[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Here are the differences between the two wiring schemes. Looks like Fender likes to play with polarities and you just have to know what’s in your guitar before you buy. Of course the customer’s guitar is :

Neck = South

Mid = North

With a new hum bucker that’s as follows :

Bridge = South

North (active when split/tapped so trouble ahead already)

Don’t know yet how the coils are wound.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Ian, I just saw this post while perusing through the section this morning. Sorry to be so late to the game, but I have a question for you. When I do this kind of repair (just finished one yesterday), I typically use the same wood species as the top. But spruce and cedar being so soft, I’m always left wondering if I could have used a better (read : stiffer) option, such as maple for instance. Your suggestion for plywood pricked my ear. Do you use this stuff for this kind of repair? If so, what thickness do you recommend?

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

I’ll relay a tip someone passed on to me, sorry I don’t remember who did, but it works wonders. Cut a sponge the exact size of your plate so no water will drip around.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

I’m with Ian. I do a lot of bridge reglues and don’t even bother to consider injecting glue. There’s always a reason why the bridge is lifting and it has to be addressed. More than anything else, I see too little wood-to-wood contact, either an ill-fitted bridge or too much finish remaining under the bridge.

But then, I’m not working on vintage guitars so much (sporting HG), and those old-timers I get usually are in need of much more in ways of repairs.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

I’d love to see a demo, too.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

I’ve repaired torn up bridge plate hole with pretty much any method you can think of, including those Elaine mentioned. My favorite has been the SM bridge plate saver since I’ve bought it. It has paid for itself many times over. For me, it is a no-brainer, every shop should have one, this is a great tool. Not cheap, but as I said it paid for itself pretty fast.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Plus 1 on pickup height… don’t ask how I know…

And those spring can be troublesome also. Sometimes I’ve tackled the problem adding shrink tubes over them.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

New member here browsing the forums, just saw your post.

I’m in Canada and have an account with D’Addario. There are no minimums, and I keep in stock what I feel my customers will want on their instruments. You know what will be used most of the time, and this led me to keep stocked in some unusual gauges and singles for those metal guys. I just buy EXL120 and 110 as well as EJ16 in 25 bulk packs as it is what I’m using the most in the shop. I keep the most popular bass gauges and scale lengths of EXLs, no flats, no half-round, no tape wounds. I also buy Elixirs in electric 10-46, 09-42, 80/20 and PB lights from the Canadian distributor, who does have minimums but as I also buy other stuff from them it’s not much of a problem.

Very rarely do I sell string sets, apart from the occasional customer who wants spare sets.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

I’ve discussed this with the customer and he’s not going for it. He loves his present tones from the mid and neck and would rather ditch the Double-tap and go for a JB instead. I totally get it.

Thanks for helping!

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Hey Jon,

I’ve thought about doing exactly this. Problem is those two pickups happen to not be the same, they are formulated for their respective positions so we’d end up with too much output at the neck and a weaker mid. I might give it a try, though. Not sure the customer would love to have his sound changed.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Hey Lin,

I’ve done this very often, as well as taking coils apart and reassembling the pickups, so I’m no stranger to the process. This particular pickup is not our garden-variety humbucker though, and as I’ve been warned by a colleague about its peculiarities and extreme fragility I have chosen not to mess with it.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Thanks Lin,

I have come to the same conclusion. I’m not ready to risk ruining this ultra-fragile and very strange pickup by prying it even slightly apart to flip the magnet as I would with any normal humbucker, though. I guess I’ll have to give up on it and recommend that the customer gets compatible mid and neck units. Bloody shame, I know. Thanks for taking the time, big thumbs-up.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Those two tops look just like those split ones I got here, a Gibson Songwriter and a Martin GPC-something. One dark, the other very pale, with much larger splits though. I’ve reached out to the esteemed Mr. Di Burro to inquire about his technique involving full TJ cleats and tinted epoxy. Waiting for a reply but in no hurry as I’m not touching those until I’m sure those cracks are at their smallest. Maybe May.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Nice idea. I already have a page about RH issues that gets republished at the top each year when the season comes. Getting an email sent to thousands of customers is another thing so you don’t get fragged as spam, though. This would required using the services of one of the specialized outfits to are known as legitimate bulk email senders. I might look into this…

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Hi Tony,

Your RH chart looks like what we got here, only in reverse. 😉

I shoot for a 50% RH as an average target between extremes, and all “offending” customers are billed non only for the repair, but also for an in-case humidifier, tested case hygrometer and a lecture from myself. 😉 Repeat offenders get billed accordingly. Guitar neglect is a crime round here.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Thanks Dave, I’ll dive back into Pat’s book to see if he covers his technique in there.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Great link, many thanks, that’s just what I needed. And thanks for your opinion on the tool. I might be interested in giving it a spin should you want to unload it.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Thanks Ian, I think I’ll give it a shot on the next clunker. Do you by any chance remember the thickness?

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

Yes, as a reinforcement under the top between the soundhole and the first brace. This is for instances where it wouldn’t be necessary or advisable to take the neck off… say when geometry’s OK, crack is minimal, on one side only, closes perfectly when guitar is returned to normal RH. I usually glue those with warmed-up epoxy and add a cleat using HHG or OBG. Now this cleat would have to be stronger than the top itself in my mind, but I keep using cross-patches made of the same wood as the top. I was wondering if you ever tried the plywood you were referring to in your post.

[Pierre Castonguay Guitares Torvisse]

You might very well be right, it happened to me a few times. As a general rule I always enlarge the holes in the bodies if I find they don’t let the screw pass through freely. And I do remove any shim material (or cancel the dreaded Fender thingy) and replace with a full-contact shim from SM when correction is needed.