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So you broke the headstock off of your nice Paul Reed Smith? No problem, just bring it in and we can reglue it for you. Just make sure you don’t try to slap it together yourself with bondo or plaster or …

…Oh no! Yikes. This is ugly. And it obviously didn’t hold.

And there’s a major body crack too. This PRS is going to take a lot of  attention if it’s ever going to play again. It’ll take grafting on a new headstock and re-gluing that big crack at the body.

The body crack is where we start- gently applying enough pressure to open it, inject glue, and clamp it shut.

Once the body is glued up, we move on to the neck.

We need to graft on an oversized piece of mahogany using a scarf joint. To make sure the string tension pulls the new joint closed rather than open, we need to remove the fretboard, cut the useless piece of the neck away at an angle opposite the break, then attach the new section.

After heating the fretboard (don’t worry the discoloring of the inlays will sand away later,) Dan uses a modified putty knife to remove the fretboard. He then pulls out the truss rod, to be re-installed in the new headstock.

Next, he carefully saws the end of the neck off, creating an angled scarf joint.

He rough cuts the new headstock from a block of mahogany…

…and glues it into place on the neck.

Once the glue is set, he hand carves the new headstock, using another PRS neck as a reference so that all the dimensions are perfect.

Then, he removes the old and worn frets, files the fretboard level and clean, and hammers home the new frets.

He drills the tuner holes, prepares the new wood for painting and over-sprays the whole neck and headstock area.

Since we had clear finish in the sprayer, we decided to go ahead and put a new coat over the body too to better mask the repairs on the top and make the whole guitar look uniform.  Here’s Dan scuffing the finish before spraying.

After applying a new logo and clear-coating the neck, it’s time to put it back together again. Some PRS Dragon pickups, new hardware, and new wiring are installed.

Finally, we give it The Works set-up and try it out. It looks great, sounds terrific, and ultimately cost the owner less than buying a new (or used!) Paul Reed Smith.

One of our customers was given this Marshall head because it didn’t power up at all. Once Pat opened it up, it was clear why that was the case. It was a mess of rust, dust, missing parts, and the likely victim of at least one spilled beer.  Here’s a look at how he got it not only working again, but sounding better than ever.

All we had to do was take the back off to see why the amp wouldn’t power up – a rusted power tube socket that happened to not even have a power tube in it.

The preamp section wasn’t much better with piles of dust and another missing tube.  So that’s where we start – new power tubes and a good cleaning of the chassis. But there’s a decision to be made first because these amps are capable of running off of either the original 6550 power tubes, or EL34’s. The 6550s sound tighter and have more headroom than EL34’s which means they are better suited for louder rock bands and for lower tunings. Since that didn’t really match the owner’s plans for this amp, he gave us the go-ahead to make a minor modification to go with the EL34’s. Using those tubes is often associated with the “British sound” and 6650’s are sometimes known as the “American sound” because Marshalls were often shipped to the USA (and Japan) with those tubes.

All it takes is adding a single resister to the bias circuit (that little gray fella below) and it’s ready for new power tubes.

After re-tensioning the tube sockets, we installed a matched quartet of J/J EL34’s.

Got rid of that dust that covered the preamp tubes (all of which were working fine) and scrubbed away at the rust that covered the power tube sockets. We flipped it on and it roared! What a great sounding amp.

Speaking of  that rust, how did it get there?

Rusted handles and an air vent right above the rusty area? Hmmm… you can almost smell the spilled beer. Get those drinks off your amps guys!

The vintage National resophonic (or resonator) guitar is undeniably one of the most striking-looking guitars ever. This Style O model that came into our shop went a step further with a Hawaiian tropical scene etched right into the back plating. But there were a few important areas that needed work so it would actually play and sound as beautiful as it looks.

With the body in nearly perfect shape, the most obvious order of business was a long crack in the fretboard.  Since the frets were worn flat, we decided to go ahead and refret the whole neck. In the process, we would be leveling the fretboard which would create enough ebony dust to fill and repair that crack.  Easy enough.

Upon even closer inspection we noticed that the fretboard was bowed upward into  a “ski jump” shape that caused most of the high notes to buzz noticibly and in some cases, not to sound at all. This was because the neck itself was loose and pulling up under the tension of the strings. What this guitar really needed was a neck reset.

The neck and supporting neck stick (which runs the length of the body inside) is held into place by just a few screws, including three that sit below the pearl fretboard inlays above.

Once the neck was off we also noticed that the resonator cone inside was dented and distorted, so a new cone from National is also in order.

Once the neck was off, we repaired the weak and cracking areas of the fretboard…

…removed the old frets and leveled the fretboard…

…and began resetting the neck to the body. We soon discovered that the top was not really strong enough to support the neck under string tension. The manufacturers tried to reinforce the top with two small strips of mahogony that run parallel to the neck post. These probably did the job early on, but after 80 years, they aren’t as stiff as they once were and they aren’t much help.

Here’s a view of the inside. On the left, you can see the neck “stick” which runs the length of the body; on the right is the underneath view of the F hole; and in the middle is the original top support piece with a screw passing through the middle.

In 1934, two years after this guitar was made, National realized this design flaw and solved it simply by rounding the edges of the F holes. It’s an old metal working trick that smooths the edges but also strengthens the metal itself. Since we weren’t going to be rounding edges of a vintage guitar (not to mention the chrome plating which we don’t do) we got a great idea from master resophonic craftsman Paul Beard.

At Paul’s suggestion, we used a thin piece of flatsawn maple (above,) shaped it just for this guitar, and fastened it inside using those mounting screws. We didn’t have to add a single extra screw hole or modify the gutar at all to fit this piece in. Here it is inside the guitar:

Once we put it to the test, we found this addition added the support we needed to keep the instrument from folding up on itself. The extra bit of rigidity made all the difference in the world. For this insight – as well as MANY others, we thank Paul Beard.  If you’re a fan of resophonic guitars, please check out his gorgeous instruments at www.beardguitars.com.

Next, we replaced the damaged original resonator cone with a new one from our friends at National and hammered in the new frets. Notice that the crack is now gone too.

Strung up to pitch, this guitar is now playing great – comfortable action, clean notes, a crack-free fretboard, and a stable and solid neck joint. It was in remarkable shape given the nearly 80 years of string tension and use it’s been subjected to, and with this repair, it should be last another 80!

When it comes to acoustic pickup systems, our favorite ons are simple rigs that run directly out through an endpin jack – doubling as a strap button. These systems (like the K&K Pure Mini) sound great, but usually lack any controls for volume or EQ. Our feeling is that you don’t miss the EQ controls since you can conture bass and treble at the amplifier (or have it done for you by a sound guy in a club or concert setting.) But the one control that is nice to have at your side is volume and the Taylor V Cable is a great solution to that problem.

That’s a volume pot right there on a right-angle plug of a 10, 12, or 15 foot cable (longer lengths are available by special order.)  You can easily adjust your volume or turn it all the way down when switching guitars. They start at just $60; don’t require cutting a hole in the side of your guitar; and if you have multiple acoustic/electrics you only need to buy one! What a great solution. We should have thought of it ourselves, but Taylor and Rapco Horizon beat us to it. Big thumbs up on this great product.

You’ve got yourself a nice electric guitar that feels comfortable, looks great, but sounds… meh…  The thing to do is get some new pickups in there.  It’s an upgrade we love to do here, but we’re not big fans of those big mega-store brands. We prefer the workmanship, relationships, and above all superior results we’ve found with smaller pickup companies. But the price can admittedly get pretty steep. So what would you say to a USA-made, hand-wound pickup that doesn’t make you smash your kids’ piggy bank open? Check out our newest line of Porter Pickups!

Brian Porter & Co. make each pickup completely by hand. Why, well in Brian’s words,

We have no plans of ever changing the way our pickups are wound. Part of the reason for this is tradition – by making pickups how they used to be made, and part of it is the advantages it can offer the customer to have a pickup custom wound specifically for them, tailored to their styles and with the materials we believe will best achieve what they are looking for. We feel that our process of hand winding pickups results in a truly custom product, which also has our touch put into each pickup we make.

Anything made with that kind of dedication costs money, but you’ll find Porters to be priced right around the most popular big store brands.

But how do they sound, right? Well, here’s a PRS SE Santana. We installed a set of chrome-covered Porter Classic humbuckers and they sounded great. Compared to the stock pickups, which sounded rather dull and lifeless, the Porters sound very articulate, sparkly, and clear. They break up nicely, with smooth overdrive when you lean into them a bit, particularly through our tube Deluxe amp here at the shop. Big thumbs up.

We like to compare pickups to wine here. The store-bought stuff is fine; does the trick, and can be pleasing enough. But once you try the good stuff, you understand the difference. Trust us, Porter Pickups are good stuff. Check out their website and full line here. Give a call to see what we have in stock and if we don’t have it, we’ll get the ones you’re looking for.

Three years ago, Steve and Dan opened a one-room guitar shop. This summer we doubled the size of  the shop and welcomed two new faces to Chicago Fret Works.  Allow us to introduce Joe Swierupski and Patrick McKeever.

This winter, we found ourselves stepping over guitar cases and telling our customers that a set-up would take more than a week.  It was time to get some more space and some help. Luckily, the space adjoining ours became available and we decided that if we didn’t take it now we’d probably regret it down the road. It happened to be big enough to house an amp repair station too.

Around the same time, we received a resume from Joe Swierupski. He’s worked for Fender and Gretsch and was an acoustic guitar building instructor at Arizona’s Roberto Venn School of Lutherie before relocating to Chicago this summer. He brings a deep understanding of guitar construction and customer service and we’re pleased to have him on board.

The new space also created an opportunity to expand our services to include amplifier repairs. Patrick McKeever has been repairing and customizing guitar and bass amps at Chicago’s The Music Store since 2000 and now joins us as the lead technician at Chicago Amp Works. He has been a fixture on bass in the Chicago blues scene for years, backing up many of the city’s biggest artists. Patrick also builds beautiful all tube amps under the name Sweet Amplification. He loves helping musicians “find their tone” – the one they’ve been imagining.

So there’s some big changes.  We look a little different here, but it’s all with an eye toward better serving our customers. There’s more plans in the works so keep checking in!

The 1952 Goldtop is where it all began for the Gibson Les Paul. Guitars from this first year of production have an obvious historical importance and, as with all vintage pieces, the conscientious repairman does not make an irreversible alteration to one without just cause. This one was sold to the current owner with full disclosure of some previous repairs to the headstock. Those repairs were well done, solid, and the guitar sounded amazing (vintage P90’s really are something special.) But they simply did not look right and that’s where we come in.  It took heating, sawing, chiseling, filing, and painting to get there, but this is how we made this vintage classic look and perform the way it’s supposed to.

The beginning: It looks pretty good. There’s no arguing that. But what this guitar’s owner noticed is that this headstock just seemed a little … short. And sure enough, it was.

Here’s why. The headstock had clearly broken at some point – a common occurrence with Gibson necks.  It’s usually a relatively simple repair consisting of gluing the pieces together and touching up the paint. But this repair looks strange – with a black “stinger” painted on the back. Why was that done? A closer look revealed that for some reason, the repairman who fixed this break decided to add several steps.

First, he took the broken end piece and the remaining neck section and smoothed out both surfaces- possibly on a belt sander. This is the step that shortened the headstock, as it removed some of the wood. We can see this already by looking at the break line (below the low E tuner) which is uncommonly straight. Usually this is a naturally jagged-looking fracture line. Next, he removed some of the back of the headstock and used a piece of maple to add strength to the repair. You can see where that piece terminates at the far left of the  picture above – just below the black stinger. It’s hard to see here, but there are even drawn-in grain lines to make the brown part of the maple look like mahogany.

A line in the finish between the low and high E tuners shows where that maple piece ends.

So at this point, we’ve seen enough to make the decision. We’ll remove this very strong but unattractive repair and replace it with an entirely new headstock that will look more historically correct.

Step one, we heat the fretboard to soften the glue that joins it to the neck and gently remove the whole thing – carefully removing and preserving the original inlays beforehand.

We decided to take a closer look at what was underneath the paint on the old headstock and discovered that our theory was correct.

The above picture shows that straight cut between the low tuners.  It also shows that the logo overlay – made of holly wood – was sanded away below that cut, probably to make the two surfaces line up smoothly.

The back of the headstock reveals that maple support piece the whiter area – painted brown first and then over-sprayed with the black stinger.

Next we stared at the neck for a few hours. Drew a few deep breaths. And sawed the neck off a 1952 Les Paul. Gulp!

No turning back now. Time to make a new headstock. We begin by band-sawing a piece of mahogany to fit the angled cut. The direction of that angle is critical as we want the string tension to pull the repair closed. If we were to leave the fretboard on and saw the other direction, the string tension would be pulling the repair open – making it much less stable.

We were lucky to acquire an original Gibson holly headstock overlay complete with a period-correct inlaid logo. When it came time to cut it to size, we wanted to get all of the dimensions correct. So we went right to the source – Gibson Guitars. While the company did not keep complete records at the time with all the relevant measurements, one of the workers in the repair shop actually owns a very similar 1953 LP. He was kind enough to take the measurements himself and email us a tracing of his headstock. Huge thanks to Timothy and Phil at the Gibson repair shop for helping us get it just right!

As luck would have it, and just when we needed it, a customer of ours brought in another 1952 gold top which we used to confirm all of our measurements. Always good to have more than one source for this sort of thing!

The Gibson headstock profile begins to take shape.

Once the neck looks and feels right, Dan strips the remaining finish from the neck. As much as we would like to preserve every bit of original finish, there just isn’t a way to finish the new section and blend it in with the old without refinishing the entire neck.

First comes dark brown pore-filler to make the grain jump out and more importantly, produce a level painting surface.

Next some brown stain matches the old and new portions of the neck.

Then precise measurements are marked for tuner placement.

After drilling the holes for the tuners, we’re ready to paint the face of the headstock. Dan uses a clear adhesive to protect the inlaid Gibson logo from the black paint (hard to see, but that’s what he’s trimming here.) At this point, we’ve also re-glued the fretboard, replaced the inlays, and installed new frets.

The final touch is applying the water-slide Les Paul logo and spraying a few more light coats of clear finish.

We made a new bone nut, used the original tuners and truss rod cover, and did some light distressing of the finish to blend the appearance in with the rest of the guitar.

The new scarf joint is visible; we’re not trying to fool anyone here.  But the color and finish match makes the seam look natural and, well.. seamless.

1952 Les Pauls did not come with a stamped or inked serial number so we left that area alone.

Here we are, strung up with new frets. One non-original part that makes a big impact with this guitar is the addition of a Joe Glaser-designed tailpiece end which fits easily onto the old trapeze. It sits lower and has an intonation ridge – solving the well-know problems of poor action and bad intonation that accompany 52’s. This guitar plays beautifully and the pickups just sound incredible.

This was a lot of work for a rare and classic instrument. The end result was completely worth it however. We restored the original look while protecting as much of the original features as possible. It’s going to be making music for at least another 60 years!