.
  • This is a Regal Dobro that was brought in for a detail and string change. Beautiful guitar. Can I play slide, heck no. Tried once and knew immediately it would be something new to learn. I have trouble remembering what I learned last week.
  • Here is a nice acoustic. It is a Collings. Very well made and incredible volume. It even made me sound good playing it. I did a set up and a fret board service to it.
  • Josh brought in another guitar for me to service. It is a 1993 Stratocaster. The picture does not show how nice the finish is. It is like a 2 tone blue burst. It also has one of the best feeling and playing necks you will find on a guitar.
  • Jim Brought this 2009 Gibson Les Paul in for a set up. Top of the line guitar. It does not get any better then this. I played it for about an hour after I was done with it. My wife noticed my interest with this guitar because I played it so long. She asked me what a new one would cost. I said about $3300. Then she said "I want a new car". I decided to let that sleeping dog alone,lol.
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