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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Component swap :: 1986 Fender MIJ Stratocaster Contemporary [7.9 lbs]

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A local player for a funk band picked up this made in Japan Strat years ago and loves how it plays, but not so much on how it sounds.  He found the original pickups to be lacking output (all pickups 6.0k) so he brought it by the shop to install new guts under the pickgaurd.  The new pickups he supplied are GFS 1963 Strat Texas wound pickups with their outputs reading 6.1k (neck), 6.5k (middle - RW/RP) and 8.6k in the bridge.  The middle pickup's "RW/RP" stands for "reverse wound / reverse polarity" which means that it is hum cancelling when combined with the neck or bridge pickup (positions 2 & 4 on the 5-way switch).  He also supplied CTS pots, a 0.022 µf Orange Drop tone cap, new 5-way switch and Switchcraft output jack.

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bass setup :: 2016 Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass [9.6 lbs]

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A brand spanking new Geddy Lee signature Jazz Bass in for some tweaks.  This has Fender's "Channel Bound" fingerboard, which is where they inlay the fingerboard into the neck.  It's pretty slick!  My only issue would be replacing the nut on this one.  The nut is also inlaid into the neck with the fingerboard binding capturing the ends and sealed under the finish.  I'm not trying to be a pessimist, only analyzing the ease of a common repair requiring a complicated procedure.  That being said, this a great J bass!

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Top crack & fret level :: 2012 Gibson Custom Shop ES-359 [7.2 lbs]

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A custom shop 2012 Gibson ES-359 in for a fret level and an odd top crack.  This is the main guitar for Caton Sollenberger of The Jauntee.  He is heading out on the road starting from Worcester, MA at the end of the month.  The band will be kicking off their fall east coast southern tour.

The final setup video from the vlog:

Laminate top crack :: 2012 Gibson Custom Shop ES-359

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A really odd crack for a laminate top.  This top's outer maple veneer has split and lifted around the bridge pickup rout.  I cleaned out the dirt and fit a splint into the crack along with re-gluing the separated veneer.  It won't be a pretty repair, but it should keep the crack from spreading.