A New Neck For A National Glenwood
A beloved long-time friend had been sitting for too long with a broken neck. It was time to bring it back to life. I've been meaning to share this crazy repair for a while. It's a 1960's National Glenwood 95 - one of National's "res-o-glass" models in beautiful bright...
1951 Fender “Nocaster” Telecaster – Restoration
A look at restoring one of the earliest Fender electrics for Pat Sansone of Wilco and The Autumn Defense The members of Wilco make their music in our neighborhood and we're lucky to see lots of beautiful instruments from their vast collections. When...
1965 Fender Jazzmaster Refinish / Restoration
First repair blog in a long time! This one was just too juicy to not write about. We brought a vintage Jazzmaster back to what it should look like after all these years. There was a time when lots of folks were stripping the finish off their 50's and 60's Fender...
Why and How to Humidify Your Guitar – 2015 Edition
"An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure." In this post, we'll break down the best way to protect your guitar in the cool months ahead. Chicago winters kill guitars. The weather gets dry and cold, so we turn on our furnaces - drying out the air in our homes even...
Nels Cline’s WATT -1959 Fender Jazzmaster
Getting Wilco's guitarist's favorite guitar ready to head back on the road. Hard not to be a little star-struck with this one. It's a 1959 Fender Jazzmaster belonging to Nels Cline (Nels Cline Singers, Wilco) that's now known as WATT. Nels got it from Mike Watt (The...
Why We Don’t Have Fixed Amp Repair Prices
"How much does it cost to re-tube & bias my amp?" It's a common question and we don't always have a straight answer. But we promise - we're not being evasive! Some amps are simply harder to work on than others! Case in point, this Hughes & Kettner Duotone...
Guitar Humidifier Season Is Here – 2013
"An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure." In this post, we'll break down the best way to protect your guitar in the cool months ahead. Chicago winters kill guitars. The weather gets dry and cold, so we turn on our furnaces - drying out the air in our homes even...
Vintage 1948 Martin 000-28 Restoration
Coming soon to a Wilco concert near you! This Martin OOO-28 needed the standard work-over for a guitar of that age and man, was it worth the trouble! We love working on old Martins here. They are repairman-friendly and always satisfying when they're finished. This one...
La Cubronita! The Guitar To Be Named Later
Folks are sometimes surprised to hear baseball games rather than music on our radio. It's definitely our other passion. The two worlds collide here, with this gorgeous La Cabronita style Tele that we built to be auctioned off at Cubs President Theo Epstein's Hot Stove...
A Guitar Recycling Story
Last fall we received a donation to our Guitar Recycling program - benefitting Intonation Music Workshop - that blew us away. It will ultimately raise nearly $3000 for the kids learning to play music through IMW. It was this vintage 1974 Fender Strat with the...