Commissioned guitars and shop builds, start to finish.
The Winthrop Stage guitar, commissioned by Pat Ailles and built from a beam of the old Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival stageThe Winthrop Stage guitar on the benchBack of the Winthrop Stage guitar: Douglas fir from the stage beam, old splits filled with black epoxySet flamed birdseye maple neck on the Winthrop Stage guitarCustom built for Tyler Boley from his own sketch: African mahogany in transparent black pearl, noiseless P-90s, Vega tremGold hardware and Vega trem on Tyler’s customWenge headstock with RTH logo inlay and Gotoh locking tunersBack of the wenge headstock with Tyler’s signatureTyler’s wenge headstock in progressModel 72, commissioned by Rob Bramblett to complete a guitar a friend had started for him. Refined body shape, 24-fret neck carved to match Rob’s favorite guitar, spade mother-of-pearl inlays, inset coin by the controlsModel 72 headstock with Rob’s signature and a custom engraved truss rod coverBack of the Model 72: large spade mother-of-pearl inlay and decorative maple spline reinforcementsRTH Custom Offset: alder body with flamed maple top in transparent cherry nitro, PAF-inspired humbuckers I woundRTH Custom Offset, built for myself, played out and recorded with, and later given to a talented young playerRTH Custom Offset headstock with abalone-pattern RTH logoBack of the RTH Custom OffsetThe Ashley V, a custom flying V with an alder body, maple neck, ebony fretboard, and abalone inlaysAshley V headstock with “Ashley” inlaid in abalone on an ebony overlayBack of the Ashley V: the grain runs parallel to the edges and meets in a V at the centerline, with ’58-style ferrulesGluing in binding on custom V bodyCustom-built Tele: alder body, custom-wound pickups, Mighty Mite neck, and Gotoh hardwareLevel sanding a custom P-Bass bodyA Grateful Dead–inspired custom inlay
Repairs & upgrades
Setups, fretwork, structural repairs, and upgrades.
Fretless conversion in progress on this Godin bassSpot leveling a couple of high fretsThis old Epiphone needed the back re-gluedThis ’58 Les Paul Junior DC needed the fretboard radius corrected and a re-fretBroken headstock on the Madison signature guitar, before repairBroken headstock on the Madison signature guitar, after repairLeveled and refinished fretboard, replaced fret dots, refretted, added DeArmond pickupFixed a ground problem with the bridge and upgraded the pickupPlugging trem holes in a Strat body, restoring 6-point tremCutting an angle on a Strat trem block to maximize travelUpgraded to Kluson locking tuners, a drop-in replacementCreative clamping to glue loose fretsLeveling fretboard and refretting a Kay Speed DemonSoundboard crack repaired on this acoustic guitarResetting the neck on this 1953 Crafton guitarCleaning up sloppy humbucker routs on this ’77 Gibson
Pickups
Winding, rewinding, and potting pickups in the shop.
Custom winding Strat pickupsRewinding P-Bass pickupsHand winding a Tele bridge pickupFreshly potted Tele pickupsCustom wound pickups with pearl insetsRewinding Korean-made Guild humbuckers for improved toneRewound bridge pickup, pinned roller bridge, upgraded to shielded wiringExperimental 3D-printed keeper to replace a steel baseplate
Drums
Cutting down shells, truing, and new bearing edges.
Cut down this 24″ Slingerland kick drum from 18″ to 16″, trued it up, and re-cut the bearing edgeTruing up a floor tom before recutting the bearing edgeFreshly cut bearing edges on these toms
Orphans & shows
An orphan Flying V kit guitar, finished in nitro lacquer, Gotoh tuners, Tone Pros bridge, and CTS and Switchcraft componentsOur booth at the Seattle Guitar Show
