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Issue 180 December 20, 2012
The simplest custom build ever?
Erick Coleman builds a custom guitar that's even simpler than Bo Diddley's rectangular axe. It's a great example to show the basics of building an electric guitar.
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Issue 175 October 11, 2012
Fixing (and breaking!) a 1957 Gibson P-90 pickup
After 55 years, the original owner sells a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Junior because the pickup's dead. Erick Coleman tells the story of bringing that pickup back to life.
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Issue 171 August 16, 2012
Fixing a loose bridge on a yard sale special
Dan Erlewine fixes a 1980s Harmony guitar with a bridge that's falling off. To see how fast he can do this repair, Dan decided to play Beat The Clock!
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Issue 164 May 10, 2012
Does this bone nut fit my guitar?
Erick Coleman answers a question that's come up a lot lately: how to find the right size replacement nut. He introduces a new Sizing Sheet that makes measuring easy for anybody.
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Issue 160 March 15, 2012
Wiring a humbucker to get two sounds
Erick Coleman shows how he modified a Parsons Street Humbucker, turning it into a switchable single-coil/humbucker combination.
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Issue 151 November 10, 2011
How to strip a modern poly guitar finish
Erick Coleman's got a Fender bass with a purple metallic finish. He wants to spray an 1960s-style sunburst, but first he's got to get that hard plastic coating off of there...
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Issue 146 August 18, 2011
Fixing a potbelly with the Belly Reducer
Dan Erlewine's got a Martin with a potbelly: string tension has pulled the top into a hump on this 1928 0-18. To make things tougher, the guitar top's encased in a thick layer of epoxy finish! It's an interesting puzzle...
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Issue 143 July 07, 2011
Rugged and road-ready: replacing skimpy parts
Erick Coleman finds that a 1970s Hondo is really well built, but the parts weren't road-ready. A couple of fixes, and this guitar's ready to tour the world!
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Issue 139 May 12, 2011
Dan Erlewine's Facebook fretless bass
Dan Erlewine's been posting photos on Facebook, creating this photo story on how to convert a fretted bass to fretless. It's a Trade Secrets story and it's on Facebook too!
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Issue 132 February 03, 2011
Fine tuning a bolt-on replacement neck
Erick Coleman pulls his old Strat out of mothballs and gives it a new neck. He shows what's needed to get a replacement neck ready to play.
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Issue 131 January 20, 2011
How to bind a fretboard, Gibson-style
Erick Coleman's restoring a 1950s Les Paul, and returning the bound fretboard to its original condition. With small files and elbow grease, he shows how to create the fret-end "binding nibs" for that distinctive Gibson look.
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Issue 130 January 06, 2011
Keep that body in shape! Go-bar/neck jig gluing rig.
Dan Erlewine has to leave a guitar body with the back off for months. How to keep the sides from going out of shape during this time? Believe it or not, the answer is blue foam insulation from the home improvement store.
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Issue 129 December 23, 2010
Make custom labels for your guitars!
Dan Erlewine's making a forgery of an old Gibson label, using his brother as an accomplice (he's got a good excuse). While he's at it, he shows how you can make new custom labels for your own guitars.
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Issue 128 December 09, 2010
How (and why) to use templates to rout control cavities
If you sometimes think of making a custom electric guitar, Erick Coleman has tips to make one part of the process a lot easier. Here's how to rout the neck pocket and control cavities so they look as good as a factory build.
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Issue 127 November 25, 2010
You need a bag of clothespins for your workshop!
Dan Erlewine modifies wooden clothespins for a bunch of jobs around the shop -- today it's gluing kerfing into an old Gibson. While he's at it, he plays Santa Claus and offers a make-it-yourself holiday gift idea.
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Issue 125 October 28, 2010
Rubber bands as clamps: super-useful, and cheap!
Erick Coleman has a simple tip that saved a lot of time at the recent Purdue Guitar Workshop: rubber binding bands make great clamps! They're for lots of things -- check out the examples in this issue.
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Issue 123 September 30, 2010
How would you reach inside a guitar to do this gluing?
Dan Erlewine's got a puzzle on his hands: this guitar's center strip fell out along with the braces. These parts are meant to be glued BEFORE the guitar is assembled. How do you reach inside to do this on a completed guitar?
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Issue 120 August 19, 2010
Recreating a lost part from from 1917
Dan Erlewine is missing one last part needed on a 1917 archtop Gibson. It's a long gone, irreplaceable pickguard support that he recreates from found material in his shop. A useful tip for fabricating modern plastic parts, too!
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Issue 119 August 05, 2010
How Boogie Fever led to a Neck Transplant
Erick Coleman's buddy wanted a guitar just like the one he saw on Soul Train in the 1970s. Curing his Boogie Fever required a neck transplant, but Fender's Micro-Tilt neck adjustment makes that tricky. Here's how to do it.
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Issue 116 June 24, 2010
How to match color on vintage binding repairs
Working on an aged Les Paul, Erick Coleman has to sand part of the yellowed binding. The sanded spots are a glaring white mismatch. Erick makes turns the repair invisible with a little ColorTone spray and stain.
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Issue 113 May 13, 2010
Quick fix for a loose bolt-on neck
Dan Erlewine's got a wobbly neck, but not for long: here's a fast way to tighten the screwholes in a bolt-on neck.
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Issue 111 April 15, 2010
Two 1917 Gibson L-1 archtop guitars: each with too-high action
Dan Erlewine got a blast from the past in his shop recently, and before the dust settled he got another one! He's working on two Gibson L-1 archtops from 1917, and they both have the same trouble: too-tall bridges and too-high action.
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Issue 107 February 18, 2010
How to know a bridge will play in tune before gluing it on
Dan Erlewine finds an old bridge to fit a 1950s Gibson, but will the saddle slot be in the right place? He measures and calculates, but still wants to prove it's in tune before gluing. Here's how he did that.
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Issue 106 February 04, 2010
Simple inlay repair on a Les Paul Triumph bass
This bass from the early '70s is in great shape except for a gaptoothed peghead inlay. Erick Coleman shows how to quickly replace a missing inlay, including coloring the new work to match the old.
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Issue 101 November 26, 2009
Final-shaping a D-18 or D-28 style guitar neck
Guitar maker Todd Sams directs the production of our StewMac guitar necks, and he uses the necks in his own custom Sams guitars. Todd shows how to spend twenty minutes final-shaping a neck to get it to look and feel exactly right.
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Issue 100 November 12, 2009
It's a crime to cut pickup leads this short!
Erick Coleman has been rooting around in the parts drawers at Dan Erlewine's shop, and he's found a 1960s Gibson patent-sticker humbucker. It would be valuable if somebody hadn't cut off the pickup lead. Erick shows how to fix that.
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Issue 98 October 15, 2009
3 tips for cutting finely detailed custom inlays
Dan Erlewine's cutting a curvy script letter "L" out of pearl. It's a spidery-thin shape, so he uses some tricks to cut it cleanly without breaking. He also talks about his favorite headgear...
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Issue 95 September 03, 2009
A knife in the back! Popping the back off a 1929 Gibson L-5.
Dan Erlewine's trying to pop the back off a pre-War Gibson, while keeping the binding intact. He hopes to put it back on the guitar just like snapping a lid back onto Tupperware. (Well, maybe not quite that easily...)
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Issue 88 May 28, 2009
Making a custom fire stripe pickguard to fit a baby guitar!
Dan Erlewine's in his guitar shop (or is it a toy shop today?) making a custom "fire stripe" pickguard just like the one on his 1939 Gibson J-35. He shows how to make a custom pickguard in any color variation you like.
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Issue 68 August 21, 2008
Removing the glued-in saddle on a 1937 Martin D-28 Herringbone
Someone shaved down the saddle on this great old Martin until there's barely a nub showing above the bridge. It needs to be removed, but it's glued in and so low you can't grab it. Dan Erlewine shows how to solve this problem.
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Issue 66 July 24, 2008
Strengthening a square-tube Martin truss rod
Dan Erlewine's doing a neck reset on a Martin that has a square-tube truss rod. While he has the neck off, he shows how to improve the truss rod before regluing the neck.
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Issue 63 June 12, 2008
How to make a string nut for the first time
Why you might need a new nut: Cracked nut. Poor string spacing. Hollow plastic nut sapping tone. Nut slots are too low, causing fret buzz on open strings. If you're nervous about replacing the string nut you've got company, and this week Erick Coleman shows that making a nut is no big deal.
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Issue 48 November 15, 2007
Making a Les Paul clone look more vintage
Erick Coleman's finished tweaking a budget-priced Les Paul copy. It plays great, but one last thing's needed: making it look more like Jimmy Page's 1970s original.
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Issue 44 September 20, 2007
Go-bar decks: fast, flexible gluing
This week, Dan Erlewine asks Todd Sams to show how a go-bar deck in his home shop turned two hours of work into twenty minutes!
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Issue 43 September 06, 2007
Super glue your frets for better tone!
Erick Coleman shows why so many guitars need their frets fastened. Add a touch of water-thin superglue to lock down your already-installed frets, and get better tone, too!
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Issue 41 August 09, 2007
How to use a Fret Hammer
A fret hammer was one of the first lutherie tools Erick Coleman ever bought, and it's still an essential in his shop. In this issue of Trade Secrets, he shows how to use it.
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Issue 38 July 12, 2007
Lesson in pearl engraving from Doug Unger
Doug Unger restores and reproduces exquisite turn-of-the-century 5-string banjos and early archtop mandolins. Doug shares a lesson in pearl engraving with Trade Secrets readers.
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Issue 37 July 05, 2007
Making a pearloid pickguard with a 1950s vibe
Dan Erlewine's got an unusual 1951 guitar: a National with a Gibson body. The old pickguard came off in an earlier Trade Secrets, and now the new one goes on: it's an oddball pearloid guard that's worth checking out!
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Issue 36 June 28, 2007
Build your own custom pickups
Erick Coleman needed a pickup like a good old Gibson P-90, but sized to fit a 3-string cigar box guitar! Here's how he built it, and how you can build yourself a custom pickup for any instrument.
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Issue 34 June 14, 2007
Why hide glue is best for this cracked neck
A badly broken neck on this Martin D-35 almost goes unnoticed, and the repair leads to an innovative do-it-yourself jig. Dan Erlewine explains how he chose the gluing method for this repair.
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Issue 32 May 31, 2007
One dead string driving me crazy! (Transducer trouble...)
I thought I'd fixed this acoustic saddle pickup, but the customer sent it back because the problem wasn't solved (STRIKE ONE)! I took another swing at it... (STRIKE TWO)! I almost struck out! -Dan Erlewine
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Issue 31 May 24, 2007
How to install a Fender style (bolt-on) neck
Erick Coleman shows the steps involved in replacing a Fender-style neck, with tips for tuner installation, truss rod adjustment, and correctly positioning the neck.
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Issue 29 May 10, 2007
Removing a pickguard: easy way and hard way
This week, Dan Erlewine's got two pickguard removals in his shop. The Martin D-18's pickguard has cracked it's top, and Dan shows how a pickguard's supposed to come off. The "Gibsonational" is another story: this pickguard is nothing but trouble!
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Issue 28 May 03, 2007
Using the String Spacing Rule for guitars and mandolins
Erick Coleman uses Kevin Ryan's proportional string spacing rule for more jobs than Kevin ever expected: 12-strings, mandolins, bridge saddles... Plus: an explanation of the difference between equal spacing and proportional spacing.
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Issue 22 March 22, 2007
Tricks for installing humbuckers
This week Dan shares two tips for installing humbucking pickups, including a simple jig you can make yourself. Also, he repairs a broken pickup ring that his customer thinks is worth $10,000!
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Issue 20 March 08, 2007
Lubricating guitar tuners
This week, we're in Dan's Guitar Garage for a Tune-up Special: how to clean and lube old guitar tuners, and get them working smoothly again.
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Issue 17 February 15, 2007
Making new tuners look vintage
This week, Erick Coleman shows how to add 50 years in 30 minutes: he makes a new set of tuners look like they've been around since the 1950s!
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Issue 16 February 08, 2007
New ways to use the Guitar Repair Vise
In this issue of Trade Secrets, Dan makes his Guitar Repair Vise sit up and roll over. Who knew cast iron could be so flexible?
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Issue 15 February 01, 2007
Using candle wax to keep a vintage P-90 working
This week in Trade Secrets, Dan runs into pickup trouble and turns to Lindy Fralin for help. The simplest possible solution keeps a P-90 pickup from 1957 from falling apart.
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Issue 14 January 25, 2007
Replacing damaged tuner knobs
This week, Dan's got a 1957 Les Paul Junior in his shop. It hasn't been out of the case in 25 years, and the tuners are unusable. Here's how to put new knobs on old tuners.
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Issue 12 January 11, 2007
Installing an old-time banjo dowel stick
This week, Don MacRostie invents a new technique for an old technology: he shows how to accurately install a banjo dowel stick. Also, Bart Reiter sends a dowel-stick tip.
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Issue 11 January 04, 2007
Mixing red epoxy for cherry-finish repairs
This week, somebody's attempt to fix a 1960 Les Paul is an example of what not to do. Dan Erlewine tries an experiment that saves this smashed-up guitar's finish: he creates cherry-red epoxy.
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Issue 10 December 28, 2006
Installing an endpin jack
Ever have trouble installing an endpin jack? Did you chip the guitar's finish, or drill the hole out-of-square? Did you goof up on a customer's guitar? You'll want to read this week's Trade Secret from Dan Erlewine.
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Issue 8 December 14, 2006
Make this brad-point bit for installing side dots
In Trade Secrets this week, Dan Erlewine shows a trick for installing side dots that are perfectly positioned: he modifies a hardware-store drill bit to make the job easy.
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