United Lutherie Blog

1965 Firebird!

gene — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:39:07 +0000

As always, it seems like we are too busy to blog! We've had tons of great stuff come through recently. A customer brought in a 1929 Gibson A-4 mandolin that looked like it stepped out of a time machine...it even had the original skeleton key to its case! Erick scored a sweet old Kalamazoo KG-1A that I'm sure he'll be sharing pics of soon. Plus Jon restored a super cool blond '62 Fender Tremolux and is now servicing a '69 Ampeg B25B. One of the cooler things we've seen lately is the '65 Gibson Firebird! We love working on vintage gear...Keep it coming!

Dr. Z Day!

gene — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:23:47 +0000

Our pal, Matt First from 3rd Street Music in Marietta came over to let us try out a couple of Dr. Z amps. He’s a smart guy, cause now we have to have one! Ok…we have to have 2.

We tried out some of our favorite guitars, through a SRZ65 and a Carmen Ghia. Then we compared them to some of our favorite amps…a Burris Royal Bluesman, and the all mighty 1967 Marshall Plexi.

The SRZ was great, but we absolutely loved the Carmen Ghia! Perfect combination of tone, volume, and simplicity.

Here’s Erick playing the ’55 Les Paul Jr. through it.

Our pal, Matt First from 3rd Street Music in Marietta, Ohio came over to let us try out a couple of Dr. Z amps. He's a smart guy, cause now we have to have one. Ok...we have to have two! We tried out some of our favorite guitars, through a SRZ65 and a Carmen Ghia. Then we compared them to some of our favorite amps...a Burris Royal Bluesman, and the All Mighty 1967 Marshall Plexi. The SRZ was great, and we absolutely loved the Carmen Ghia! Perfect combination of tone, volume, and simplicity. Here's Erick playing the '55 Les Paul Jr. through an orange and salt & pepper grilled Dr. Z Carmen Ghia!

gene — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:55:47 +0000

We are excited to introduce the newest member of United Lutherie, Jon Fluharty! Jon is a skilled tube amp technician and aspiring amp builder. He's just finished an 18 watt 6L6 all tube head that sounds fantastic! In between amp work Jon is also helping us out with guitar work....lucky for us he's turning out to be quite a fine luthier too! So, we welcome Jon and invite you all to bring us your tube amp work!

Two of a kind!

gene — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:52:55 +0000

Erick was in Santa Rosa last week for the 9th annual Healdsburg Guitar Festival. A big highlight among the many activities that surround the event was the party at archtop builder Tom Ribbecke’s place. The get together has become festival protocol and attracts all sorts of guitar folks from miles around. This year author/collector Robb Lawrence brought this beauty to the bash, a mint condition 1966 Fender Jaguar in silver sparkle, with original hang tags. Custom made for Del Shannon, this was one of two made in this finish that year. Too cool!

Custom one off!

gene — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:08:03 +0000

Gene is finishing up a custom one off, a replica of pre-war era Martin D-18 style Dreadnought steel string. Assembled with hot hide glue and forward X-braced, this thing is sure to be a banjo killer. In this shot Gene cutting the custom peghead inlay by hand.

The company you keep.

gene — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 08:29:46 +0000

Erick was out in Tacoma last week where he conducted a workshop at the GAL convention along with New York repairman Evan Gluck. The two covered refining the set-ups of new electric guitars.
In addition to the convention they attended the Seattle Luthiers Group meeting, made a trip up the Warmoth factory in Puyallup and then went down to Olympia to spend some time in Dave Johnson’s restoration shop. This guy really has it going on down there, one of the best in the business! Here’s a shot of Erick and Dave after a massive Les Paul geek fest.

Late 30′s coolness

gene — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 15:10:10 +0000

Mando great David Grisman recently sent a super rare (1 of 2) 1938 Gibson SPF-5 electric mandolin to Don MacRostie to go over. The electronics were DOA so Don gave us a call to see if we could help get it back up and running.
The pickup is a mini version of the famed Charlie Christian pickup. The notches in the blade indicates it was made in late 1938. This change went down around the same time production switched from AWG 38 wire to AWG 42 to get more output.
Erick packed up some tools and took a field trip to Don’s to check it out. After digging in it was apparent that the coil wire had corroded over the years and shorted itself out. A rewind was inevitable. The pickup turned out great and will be on it’s way back to David as soon as Don finishes some structural work. Thanks for calling us to help out on this one, Don!

Stubborn vintage

gene — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:00:16 +0000

Gene puts the final touches on a ’79 Music Man Sting Ray bass that came in for a truss rod replacement. The owner snapped the original truss rod nut off trying to adjust it straight. This neck was like a noodle under tension, probably a funky piece of wood to start with. With a new rod and frets, this neck will be back in action in no time!

International travels

gene — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:38:24 +0000

This 1966 Jazzmaster neck was shipped to us all the way from Athens, Greece. The owners tech, Nikos sent it in for a refret and new bone nut.
The job went great, Nikos replied it was “the cleanest refret job i’ve ever seen on a -now- very easy to adjust neck”. From one tech to another, these words mean a lot!!

Troubleshooting a ’60 Jazzmaster

gene — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:27:22 +0000

Neko Case contacted us from the road saying she was having trouble with her main 6-stringer, a ’60 Jazzmaster.
Erick met up with Neko and her tech Justin Crockett when they played the Nelsonville Music Festival last May. A preliminary evaluation turned up nothing odd but Neko was still certain she wasn’t hearing the tone she was used to. Once the tour wrapped up she sent the guitar to us for a more thorough inspection.
Working on the electronics in these old Fenders is a delicate job. The celluloid pickguards in most cases have shrunken over the years, and they continue to shrink when you take them off. Erick could only have this guard off the guitar for 10 minutes at a time before it started to constrict around the pickups. After 3 quick looks under the hood he changed a funky cap and a well worn switch before sending it back. After playing it she said “My Jazzmaster is AWESOME!!, Thanks so much!!”
What a set of ears she has on her, that’s what we like to hear!