Mass Street Music luthier Mike Horan recently restored this circa 1900s Washburn acoustic guitar, a ‘Style 1897’ model. It was brought in by Mike Nye, whose grandfather gave it to him in 1967, when Nye was just 12 years old. When he received it, it had been well-loved and was no longer playable, so Nye, at 12, set about fixing it himself, even refinishing it. “He … Continue reading Repair Spotlight – Vintage Washburn Acoustic Guitar
While we do a lot of standard repairs here at Mass Street Music, we also do a heck of a lot of specialty repairs for folks. This sweet custom Gibson style pickguard is one. A customer brought his Gibson SJ-200 in to luthier Matt H. wanting to install an LR Baggs M1A acoustic pickup. His original pickguard was already starting to come off, but Matt … Continue reading Repair Spotlight: Gibson Pickguard for Acoustic Pickup
We do a lot of pickup installations for folks and we love offering different pickup combinations for you to try out (and our luthiers always come up with killer pairings). This used Epiphone G-400 arrived and our luthier Matt H. jumped at the chance to mod it with some new pickups (Fralins) – it’s a great, inexpensive way to change up a guitar. He ended … Continue reading Pickup Test Drive: Fralin Blues Special & 8k Humbucker
Sometimes you want THAT sound, but a new guitar isn’t in the budget, or you love your guitar but want more sonically – swapping your pickups and possibly reconfiguring pots and wiring can make a huge difference. And those with boutique taste on a beer bottle budget can get what they’re after with a little research and a great repair shop. In fact, most of … Continue reading Repair Spotlight – Upgrade a Strat with Grosh Pickups
One of the coolest things in our Repair department this month is this old time guitar with silkscreened art on it. It’s very similar to Harmony/Silvertone guitars of the 40s and 50s, and was likely made in Chicago – probably sold everywhere from department stores to hardware stores. Jim said this one, “Was for the kid who wanted the Gene Autry lunchbox and Roy Rogers … Continue reading Repair Spotlight – 2013 Round Up & Painted Old Time Guitar
Mass Street Music luthier Mike Runyon completed an incredible headstock restoration for Lawrence guitarist and drummer Ron Miller (Up the Academy/Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds). The guitar’s owner, Ron, brought us his vintage, stripped-down Guild Thunderbird (also known as the Gumby guitar for its unique body shape). Someone had already sanded down much of the original headstock, so Mike fitted it with … Continue reading Repair Spot: Restoring headstock inlay on Guild Thunderbird
Here is an old Harmony tenor guitar that has been on and off of my bench lately. It is a pretty involved project consisting of a neck reset, refret, and some spot touch-up to the top. Continue reading “Harmony Tenor”
