Love your Instrument? I know that we love ours, and try to take as best care of them as we can. This can prove to be tough however when life gets in your way and you got to run to work or your getting rushed on and off the stage for the next band. These 5 instrument care tips will help prolong the life of your favorite instrument and help keep it in fine playing condition.

Remember your instrument will be good to you, if you are good to it. It is an Investment and requires care to remain in good shape.

1) When you are finished your daily playing (because we know you practice once a day), take a soft, lint free dry cloth and wipe off where your skin has come in contact with the instrument. Particularly the Neck and Strings. I usually include the Front, Back and sides also. This will assist in keeping the grease, dirt and grime from our fingers from building up over time and effecting the neck, wood and finish. It will also assist in prolonging string life.

2) Avoid exposing your instrument to excessive heat, cold, moisture, and humidity. Wood contracts and expands with the climate. Hide Glues soften with heat and glued parts will loosen. Humidity and Moisture can cause wood to warp over time or with prolonged exposure. Keep your instrument in a case, and out of the sun. A cool and dry climate is the ideal climate.

3) Avoid leaning your instrument against it’s neck or anything else for that matter. Invest in an instrument stand or a wall hanger. Serious damage can occur if your instrument falls over. Gibson guitars, for example, are famous for their necks breaking around the headstock. Also avoid wearing belts while playing standing up. This will help avoid Belt Buckle Rash, scratches and dings on the back of your instrument.

4) Clean your instrument and change your strings on a regular basis. Depending on how much you practice, depends on how long a set of strings will last you. While performing this task, do a once over to make sure that all screws and related hardware on your instrument are tight and in check. This will help avoid unwanted noise and buzzing if something is loose. Do the same with your tuners. Some tuners have a tension screw on them. A loose tuner will result in trouble keeping your instrument in tune. Your tuners should be on the tighter side, with a smooth gliding operational feeling. Keep your metal parts clean. Super fine steel wool (0000 grade) does a wonderful job cleaning fret wire and other metal parts, but keep it away from your pickups. Choose a recommended furniture polish or instrument care pack from your favorite company. Never apply anything directly to the instrument itself, always on a soft, lint free cloth, then apply. We like to follow up with a second dry soft, lint free cloth to wipe of any excess polish or cleaner. Using an old tooth brush will help with those hard to reach places if need be. Also, Have your instrument serviced at least once a year by a qualified professional.

5) Take the time to learn what your particular instrument is made out of and what kind of finish it has. This will help you determine what to use to clean it. For example, a Gibson Les Paul typically has a Mahogany body with a Maple Top and Rosewood finger board. They are typically finished in Nitrocellulose Lacquer as are a majority of instruments from 1920 on. As opposed to Polyurethane finish which is used on lower end instruments today, Nitrocellulose does not fully ‘cure’ and may react to other chemicals. Furniture polish is fine to use, but again, research and know. Below is a good example. This Les Paul was in the processed of being cleaned by our customer when they decided to take a can of compressed air to blow out the dust on the bridge. The chemical in the can reacted with finish the and chemically burned the Nitrocellulose finish.

Ahhh… new finger positions for us to practice to assist in strengthening our hand versatility and build callouses on those virgin fingers.

In our first beginner’s lesson, We covered the 7 Major Guitar chords and focused on becoming comfortable with the transition of changing between chords seamlessly. In this lesson, we are going to introduce some 7 more chords to add into the mix.

Remember, there are various ways to play the same chord in different positions. In this lesson you will be introduced to some ‘bar chords’, or chords that will require you to use your pointer finger to hold ALL the strings down at the same time across the neck…. Gotta keep those fingers versatile. For these chords, focus on the Bm, Cm, Fm, and Gm. Please take not at which frets that these chords start on.

Your homework with Minor Chords: Learn Bob Marley’s ‘I Shot the Sheriff’.

The chords involved in the song are – Gm, Cm, and Dm. We are not going to tell you the progression this time, we want you to listen to the song multiple times and figure out the chord progression yourself. This is how we begin to ‘Train our Ears’… listening and figuring it out.

Firstly step: Always learn all of the words to the song first! Listen to it all the way through multiple times and try to familiarize yourself with where the changes come in, where the breaks are, etc.

Second step: Listen/ Pause, Rewind, Listen/ Pause, Rewind, Attempt to Play, Rewind, Listen/ Pause, Attempt, Rewind, Make notes if necessary, Start Over, etc. Your not going to get it on the first shot necessarily unless your skill set is past this lesson. Take your time and break things down… Verse vs. Chorus vs. Bridge, etc..

Quick Note: Dm is the saddest of all chords. HAHAHAHA… jk (‘Spinal Tap’ Reference…)

Remember: If you practice anything for an hour a day, at the end of a year, you will have come very far!

Found this clip from the Spread Entertainment Group Mania TV with Dave Navarro and George Lynch jamming out and talking about various techiniques, swiching them up, and thinking outside of the box with your playing.  Many times, a slight variation in your typical runs makes the biggest difference in the world.  Not trying to dis those who can pull the sweeping arpeggio off,  but I think it’s all about the development of the musicians personal style, not necessarily running through scales back and forth…  Enjoy…

Dave Navarro’s Spread TV: George Lynch: Guitar Lessons: EP 1

We get a lot of requests for beginner’s lessons, which is something that we do not formally offer,   so we figured that we would post some info that helped us in the beginning.

When people ask us about learning an instrument, we like to specify that playing any instrument well is 80% feeling and 20% technical. .. but maybe not in the beginning.

With the Guitar, a good start is for the student is to focus on feeling out their instrument; How it feels, how it sounds, what the different parts are, and contemplate how they would like to express themselves with the instrument as far as style and influence.

Standard tuning on a guitar from Low Sting (top) to High String (bottom) is E-A-D-G-B-E.  On the chart below, This is labeled above each string.  To the left of the each chord, you will see the frets numbered, in this case Fret 1 (closest to the headstock) through 4. On the bottom of each chart, you will see either an X or an O.  We are not blowing kisses and hugs at you, this is your indication on which strings to strum (o) and which strings not to (x).

When I was being taught, the first lesson was learning the 6 Major Guitar chords as listed below.  Once I was able to remember the positioning, the next step was to be able to switch between the chords easily.  This will assist in making you more comfortable with the guitar, and also begin to build the callouses on you finger tips.

So, learn the 6 chords on the chart below, then focus on changing in between the chords seamlessly.  A good way to practice the changes is to learn an easy song.   “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” by Bob Dylan is an easy song.  The chord progression rotates: G-D-A, G-D-C through the whole song.

Remember, If you can practice anything an hour a day, by the end of a year, you’ll of come a long way.

Just a sneak peak into a short run of custom guitars that SRGuitars.com teamed up with some local artisans to do.  The project has lingered a bit ove a year or so, but these guitars have been transformed into instruments that will always be cherished… Check on back to the store in a bit as we will be posting them for sale soon along with some info on the artist behind the works.

Special Thanks goes out to Andrew Kowal from Enigma Guitar Repair for the extra time and detail as he helped with the final setups on some of our custom line. Enigma is located @ 3245 Amber St., Philadelphia PA 19099. (215) 200-8076.

www.enigmaguitarrepair.com

But we’ve been busy as hell over here @ SRGuitars. Especially since we had a small computer and then catalog meltdown. Please keep on checking back as we’ve been stock piling some new tips and techniques to share with ya’ll. We’ve also got some custom guitars coming through soon, and will be adding some more inventory to our catalog.

Thanks all, catch ya real soon…

I think that it’s from 1982 if I remember correctly off the top of my head. This guitar is truly a vintage Washburn gem for all ya’ll Washburn enthusiasts. I saw a few months ago in some Guitar Center or Sam Ash ad that Washburn was re-releasing this guitar for a short period. Here is an original.

Here is how it looked when it came in our shop. Ok Condition, sporting all the typical scratches and dings a 20 year old + guitar would have:

We began disassembly:

As we were disassembling the guitar, we noticed that the binding running around the perimeter of the top of the guitar was cracked and beginning to separate from the body. This was unacceptable, and we wanted to keep the guitar as original as possible, so we repaired the binding instead of replacing it. Luckily, the break was on the bottom of the guitar so it is less visible:

Some Glue and Some Clamps…

And all is good….

We then went through the rest of our detailing process… polish, shine, string, adjust, intonate, test, adjust, test, adjust, etc…

Had a lot of fun working on this one. Also played it quite a bit. Heavy for the looks of it, not as heavy as a Les Paul, but it’s got a lot of weight and a solid feel. My biggest complaint about it is the S-S-S pickup configuration. Although, there are some smooth tones coming through, I myself am partial to the H-H configuration and feel that having 2 Humbuckers on this puppy would thicken the tone a bit, and keep me from putting it down.

Yep, more freakin’ stickers. This time on a MIM (Made in Mexico) Fender Stratocaster. Unlike the Squire, we took our time and put some care in bringing this beauty back. Yes, I realize all you Fender fans may nose up that this is MIM, but personally I really like this guitar…

How it came to the shop:

We then delicately began removing the stickers using Goo Gone and NO Razor:

Unfortunately, the stickers did leave slight discolorations in the finish… we’ll call that character:

This guitar is obviously used, and also has some minor dings and scratches, as most used equipment does, but looks and plays 110% now that it’s been detailed, restrung, and adjusted properly:

Seriously. Your parents will appreciate it…. I realize it’s a Squire. I tried to sell this at the AMRN Flea Market fo $65… No deal, so now it’s the new experiment. Check on back as you will see this piece (literally) showing back up in the near future.

I spent last night peeling off stickers…. F*!@’in Stickers… There isn’t enough Goo Gone in the world to make this better…

As it entered the shop

Sticker Discoloring

Scrapin’ and a Peelin’

Not following my Lead

What next for this piece? Check back soon…

We participated as a vendor at the non-profit American Musicians’ Resource Network Flea Market’s first musicians flea market. We had a really good time here, and hope that they do it again in the near future. It is nice to see organizations and people that are behind coming together as musicians and promoting a positive message of music and music education to young people. We had a great outing with no rain, met a bunch of great musicians, and ran into some old friends. We also gave out a bunch of recorders and kazoos for people passing through.

Special shout out to all who stopped by the car/booth, especially the people who hung around and jammed out. Special SRGuitars.com thanx to all that picked up some new gear, we hope it serves you well…

Also, please check out some of the people we met down there:
American Musicians’ Resource Network, Shubaby Montez Music, Urban Beat Movement , Audioditions, and Acoustic Philly.

Some Pics:

The Trunk Display

Shoppers

This was not one of out jobs, but our friend Mat over at Bentforms had sent over some pictures this wonderfully presented rehab that he had worked on a while back. Mat has assisted us on multiple occasions with multiple projects including revision on some of our detailing techniques. We are blogging this as it is a great example of the quality of work and attention to detail that Bentforms’ customers receive.

The amp is a Peavey Decade practice amp that Mat had picked up off of Craig’s list to match, or be the ‘sister’ amp (or something), to the Peavey Decade that he has owned since he was a young lass. However, compared to the one he owns which was in a bit better condition, this amp was beat to shit.

As you can see from the picture history below, the amp coming in was full of skerv, decay, dents and dirty electronics indicative of years of neglect and abuse. Mat got on it and brought the amp back to life, looking just as good (minus the logo) as when it came out of the factory box. If I am not mistaken, when I asked him why he didn’t replace the Peavey logo after all that work, Mat’s response was, “So I can tell the difference from my original.” “Nevermind…”, I replied…

No Bullshit, I think that we are keeping this one because it is so freaking sweet!

The Music Man Company, long story short, Was a company that came out around 1971 as Forrest White and Tom Walker talked with Leo Fender about starting a company they would call Tri-Sonic, Inc. This later turned into Music Man, and eventually caved to financial problems and management squabbles. In 1984, Ernie Ball Inc. bought the company and still puts product out today under this name. Regardless, the early equipment you can tell was very close to the “Fender” line of products. (Found some good charts and info on this Music Man site also)

This head has 4 inputs: 2 on the first channel – w/volume, tone and bass. 2 on the second channel w/ a normal/ bright switch, volume, treble, bass, reverb, intensity (for phaser), speed (for phaser), master volume, and a normal/ deep switch. There is also hi/ standby/ low switch to determine the amount or output.

This amp really is cool, and was all original including the foot switch which allows for reverb and phaser.

So we grabbed this puppy and took a ride to see our good friend Mat, and got to work on this fine piece of equipment. Here is the amp when it hit the bench:

Dirty Front

Dirty Back

So we got to work, disassembled the head, and began cleaning the chrome and the tolex:

Disassembly

Dirty Tolex

Check the Label

We then go into the electronics… Inspected… Dusted…. Cleaned… Lubed (hey now!)…. etc…

Electronics Inspection

Check out the Original Footswitch – Awesome!!

After all checked out, the head was reassembled and tested for any defects… this puppy is 100%…

2 front shots – Clean and Sounding awesome

Back Shot

Awesome head. Truly a classic… awesome sound.

Grabbed these specs from Ampwares.com

Year: 1963-1967
Model: Bandmaster
Circuit: AB763
Config: Piggy-back
Control Panel: Black forward facing w/ white labels
Front Conrol Layout: Normal: In, In, Bright Sw, Vol, Treb, Bass – Vibrato: In, In, Bright Sw, Vol, Treb, Bass, Speed, Intensity – Pilot Lamp
Rear Conrol Layout: AC Outlet, Ground Sw, Fuse (2A), Power Sw, Standby Sw, Speaker Jack, Ex. Speaker Jack, Vibrato Jack
Knobs: Black skirted w/ chrome center, numbered 1 – 10
Head: 8″ x 24″ x 9″ (20.3 x 61 x 22.9 cm)
Head Hardware: Black strap handle, 4½” chassis straps, corner protectors, cab hooks
Head/Cab Covering: Smooth white (63) or black Tolex
Head/Cab Grille: Gold (63) or silver sparkle grille cloth
Logo: Grille mounted, flat (63) or raised, chrome & black, script “Fender” (head and cab)
Speaker/Load: 2 x 12″/4 ohms total (8 ohms each in parallel)
Effects: Tremolo
Output: 40 Watts
Preamp: 2 x 7025
Power: 2 x 6L6GC
Bias: Fixed Bias, bias adjustment pot
Rectifier: Solid State
Phase Inverter: 12AT7 (long tailed)
Other: 12AX7 (photoresistor)

We were really excited to get a chance to work on this vintage piece of equipment so we took extra special care in the detailing.

Here’s how it looked when it hit our bench…

Front

Back

We then disassembled and inspected everything. All the electronics were serviced and cleaned, all the chrome de-scurved and polished to a brilliant shine, all crud removed from the tolex, and everything left with a brilliant shine.

Disassembly

Bandmaster Insides

Tubes and Inside Label

Clean and Shiny Casing

After all that was done, each screw and nut polished, all pots cleaned, all dust expunged, all contacts cleaned, we re-assembled the amp and warmed up the tubes.

Final Product

The Bad

Well, not really that bad. This head was missing the back panel and the original foot switch. We’ve been on the lookout for a replacement foot switch, and will hopefully have one soon.

Mother Russia’s answer to the Marshall JCM-800. This head is BAD ASS with tons of power and tone to melt the crowds faces off. Nice warm tube tone, and ya can’t beat that tube overdrive. Not exactly a Marshall, but pretty close for the money. The other thing we really dig about this head is the simplistic controls – no B.S – Master, Volume, Presence, Treble, Mids, and Bass.

SRGuitars has one in stock that we began restoring, but ran into a plastics issue that we didn’t like that made us put this one on hold…

Here is the amp as it entered out workshop

Front

Back

We extensively detailed and cleaned every inch of the amp and the electronics, only to realize the downside of this amp…

Before/ After shot

The Downside of this Amp – Plastic

Yep, thats right. After we were done cleaning it up and began testing it, I realized that plastic input jacks and power jacks pretty much SUCK. Why, because when the plastic becomes old enough and over years of use, it becomes dry and brittle. I discovered this after I was finished testing and I went to remove the cable from the input jack – >crack<-. Then I went to remove the outs for the speaker ->crack<-. Finally, I went to remove the power chord…. and guess what happened…

Regardless, I sent this amp back down to the shop to have all the plastic input/output jacks replaced along with a new Universal power connector. This has not been done yet, I did however get some good shots of the amp cleaned up before I broke the jacks.

MIG-100 Detailed

This entry to be continued….

We installed a Fishman Matrix active acoustic pickup for a customer in a mid line Ibanez acoustic. Now, I had someone ask me, ‘Why put an expensive acoustic pickup in a mid line Ibanez?’ Well, quite simple, it comes down to, that is what the customer wanted. I have to say however that I’m a firm believer that it does not matter the make of the guitar, it’s all how it feels and plays. So, needless to say, we got on the job.

This first picture is a shot of the bridge, saddle and pickup which will be modified and installed.

Next, we marked the nut with the size of the pickup, drilled the hole for the wire through the bridge, and widened the hole where the old strap holder was to install the Fishman electronics and input jack.

We then took the saddle and our measurements, and routed out the bottom in a way that he saddle still retained it’s original height, but left room for the pickup. Not only does this help in retaining the current setup of the instrument, but it also re-leaves some of the string pressure on the actual pickup itself.

Finally, we mounted the battery ‘sack’, which really was the most disappointing part of the whole fishman kit, and detailed and restrung the instrument. Although the Matrix pickup has the option, this particular customer opted not to have a volume and tone nob installed in case they felt like moving the pickup to another guitar in the future.

A true beauty. Needed a bunch of work, and unfortunately we never snapped the end result pics, but this bass was so damn cool that I had to put it up.

Rickenbacker 4001 – Before Disassembly

The Chrome was full of Scurve and Rust

The Nut was broken, and the fingerboard separating from the neck

Repairing the fingerboard

Cool routing and electronics