Corey Williams Noank Guitar Repair
Forum Replies Created
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Do you have any Mitchel’s abrasive cord? They sell it at stew Mac. It’s like dental floss w abrasive. sometimes chasing the slots after adjusting them can clean it all up. You can also check your slotting files with calipers, I had some files that were well off their advertised size.
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I worked in a shop and Ian’s comment is really accurate. Taylor used to do seasonal limited guitars and the fall limited could run late and arrive in winter etc etc and customers would use it to bargain.
If you are selling through dealers I would make it a little hard to determine. If you sell them directly to customers then it likely matters less.
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I have done a little, but really rudimentary stuff. I worked for an amp builder and used to help tolex amps and I think that is hands on and applicable to repairing loose tolex on old cases. Most other stuff like latches, handles has been improvised.
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The patch took three tries total, it sure was tedious! The touch up is something I hope to learn more about as my previous attempts in the past were pretty ugly. That being said if it gets out of control I will consider the whole side (I could use practice with that too).
Luckily this is a guitar I bought for practice so I can work slowly on it.
I really appreciate your insight! I hope my work will be as good as yours one day!
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I have the stew Mac water base grain fill in neutral. So far I have only experimented w the stew Mac stuff. I mixed some up and used tobacco brown primarily and some vintage amber and a micro dot of red. I did buy the Nazareth stain as well, it seems like that is tobacco brown with some red?
I also have 4f pumice that I have used tru oil with in the past for pore fill. I could bust that out and experiment with it.
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If this ever comes up for others here is what I dreamed up: I mounted a small jack onto an L bracket and fixed it to a replacement mounting arm and replacement pickguard. Ready to go!
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I’m gonna go for it, I’ll let you know how it goes!
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This is just the info I needed! Thanks!
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Hey Jeff! I will send you a dm with my contact info. I would love to try one of these. Thanks!
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I just got my proper workstation a week ago and am not adept at using it yet, so I cannot say if you can simulate string tension with it. I bet you can though!
I do know they sell an add on from total vise that makes the stew mac neck jig compatible with the total vise setup. If you have a neck jig already that may be a nice way to go!
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Hey Scott!
Man, I could talk to you all day about this subject!
When I was at the NAMM show Bob Taylor gave a talk at a young professionals meet up. Someone asked him about building Taylor’s in Asia to get them cheaper and his advice to anyone wanting to build their products there to visit the factories (which he did) and see the working conditions. It is hard to tell this to customers because you do not want them to feel like shit for what they bought but I have developed some diplomatic ways of getting the point across.
When it comes to repairing them I have a few scripts that help me. If its a family members old piece of junk that they are sentimental with I often tell them that the relative is looking down telling them to let it go and its not worth it. If its sentimental from childhood I just tell them the guitar loves you too and does not want to watch you do anything stupid. Sometimes this gets them to back off.
That being said I have had some satisfying repairs come out of junk. I reset the neck on a trashy archtop with a pearwood board. I really did not want to do it but gave a price and it was accepted. When I got it back to him he told me his dad won it in a card game during the Korean war and lugged it with him for a long time. Suddenly I thought the guitar was a lot cooler.
Lastly, I often run into push back from customers in regards to my labor costs in relation to the value of the instrument. One time a customer of mine (who repairs BMW’s at a dealer) was upset that his new PRS SE needed a fret level and that the cost was a lot considering how cheap the guitar was. I told him that the guitar market is currently in a situation of dysmorphia and it is similar to if BMW came out with a killer model that was the same as what they offer now but retailed for 10k. His customers would be upset about buying brakes, tires, labor etc considering how cheap they are. That story is really helpful for me to use with customers to get the point across.
I am not sure if that helps you with anything but it feels nice to vent about it!
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Hey Alex!
I myself have not built any guitars but do spend time with folks who have and notice a few things that may be helpful.
I have a close friend who has been guitar building for 50 years with an absolutely insane resume of accomplishments. He completed two guitars recently and I went to play them and his wife was joking about how he has been up at night worried about if they are just right. My take away was we are never satisfied. No true masterpiece is ever complete!
Second, the guitar makers I have been around who are successful either had a background in factory production or act as though they did. The friend I referenced earlier was dispatched to my area in CT from nashville after working at gruhns. He oversaw a lot of production at Guild. He is an incredible jig/fixture maker. Things are so repeatable. So on days when he makes bridges he makes 100 etc. etc. He joked with me that the goal is to be assembling kits but you made enough “kit parts” to last a few years at a time.
I hope I get to check out your guitars sometime!!!!!! If you are always improving I am sure they are amazing.
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No 3d printer yet, I gotta get with the program. I am ashamed to say that I do not even have a computer at home at the moment…
I actually bought a TJ base and took it to a friends house so we could try out and he loved it so much he paid me back and kept it!
I did not realize TJ sold bits for the router bases as well, he has a good assortment on his website so I ordered a few t-fret bits today. Thanks Ian!
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Hey Joe!
Sorry to hear about your situation! That being said it seems like you have more skills than you give yourself credit for.
Is there anyone in your local area who does what you aspire to learn who you could approach for guidance?
Do you have any space outside of the store you work at to tinker on stuff for learning?
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I’m not an expert but if you can get a different setup and avoid the rattle cans it may help. The propellant is another layer of nasty chemical. The rattlers, from my limited experience, also have a low solid content and it feels like you need a million coats to build.
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Slick move. What a clever setup, well done!
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Thanks for the time today, I am very grateful for the group and your expertise. That was a lot of fun
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Thanks Ian 🙏, I will give this a try!
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Wow! That turned out great. What a beautiful repair
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That is awesome info! I installed a hi fi but did not have a lot of time to play around with it. Do you find customers are attracted to it because it’s low modification or does is it the sound that attracts them?
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I did not realize until today that there was anything beyond stewmaxx. I applied for the wholesale, 20 percent off would be huge for a lot of the supplies that I go through quickly like tape, micro mesh etc etc. I hope they accept me!
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Hey Al! Thanks for the info! I ordered a handful of acoustic pickups. I feel like a lot of customer seek advice when choosing a pickup for their acoustic so I have a chance to sell them one before they order it online. Electric pickups are the opposite, seems like people have them in hand before they even reach out to me!
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Oooooh, I will reach out to all parts, I did not think of that one! Do you do repair work exclusively or is it in a retail/lessons space to? I never thought about selling pedals. Thanks for the info!
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Thanks for the info Bryan! What LR Baggs stuff do you do best with? Their pickup offerings are a little overwhelming. I started off with two Anthems and two Elements but hope to have more in stock if my shop is busy enough.
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Such a cool setup, thanks for sharing! You have inspired me to try something similar!
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That is awesome Alexis! Is guitar work a full time thing for you or blended with other work?
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Was your skill level already high by the time you hit gruhns or were you still tackle boxing it?
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Yo, this looks so good. Great job!!!!
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Hey Rick! You are in Hartford? I live over in Noank/Mystic. I did hear of Adam’s troubles as I was prepping to start my business. Getting zoned for a business in a historic district was not easy! I hope I do not have to deal with them again….
I met Dale and he left for VT pretty soon after. I wish he was still local, it was inspiring to check out his shop/guitars.
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Man, I am with you on that one. I am setting up a shop for myself and make little purchases along the way. One thing that has helped me make sense of purchases is imaging using the space and what customers will expect of me over the next six months-year. I just do tiny finish things so I am setting up a small fan mounted in plywood that I can pull in and out of the window. Some things that may help decide is thinking about how many guitars you want to spray a year, how much shop space do you want to dedicate to finish work.
There used to be a fantastic guitar builder local to me in CT named Dale Fairbanks who built in a two car garage in Hartford. He was able to spray in a small space but was nervous about drawing attention to himself and was spraying at night…. looked stressful. There is another buddy of mine, Mark Campellone, in Providence who builds archtops. His work flow was interesting. He had a small room in his shop setup for spraying and would build in batches and store stuff in that room while not spraying, complete a batch and then empty the spray room for use.
If you can visit some folks who are doing what you aspire and it may fall into place. Spraying at home is a pain though, no ways around it. Let me know where you land!
