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re: Paging Fret Shack... The Luthier's Workshop Thread
Posted on 3/3/26 at 2:26 pm to TheFretShack
Posted on 3/3/26 at 2:26 pm to TheFretShack
quote:
Many of you may not know, but I am no longer at the helm of The Fret Shack in Baton Rouge. Our pickup company, Carondelet, has grown exponentially since it launched in 2020, so much that I could no longer do both Carondelet and Fret Shack and give each company or its clients their due.
So late last year, I handed off The Fret Shack's workload and oversight to my daughter and my future son-in-law so I could focus solely on Carondelet.
Both Caitlin and Patrick are graduates of Roberto-Venn, the most prestigious luthiery school in North America. Their workshop - still named The Fret Shack at the present - is also in south Baton Rouge, in a facility twice the size of mine. Caitlin and Patrick have 2x the brains and skillsets, 2x the energy, 2x the work space and instrument storage, and most importantly 2x speed in services fulfillment. And they still have me behind the scenes as a senior advisor/tribal elder when needed. Truth be told, our clients have never had it better.
Sounds like you guys are working hard and living the American Dream.
Continued success to you and yours
0
Posted on 3/4/26 at 9:27 am to auggie
quote:
I recently installed a Bigsby on my Les Paul jr.
I'm not playing it a lot but it is staying in tune.
The bridge situation was tricky, because most bridges used for that are right at 3 inches between the post centers (The Jr bridge posts are a little over 3 1/4"), so what I ended up doing was using this Wilkinson compensated wraparound bridge.
Interesting Auggie. I'd like to avoid having my luthier do any drilling, but I'm more curious what your thoughts are on the quality of the merchandise Guitar Fetish sells. Thanks bud.
Posted on 3/4/26 at 10:51 am to Mizz-SEC
quote:
I'm more curious what your thoughts are on the quality of the merchandise Guitar Fetish sells. Thanks bud.
Any of the "Wilkinson" branded stuff is generally good quality. They are a brand to themself. GFS just sells it.
I have one of the GFS splitable mini-humbuckers in that same guitar. It's surprisingly good. I might keep it in there. It only cost 40 bucks.
I have one of the XGP thinline telly bodies that is a beauty, it just has 1 neck screw hole that was drilled off location. Easy fix, but still aggravating. It was cheap though.
That's about all I've used from them.
That other company I told you about, "Music City Bridge", that's top shelf stuff. That's Joe Glaser.
Posted on 3/4/26 at 12:13 pm to TheFretShack
quote:
Between the buzz tied to Carondelet getting its first ink in Premier Guitar Magazine last month and prep for the upcoming spring guitar shows in Nashville and Dallas, I am spending a lot more time nowadays winding pickups and a lot less time on the Internet!
Damn! That pickups sounds fantastic.
Posted on 3/6/26 at 9:42 pm to Mizz-SEC
Hey! This is Patrick from the Fret Shack.
I see that a couple of people have already responded, but I'll still put in my two cents.
Any point of contact is where friction can be introduced and cause binding, which in turn will affect tuning stability i.e the tuners, nut, bridge, and in the case of Biggby's, the roller for the tail piece.
While all these points of contact may cause issue my guess would be the Tune-O-Matic style bridge. Due to the downward angle of the string from the bridge to tail piece, it wants to bind in the saddle. sometimes from the factory, they don't cut the saddle slots well, leaving them with hard edges that the string can catch on. Recutting and polishing the saddle slots will help, but nothing will beat a roller bridge, which should be a vast improvement to tuning stability.
Another upgrade to do would be the front roller. There are a couple of different systems, but I've seen that the Callaham upgrade seems the easiest to obtain and install.
If your issue continues, I would take a look at the nut could just be that the nut isn't cut properly.
I see that a couple of people have already responded, but I'll still put in my two cents.
Any point of contact is where friction can be introduced and cause binding, which in turn will affect tuning stability i.e the tuners, nut, bridge, and in the case of Biggby's, the roller for the tail piece.
While all these points of contact may cause issue my guess would be the Tune-O-Matic style bridge. Due to the downward angle of the string from the bridge to tail piece, it wants to bind in the saddle. sometimes from the factory, they don't cut the saddle slots well, leaving them with hard edges that the string can catch on. Recutting and polishing the saddle slots will help, but nothing will beat a roller bridge, which should be a vast improvement to tuning stability.
Another upgrade to do would be the front roller. There are a couple of different systems, but I've seen that the Callaham upgrade seems the easiest to obtain and install.
If your issue continues, I would take a look at the nut could just be that the nut isn't cut properly.
Posted on 3/7/26 at 3:29 am to FretShackPatrick
quote:
FretShackPatrick
You ever seen a Leprechaun?
Posted on 3/7/26 at 7:26 pm to FretShackPatrick
Thanks Patrick and thank you for registering to answer questions. I play with a luthier every Friday and bought a cheap (returnable) roller bridge to try out. Well he put the bridge on and intonated it. It still went sharp and then he started experimenting.
First he sanded and graphited the nut slots to no improvement. Then he widened the low E and then replaced that string from a set of 9s with a coated version from a set of 10s and still went sharp. Then he had an old neck with some locking tuners so he replaced the low E tuner, tuned up, and it still went sharp.
So he took everything back to original except the bridge. And guess what? It held tune for most of the night. I'm still going to replace the nut with a GraphTech TUSQ if I can ever get confirmation of which one to buy. Maybe you could help me with it.
Here's the link to what I bought LINK. The spec on nut is 1.6875 inches. Any idea which one fits? TIA
First he sanded and graphited the nut slots to no improvement. Then he widened the low E and then replaced that string from a set of 9s with a coated version from a set of 10s and still went sharp. Then he had an old neck with some locking tuners so he replaced the low E tuner, tuned up, and it still went sharp.
So he took everything back to original except the bridge. And guess what? It held tune for most of the night. I'm still going to replace the nut with a GraphTech TUSQ if I can ever get confirmation of which one to buy. Maybe you could help me with it.
Here's the link to what I bought LINK. The spec on nut is 1.6875 inches. Any idea which one fits? TIA
Posted on 3/8/26 at 8:36 am to FretShackPatrick
Thank you Patrick!
I had never played a Gretsch before this one but always loved those rockabilly tones and this one didn't disappoint. Even my luthier pal commented on it Friday. Those Blacktop Filter'Tron pick-ups have the plunk to get the drippy surf sounds but also have the clarity (and fullness, his words) to play other rock stuff.
The cheapie roller bridge raised the action a little but not enough to be glaringly noticeable. So if the tuning issues continue after the new nut, I'll probably get the BiggsFixx device to reduce that ridiculous break angle behind the bridge. After that would be a toss up, but thank you again for your advice on which one to purchase.
I had never played a Gretsch before this one but always loved those rockabilly tones and this one didn't disappoint. Even my luthier pal commented on it Friday. Those Blacktop Filter'Tron pick-ups have the plunk to get the drippy surf sounds but also have the clarity (and fullness, his words) to play other rock stuff.
The cheapie roller bridge raised the action a little but not enough to be glaringly noticeable. So if the tuning issues continue after the new nut, I'll probably get the BiggsFixx device to reduce that ridiculous break angle behind the bridge. After that would be a toss up, but thank you again for your advice on which one to purchase.
Posted on 3/8/26 at 9:47 am to Mizz-SEC
quote:you might like this here’s Brian Setzer talking about his Gretsch guitars and why he likes them so much
I had never played a Gretsch before this one but always loved those rockabilly tones and this one didn't disappoint.
Posted on 3/23/26 at 10:25 pm to cgrand
I just thought I'd update this thread and then throw something else on the wood pile...
The GraphTech TUSQ nut did help, although my luthier buddy did the exact opposite of what I hoped he would do: rather than remove product from the bottom, he glued it into place and started filing the slots and removing product from the top. I couldn't bring myself to tell a man who's been doing something 40 years how to do his job based on something I read. So I let him do it and figured if the guitar kept going sharp then I would get another nut, tell him what I read, and request he try by leaving the nut slots as is and removing product from the bottom.
Onto another topic... I was given a beat up $100 Yamaha acoustic guitar a couple of years ago and for the first time ever enjoyed playing one, but the depth of the body was cutting off the circulation to my arm. So I passed it on to a friend and bought a Firefly acoustic with a beveled upper arm cut. It played easier, but over time started to feel cheap and tinny.
Anyway a store had a crazy sale on Yamaha Transacoustic guitars so I bought an FS-TA Concert sized based on the playability of the cheap Yamaha and I'm completely in love. It came with Elixir 80/20 Bronze .10-.47 strings and plays like a dream. It projects like crazy with or without the enhanced electronics. The only one available in Concert size was a ruby red model (I preferred natural) but I went ahead and bought it and none of the on-line pictures did it justice. It's gorgeous and I can't stop playing it. All the pics make it look like it's flat red and it's anything but. But the key is how well it plays and sounds.
Do any of you guys own a Yamaha? It appears they have a rep of punching above their price tags.
The GraphTech TUSQ nut did help, although my luthier buddy did the exact opposite of what I hoped he would do: rather than remove product from the bottom, he glued it into place and started filing the slots and removing product from the top. I couldn't bring myself to tell a man who's been doing something 40 years how to do his job based on something I read. So I let him do it and figured if the guitar kept going sharp then I would get another nut, tell him what I read, and request he try by leaving the nut slots as is and removing product from the bottom.
Onto another topic... I was given a beat up $100 Yamaha acoustic guitar a couple of years ago and for the first time ever enjoyed playing one, but the depth of the body was cutting off the circulation to my arm. So I passed it on to a friend and bought a Firefly acoustic with a beveled upper arm cut. It played easier, but over time started to feel cheap and tinny.
Anyway a store had a crazy sale on Yamaha Transacoustic guitars so I bought an FS-TA Concert sized based on the playability of the cheap Yamaha and I'm completely in love. It came with Elixir 80/20 Bronze .10-.47 strings and plays like a dream. It projects like crazy with or without the enhanced electronics. The only one available in Concert size was a ruby red model (I preferred natural) but I went ahead and bought it and none of the on-line pictures did it justice. It's gorgeous and I can't stop playing it. All the pics make it look like it's flat red and it's anything but. But the key is how well it plays and sounds.
Do any of you guys own a Yamaha? It appears they have a rep of punching above their price tags.
Posted on 3/23/26 at 10:57 pm to Mizz-SEC
Yamaha makes really good acoustic guitars. I have an AC5R. It's a joy to play and the electronics are great too.
This post was edited on 3/23/26 at 11:00 pm
Posted on 3/24/26 at 12:51 am to Mizz-SEC
I think most of have owned Yamaha guitars. Nearly always a great guitar.
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