Tecolote Guitar Works

After four years of operation at our Morena Blvd. location in San Diego, we are moving the business to Prescott, Arizona.

The attractions of Prescott  and some new opportunities have made this an easy decision for us.

The last day of operation will be Friday, January 20th.

Our tenant, Rick’s Guitar Shop, will continue business as usual.

The Tecolote Guitar Works website will remain active and will reflect the new direction of the business.   I will be posting more frequent blog entries about guitars and related topics and look forward to remaining in contact with many of you.

Thanks to our loyal customers for your support and…….HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Bill

Well, I was all set to write about all the great new electric guitar pickups we’ve brought in but the events of this last weekend have overshadowed such trivial pursuits.

The loss of so many of our armed service personnel as a result of the Taliban shootdown of a Chinook helicopter and, closer to home, the murder of San Diego Police Officer Jeremy Henwood combine to give us all a grim reminder of the staggering cost of preserving our liberty and our freedoms.

It has been my good fortune to know quite a few members of our military, past and current.   The thing that always impresses me the most is the selfless dedication to protecting our country and our citizenry.

We all get to enjoy our guitars, our families, pursue our careers, and indulge our hobbies because of all those men and and women who are willing to give it all up for us.

Let’s never forget the cost that they pay on our behalf.

OK, there’s no specific theme to this post mostly because Tecolote Guitar Works has been too busy which is a very good thing.

We’ve been  swamped with new customers, most of which have resulted from the many referrals of our loyal customer base.   Thanks for the kind words and endorsements.

Well, here’s some of the goings on from the last 3 months but there’s no particular order.

Russ Brown came down from Oceanside to have me assemble and wire up his Tele with a cosmic three way split bridge pickup, a blend pot in the place of the three way switch, a Lollar in the neck (I think) and a three way switch that controls the split………it makes my head hurt but it sure sounds good.  I’m sorry to say I can’t remember the name of the bridge pickup maker but the bridge itself was a nicely done piece from Rutters with an absolutely gorgeous set of brass saddles that were so finely detailed they looked like parts from the throttle linkage of a 60’s Ferrari V-12.   Beautiful work.  Russ is thrilled with it but that’s probably because I didn’t charge him enough.

On the Tele front I finally managed to finish up a super light (5.5 pound) Tele with a conventional single coil set up and a 9.5 radius soft V maple neck.   I built it to sell but after I played it a little it even makes me sound good, which is a tall order indeed, so I’m keepin’ it.   It’s a beauty, bright red body, black pickguard, amber tinted neck and Tone Pros Kluson tuners.  It’s a real classic look with just a few “modern” touches.  OK, if anyone wants it I’ll let it go for $950 which is a pretty good deal I’d say.

The last Telecaster nonsense is that I’ll have a pair of Lollar Regal wide range humbuckers in my ‘72 Thinline Reissue in a week or so.  TGW will be an official Lollar Installing Dealer soon so if you’ve been interested in these great pickups give us a yell.

Scott Samuels turned me on to another pickup maker, Curtis Novak.  Curtis has some intriguing stuff available and his website is a must visit. In addition to pickups Mr. Novak does repair and restoration work.

I first met Scott several years ago when I was fixing guitars at the Black Hole of Carlsbad and he recently tracked me down here at TGW and brought in a nifty Epi Casino and his Warmoth Purple People Eater.

On the amplifier front, our neighbor around the corner, Adam Grimm of Satellite Amps has been selling a bunch of his superlative hand-made amps and his shop is also taking care of amplifier repairs for TGW.  Check out his site here.

Most of the activity on my workbench lately has involved electric guitar projects, but there have been some notable acoustic guitar jobs.   Dave Brandland brought in a gorgeous ‘61 D-18.   Dave is somewhat new to guitars and apparently had this Martin for quite some time and was unaware of its pedigree and value.   I gave him an estimate of $100 to correct a couple of problems and he questioned whether the guitar was worth spending the money on.   When I presented him with a brief reality check as to the value of a nearly perfect ‘61 D-18 he was a happy camper indeed.

Bill Stern was in one Saturday with an early ’70’s D-35 that he has owned for many years.  The guitar had sat idle for a long time as Bill had been informed by some repair genius or other that the intonation problems “could not be fixed”.  Yours truly takes this as a challenge by the way.   He was about to ship it back to Martin (and wait for 4 months) when I saw my chance to play avenging angel.  All is now right, intonation spot on, action nice and low, and that wonderful smooth bassy D-35 tone lives on.  Now perhaps Bill can play the Martin occasionally rather than one of his gazillion Taylors.

So, the next time someone tells you “it can’t be fixed” look for a second opinion.

That’s it for now.   I get many requests for more frequent blog posts and I’ll try to oblige.   In the meantime have a great Fourth Of July weekend.

See Ya’ll Later,

Bill

There’s plenty of “blue smoke and mirrors” ad copy out there on strings so I thought I’d  discuss a string related topic that comes up frequently.

Let’s talk about coated vs. uncoated strings.   You’ve all seen the ads that promise three to five times more life and better tone from coated strings and on the face of it that seems like a pretty nice deal but there’s one major issue that those claims do not address.

As I see it the main claim to extra life of the coated strings is based on their increased resistance to corrosion.   Environmental factors such as the salt air near the beach and more direct contamination from skin oils and acids certainly can sully the strings.  Really severe corrosion can kill the tone, particularly on the wound strings but mild corrosion generally will not have a noticeable effect at all.

What really kills the strings is wear from the frets.  Every time you press string to fret a tiny bit of metal is abraded from the the string.   Extreme bending and heavy fretting hand technique erodes metal from the strings at an even faster rate.    If you doubt me pick up a guitar that has a couple of weeks steady playing, say 2 hours a day, and run your index finger underneath one of the wound strings.  As your finger travels along the string you’ll likely feel a divot at most every fret position.

This unavoidable reduction in the mass of the string winding will begin to affect intonation and tone eventually resulting in strings that are dead, no snap, no bright, crisp tone, just a dull thud.   If the anti corrosion coating is thin enough to allow crisp tone from the wound strings it surely wears away from the fret contact points in no time at all.

What is killing your strings is mechanical wear, not corrosion.

Certainly there are some players who do benefit from coated strings.   There’s a perfectly good chance that a particular brand of coated strings just sound and feel great on your guitar and that’s a compelling reason to use them.   My experience is that a majority of my customers are better served at a lower cost by conventional uncoated strings.   Virtually every experienced luthier,  repair person, and player  I know, folks who handle dozens of guitars every week prefer non coated strings for their superior tone.

The first brand to offer coating was Elixir.   They created a big splash and a certain amount of controversy but have been successful in the market place despite some pretty horrid early offerings.   As Elixir markedly improved their product other makers such as D’Addario and Martin jumped on the bandwagon and today virtually every string brand offers multiple types of coated strings.   Typically the coated sets cost from $15 to $20 versus non-coated  prices of $7 to $10.

Buy the strings you like but remember that for most players those coated strings will only last three to five times longer in terms of corrosion resistance.    In plain English that means that they’ll last longer IF YOU DON’T EVER PLAY THEM.

As we are about to start a new year it’s time to thank all our regular, repeat customers for their confidence and support and to welcome the many new faces that have come through our doors in 2010.   TGW has a distinctly different approach to customer service from other repair facilities and it’s gratifying to see that so many of you appreciate our efforts.

December is closing out 2010 as our best month ever and recent developments will help 2011 to be even better with the arrival of Rick’s Guitar Shop to our space here at 1231 Morena Blvd.

Rick Fagan has put together a very nice inventory of new and used instruments with one of the latest primo items being a 1943 scallop braced D-18 with neck reset and new bridge by yours truly.   Another standout is a fabulous L-5 Wes Montgomery model Gibson (come and get this one before Gilbert pulls the trigger on it).   Among other brands Rick’s is now offering the incredible Eastman line of acoustic guitars and mandolins.

I’ve been familiar with Eastman instruments for several years but their most recent offerings are presenting even more value as the workmanship and materials just keep improving.

Eastman’s Steve Bernstein brought in samples of their new flattop parlor guitars that are real major league home runs.    Sized and shaped similar to an old 1 style Martin the examples I saw have Adirondack tops with stunning  tone and workmanship.    I checked them out closely with an inspection mirror and the interiors are as clean, crisp, and detailed as a certain legendary guitar maker from Austin, Texas.    These are seriously good instruments at a price that really is unbelievable.   Come by and meet Rick and have a look at his inventory.  Don’t forget to ask him about the Snark which is the best tuner I have ever used.   I bought one for each work bench.

The last couple of months have brought some splendid guitars across my bench; Jim brought a stunning, original, red ‘63 Fender Jaguar with case and hangtags.  Matthew showed up with a 1927 Martin 00-42 in amazing condition……what an absolute doll that guitar is.   A real fingerpickers dream, loud, sweet, and it weighs in at just three pounds.   A couple of other standouts have been a ‘53 Tele and a drop dead beautiful ‘56 Strat.   I could go on with the list but it makes me too crazy.

My own Jack Straw Tele style project has been on hold but I’m about to spray the body with a cool late ’50’s  nitro cellulose color…..call it Salmon, Coral, or my favorite, Tomato Soup, this piece will have a very cool vibe with a beefy neck and a set of Fralin Blues Specials.   BTW, we now offer the excellent Lindy Fralin line of pickups at some very attractive prices.

So, that’s it for the year.    We hope all of you and yours have a great Christmas and New Year.   See ya in 2011.

“How much will it cost to refinish my guitar?” That’s a loaded question. When a customer asks me about refinishing their guitar my first question is “Why do you want to do that?”

Some folks will come in with an older guitar that is structurally sound but with a badly worn finish, and will want to get it refinished because they think it will make the guitar more valuable.  This is almost always a mistake in the case of quality guitars such as Martins, Gibsons, Fenders etc.  Often refinishing a quality older guitar will decrease its value by as much as half.  Buyers usually prefer an honest original finish rather than any kind of refinish no matter how well executed.

Often a person will just want the soundboard of an acoustic or the body of an electric guitar refinished. Usually such a partial refinish will just make the rest of the guitar look shabby.  For instance, a 15-year-old Strat with a  beautifully refinished body mated to a dinged-up neck and rusted hardware looks pretty lame and is not in context with itself .

A properly done full refinish on an acoustic can easily go over $1,000.  In the case of a Martin guitar, a correct refinish requires that the neck, bridge and pick guard be removed.  This labor charge is added to the cost of the actual refinish work.

On inexpensive guitars, refinishing generally will cost more than the instrument is worth.  A $300 body refinish job on an electric guitar that’s worth $150 is not something I recommend, although if you insist…..

My advice is consider the resale value of your guitar.  You may not ever want to sell your guitar, but your heirs might!

Lest you think I’m a stick in the mud about refinishing, let’s say you’ve got a late model Olympic White Tele and what you really want is a Surf Green example. Sure, bring it in, let’s repaint that sucker.  It’ll look great (and it won’t make your butt look big).

It’s a crazy life.  At least once a week I hear something new and, well, unusual.

My current favorite is “I have a strange sound in my guitar”.     I ask the person to play the offending note or chord.    I lean in close.  I don’t hear anything odd.   I play the instrument myself and still don’t hear anything unusual.    After staring at me in disbelief the fellow says “well, if you COULD hear it what do you think it would be?”

Another memorable encounter was the man who came in for a set up.  He seemed rather indignant when I told him my fee and said;  “SIXTY DOLLARS for a set up! I can get my OIL CHANGED FOR TWENTY FIVE BUCKS!”    Hmmmmmm……

Then there was the chap who, when informed that the needed repair would cost fifty dollars asked me to do it for twenty five.   I politely declined the opportunity to lose money and  his reply was “well I can see that YOU don’t support the arts.”  Yikes.   I was almost, but not quite speechless.

A frequent favorite and one that any craftsman has heard and bristled at is the possibly well meant but insulting nontheless “take your time and do a GOOD job.”    Ugh, the obvious inference is that if the person did not remind us we’d revert to type and hack the daylights out of their instrument.   Go figure.

I won’t forget the person with the middle European accent who, when I informed him that I did not have strings for his balalaika called me a “homo”, or the well lubricated soul who threatened to sue over finger prints he claimed I left on his guitar.

I told ya it’s a crazy life, didn’t I.

The last few weeks have seen a bunch of these jobs.   Several Martins rolled in including a nice ‘47 D-18 and a ‘67 D-28 with a stunning set of Brazillian Rosewood that looked like the nicest of the pre-war guitars.

A beautiful Hoboken era Guild D40 also graced my bench.   These early Guild flat tops were often just great sounding and this one was no exception.  A splendid guitar.

My favorites from this latest batch were not the vintage Martins but a couple of oddballs; a late 60’s Harmony Sovereign and a gorgeous little Carson J. Robison.

The Harmony is very close in size to an Martin OM and was built with ladder bracing. According to the original owner it cost $65 when new.   The neck reset cost over five times that in 2010.   Don’t ya love inflation?

If you’ve never played a ladder braced (most flat tops are X braced) guitar they are really a treat.   Loud and very full in the trebles, they might lack subtlety but they really get the job done nonetheless.

The Robison is an inexpensive guitar  built by Gibson for Ward’s in the 30’s.  The little Robison looks like the L-00, complete with a lovely Gibson sunburst but has ladder bracing and no adjustable truss rod.   It’s a killer blues beast and light as a feather at around 3 pounds.

Time to get back to the bench and set the angle on a Martin 12 string.

It’s almost inevitable that a guitar will sustain some finish damage sooner or later.

On a new or pristine instrument this is akin to the first door ding on a new car.   You know it’s probably going to happen but when it does……….ugh.

I’ve seen some people near tears about a minor scratch on an inconspicuous spot and some players who can shrug off a foot long skid mark on the soundboard.   Everyone has a different tolerance level and a different expectation level when it comes to repairing the damage.    As any experienced guitar tech will tell you small “spot” repairs have a disconcerting way of growing ever larger.

Before we go further please indulge me a moment.    Guitars are tools to make music and as with any tool they will show ordinary wear and evidence of occasional mis-adventure.   If you have a little nick or a big dent, or any of the usual assortment of surface blemishes that guitars are prone to try to view it in the perspective of a tool that shows wear.    Believe me, virtually no one who is seriously involved in playing or listening to guitars will care even a little bit about some cosmetic flaw in your pride and joy.   Making music is the point of these things, the rest is vanity.   End of editorial.

Three hundred pages could be written about finish repairs so I’ll just skim the surface of the most common repair requests here.

Light scratches that don’t go through the finish to the wood underneath can usually be buffed out to invisibility.

Deep scratches are dealt with by very careful wet sanding followed by buffing which, like the above can be rendered invisible.

Chips, deep abrasions, fractures; When the damage goes through the finish coats to the wood as in a very deep abrasion or a large chip you have a much more complex and expensive repair which no matter how skillfully executed may remain somewhat visible.   The wound can be minimized but probably not made to “go away.” The color and type of finish will dictate the difficulty with these sort of problems.

Solid black or white guitars will be the easiest to repair and any translucent finish will be the hardest.   Fender Butterscotch or that gorgeous Gibson dark ruby red are a couple of colors that can drive even a master finisher nuts when it comes to spot repairs.

In those instances when colors need to be matched even the most perfect job may change with the passage of time.   Light affects most finishes to some extent often causing some darkening or lightening which can, after some time simply call attention to the original area of damage.

Dings and dents, as long as they’re pretty small, like 1/8″ or so can often be nicely repaired by carefully filling the dent with finish material then level sanding and buffing.   Similar to scratches, if the wood underneath the finish ding is not damaged these pesky little dents are fairly easy to deal with.    Darker colors and woods are somewhat more forgiving than pale soundboards or see-through colors.

Cracks are always partnered up with finish damage.   Crack repair is a fairly involved topic with regard to the structural aspect alone.   Cosmetic finish repair over the crack is a complication.    Light colored spruce soundboard cracks are frequently quite hard to render invisible.   I generally let customers know that while the crack can be stabilized and be structurally sound there will probably be some sort of lingering evidence of trauma even with finish repair.   Often I recommend against even attempting finish repair over cracks.

Expectations and reality don’t always mesh nicely.   When I tell customers what to expect on finish repairs I try hard to make sure their expectations are in line with with what can really be done.  This brings to mind the little quote I have pinned up over one of my benches here at TGW.  “Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn’t have to do it himself”.

Refinish or repair is often the question.   Frequently with a solid body such as a Strat or Tele there are so many small finish problems that a refin is a reasonable way to go.   Major refinish work on most acoustic guitars is more problematic but is not the “no-no” that some would have you believe.

In the next blog post I’ll cover the subject of complete and partial refinishing in more detail.

It came as quite a surprise but I just realized that Tecolote Guitar Works has completed its second year.  Here we go to Year Three.   I like the sound of that.

Highlights of ‘09 (aside from still being in business) are first and foremost the steady influx of new customers who have become repeat customers.

It seems that people like the idea of an unmatched level of personal service.  I take as much time as necessary to make sure the right approach is chosen on all jobs and it’s obvious that many customers have never received that level of care on their repair and modification projects.

The two Jack Straw/TGW shop built guitars have been well received and add a new dimension to our offerings.   We will be building a couple of new electric guitars soon.

Another high spot in the year was the arrival of our new pal and TGW mascot, Ripley.   Rip is a splendid young English Bull Terrier who looks forward to meeting you.

Lowlights?  Yes, there have been a few.   The TGW website and all my blog entries were completely destroyed by a malicious hacker.  Tony, my 13 year old Bull Terrier passed on.  Yours truly was slandered on the internationally viewed website of a certain self-appointed genius of the guitar business from North County.  Ask me and I’ll be happy to tell you all about him and his business practices.

Another sad note was the closing of Kevin Kinnear’s  Epic Guitars in Carlsbad.   After working with Kevin for several years I have no doubt that if anyone could have bucked the recession and got a new shop off the ground it would have been him.   Unfortunately there were just too many factors lined up against Epic including a certain amount of obstruction from those threatened by competition.    All of us who know Kevin wish him the best and hope he can stay in the guitar business.

We’re looking forward to 2010 but we really want to thank all of you for making 2009 a great year that has given us a lot to build on.

In particular we want the following individuals to know how valuable their friendship and support has been.   Joshua Blatchley, Dr. John Dodge, Bill Fiedler, R.J. Flood, Kevin Kinnear, Charlie Loach, Erin Matthews, Fred Marotta and the crew at the Zone, Jeannie Needham, Michael Oletta, Wayne Riker, Wil Rule,  Joe Selveen, John Warner, and John Zucca.    You’re the best.