Burtt Guitar Garage in Geelong, Victoria | Local service

Burtt Guitar Garage

Locality: Geelong, Victoria

Phone: +61 409 272 462

Address: Daisy St 3220 Geelong, VIC, Australia

Website: https://www.burttguitargarage.com/

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25.01.2022 Tara’s Guitar. Pt 1 Whenever I’m asked about what to do with a certain piece of timber, my answer is usually the same - make a guitar from it... No surprise that this was the answer to my friend Tara when the subject came up about some salvaged timber from the Black Saturday bush fires.... After a talk about design and aesthetics, a drawing was made and the build has commenced. Tara had certain requirements - not pointy ( see previous metal guitar build...), not too big, a slim thin neck and the top timber should be the focal point. Aside from that she let me at it, so here is what we have so far.... When the top was book matched ( thanks to Alistair’s dad, a long time ago, for sawing this up for me - he has a massive band saw...), it decided to cup (bend). Often timber will cup when thinned down thanks to stresses within, temperature, humidity ... so it was weighted and stacked flat until ready. This nearly always fixes these issues, but leave it for any period and it will do it again if it has before - so strike whilst it is flat, the build had to begin. Interestingly, when book matched, the pieces were not exact mirror images of each other , as is usual, thanks to all the imperfections (which are a great feature). So i divided the top into sections, and used the best bits - this gives visual relief and it doesn’t matter if they don’t match - like it might if it was a direct join. Pics of progress , see captions with them for more:

24.01.2022 Matt’s Gibson Explorer (2007 model)! Just a once over and a setup please.... Well this one was actually pretty good and only a little extra work thrown in on this one. First , let me say, Explorers are huge, like epically big. Come the Zombie Apocalypse, this will work just fine.... Really just a setup, but this one had been converted to active EMGs (yes, really) by the previous owner. Hey, whatever you think is cool, I just sort them, I don’t judge, much.... So check the truss rod (was a little loose, relief just a tad too much) new strings (Elixer Nano Webs 10-46), check the action (lowered slightly), nut was fine (a nice change) and check the controls did what they should (they did). Let’s add a fret polish, fretboard oil, oh and sort the battery issue. Active pickups use a battery (usually 9 volt) to boost the signal before it leaves the guitar. Same deal as a preamp on an electro / acoustic guitar (See Tara’s Canora Acoustic...) . No battery / battery issues in an active electric guitar and you get no output at all. In this case the battery was wrapped with a small bit of cloth and stuffed in with the other electronics. A 9volt battery has a metal housing. Can we see a potential issue here? Well the battery can short the electronics and that is less than ideal... So, I made a simple guard to cover the electronics (who soldered these in ? - certainly effective but not to BGG standard... ) to keep all this separated, and it worked just fine. She tuned up well and the intonation was pretty good- I didn’t have to tweak it much at all. For those wondering, briefly, intonation is the ability for the guitar to stay in tune for the entire length of the neck. The notes on the open strings are repeated at the 12th fret, and should read the same... if not the the bridge saddles are adjusted to compensate. It is not difficult, but can be fiddle, and you must be precise. So here are the pics of this beast of a guitar with explanations and musings in the comments. Thanks for bringing this in Matt, she is a ripper!

23.01.2022 Derek’s Godin A lovely Godin Multiac Nylon in for a broken tuner post. These are solid bodied hybrid electric nylon stringed guitars. The amplification comes from each single bridge saddle being piezo. ... Essentially string vibration is sensed, sent to a preamp in the guitar and out the cord to an amplifier. As opposed to a full electric which has string movement through a magnetic field which induces a voltage and out the cord to an amplifier... So what you have is an electric nylon stringed guitar - they are nicely built and sound superb. Over time the plastic on the tuner post has degraded and eventually failed. New post - simple job, but you can’t seem to find the exact correct posts here and they aren’t on Godin’s ( A Canadian company) list of spares - they sell whole tuning setups, but not pieces.... We are talking $20 in parts vs approx $150+ So a nice Rubner unit was modified and replaced into the tuning setup. Not ideal or perfect , but serviceable and will do until it fails again (should get some years out of this repair...) and I guess the lot will have to be replaced. Pic with explanations in the comments:

23.01.2022 Something Metal... pt4 (Final.) Mega Pictorial edition... Wrap up of the metal guitar. Some changes along the way, to get the details right. Also a painted finish. So here is the fretboard making, refinishing, painting , electronics and wrapping up the project.... Many thanks to: Murray Agrotis - my artistic friend for his painting knowledge and helping me solve issues Craig Self - for superb templates and headstock logo Warren Gaull - for transfers at short notice (which I didn’t end up using, sorry Wokka) - but you really stepped up and got things done quickly. Derek DeSousa - (worlds best guitar teacher) for graphics expertise as well. Paul Rowe - (mad scientist / chemist extraordinaire ) for collaboration and creation of awesome guitar oil products. More on that at a later time... And to Graham and Wendy for the opportunity to build this beast! Anyway - pics of the evolution of this guitar, the changes and the results. Comments and explanations in the pics to explain stuff, because I’m not wordy enough.... (Mrs BGG would disagree....)

22.01.2022 Jamie’s Fender Musicmaster Bass These are cool old basses, actually with a Fender Mustang guitar body and a short scale (30) neck. Built from 1971 - 1981, this one is an earlier one - 1973. One single coil pickup, which is actually a six pole guitar pickup and not a 4 pole bass pickup... They must have looked into the parts bin and said - let’s make a bass from this! This one came to me via a friend of the owner initially. Often a tricky situation dealing with issues second ...hand. Intermittent performance, related to electronics issues. Pots were a bit scratchy and general signal was patchy. I disconnected some joints and all the components actually tested fine - which is great considering this bass is nearly 50 years old. (1973 model) - now that’s not bad, I’m not a lot older and I’m scratchy and prone to intermittent failure as well... After fixing a few crappy soldered joints, using deoxit on the pots I discovered the bridge ground was patchy at best. I’m pretty sure the drunken monkeys that dealt with this last used cold soldering irons heated by the power of hope. Ground fixed, joints resoldered and buttoned it back up. So i break a string on restring.... this seem to be original - grubby, rusty and dull. OK new strings (yes a bass with new strings, hard to believe , I know . Bass players will understand...). Truss rod and action adjust to Fender’s published specs. All good. Send it home. Bass returns with no signal. At all. Output jack replaced, old one had broken down and with pressure on the pickguard it caused total failure. New one for me, they are generally fine, even when older. After some to and fro, all issues were sorted, and all tested ok. An epic adventure with a cool vintage bass. Here are some pics with wordy bits to go with them.

21.01.2022 Paul’s Washburn... It’s always nice to have a customer return with new work. Paul’s Washburn D 10 N was having tuning issues. After some discussion it was decided to go the road of new tuners.... This proved to be the correct decision, since the old ones were shot - as you will see.... The D10 N is Washburns entry level Dreadnaught acoustic, but quite a nicely made one and as is often with these types of guitars the construction is usually quite good, with the components being where the main savings are made. N stands for Natural finish. Serial number on this one tells us its from 1996. So the plan for this one was, new Gotoh SG 381 tuners (Japanese and very good bang for buck), new strings, a clean up, and fix a few small issues along the way. And , strangely enough, that’s how it worked out. A nice straight forward job - haven’t done many of those... So here are the pics, descriptions and explanations in the comments with the pics.

20.01.2022 Tara’s guitar - a quick update... Guitar body gets a coat of sealer, some shaping and work on the neck and headstock. The figure of the timber really comes out with the sealer - lots more to go, but it gives and idea of how it will look when done.... Here are the pics:

20.01.2022 My son James thought there was something lacking in my sandpaper drawer. Now it’s complete :

19.01.2022 Paul’s Roland Cube Amp... I don’t do a lot of amp repair, and many of the fixes are best left to those more experienced. Poking around in amps, even turned off, can lead to nasty , even deadly, shocks if you don’t know what you are doing. However I do have a tech background in the past and sometimes it comes in handy. Paul’s amp had non functioning tweeters, so it was time to investigate. It had a repair in the past and they had been non functioning for a while. We suspected ...the repairer may have caused the issue... Removal and testing of the speakers showed they were kaput - that’s tech talk for broken - but this amp held other secrets... These are great amps, plenty of power, on board effects, amazing clarity and capable of battery power. Not a studio amp perhaps, but very good at what they were designed for - practice, busking, small gigs. So Paul obtained some new speakers and I went poking around. Both tweeters were open circuit (blown!) but one also had dud wiring - the wire itself was ok, however the terminal was put on over the insulation. It takes far more power to pump electrons through plastic than wire, and this amp is not capable of about a zillion watts required to do so... I rechecked the speaker - still a dud - so dud speakers and one with bad wiring as well. When that was sorted and the new speakers in - good as new and Paul is a happy boy. Thanks to amp guru Randolf Arriola (also and excellent guitar player, singer and fixer of electronics) for his guidance via messenger from Singapore, who was happy to answer some tech questions I had - thank you sir! Here are some pics of how it went with descriptions underneath:

19.01.2022 RIP Eddie Van Halen , one of the most influential and innovative guitarists of our time

18.01.2022 Tara’s Custom - the planets align... Well , not planets, but things like the strings, pickups and bridge... This is a dry run to finesse the final positions of all the bits to make sure it all goes from guitar shaped object to playable instrument... I put on the two outside tuners, put on two strings, and tweaked the positions of the nut, bridge and pickups When the positions are finalised then hole positions etc will be marked and bits screwed down, which stops them from falling off the guitar, so that’s nice So just a few pics of the fit up...

17.01.2022 Tara’s Custom - fretboard day.... Frets that extend onto the body area were end dressed, since they will be hard to get to without the potential for marring the body Glued fretboard on , used a few clamps, and that’s really it.... Pics:

15.01.2022 When the boy’s secondary college finds out you do guitar stuff... This one is a pay it forward job for our boy’s school music department. 5 classical guitars in need of much love. Some very interesting variants on stringing guitars, many missing or broken strings, vast amounts of fretboard DNA residue, fretboard wear and tear...... Interestingly for some very well played guitars, the nuts and frets were fine... Well the strings are nylon, or nylon wound... So new strings, check truss rods and action, repair / clean ebonised fret boards (these entry level guitars dont use rosewood or ebony fret boards , to keep costs down - they have a blackened hardwood, which is fine, but wears over time) and some general love. Not a lot to see, but pics of what happened. Some comments with the pics. Last two are before and after refurbishing the fretboards:

15.01.2022 Brett’s Charvel - Playing Demo What a pleasure it is when someone sends you a vid of themselves playing a guitar you worked on for them. Thanks Brett, nice playing, so glad you are enjoying the guitar and thanks so much for letting Burtt Guitar Garage help you get the most from you guitar experience. ... Rock on my friend. New Floyd Rose full bridge and setup, new electronics, new Seymour Duncan Trembucker - nearly as good as new guitar day. https://youtu.be/CiV4se-M_d4

14.01.2022 I made a thing.... This is a rig that uses my router to cut the radius in a fret board. Much quicker than sanding it by hand and more uniform as well.... A fret board is usually slightly rounded on the top - the amount of curve equates to a section, radius, of a circle, most commonly still measured in inches. A typical electric guitar fret board radius is 12 inches, and various others with some classical guitars being close to flat. The rocking motion of the router cuts this radius and slides down the runners to suit various lengths of fret board. Some tweaking , but proof of concept seems good. Other Guitar Garage activities slowed down due to bathroom renovations, however happy to deal with your guitar issues still... Tara, I haven’t forgotten the custom, pickups are still pending.

14.01.2022 Brian’s Tele. Sometimes simple fixes require a bit of work to do them properly. Brian has a lovely double bound Japanese Fender Tele that needed the screw holding the control cavity fixed. But the hole was mis aligned and stripped out. Probably not quite right from the factory by the look. Also a wayward pickguard screw with a misaligned hole - not factory...... Simple fix, but should be done nicely and not just the old matchstick and glue to bog it up fix.... Hole for the control cavity was lined with a thin black veneer , dowelled and filled with AC glue (super glue but nicer quality than at Woolies) cured and re drilled. Hole for the pickguard got a similar treatment. Comments / explanations in the pics below:

12.01.2022 Ross’ Guitars Pt 2 : Jim Dyson Tone Deluxe Junior. Another of Ross’ guitars in for a once over. A very cool Jim Dyson Tone Deluxe Junior. These are hand made guitars, made by Jim Dyson. He built these just down the road from me in Torquay, Victoria, Australia. It’s always fun to see how other people make their guitars , and this was no exception. Not quite a Les Paul, not quite Junior, some Fender style offset action as well. In fact if you look hard enough you can find many... influences here. Best of all, it is a stand alone style and not just a clone of anything in particular. Jim is still about, but I believe he doesn’t build much , if at all, any more. He is also the father of superb Aussie singer / songwriter Mia Dyson - who uses his guitars pretty much exclusively. So enough of the history (thanks Ross, who is Mia’s sister’s partner), on with the show. This cool guitar has seen a life of playing and gigging, and shows signs of wear. The list of things to make and do: modify the nut - slots were too deep and was giving fret buzz on the first fret across 2 strings. File out the grooves on the first few frets - some fret wear due to plenty of playing, and polish the rest. Check relief, action, tuning, intonation, fresh strings, clean up, bridge and tailpiece adjustment. Thanks for entrusting me with this one, Ross, it was a tonne of fun to see and work on something different. Enough of the talk - here are the pics with descriptions in the comments for those who are interested.

12.01.2022 Tara’s Canora Acoustic (Pt 1) Whilst the custom is being built , Tara felt she needed to get some practice in. Good plan. Could I service this and have a look... Well Guitar Garage seldom seems to go to plan, and sometimes a service on a guitar that has been left for a while turns out to be a little more...... This Canora acoustic is a decent entry/mid level guitar. In a previous BGG episode I serviced one for Micheal. This one had some interesting issues. Corroded strings, corroded frets, a battery still in the preamp (I think Noah used this one to power his torch and find his way about the Ark...) and a spattering of candle wax over the front of the instrument... String and fret corrosion comes about from the sweat on our skin , initially. The moisture, salt, time, humidity etc over time, cause corrosion. Many (most?) people don’t wipe down their guitars after use and over time any metal bits corrode to some degree. So in part one here - the tear down begins , and an assessment. Over time the thinner string had cut into the nut, causing the slots to be too deep. The strings had to go. The frets needed a tidy. The battery box needed to be relieved of it’s corrosion and leaky battery. And so it begins... another just a service... Here are the pics - descriptions and info in the comments.

12.01.2022 Tara’s Guitar- Friday fretboard follies.... Sometimes it’s easier, and better to do something again rather than rescue it.... (Don’t worry Tara, it ends well...) The fret slots on the board had been bothering me. After some checking I realised that they weren’t square to the board, and that to make them square you lost too much of the board for it to be useable...... After a few tests I found my saw setup wasn’t properly perpendicular - the slots were being cut at a slight angle. Not much of one, but enough. So after some hours this was rectified. It involved lasers, rulers and quite a few tests. Perhaps it has moved over time, the last few fretboards have been fine... So the fret board needed to be redone. Fortunately it was pretty thick: So, plane off the old slots and reslot with the new square setup... Pre tested on a piece of pine lining board - test on a cheap material - not expensive ebony... descriptions and explanations with the pics:

10.01.2022 Keats’ Fender Lead 2. This very cool Lead 2 came in needing a setup. Buzzing low E and A were issues. There was a new nut, but it hadn’t been sized yet. This was a well played machine and the Keats was keen to get it playing it’s best.... The patina on this one was really cool - who doesn’t like green sparkle nitro with a natural relic from just being played? A couple of mods - the first being a Gotoh bridge, and the other being having all the trem springs in the world on it - effectively making it a hardtail. As for the bridge - nice unit but the saddles hadn’t been matched to the 7.25 radius, it was set far too flat. So basic sequence of events was - truss rod (needed more , read some, relief), action and saddle radius adjust, intonation, tuning, pickup height adjust (neck pickup was too high and the string would strike it when fretted in the highest position , fret polish. During all this the nut was trimmed and rounded and a couple of slots adjusted. It was nice to fettle a guitar that hadn’t been accosted by marauding monkeys with blunt soldering irons. Thanks Keats, for choosing Burtt Guitar Garage, I really enjoyed this job. Here are some pics. Enjoy them for what they are or read the comments for eye rolling boredom, or interesting insights - you be the judge.

09.01.2022 Tara’s Guitar Pt 2 A bit more of Tara’s guitar. Some body shaping and testing a new fretboard jig made in collaboration with Tony from Grandpa Industries.... Fretboard tapes to the template, template is indexed to a fence screwed to my radial arm saw bench (best tool ever...): just move it along and cut - no more measuring! Just work to a centre line on the template and fretboard blank. I have various scale lengths, including 34 bass. Thanks Tony , a real time saver. Pics are more fun than words, so here are a few, with some descriptions in the comments:

08.01.2022 Brett’s Charvel - final pics. Pt 2 Just a few pics of the finished job. Today’s jobs included : Strings on, balance trem, check tuning, intonation, adjust pickup height So. - replaced bridge pins, new bridge, new strings, new pickup, new volume pot and associated wiring.

07.01.2022 Brett’s ESP George Lynch Kamakaze 1: Episode 1 Well it’s a replica, but looks cool none the less. To his credit the owner had the headstock logo made to his own design, so it’s more of a homage than ripoff This one needs a good setup, a pickup replaced and as I discovered , new wiring. ... The wiring on this one was done by the three blind mice on a Friday afternoon, and two of them were already drunk. These sorts of jobs begin with the tear down - strings removed, old pickup and wiring out. The potentiometer was garbage as well as the wiring (and due to the wiring) and really it all had to go. All the wires were cut too short, and were lengthened on the front pickup and replaced all together on the output jack. A nice new Bournes mini pot to replace the other one. (It’s an OUTput jack NOT an INput jack - it’s about electron flow - going from the guitar to the amp - OUTput... old man rant over now, sorry...) The hole in the body for the pot slightly enlarged for the new pot shaft (the cheapies have skinny shafts, and like all things skinny cannot be trusted.... fat old man rant over) So here’s the job so far: Comments with the pics (more ranting) If you don’t like explanations and ranting then just look at the pics, otherwise read on...

07.01.2022 Shane’s Gibson Les Paul Studio I’ve always liked the simplicity of the studio - a no fuss package, but with all the same bits as the full fat Les Pauls. This one was just a setup and cleanup, and I threw in a minor finish repair.... These have a mahogany body with a carved maple top. The top is full thickness, good bang for buck. Les Paul’s are some of the most copied and faked guitars around - so included in the comments are a few of the things to look for when checking if a Les Paul is genuine, or if none of the bits were ever seen by the good workers at Gibson.... So here are some pics, with wordy bits to go with them, and a few hints on how to check authenticity.

05.01.2022 Tara’s Guitar - a quick mock up: Just having a quick look at the chrome on timber scheme we are after. Pickups will be Brierley’s, but look the same as these (Gibson 490 series...). The rest of the hardware is for this guitar. These Babicz bridges are just amazing (Thanks to Adam at Pitbull Guitars Australia)... Just a few pics today:

04.01.2022 Tara’s Custom - update: Since the last awesome instalment , Tara’s custom has the neck attached, fretboard shaped / slotted and fretted. Short version: neck glued in, fretboard completed, guitar marked out for bridge placement.... Geeky version for those interested: I needed to get the fretboard done so that I can work out the correct bridge position. This is a 25.5 scale length (Same as Fender) with 24 frets (3 better than a Strat!). The bridge position relies on the scale length and fretboard placement. It was a juggle to decide if I was going to use the full 24 frets , as planned, of have to tweak it back to 22 - the reason being that the front pickup route was already done. Fortunately my pre planning worked out (scale drawings always help here...) and it all fits and lines up. Once the fretboard is secured in its final position, the exact bridge position can be worked out, but I’ve marked it out at it’s predicted location, and will only need to be adjusted a mm or two once I measure up after gluing the fretboard.... Pic of the current progress and further info in the comments:

04.01.2022 Brett’s Charvel San Dimas Warren Di Martini (Ratt) Signature... Pt1 Brett features again with another copy guitar. He sure loves the eye catching signature replicas.... This one is getting the works - new Floyd bridge, new pickup (Seymour Duncan again), new strings and an electronic spice up because the good replicators in China seem to solder with lightning rods maxed out to 10... When soldering, kids, it’s not the bigger the glob, the better the job... Globby, patchy solder is often unreliable at best and prone to failure. Off with the strings, bridge removed and our first hurdle - original post inserts and new screws have different thread sizes... So the inserts have to be replaced - read below in the pics for how... Second hurdle - the slot for the locking nut is slightly too deep for the new locking nut - this will cause fret out from the first fret onwards - making the whole show unplayable. The inelegant solution is to shim up the new nut (although nice proprietary shims are available)- the choice action here is to retain the old one - it works just fine and is set correctly for this neck. Like the ESP previously, the electronics on this were done ... um... like crap, that seems to describe it well. And the potentiometer is typical of it’s inexpensive type and will be relegated to the Burtt Guitar Garage bin where it shall remain as a reminder to free moving electrons everywhere that life doesn’t have to be like this... So last time we tuned up a Floyd Rose trem (...really a vibrato ...), and this time we replace one. On to the pics with wordy bits underneath that describe the joyful process.

03.01.2022 Tara’s Custom - Electrical stuff Whilst other guitars are coming in and out of the Garage, Tara’s Custom continues to forge ahead. Whilst the iron was still hot after hot rodding Brett’s guitars, I kept the momentum up and did the electricals on this one as well. Literally striking whilst the iron was hot... (I’ll close the door on the way out...)... CTS pots, Orange drop cap, Switchcraft switch and jack, and sundry bits to attach it all. I try to always keep wiring relatively neat and group types of wires together. I also like to solder to the sides of pots (so you can see details like ohms, date stamps, brand, plus it looks better to me) and turn components so that you can read the values. A bit OCD maybe but one look in and those who need to know can work out what it going on pretty easily. Pics of wires and stuff, with talky parts in the pic comments.

03.01.2022 Ian’s Ephiphone Casino. A guitar made famous by John Lennon. Not an uncommon guitar, but you don’t see them a lot. Ian’s Epi was in nice condition, just needed a cleanup and setup.... Always nice to have something cool in the Garage, and I’m a sucker for arch tops. Not much needed here, general setup, lowered action and a clean. Here are some pics, with stuff I’ve written about them underneath...

02.01.2022 Ross’ Guitars Pt 1: Gibson J45 Always fun to deal with cool instruments, and Ross needed some help with 2 guitars. First up is a 2017 Gibson J45 acoustic / electric.... A lovely guitar , well kept that just needed a little love. A setup, fret polish, fretboard condition, new strings and attended to a few blemishes to get this guitar back into action. One concern was a buzz when playing. A buzz is an unwanted string noise that is the string vibrating against something when plucked. It can be a fret, within the nut, loose bridge , too low an action or not enough relief. It’s important to diagnose it properly, so you can affect a quick fix and not chase your tail sorting it out. In this case, it just needed a little relief in the neck (just a little bit of curve, very few necks are exactly flat or you get this issue). Change of seasons, string tension, humidity and other factors can all contribute to the amount of relief a neck needs/has/ or the way it may change. Gibson publish specs for all their guitars, which err on the side of generous to accomodate most players. Often a player , like Ross, wants a specific setup, usually lower than spec. As per usual I did a few things extra, but that’s the service you get at Burtt Guitar Garage! So here are the pics, with descriptions/explanations in the comments:

02.01.2022 Tara’s Canora acoustic (Pt 2 and final) In this exciting episode, I clean the battery area / preamp, sort the nut, change strings, setup and check the intonation. The battery box area was scrubbed using sandpaper. A nylon wheel on the Dremel didnt quite cut it.... The the battery connector was replaced. For a few dollars the connector piece is much stronger, completely clean and fully new. Nut was tweaked and glued into place, just using wood glue. This and string tension should hold it fine. As with any job you do - consider the next tech in there. I could super glue the life out of it, but when it comes time to change it again, it will take half the neck with it. Do things right, do them with care and consideration. Then neck was adjusted flat without strings initially. This one had slight back bow. String tension will often pull a flat neck into just about the right position to give enough relief. If the neck is back bowed, or even too flat - the strings will vibrate against the frets causing buzzing. This is called adjusting the relief, and is done via the truss rod in the neck. Checking the action is the height of the strings above the frets in playing position. To low and once again you get buzzing. Too high and the notes will pull sharp when fretted , due to the amount of string deflection required (which effectively shortens the string too much). It also takes more effort to play too high an action and can lead to hand fatigue - an issue beginners and kids experience on poorly setup instruments. Most players like low as practical without buzzing. New strings were a must, and I’ve opted for my go to D’Adario Phosphor Bronze. These are a very nice mid level string, and I feel they offer a nice warm tonal balance without being to bass heavy. Tune, intonate, a clean up and now it’s ready to go home. Enjoy it Tara! Now for pics with descriptions, explanations and excuses in the comments:

02.01.2022 Mark’s Sigma Acoustic. These are a well made guitar in the mid price range. Straight forward setup and action lowering job.... Plus the usual fret polish and fretboard condition. So action is lowered by adjusting the bridge saddle. The only way to adjust that is take some off the bottom. Like I need... (actually more around the middle, but there you go...) The way to do that - measure the action at the 12th fret. Work out how much lower you want to go. Remove twice that amount from the saddle. But don’t - give yourself some room to move. I’ll take about 2/3 of that off, check and fine tune from there - you can always take more off... So a few quick pics, wordy bits in the captions. Thanks Mark - I like simple jobs, even more when they work out

01.01.2022 Paul’s Acoustic - just a setup and strings... well... Paul’s acoustic needed some attention. A setup and new strings was the request. Also the string action was a bit too high and could be lower... A nice older Korean Cort that was actually pretty nicely made. At that time Cort (Cortec) , Samic and World Musical instruments made the bulk of guitars that were built in SE Asia - think ESP LTD, Schecter, and many similar as well as their own brands.... So Paul brought it around, nice bloke, and we made a plan. Do what was necessary to make it better, and think about potential upgrades another day. Ok so the order of the day was- strings off, fretboard and bridge got some oil (secret blend...), cleaned off some residual DNA (guitarists play and put away - i seldom deal with a spotless one...). truss rod, action restring, check, stretch strings, tune, check intonation ... Truss rod was maxed out and the neck actually had back bow without the strings on it - tight! The neck had no relief with strings on it... Action was quite high even after adjustments - so pull out the bridge saddle and take as much as I dare off the bottom. Restring, tune, check, measure and done deal. So pics with descriptions. Another day at Burtt Guitar Garage :