Here's a little history lesson on the ES-225:
2 754 models of the twin pickup, P-90 version were built between the years 1955 and 1959. It featured a laminated maple body, a mahogany neck and a rosewood fingerboard. It's noted as being the first thinline hollowbody electric that Gibson offered and man, they sound sweet!

This particular example is owned and used by a local guitar player in Montreal that gigs it often, along with his Fender Telecaster that's been modified with a B-bender (google it if you don't know what it is, they're super cool!). You can see in the photos the wonderful patina and checkering that the lacquer finish has achieved; it's aged gracefully and beautifully! it doesn't abused it but it also doesn't get super pampered either; he believes that these things should be out and enjoyed by people, and I agree.  Anyway, he brought it to me for a general setup, along with an issue with the bridge staying put with the Bigsby. I did a little thinking and came up with a simple solution: felt. I slid in a section of rigid felt in between the bridge and the pickup to give it a lot more stability and well, it helped! It's not as solid as fixing the bridge to the body but that's not the route the owner wanted to go, as he wanted it to remain original and be able to convert back to factory parts. 

Well, enjoy these photos! This guitar was an absolute joy to work on. I can't wait to see it again some time soon.

What a meticulously built and great playing guitar. 

Handmade in Brazil by master luthier Josino Saraiva, this wonderful guitar is a tone factory. It's all in the details though, this build has it all.

Carved top, carved and contoured back, insane neck heel that just fits the hand perfectly, handmade brass nut, amazing binding, carved recessed for the bridge, volume, and tone knobs...I could keep going.

So this guy came to me just needing a setup. Was a very easy job as fine instruments are rarely difficult to work on. Can't wait to see this again sometime in the future!

So this guy was obviously neglected for quite some time. It didn't have any control knobs, nor a pickup selector. Fortunately everything else on it was in working order; the neck was straight and true and the body wasn't too mangled. After some meticulous cleaning and fixing of various things (take a look at that bridge pickup...) I got it back together and it plays wonderfully now. Back to your owner you go!

Never thought I'd actually see one of these up close, let alone restore one! For those that don't know what this is, it's a fairly rare foray by Fender into the shredder market. They hit the nail on the head by making a solid, well rounded, fast neck, easy playing guitar that sounds like a TON of bricks. Too bad they never caught on. What a journey and a pleasure this guitar was to work on.

First, the customer came to me with the idea of getting a matching bass and guitar and doing any necessary repairs or restoration needed to make the guitar as close to original as possible. The guitar came first and there wasn't much to do with it. The body and neck were in great shape. There were a couple of minor things to work out and the whole guitar, mostly the hardware, needed a generous cleaning. Electrically, the coil split switch was shot so that needed to be replaced with a new DPDT switch and a couple of small things needed resoldering. The bridge was missing a fine tune adjustment knob and the trem bar, and the nut lock was missing one of the bolts and lock plates. Apparently those parts aren't cheap! I won't go into too much detail but those parts alone were 1/5 the value of the price paid for the guitar. Kind of nutty!

So, the switch was replaced and then the whole guitar was stripped of its hardware for a full cleaning and detailing. The hardware was pretty grimy, the bridge being particularly gross. Everything got broken down into basic parts and cleaned then reassembled and lubricated (where needed). Once back together, it was restrung with medium Elixir strings and given a full setup.

What a beast! This thing does everything from classic Strat tones to fat, almost Les Paul tones. The coil splitting option is its secret weapon; the options with it make the guitar incredibly versatile and usable in a huge amount of settings. Plays like a dream too. The tremolo system was pretty well thought out too. I can't see why this guitar didn't take off in the 80's when it was made...   

Here's another interesting one! This was actually designed before the guitar and was intended to be the Elite version of the Jazz Bass. Either way, it's a pretty special instrument. Very few were produced and actually made it in the hands of customers...something like 800 (don't quote me on that!) There were 2 models produced, one being the “Standard” and the other being the “Elite.” The Elite had 3 single pickups and was made in the US; the Standard was made in Japan. Alright, enough history lesson! Let's talk about this one in particular.

This was bought by the same person who owns the Performer guitar as he wanted a set! Managed to find the same tobacco burst for both out of a stroke of luck. The finishes on both are just simply gorgeous up close.

So, this bass...needed a bit of work. Let's put it this way: I plugged it in and it made a noise. Not a good one, but a noise. It went hand in hand with the LAMP WIRE I FOUND INSIDE. Yeah, both of us were a little shocked when I discovered this. So, out that went and in went some more traditional wiring along with a full setup and obvious cleaning. It wasn't neglected so it wasn't too bad; I'm pretty sure it spent most of its days in the case that it came with.

Everything all said and done, it's back in great working order and is all original, minus a couple of wires. I simply adore the neck on this thing...it's narrow and fat and fits my hand just right!

I got to hang out with this newer Strat a while ago and was honestly quite surprised at how many features were jammed into this particular model: locking tuners, roller nut (to help with keeping things in tune with the-->), 2 point tremolo bridge, a cool push button on the volume knob to change the character of the tone circuit (though eliminates the tone controls when selected), strap locks...you get the idea. Without this sounding too much like a commercial (though I'm sure it does!) I'll stop and just do a little review of the guitar and what I did.

So, this came to me with some terrible setup done. Basicly, it sat for a while and got completely out of whack. Bridge was high, springs weren't tensioned properly and the action was nuts. The neck was also pretty scooped into a nut bow. Fortunately, none of that was irreversible so, away I went! I set it to factory spec and it played like a dream!

So, here's the usual before and after shots. I only wish I has a need for such a guitar, I'd maybe take one as a gift... :D

This beautiful gem came to me from a friend of mine that had issues with the neck pocket and, as a result, needed some pretty gnarly work. It seems that from the factory it came with the neck pocket routed pretty poorly and too low on the body side so it needed to be filled and flattened. The bass itself was in immaculate condition barring that; it definitely didn't look like it was 30 years old! So, I filled the neck pocket with wood filler then painfully worked it back until it was flat and uniform. It took some time but eventually I got it to where I like it. Put some black nylon flat wound strings on it and gave it full service and tune up. What a gem!

Side note: the electronics on it weren't standard P-Bass controls; it had the TBX tone circuit in it, found normally on Clapton Strats. Very interesting mod on a bass. It definitely added a nice character to it.  

Here's an amazing guitar. It came to me from a customer complaining of poor action. It came setup from the factory in a not so awesome manner. I really think that what happened was that the shop he bought it from set it up before the purchase was made (in between him trying it and buying it) and they just messed it up real good!

So, it was a pretty straight forward clean/setup. Polished the frets, oiled the fretboard, set the pickup heights, adjusted the tremolo and did the string heights, neck relief and string change. There were a couple of loose things here and there so it all got tightened up and made to play better than new!

Considering how young the guitar was, it was a very nice and easy guitar to work on. I wish there were more projects like this!

To this date, this guitar is the one that turned around the most. It came to me almost unplayable. The action was ridiculously high (for those that speak inches, it was 11/64” on the bass side and 10/64” on the treble) due to a piezo pickup being installed under the saddle that wasn't accounted for by the installer...it apparently came from the factory like this! Chopped that sucker DOWN. Well, painstakingly filed and sanded that sucker down.

The bridge was also routed pretty poorly so the saddle was loose in the slot. I took some veneer and shaped it to match the curve of the bridge so the saddle would fit snugly in the slot.

Even with these setbacks the guitar was still played and was quite dirty and needed the normal TLC all the guitars that pass through here get.

The pickup needed to be adjusted too; the electronics were dirty and tangled in the guitar. That got sorted out.

End result? A FANTASTIC piece of wood! This guitar just sings. Put Elixir mediums on it...definitely worth it.

So this guy came to me with tuning problems and no strap buttons because the had broken off. Holes got drilled and filled and drilled again. After that got sorted, I went to work on the tuning issue. The tuners had some grease on them, likely due to the owner trying to lubricate the tuners (or doing something extra curricular with it...I don't ask questions). I got them cleaned up, along with the rest of the guitar and also crowned a couple of frets that had some decent dents in them. After that it was a simple setup! The action was almost flat when I got it so that got sorted out pretty quickly. The intonation got a lot better after that was done.

The pickups were awesome! I've played Lace Sensors before but these had a certain character that I'd not noticed in them before; a certain midrange drive that was really pleasant. Still, they were classic Lace Sensors and were clear as a bell.  

Gibson Les Paul:

This was one hell of a fun project. It started with a very nice, if slightly neglected, 1991 Les Paul. It started with a Bigsby tremolo installation. I recommended installing Grover locking tuners and a Tusq self-lubricating nut to help with tuning (later, after installing all that, the bridge rocked in a very poor manner so we swapped in a Schaller roller bridge). After some back and forth, we both decided that the aesthetics needed a refreshing, and since Tom had already changed the pick guard for a black one, we went with changing the hardware for black stuff. Pickup surrounds, top hat knobs, pickup selector knob and surround, and nut were all swapped for black versions. The pickup surrounds were shaped to the top so they fit properly. 

After this, and some more words exchanged, the owner decided to swap pickups and do a vintage rewire. I sourced some vintage-style caps, some nice CTS pots, some push back wire and Tom acquired some Wolfetone pickups. The rest was just the usual cleaning and polishing. What a fun custom job! Real nice to play too...

This was an interesting bass. It needed some electrical work done on it and also a setup but the customer really loved the strings that were on it. Hurdles are meant to be jumped over, right?

Electrically speaking it was very noisy, even for a Jazz bass! I got to work shielding the pickup cavities with copper and making sure everything was grounded and solid. After some discussion with the owner we decided that modifying the controls would yield the most consistent and sought after results. So, out with the 2 volume, 1 tone and in with the 1 volume, 1 tone, and 1 detent blend pot! It was wired so the volume and tone are global and the blend pot split between the 2 pickups with the center being both on full and, with that, humbucking.

The setup was interesting. I found a gauge of string that matched what he had on there and set it up according to what he asked. I didn't want to set it up with the strings he had on there because they were over 10 years old and he really wanted them to stay in tact so I didn't want to risk a breakage! I eventually got him to keep the new strings on though...they were way brighter than what was on there but felt so much better. After a bit of wear I'm sure they'll get back to their dull, round selves!

This Lakland was DAF (dirty as f***!). Being a fretless, the fingerboard needed a good amount of cleaning done to restore the feel of the bass. After that, I followed up with a nice oiling and cleaned the body. The action was high so I took it down just a touch and now it makes some lovely sounds. It also had some issue with the on board preamp.

Somehow the bias was set to stun so the output was very high and distorted everything it was plugged into. The battery box was also very crusty since the battery that was in it leaked. All that was taken care of and now all is right with this lovely instrument.

Wow, what a filthy guitar! It's a well used axe but lacked some much needed TLC. It played well when I first got it but needed a bit of adjustment to make a shine. It got a nice cleaning, fret polishing and gunk removal. All was oiled and polished and made to look and play as new. 

Along with the fact that this bass had sat for a length of time and was covered in grime, the neck had developed a massive nut bow and twist. While there wasn't much I could do for the twist (and Warwick says that a slight twist is normal in these neck) the nut bow made the bass unplayable.

The neck sat in a jig for about a week before it could finally be strung and setup within factory spec. So, with that, the brass frets were polished (and look absolutely killer), fretboard was scrubbed and oiled, the body cleaned and waxed, and a full setup was done. Was a labour of love and worth it since it now plays like new.

This was a bit of a project. Overall this guitar was needing some pretty serious work. None of the electronics worked, the fretboard was in the middle of a revolt against the neck, the nut was wrecked, and it was DAF.  I had to replace the pickup selector, rewire 2 pickups, the output jack, the nut and the knobs. It was a mess.

This was a simple job of cleaning and setting up. It played pretty decently but needed a little work. Was super dirty so I had to strip all of the moving parts (tuners, saddle, and nut) and scrape the fretboard to get the grime off. Now she plays and sounds wonderfully!

This is a fantastic guitar. Originally a left handed model, Pierre wanted to just keep it as is but I insisted to at least swap the nut so it'll play properly. Being old, it needed some elbow grease to loosen up some dirt that was on there. I love old instruments though; when oiled or waxed, they just look and feel amazing. This guitar is from 1981 so it's got some years on it and needed to be tended to properly. The neck has a hump where it meets the body but since it is a bolt on, it was easy enough to straighten things out a bit. The sound though; wow! This guitar is going to get a good bit of playing. It feels buttery and sounds so smooth.

This rare and slightly odd Canadian example was actually assembled in USA. This guitar was made some time in the early 90's, back when Godin was still trying to get their footing in the market and (this is an assumption on my part) figured that having USA on their guitar would move more units...it didn't really work. Either way though, this guitar is pretty decent! It also happens to belong to my brother. He didn't know it at the time, but the bridge on it is a super duper pain in the ass to change strings on (an early Floyd Rose model). I swapped it out for a fast loader Floyd Rose and did a complete setup on it, also cleaning out the electronics and fixing the interesting tone circuit on it. Originally I had planned on swapping out the circuit for a simple push pull pot but the results weren't too fantastic so I opted to fix the board and get it working again. Now back to the whammy goodness it was intended for!

This guy...needed some decent TLC! 

Not much to say about this guitar in particular; it was a pretty standard setup. Had to do some work on the nut as the low E decided it didn't like staying in tune very much. It otherwise sounds and plays like a really nice Gibson! Enjoy!