Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
So Stew Mac sells a nice little thingie you push down on a pot to direct your favorite cleaning fluid down into the pot, Deoxit, or whatever you like.
They want $34 for this little jewel, not threaded but O-ringed, still a bit much, and there's a gunsmith that sells a pair on eBay, threaded - SAE/Metric - for near $30 shipped with tax, but I needed one right now so a little light came on, heatshrink in the appropriate size.
The reason I needed this - I usually shoot pots from the control cavity - is that my recent Dano toy has the copper foil encapsulated control assembly held with the original tape, maybe the only part of the guitar that wasn't messed with by some wannabe repairman/busybody, and I generally don't like to open these at all and the tone pot was funky and almost inoperative.
And on archtops/semi hollow bodies, you need this tool, no back access.
I already know my particular spray doesn't hurt finish, but always check before doing something really stupid. I cut a hole in a Scott shop towel, held the heat shrink tubing in place - hold it down tight or better yet, get it to thread on a but, and sprayed the pots, one at a time, letting the fluid drain down, then lifting the Scott towel and spinning the pot with it. No matter how easy your spray is on finishes, makes sure you get every trace of it off.
Rinse and repeat a couple time and the totally funky tone pot freed up nice, and a check through the amp reveals 100% quiet pot that goes from dark to bright like it's supposed to.
Mission accomplished, cost maybe $.25?
Next up my fancy bridge pin puller. I'm not big on using the slot provided in your typical tuning key spinner, especially if they are stuck, and not into using dikes at all, so I use this little fork tool, a tinier version of the automotive door panel tool for those familiar, and I like to use a little cardstock on the bridge wood to prevent marring.
This is it here, really a nice bridge pin tool of you can find one. No name or model # on it, just some old USA thing, really works awesome, will dislodge any pin without cussing or even breaking a sweat.
Here it is with my everlasting favorites, a couple Snap On Electronics Service pliers that are spring loaded, the perfect tools for string changes.
And lastly, I like to use a Capo a lot, not for playing, but to hold strings in place at the nut while working on the guitar, I coil all six strings together so they don't tangle up or get in the way, and then slip them into the curly part of the Kyser capo arm, perfect ;]
The silver strings are Martin Monels, suprisingly great sounding strings. 1978 D25 with pro installed Grovers "tulip key" tuners, what a tone machine!
The saddle on same guitar. Nut and saddle were just beautiful work. Refreshing to see top notch level work done on an entry level Guild.
They want $34 for this little jewel, not threaded but O-ringed, still a bit much, and there's a gunsmith that sells a pair on eBay, threaded - SAE/Metric - for near $30 shipped with tax, but I needed one right now so a little light came on, heatshrink in the appropriate size.
The reason I needed this - I usually shoot pots from the control cavity - is that my recent Dano toy has the copper foil encapsulated control assembly held with the original tape, maybe the only part of the guitar that wasn't messed with by some wannabe repairman/busybody, and I generally don't like to open these at all and the tone pot was funky and almost inoperative.
And on archtops/semi hollow bodies, you need this tool, no back access.
I already know my particular spray doesn't hurt finish, but always check before doing something really stupid. I cut a hole in a Scott shop towel, held the heat shrink tubing in place - hold it down tight or better yet, get it to thread on a but, and sprayed the pots, one at a time, letting the fluid drain down, then lifting the Scott towel and spinning the pot with it. No matter how easy your spray is on finishes, makes sure you get every trace of it off.
Rinse and repeat a couple time and the totally funky tone pot freed up nice, and a check through the amp reveals 100% quiet pot that goes from dark to bright like it's supposed to.
Mission accomplished, cost maybe $.25?
Next up my fancy bridge pin puller. I'm not big on using the slot provided in your typical tuning key spinner, especially if they are stuck, and not into using dikes at all, so I use this little fork tool, a tinier version of the automotive door panel tool for those familiar, and I like to use a little cardstock on the bridge wood to prevent marring.
This is it here, really a nice bridge pin tool of you can find one. No name or model # on it, just some old USA thing, really works awesome, will dislodge any pin without cussing or even breaking a sweat.
Here it is with my everlasting favorites, a couple Snap On Electronics Service pliers that are spring loaded, the perfect tools for string changes.
And lastly, I like to use a Capo a lot, not for playing, but to hold strings in place at the nut while working on the guitar, I coil all six strings together so they don't tangle up or get in the way, and then slip them into the curly part of the Kyser capo arm, perfect ;]
The silver strings are Martin Monels, suprisingly great sounding strings. 1978 D25 with pro installed Grovers "tulip key" tuners, what a tone machine!
The saddle on same guitar. Nut and saddle were just beautiful work. Refreshing to see top notch level work done on an entry level Guild.
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