Floating bridge & broken strap button :: 1960's Harmony H22

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A recent NYC acquisition of a full-hollow Harmony bass for a Boston area player in the shop for a couple issues.  The plastic tail strap button broke off which makes playing while standing on stage a little difficult (duh).  I removed the broken piece of the acoustic-style endpin, plugged the hole and installed a set of Fender strap buttons.  Another issue was that the floating bridge was skating all over the top so we decided to lock it down with double-sided tape.  The tape should keep the intonation in check and will release with a little naptha if necessary.  Cool bass for sure.

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Uneven frets :: 2015 Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II Pro/NA [6.9 lbs]

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This Epiphone archtop came in for a setup along with a full fret level.  The fixed-top archtop bridge also needed to be properly compensated to keep the flatwound strings playing in tune.  During the final setup I found this annoying B note sympathetic vibration that was tracked down to the bridge tone cap physically vibrating against the pot.  This was a first for me!  Just glad I figured it out as rattles can drive you insane.

Slip sliding bridge :: 1957 Gibson ES-175 [5.7 lbs]

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This nearly 60 year old beast came in strung with 10s which was not enough tension to hold the floating bridge in place during bends and heavy strumming. We switched to 12s that added roughly 40 lbs of tension and locked the bridge down solid. The frets are pretty chewed up so when this guy gets new ones in the future it will play like butter. Love, love this guitar.

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The serial number dates this gorgeous Gibson ES-175 to 1956, but it's most likely a 1957 since research tells me Gibson switched from P90's to humbuckers in 1957.

Setup video from the daily vlog.

Beatle bass bridge fit :: Hofner-style violin bass kit [5.2 lbs]

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This is a violin bass kit that was a made by a woodworking grandfather as a gift to his granddaughter.  It just needed the bridge foot fit a little better, along with straightening the neck and adjusting the nut slots to make it much more playable.  Look at that flame maple top!  This thing is fun!

Check out the video of the bridge fit on yesterday's vlog.

Loose Neck Joint & Bridge Fit :: 1960's Aria Barney Kessel [5.7 lbs]

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Loose Neck Joint & Bridge Fit :: 1960's Aria Barney Kessel [5.7 lbs]

The bridge foot needed to be refit along with a loose neck block re-glued to the top.  The neck pickup was also freaking out, causing feedback and out-of-phase output issues.  I found that the metal cover was split and there was a small section that was vibrating and inducing signal into the pickup.  To fix this I ended up lightly hot gluing the broken cover to keep it in place.  A bone new nut finished off the setup.