I’d worked on Eloise’s guitar before. This time it arrived in a very sorry state as she had tripped over and fallen on it, leaving the sound board split and caved in in several places. She feared it had come to the end of its life. But with a little TLC and some careful gluing…
Author Archive | Steve Kendall
Guitar wiring as Art?
Although it’s never usually seen by the player, I always like to make a neat and tidy job when I rewire a guitar. Sometimes when I look inside a customer’s guitar, there’s a rat’s nest of tangled wires, which makes diagnosing faults and working on the instrument just a little more difficult. This was a…
London Bass Guitar Show
I’ll be at the London Bass Guitar Show this weekend: www.londonbassguitarshow.com It looks like it will be an exciting event. I’ll be on the stand with Thomas and George Martin – makers of excellent upright basses. As well as having a demonstration of double bass making, we will be launching a range of bass guitars…
Ampeg V4B Bass Amp
Ampeg V4B Bass Amp Just finished an extensive refurbishment of a magnificent Ampeg V4B bass amp. They are famous for having a wonderful bass sound, but also notorious for having reliability problems – but not really surprising for amplifiers that are over 40 years old. Will any of today’s electronic kit still be working in…
Free beer…
Free strap buttons with beer, or free beer with strap buttons! A really effective, quick and cheap way to ensure that your guitar doesn’t fall off the strap. Get 2 washers from bottles of Grolsch beer. Simply push over the strap buttons after the strap is in place. Fender have introduced an equivalent, though they…
Why do bridges come off guitars?
Over the years I’ve repaired quite a few guitars where the bridge has come away from the soundboard. The reason that they do, is usually because they weren’t made correctly in the first place. Sometimes there’s not enough glue applied, but often the bridge has been glued on after the top has been lacquered. That…
Colin Green
Just had a visit in the workshop from Colin Green. I first met the illustrious Mr Green back in 1999 when I did some work on his Fender Strat. Colin has played with some of the finest people in music: he has recorded on albums and singles by such diverse artists as Elton John, Diana…
My favourite tools – Part 1
I have quite a few favourite tools. Some are my favourites because they work so well, and some are favourites because of the history associated with them – I have a few that I’ve owned since childhood. But the ones in this shot are my favourites simply because of the ‘feelgood factor’. They are just…
Gibson EB2 – Kasabian
Just had a Gibson EB2 bass in the workshop, owned by Chris Edwards, bassist with Kasabian. It had previously had an emergency repair during a Radio 1 festival, and needed a little attention to sort out the electrics. A fine vintage bass and a pleasure to work on. Here it is undergoing keyhole surgery in…
Martha Reeves
Yesterday, went to see ‘The Queen of Motown’ Martha Reeves at the Jazz Cafe in Camden. Really great set in a brilliant, tiny venue. Had a good chat with the excellent bassist Chris Blair who has the unenviable job of doing justice to the bass lines originally played by the legendary James Jamerson. If Martha…