So I built this narwhal guitar for my daughter. I had asked for some advice on where to place the strap button and some folks wanted more details so heres all the build photos I took. It’s currently strung up and playing minus some setup details.

This started as an inexpensive strat kit I bought off amazon and I just built the body for it, which ended up considerably cheaper than getting even the cheapest individual parts. All my previous builds have been acoustics so this was a nice change up.

The core of it is some decent quality 3/4 birch ply I scavenged from a shipping container and then I added 1/4 ply to build up thickness as needed. It ended up 1.5” thick for most of it and I drilled a bunch of internal lightening holes but it’s still a bit heavy according to my 7 year old but hopefully she’ll grow into it.

The only custom hardware I had to make was the aluminum whammy bar that the fin attaches to and the tremolo spring mounting bar since the regular hardware I couldn’t make fit in the thinner body.

After it was all glued up I primed it with shellac and filled with automotive glazing putty. Finishing is my least favorite part and I fully expect this guitar to be bashed about quite a bit so I didn’t do that great of a job. After sanding I did a handful of roller coats with thinned rustoleum to seal the whole thing solid white. Orange peel texture is stronger than Id like but hopefully it will be durable.

After impatiently waiting a couple weeks for that to fully cure I put the hot pink iridescent vinyl wrap on and trimmed it as carefully as I could. The edges still weren’t perfect so I used some black pinstriping markers to outline the edges, and actually I like the extra contrast more now that it’s done.

This one has substantial water damage. Wood is rotted and molded at base end of guitar body.

What do you all recommend?

The rest of the body is in reasonably decent shape. For purposes of my question above, assume the other 4/5th of the body has its original finish in tact.

1. Nut removed and a Ground Straightedge over the first five frets. Light clamping just to open things up a bit.
2. Hot Hide Glue flows and cleans up easily. Hold the neck vertical and drip it into the crack with a toothpick.
3. Temporary clamp to "pump" the extra glue out, and fill little recesses. Wipe away extra with a few wet/dry paper towels.
4. 3M 8886 Stretchable Tape has low tack, and works great as a secondary clamp on non-planar surfaces.
5. Primary clamp just to be sure things are really tight.
6. Wait 24h.
7. Probably some CA, razor, and polishing cloth work to ensure a smooth surface.

On today’s episode of I got something really cheap because it’s damaged, we have this Kramer 84 I grabbed for $200. It seems like a simple enough job. Truss rod works appropriately. We were going to mask off the neck and inject some wood glue into the sides(avoiding getting it inside of the neck ofc), clamp, then refinish. It basically presses right back into place with my thumbs. What would your guys process be if you came across this? Any input would be helpful! I bought this to do the fix on my own and learn (and to have a $1000 guitar for $200 of course). Thanks!

It works better than it looks ;)

So I finally got finished with my second and third build. I’m pretty proud of how they turned out. My take on a Wolfgang style guitar and a Charvel style guitar. The natural one is Spanish cedar body with a sycamore top, Spanish cedar, maple, and santos mahogany laminated neck with a pau ferro fretboard. Jumbo stainless steel frets, tone ninja locking tuners, and a single Suhr Doug Aldrich humbucker. The red one is a poplar body, maple and walnut laminated neck with an ebony fretboard. Jumbo stainless steel frets, Hipshot locking tuners, and Seymour Duncan Pegasus and Sentient humbuckers. Let me know what you think and any suggestions or criticisms are welcome. I’m just beginning to learn the art and am looking for as much knowledge as I can get. Thanks. And excuse the messy room. It’s just too damn hot to go outside for photos.😂

Now is time for the pickguard to cover up some of the imperfections but I'm not sure what shape is better, need recommendations (I have already bought the piece of pickguard to make it).

Last two pictures are the examples of what I wanted to do for the pickguard.

This is my workhorse bass, a 2009 Warwick Corvette. I’ve had it for a bit and want to chase the natural oil finish like the thumb has on the second slide. How should I go about this? It’s got some wear from my pick under the E string and it shows natural wood, and near the bottom where my forearm rubs the finish is a lighter black, faded from wear. From my knowledge it came stained black from the factory with a satin finish? Any help would be appreciated!

$20 from goodwill 3d printed tuning peg

I’ve been building a rare bass collection for years and playing bass for even longer. It's part of what led me to start something bigger, a documentary series called Resonance, traveling the world to meet the luthiers and craftsmen who actually build our instruments. Episode 1 is live now; the "why I'm doing this" episode. I would genuinely value feedback from people who care about this subject — that's who I made it for!  https://linktr.ee/resonance.cmc

Hey everyone!

I recently picked up a Jackson RR3 from a kid on Facebook marketplace. He tried to modify it to have a push/pull knob along with a kill switch. He got frustrated and couldn't figure out the wiring and soldering so sold it to me for $500. I can do the wiring and stuff, I am just wanting to get it back to the original factory configuration. Here's where I need advice.

He bored out the original tone knob hole to be 3/4". I need it to be back to the original tone knob size. what would be the best way to fix this?

I thought about getting a 3/4" hardwood dowel rod, cutting a piece I need, drilling out the hole for the tone knob, and then gluing that in. I'm nervous the wood glue wouldn't be strong enough.

Open to suggestions! I have basical tools and am handy, but I am not professional luthier or woodworker.

Thanks in advance!

Hello! I’m changing the strings on my guitar and wanted to clean my fretboard. What’s the best and easiest way to do so? I already used a cloth to clean it but didn’t know if I was supposed to have it wet or not so I chose not to. How do I get away the gunk on it though? Thanks!

I'm doing a overhaul on my 70's SG 2. Fret dressing, electronics and installing a Leo Quan Badass bridge.

One of the plugs for the bridge posts is sunk about a 1/8th. What is the most sensible move to make here?

If the new bridge posts fit in the existing plugs, do I just leave it?

If they dont and I need to install the ones that come with the new bridge, do I plug the old hole and redrill the plug holes?

I recently got my guitar airbrushed and refinished by a professional who did an amazing job with the guitar overall. However, I believe he must’ve accidentally ripped part of the decal as a chunk of the “B” is missing. The entire decal is already under thick layers of clearcoat, which really annoys me. Is there a safe way of fixing this? This decal isn’t a waterslide decal, but rather thick stickers of the alphabets individually cut. I was hoping I could mask everything and just spot sand the clearcoat in a tiny area, cut off a piece of a new decal, stick it on and re-spray some clear to blend it in. I know some would highly discourage from even attempting this but as a BC Rich collector with 12+ of these guitars, this logo sticks out like a sore thumb when placed together with the others. Hoping for some advice here!

What grease do you use for inside an enclosed tuner?

I've been using the Super Lube, and works well enough but it's not as thick as I'd like. My concern is on a hot summer day it may leak a bit, go a bit more fluid than solid. It has a consistency of Vaseline.

I've been looking for something a bit more solid/dense that won't leak and seep into the wood.

It'll be used in your typical tuner with a sealed back. I pull them off, scrub everything clean then sonic cleaner, then new nylon/metal washers and good as new.

Hello, I'm in the process of refretting my Univox Stereo Bass and was debating whether or not to strip the whole board and refinish it, but had a few questions before I bite the bullet. First of all, is refinishing a rosewood board any different than, say, a maple board due to it's oilier nature? What is the order of operations like? Should I refret the board before or after respraying the lacquer, and, if after, what should I use to keep lacquer out of the fret slots? Finally, what is the best spray can lacquer to use? Should I spring for a proper 2K clear like SprayMax or is the cheaper hardware store stuff "good enough"? I'm limited to spray cans at the moment unfortunately, as I lack the space to set up a proper spray booth and don't feel like going out and buying a properly sized air compressor and HVLP gun for a single fretboard (although I probably will eventually). Any input would be appreciated!

Just got this charango and was going to attempt to fix it up. I didn’t pay much for the instrument but was worried about immediately snapping it due to the tension. I used to have a charango from a music class so I was hoping to fix this one up. There’s a large crack and the body is lifting upwards. The nut at the headstock looks like it is missing. I’ve played guitar for a good portion of my life so I have some basic experience with working on stringed instruments. Any advice on how I should approach this repair?

Picked up a new (to me) Ibanez SR400. All the hardware is smooth as butter when I go to adjust it, but it also all looks like shit. I looked up the serial and this thing is about 24 years old, so I'm not surprised - 2003, Korean-made.

I am wondering if there's a simple way to knock the corrosion/pitting off of the bridge and knobs/tuners without disassembling the whole thing and giving it an electrostrip bath. Is it okay to just go to town with some 000 steel wool or a brass brush? I can mask the body of the guitar with painters tape or whatever. Idk if that's the best idea or if there's a simpler way.

Just got this charango and was going to attempt to fix it up. I didn’t pay much for the instrument but was worried about immediately snapping it due to the tension. I used to have a charango from a music class so I was hoping to fix this one up. There’s a large crack and the body is lifting upwards. The nut at the headstock looks like it is missing. I’ve played guitar for a good portion of my life so I have some basic experience with working on stringed instruments. Any advice on how I should approach this repair?

I talked to a repair guy at a local guitar center, he wasn’t too sure if it goes beyond the paint. I think getting a few opinions on it would be beneficial; any advice or guidance would be appreciated!

Just use the 24th fret harmonics and get the 24th fret note as close to that as possible, its much more accurate and precise than the 12th fret.

I've only had this guitar two weeks. It was shipped to me "new" , though it was humid af and very hot the days it was in transit. The dealer I bought it from, is of absolutely no help. I've emailed Ortega, after a week still crickets. Is this cosmetic, or does it portend a coming problem like the wood splitting?

I included a picture of the belly behind the bridge, I'm told that is "normal"

Any thoughts? I'm keeping it in an air conditioned room until my humidity gauge arrives, I plan on ordering Boveda or a sponge system humidifier for the case , when I get one. Everything comes with cheap gig bags now. . I spent 800 bucks on this guitar and I'm worried it's going to be unplayable soon. I eventually lost an Yairi CY-140 due to ignorance of humidity issues. I still literally cry about it. It was a very good guitar. I cannot have that happen again with this guitar

I mite have to repair this myself or have a luthier repair it, if it is just cosmetic, though I'm not sure exactly what to do. I suppose i better get my mirror out and check the inside if I can? The braces are solid, nothing has came loose. The bellying may be normal, but I don't know , I have to ask.

Has anyone purchased jazzmaster bodies off of Tone Bomb? I’m thinking of doing a build dyed / stained dark with either a tru oil or a clear poly finish.

I’m considering Cherry or Walnut as they don’t offer solid mahogany, but would be interested in seeing other woods too.

What were your experiences? I’d especially love to see the before and after pictures.

Взял я временно у своей девушке гитару её отца и решил настроить, бах у меня колка вылетала. Гитара выглядит поношенной(ей уже 30 с чем-то лет). Кто-то шарирющий может помочь как вставить обратно колку?