Fylde Octavius Bouzouki [3.5 lbs] :: setup

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Fylde Octavius Bouzouki [3.5 lbs] :: setup

This Irish bouzouki came in for a setup where the player was looking to experiment with string gauges.  He wanted to go heavier on the 1st and 2nd courses (each tuned unison D & A respectively).  The 3rd course was originally tuned to a D octave, but the player wanted more punch and emphasis on the fundamental (less upper harmonics / chorus) to accommodate his melodic  runs on those strings.  The octave string's nut slot was enlarged to for a bigger string so that this 3rd string course could be tuned in unison D (same larger string gauge).

I'm making this sound way more confusing than it really is ...  :)  For those that are unsure, strings are numbered from the highest pitch to the lowest, so in the photo above, right (1) to left (4).  Oh and courses are groups of strings that can be considered one "note" (or interval / chord depending on the number of strings per course).  Now I'm really confusing you, aren't I?

1960's Teisco May Queen [7.6 lbs] :: rewire & setup

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1960's Teisco May Queen [7.6 lbs] :: rewire and setup

A player found this in the trash and brought it by to get it playing.  The electronics were rewired and the frets were loose and glued down.  I shot another quick video to keep up on my video editing practice so keep an eye out for it on the blog.

Loose frets :: 1960's Teisco May Queen

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Loose frets :: 1960's Teisco May Queen

Just about every fret end on this neck is "sprung" and needs to be glued and clamped back down.  Not ideal, but it will hopefully make it more playable and save the player some cash on a total refret (which it could use as the frets are fairly low).