Acoustic Guitar Pickups - LR Baggs Anthem

I often get asked what the best system is for amplifying an acoustic guitar. My answer is usually - how much do you want to spend and what do you plan to do with it?
 For recording I would always use an external mic (mixed with a touch of pickup too sometimes).

 The acoustic guitar is designed to push air out of the soundhole - in front of the guitar is where the "true" sound is. A mic will hear this where as pickup systems just hear a part of that sound.
 But if you're playing live an external mic pins you to the spot - if you move at all the volume will change - that's where you need a pickup.

There are so many systems out there but your basic choices are:

Soundhole magnetic pickup
Undersaddle piezo
Stick on bridge plate pickup (also piezo)
Internal microphone.

There are a huge number of pickups out there with new ones coming on the market all the time.
My favorite system is the LR Baggs Anthem. It combines an undersaddle piezo with an internal mic.
It's not cheap but fore me it's the best.

The "heart" of this system is this rather clever little internal mic.

Here's a link to the LR Baggs site for some more info: http://www.lrbaggs.com/anthem/#details

In my experience internal mics just cause feedback but this one is different, it brings out the character of the guitar without causing problems.

 The rest of the system is all well designed with simple, well labeled plug ins.

Everything attaches to the inside of the guitar using double sided tape so I don't have to make too many holes.

The eq has simple, understated controls.

The battery lives in a pouch which velcros in. It's usually attached to the neck block inside the guitar.

It uses the standard endpin jack.

I'm fitting this one to a Blueridge guitar.

As most of the parts are attached with double sided tape the first thing I do is clean the areas inside the guitar the tape needs to stick to.

 I give these areas a very light sand, clean the dust off using lighter fluid on a rag and seal them with a thin mix of shellac.

 While the shellac is drying I get on to the jack socket mounting.

 Guitar endpins usually come out quite easily though they sometimes need a bit of encouragement with pliers. 

This one was easy.

The hole left is too small for the endpin jack - it needs to be 1/2" diam. This is the only visible hole made in the guitar.
 I put masking tape over the hole to reduce the chance of the finish chipping.
 I drill the first hole using a drill bit that one size larger than the existing hole then keep drilling with larger bits  until I'm at 1/2". This is not the quickest way of doing it but it's the safest.

The fatter threaded part of the jack goes through the hole I've drilled. the length of that part can be adjusted with the nut - endblocks are not a standard size.

It's not always easy getting the jack in - I can just reach on most guitars. Sometimes I need to feed in in with a wire.

This is how it should look - the larger threaded part recessed about 2mm into the hole.

 

Then it's just a case of tightening up the nut.

The Anthem system combines an internal microphone with an undersaddle piezo pickup.

The pickup sits in the bridge saddle slot underneath the saddle. I need to measure the thickness of this pickup and remove the same thickness of material off the bottom of the bridge saddle. If I don't do this I'll be giving the guitar back to the customer with a higher action.
 I mark the saddle using a blade.
I must keep the bottom of the saddle exactly flat and square - any deviation from 'true' and the pickup response will be uneven across the strings.

I use my disc sander for this - taking care not to remove skin from my fingertips.

When I'm happy with the sanding I lightly 'soften' the edges of the saddle using a blade. I only take a tiny bit off just to help it sit in the slot and focus the downward pressure onto the pickup.

You can just see in in this picture.

This pickup requires an angled hole for the wire.

I round off the corner of the hole just in case there's a burr. Undersaddle pickups are very sensitive to any uneven pressure along their length - I don't take any chances.

The pickup fits in the slot

The saddle fits on top of the pickup

I hold the saddle in with a piece of tape until the strings go on. I don't want any dirt getting in there - those pickups are sensitive (did I mention that?).

The microphone mounts to the bridge plate roughly under the saddle.

Before the final fitting I plug it all in and test everything works

The kit comes with clips to keep the internal wiring from rattling about. It's quite common for guitar to come into my workshop with mysterious rattles that turn out to be loose wires vibrating in sympathy.

I fit the control plate to just inside the soundhole - neat eh.

I'm happy it all works and nothing has to come back out so I tighten up the jack socket.

Before fitting the strap hook I protect it with masking tape

I vac any dust out of the guitar give her a fresh set of strings and we're ready to gig.

If you're in New Zealand (and why would you be anywhere else) you can buy an LRBaggs Anthem from NZ Rockshops or through me

   Cheers
      Glyn

I am no longer repairing guitars - since covid 19 I now work full time making pickups

www.mrglynspickups.com

Gibson L-30, a love story

A few months ago a customer walked into my workshop with a very battered guitar. He'd found it in a landfill and it may have been there a while judging by its condition. The back was smashed, the top split but it was undeniably still a beauty. He'd already 'googled' it and knew what he had - a Gibson L-30 from 1938.

 He wanted a repair quote.
The back was in pieces with some sections missing, there were multiple splits in the carved spruce top, the bridge was missing. On the plus side, the neck hadn't been broken and it did have the original tuners (seized) and tailpiece.

I gave him an estimate at which he looked horrified - I could see a lot of hours spent on her. I enjoy jobs like this but I've got to make a living.
 He asked if I wanted to buy it, a price was fixed and he left it with me.

My plan was to do the work and sell her on, make a few dollars.
Now for the real fun - a proper assessment of what I had.

Bit of a mess.

I started by attaching the top braces using my 'go-bar deck' to clamp them.

 Then glue the splits in the top and support them with cleats.

Each piece of the back had to be glued and clamped in stages, a few inches at a time. Any more than this any there was an alignment problem.

By this stage I'd noticed I'd stopped thinking of her for sale on the internet and started picturing her in the corner of my living room. Funny that.
 The back sections took a lot of time to fit together. There was a missing back brace too.
 Slowly but surely.

For each join I added cleats to support it.

The back and sides are made of solid maple coloured to look like rosewood. The red/pink stain went on first and the darker colour after. The idea being to look through the brown to the red and create a deep rosewood colour.
 I had no intention of changing the lacquer at all, I like the old look, she's earned it. I ended up putting a very thin coat of shellac over the whole guitar to seal it and prevent the dried out finish flaking off any more.
 I chose a piece of maple to fill the hole left by the missing piece. It took a long time to carve the edge to marry it up with the two broken pieces but worth it.

So, do I stain the new piece or not? I decided against it. It felt more honest to leave the obvious repair. She'd been left for dead and then somehow survived - I'm happy for her to show the scars, its part of her history.

Now it was just a case of putting her together, un-seizing the tuners, making a bridge and setting her up.

I did take her home, she's become my number one guitar. We're doing our first gig together in July - though I suspect she's done a few in her time.

Cheers
    Glyn

I am no longer repairing guitars - since covid 19 I now work full time making pickups

www.mrglynspickups.com

Fretboard Oil and Guitar Polish - Luthier's Finest

 

 FRETBOARD OIL

.

I often get asked what oil to use on rosewood or ebony fretboards.
There are so many products out there. Over the years I've tried most of them with varying results. So after a lot of research and experimentation I've developed my own.
 I've combined different oils from around the world into what I believe is the best fretboard oil on the market.

 Oiling your board is important - if you never clean your guitar or your strings, never coil your guitar leads up neatly or check your intonation the chances are everything will be fine. If you don't oil a rosewood or ebony board the chances are it will absorb or loose moisture and bad things will happen.
 In damp conditions an un-oiled board will absorb moisture and this can result in back-bow and buzzing especially around the first few frets.
 In dry conditions your board will shrink, frets can lift, the board can crack. When it comes to re-fretting a dry board the wood can just crumble making it hard to re-seat new frets. This poor old Gibson es125 has a cry crumbly board - a big problem to re-fret.

 Oil seals your fretboard preventing moisture problems. Applying the oil cleans and preserves your board helping it look and feel great and making string bending and vibrato easier.
 I've been using this oil a little while now and my customers love it - that's why I've started selling it, popular demand.

When applying the oil only use a little, just moisten the wood. Be aware that if you drench it then some oil can seep under the frets and lift them. A little and often is better than going mad once a year - bit like exercise.

Here's a short vid to show you how:

 I suggest to players they oil their board and clean their guitar every time they change strings. More often would be better but realistically when you change strings is fine.

This is not for use on lacquered maple boards - use guitar polish for that.

 GUITAR POLISH

On the subject of guitar cleaning - I've also developed my own guitar polish. It contains no wax or silicone and leaves no residue, it's biodegradable and odorless. It is suitable for fine nitro-celulose finishes such as on Gibsons or shellac finishes as used on some handmade instruments. I advise using it with a microfiber cloth on most guitars to avoid scratching.
 It only takes a fine spray and a quick wipe to remove most marks. With some older guitars there's a build up of dirt that needs to be cleaned off first.


Both products are available from my workshop, Bungalow Bill's or  www.guitarstuff.co.nz  and soon to be in more guitar shops.
 They come in 125ml bottles - a bottle of each lasts me about 2 months in the workshop, they'd last you years.
  Cheers

      Glyn

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Feel free to contact me about repair work (if you are in NZ). I only check emails weekly so the workshop phone is always the best 09 307 6501.

Workshop Hours

Mon……. 8-6
Tues……. 8-6
Wed…….. Closed
Thurs …..8-6
Fri ……….8-6
Sat/Sun ..Closed

Mr Glyn’s Guitars

  21a Khyber Pass Road

Auckland

New Zealand

http://www.mrglyn.co.nz/

glyn@mrglyn.co.nz

www.facebook.com/MrGlynGuitars

www.mrglyn.blogspot.com

09 307 6501, 021 912678

Fret Stone - Fender Stratocaster

Frets wear.
Eventually they wear out and need replacing.
If the wear is not too deep the frets can be ground down to the lowest point of the wear, re-crowned, polished and the guitar is ready for a few more years playing before re-fretting.
This is called fret dressing, fret stoning or fret leveling - same thing.

One of the most important points to remember is the frets need to be level, if one is higher or lower than the rest there will be buzz in that area.
I cannot stress enough how important this is - you need the right tools and preferably plenty of experience to do this job well.
I'm not writing a 'how to' guide here, just showing what I do for those who are interested. I use this blog primarily to help explain to players what needs to be done to their instrument and keep my replies to email inquiries short.

This nice old '84 Strat came to me for a set up.

I always discuss the guitar with the player when he/she is in the workshop. It is so much easier to understand the problem and hear what they are hearing when we're together with the instrument.
This is why I don't do work for guitar shops, I don't feel I can do my job properly if I can't communicate with the player.
I get to meet a lot of interesting characters that way too.

A lot of the notes sounded 'dead'  especially on the first 3 strings and I could see there was a lot of fret wear.
The strings were sitting in large grooves and buzzing on the fret in front. These grooves were flat on the bottom giving the string an undefined area to vibrate off. With a well crowned, rounded fret the string has a positive 'point' to vibrate off and 'sings'.

  This guitar being a Fender I'm able to unbolt the neck. It makes the job a little easier if I attach it to a dummy body.

I mask off the fretboard to avoid any stray file scratches and to prevent the board getting gooed up with buffing soap later on.

On some maple (therefore lacquered) boards I'll use a low tack masking tape. A lot of 90's Fenders have problems with lacquer peeling off their necks and I don't want to pull any of the finish off when I remove the tape.
I use a marker pen on the frets so I can see the high and low spots .
 To do the leveling work I use a box section steel bar. One face has been machined flat using some pretty sophisticated machinery by an engineering company.
 I don't trust files to be flat and only use them for roughing off large amounts of fret if the wear is really bad.
 I use a thin double sided tape to attach 320grit wet or dry paper to my leveling block. The 320 scratches can be easily taken out later with finer grades before buffing.

I support the neck along its length to prevent any bending and grind the frets evenly to take the wear out. Most necks need some truss rod adjusting to minimize the amount of work needed.

I want to keep the neck straight between frets 1 and 12, remove the wear and have the upper frets falling away slightly.
This is where the experience comes in.
All necks are different so its not easy to explain - a certain amount of 'feel' is required. I'm trying to take the minimum of 'meat' off them but still getting rid of the wear.

When I'm happy with the stoning I need to crown. I mark the frets again with the marker pen and use a metal fretboard guard to protect the board from the file.

I use a triangular fine cut file from www.stewmac.com.

I need to take material from the sides of the fret without touching the top of the crown - a stray file stroke and one fret will be lower than the others. The marker pen helps me see how far I have left to go.
 This takes time.

Once the crowning is done I need to polish the frets up. I sand them with wet and dry paper being very careful to give each fret an even number of strokes with the paper. I go through 320, 400, 600 and 800 grades.
For the final polishing I use the buffing wheel.

It saves a lot of time and gives a great finish. A well crowned, shiny fret is a joy to play on - string bending and vibrato are effortless.
Then I carefully remove the masking tape, clean the fretboard (I prefer lighter fluid for this) and oil it.
The guitar is now ready to be set up. I've written about setting up before:

http://mrglyn.blogspot.com/2009/06/set-up.html

This guitar happens to be a Strat but the same procedure applies to all fretted instruments. If you play it - the frets will wear.

 Just a word of caution- if you don't have the right tools, not sure what you're doing or have no experience with guitar repair you can make quite a mess trying this at home.
I see quite a lot of roughly filed frets and scratched and dented fretboards - just thought I'd mention it  :-)


Cheers
   Glyn

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I am no longer repairing guitars - since covid 19 I now work full time making pickups

www.mrglynspickups.com