Jim's Guitar Workshop

Yan Yang's Dunable in for a setup, as promised. Never even heard of 'em! Nice though - Californian, apparently. And it's got a MASSIVE K**B. Fnarr fnarr.

It's come to that time at Jim's Guitar Workshop when there's sometimes too much work coming in for me to manage - especially if I want to retain my sanity and having a semblance of work life balance.

I've built this business based on the *almost* impossible holy trinity of quality work, done quickly, at reasonable prices, and I don't want to ever let that start to slide. I'm incredibly grateful for each and every client and their guitars, and I always want to maintain the highest level of communication and service that you've come to expect. This means that to continue to grow the business and attract more clients, I'm going to need some help.

if you or anyone you know fancy what could be a long, illustrious and glittering career as a guitar tech, please drop me an email at [email protected] or WhatsApp/text me on 07870677072 and we can go from there.

Obviously, it helps if you can play the guitar. I'd even say that it was essential. It also helps if you at least know that it's righty-tighty and lefty-loosey and have at some point wielded a screwdriver or allen key in anger. You'll need to be organised, diligent and conscientious, with a good eye for detail, and a keen willingness to learn.

You'll no doubt also absolutely LOVE guitars, but don't worry - I'll soon cure you of that. :-)

Get in touch and let's thrash out the details.

Jim

Everyone wants to be a guitar tech until it comes to the wiring..... 😂

Evenin' all!

I've got a new project coming up and I'm looking for a dozen Internet Ninjas to help me out. If you're *active* in guitar groups on Facebook or Reddit, or traditional web forums (such as TheFretboard or Sevenstring) or indeed all three, you might have just the skills that I'm after.

Fancy being part of something interesting that won't actually take up very much of your time? Drop me a message with your mobile phone number (I'll add you to the Whatsapp group), and also let me know which corner of the guitar internet you like to hang around in the most - I'll be aiming to get a good spread to cover all bases.

Obligatory PRS pic for attention. Nice innit? 😁

Anyone that's ever owned a digital camera will probably know all about the issues you can have with battery doors..... Here's a typical guitar example on this Cole Clark acoustic. The 9v battery is held against the internal sprung contacts by the tiny plastic clasp on the battery door. Over time, with UV degradation (or whatever it is) the plastic breaks under the strain and hey presto - it stops working because now the battery isn't making proper contact inside.

What to do (assuming we aren't just going to gaffer tape it shut) ?

Well, you can trawl the internet for a new battery door or preamp fascia, but in many cases they're impossible to find, or there's just one guy in the USA with one, and he wants $400 for it (NO LOWBALLERS - I KNOW WHAT I GOT)

What I prefer to do is reroute the internal power cables that go to the battery and install a convenient external battery holder, like the one shown here - mounted onto the back of the preamp box. It's a bit less convenient to change battery as you need to remove the strings to get to it - but look on the bright side:

It's a good excuse to change your damned rusty old strings, isn't it? :D

Vintage Tele in for a setup. That's nice innit?

Got an ancient plank that's lacking some s***k? Drop me a line.

90's ESP George Lynch "Kamikaze" as promised. 18 year old me would have given ANYTHING for one of these.

Maple body - weighs a ton. Can also be used as a hockey stick.

Ahh, jack sockets, jack sockets, jack sockets. Always coming loose, aren't they? Around they spin, and eventually the wires snap and then you need someone like moi to fix it. You'd think the manufacturers would just spend £0.01 on a lock washer which would prevent it happening, wouldn't you? Well they don't.

I always stick one on tho, so there's that.

Nice Japanese Schecter in for setup. And if you like Japanese guitars, wait 'til next week when I'll be working on a 1990 George Lynch Kamikaze ESP! 🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵

Got a guitar that needs some love (Japanese or otherwise...)? Drop me a line!

Electrical gremlins can get into EVERYTHING 😂. Ohh, but we know where you hide. We know your tricksy ways.

Obviously, being up to my eyeballs in guitars every day, I often play the game of "which one would I buy".

I am a fan of plain, simple, workmanlike guitars that are well made and easy to work on. The problem is, guitars aren't designed to appeal to guitar techs in the same way that cars aren't made for mechanics to enjoy working on. This is made worse by my preference for simple unfussy guitars when it comes to being a player, too.

I quite like some Solar models. I quite like the Mayones that Adam keeps fetching in. And I also like these Strandbergs (although it'd have to be a hardtail model for me). Super small and compact, in a case that looks like it should hold a tennis racket. Relatively easy to string up and tune for a headless. Two pickups, two k***s and a switch. Ergonomic body.

Wouldn't have a green one though. Green is for plants and classic British cars.