Hi everyone,

strange days continue...!

April, which went by under the heavy restrictions, was quiet as far as in-coming work was concerned. I caught up on a lot of the backlog of repairs, but mainly just the regular weekly and fortnightly stuff.

When the virus hit, it seemed  as if we'd all be locked away for a few months.  A hassle for almost everyone, but an opportunity for me to get a lot of the long-term repairs and restorations done!

Strangely, it didn't work out like that. Aargh!

As soon as dear Gladys announced that restrictions would be lifted in May, it was like a switch was thrown.  A LOT or work came in! Chaos! I am more-or-less back on the usual schedule for the week-by-week stuff such as set-ups, wiring etc.; but still rather swamped by the long-term bigger jobs.

I have the shop open on Tuesdays and Thursdays 1.00-pm - 5.00pm at the moment, but will re-instate Fridays soon as well. I/m keeping Fridays for the moment as an extra workshop day to catch up on the backlog!

Keep well everyone, my next post will have a bunch of interesting facts and figures, stories and anecdotal stuff for you to dwell upon!

Hi my friends,

my shop is open Tuesday and Thursday 1.00pm - 5.00pm.

There is a real possibility that I will be going back to "normal" shop hours soon.

I've been thinking about doing a weekly or fortnightly journal entry regardless of all of this, so here is the latest!


PAPER SHORTAGE

We all saw (and laughed at) the inexplicable panic over toilet paper during the onset of this coronavirus thing.

Yesterday, when I went to Woolworths to buy a few groceries, their toilet-paper aisle was fully stocked (brimming over in fact). Phew!

I went into Bunnings today, to buy (among other stuff) the rolls of sandpaper that I use almost constantly in my job. But no - there is a worldwide SANDPAPER shortage (!) as folks staying at home decide to renovate and re-paint.

Ha!

Is there anything that is not weird about these current events?!

Andrew

Hi Everyone,

for the time being, my shop will be open Tuesday and Thursday, 1.00pm - 5.00pm

If those times don't suit, then please call or email and we'll work something out.

Meanwhile, I'm going to share some repair stories and guitar knowledge with you. I've always intended to do this (with perhaps a weekly post) but never quite got around to it. Hopefully this new situation that we're all in will spur me on to doing it! So here's the first installment, and it's a pretty dramatic one...

BROKEN HEADSTOCK ON A GIBSON OR GIBSON-STYLE GUITAR

Some of you will know that this is pretty common, but it's still pretty horrifying when it happens to your Gibson. The good news is that in at least 90% of cases the guitar is repairable, and will play, sound, and tune just like it did before the break. I use jigs and clamps to align the two halves of the break, apply a VERY strong wood-glue and a lot of clamping pressure, and it almost always works out fine.

Breaks that can't be fixed by aligning and gluing like this can often still be fixed, but may require a serious amount of work.

I've done at least one headstock repair, and perhaps quite on average more than that, every week since I started this gig forty years ago. That adds up to thousands of headstock repairs! None of them are quite the same - the way the wood splinters at the break point is different for each one - but they almost always go back together.

Not all of them are Gibsons, of course, but 99% of them have a Gibson-style angled headstock.

BUT!

Here is the point of this particular blog: This week I repaired a 2017 Gibson SG with a broken headstock. The guitar had "Grover" locking tuners.

Here's the thing: a guitar strung with 10-46 light-gauge strings has about 120 lbs of tension applied by the strings. OK. If this guitar was to fall, that tension would be a factor in how much force would be applied to that narrow bit of wood up by the headstock. But so would the weight of the tuning keys (machine heads).

I weighed the separated headstock. It weighed 87 grams. I then weighed the "Grover" locking tuners and they weighed 266 grams! That is, more than three times the weight of the headstock.

My recommendation is, that if you have a Gibson (or a Gibson-style) guitar that has these tuners, that you replace them with a vintage-style tuner set (such as Gotoh SD90). Your guitar has been drilled to 3/8" (10mm) and you will also need step-down collars. It's a lot cheaper than having a broken headstock fixed.

The SG photos are shown below.

Hi everyone,

it would seem to be that my shop is eligible to be open to the public (ie: you guys!).

I have been working via appointment for the last two weeks, and this has been ok. But I suspect that there have been more than a few folk who have arrived at the shop, seen the sign advising 'phone or email contact, and just gone home.

So.

From next week my shop will be open Tuesday and Thursday  1.00pm - 5.00pm,, and you are welcome to drop by at any of those times. In accordance with the current rules regarding social-distancing, I will probably have to see you one-at-a-time, but if we all act sensible, and in accordance with advised protocols, this shouldn't be too hard.

Over the next few months I will be using this Journal page to post all kinds of interesting guitar-repair stuff that I'm sure you'll be interested in.

Keep in touch!

Andrew

Hi Everyone,

for the time being my little shop will be closed other than by appointment. I have to do this for a couple of reasons - firstly, I had bronchitis last year and can't risk another infection, and secondly, I think that this current health situation warrants us all being exceptionally careful and cautious.

I have lots of jobs booked in and I will continue to work through them.

At this point, I am looking at finishing the repairs as normal, calling you and requesting internet payment, and then either delivering the guitars to your door or meeting you in the carpark at the back of my shop. I still have EFTPOS but will only use it via Paywave for the time being. For more distant clients, the freight companies should still be operating.

All of you who know my place will understand that it doesn't quite meet the governments four-square-metre requirement! And the crazy draconian government fine would send me to the wall. But in certain cases I will be able to see you at the shop.

If you have new repairs that you'd like me to do, then please call and we'll work it out. There are several options available.

Strange days, my friends, but I will continue to be here to keep you playing! Please email me with ANY questions.

I will also ALWAYS be available online if you have any technical questions, or are thinking about tackling some repairs on your own. My advice is free!

Keep well, be sensible etc.

Andrew

FIRST EVER ANDREW KNIGHT GUITARS "SALE"!

Hi everyone,

thanks to all of you who continue to read this journal and support me and my little shop. I hope to keep-on fixing your guitars, and making them play better, for many years to come.

I may have said this before but "the building renovations are almost done!" Hah!

I can only laugh about it now, no point being pissed off any more! But the final woodwork (skirting boards etc.) will be finished tomorrow. Finally. Apparently...

I've actually been back in the shop and open as usual for the last few weeks. Doing guitar repairs as I've always done. The decor and fittings are slowly coming together, my tools and parts are back in place, and I'm gradually picking up the rhythm of the whole thing again. I've got quite a bit of work on (and a decent backlog to catch up on) but most importantly the whole wonderful balancing act is back in the ring, and just as it ever was. Phew.

Only slight issue is that the account spreadsheet has spread itself a little thin. Back to normal is good - two months of limited income is bad.

So I've decide to have a "sale". It's a modest one to be honest - the two items on "sale" so far are a couple of guitars that I made a few years ago that have, so far, inexplicably not found a home. Photos are attached...

First is the Scintilla "Green Dolphin". Thinline "Telecaster" style, American red alder with a swamp ash cap, rock-maple neck, Fender pickups, hand-made, absolutely one-of-kind. I had it listed at $3295. If you have $2295, it's yours.

Second is the AK "Cherry Special". Single-piece Honduran mahogany body, Honduran mahogany neck, Gibson P-90 pickups, PRS-style neck. One-piece body! It's technically a Gibson Les Paul Special but with an ergonomic Strat-style body. I had it listed at $3295. Also now at $2295.

Nevertheless! My shop is fully functional again, even I seem to be so (!), and all is, thankfully, just as it ever was. Yay!

Feel free to drop by for a chat (or a guitar repair) any time soon.

AK

SITUATION NORMAL

Hi again,

it's been a while since I last posted, but that's because it's all been (well, almost all been) good news. The shop has been open as usual for the last three weeks, and I'm gradually gathering it all back up again. The final renovations should be finished by the end of this week, and things will be back to the way they were.

My dear landlord has gone way overboard with the renovation thing, way more than just mere flood-restoration, and the place is starting to look quite spiffing. To be honest, I wish he'd just thrown a cheap carpet down, so that I could open up and trade as normal ASAP, but no-one can argue with the good doctor, and he has had his way. His lovely old building will look splendid, and mere tenants (such as I) can bask in this splendour. I sure hope all of you dear friends and customers of mine fully appreciate the commitment that my landlord has made. At my expense...

Did I say that out loud? Oh, yikes, I did.

Ah well.

All good now, folks. I'm back open and all is as it was. More than happy to see you all, and to once again make your guitars play as well as they can.

I'm going to post on this journal at least once a month from now on. I'll let you all know about interesting jobs that I have done, anything curious, recent developments, and guitar stuff in general.

Please feel free to email me with any questions, or anything interesting you have to offer.

In the next post I'll be listing a few "sale" prices on some of my guitars. I have to catch up on the down-time caused by the floods. If there is one of my guitars that you've had your eye on, it may very well be quite a bit cheaper for a month or so...

Keep well,
AK