[Thom Abell String Theory Guitar Repair]

I finally heard back from Suhr. They quickly admitted that they used to relique all the screw surfaces instead of just the heads, weakening them in the process. This is a known issue in their enterprise. They seemed a tad embarrassed about it, but were very forthcoming once we started talking about it. The extremely helpful folks at Suhr insisted that I ship the guitar back to them so they can extract the screws. This is covered under their warranty and is costing the client $0.00 other than my time and materials to pack the guitar for shipping and taking it to FedEx.

Thanks for all the responses. I will be following up with Suhr to find out what method they used to extract the screws. I’ll share that information when I have it.

[Thom Abell String Theory Guitar Repair]

Bueller? Bueller?

[Thom Abell String Theory Guitar Repair]

I keep a couple of these cheap B&D cordless screwdrivers in the shop. They’re inexpensive and have pretty low torque, almost too low. A charge seems to last a long time even with hard use. They last me about 4-5 years and I use the Music Nomad peg winder attachment for restrings which works on almost all tuning peg sizes except for Mandos.

I used to use the Paratuss Peg Winders which were great, but their outer shell was made of really fragile and brittle plastic that rarely survived a drop even on a carpeted floor.

[Thom Abell String Theory Guitar Repair]

I started doing this a few years ago after realizing what a time suck it could be. I prefer to order parts for customers especially on complicated wiring harnesses and partscaster builds. There’s always that guy who comes in and says, “I’m supplying EVERYTHING you need, you just have to put it together, bro!” They almost always order the wrong stuff, especially bridges, tuners, pots and knobs. If I spend more than 30 minutes, researching, sourcing and ordering parts, I charge an hour of labor.

[Thom Abell String Theory Guitar Repair]

Update: I never could get the Grease Bucket circuit to work. Everything checked out, it just didn’t work. I tried several different values of caps on the circuit as a typical tone pot configuration. I ended up using a .033 cap that worked OK. I’d still love to know why the Grease Bucket circuit didn’t work but I’m in agreement with Doc that it must have a frequency thing. The next customer with a triple humbucker equipped guitar thats wants the Grease Bucket mod is going to hear a resounding “No!” from me.

[Thom Abell String Theory Guitar Repair]

Thanks, Doc!

[Thom Abell String Theory Guitar Repair]

Thanks Gerry! The harness is still outside the body, and the 3 pickups with the Triple Shot rings are connected as is the bridge ground. I never install a new harness in a hollowbody until I know it works. I’ve been burned too many times. 🙂

Everything appears to check out. All the grounds are good. The switch and separate volumes work and the Triple Shots are working as advertised. Nothing is touching anything it shouldn’t, but I’m still without a tone control so something is still amiss.

I’m in the process of changing the tone control to just a standard tone, sans the Grease Bucket mod. I checked the tone pot itself and it’s working as specified as are the supplied caps and resistor. At this point, if a regular tone control works, I’m going to try to convince my client it’ll be fine without the Grease Bucket mod. I’d really love to know why this isn’t working, but I need this out of my life.

I’ll update later on how this shakes out.

Thanks again! Love your book, BTW! 👏

[Thom Abell String Theory Guitar Repair]

Thanks, Daniel. I’ll check that out!

[Thom Abell String Theory Guitar Repair]

Thanks Doug. I probably should have worded things differently. My goal wasn’t to appear to throw shade unnecessarily at the workstation or question its efficacy. I was wondering if the urethane could possibly have had some weird interaction with whatever clear coat is on that guitar. The clear coat did seem a little soft.

I use that workstation every day. It’s the only reason I’m still working after spinal fusion surgery. I’ve used it non-stop since I got it and I’m pretty anal about making sure any guitar is held in it tightly. Could it have moved while I was working on it? It’s possible but I can’t imagine how I wouldn’t have noticed that.

I’ll delete the post (IF I can figure out how. Clicking Delete didn’t work) so it doesn’t put any misleading thoughts in anyone’s head who may be considering buying the workstation. It’s a great addition to any shop.