Done all of it and professionally upgraded my Gibson custom shop into a Harley Benton

I taught myself years ago, when I was a young teen how to fix things on guitars. Now I build all my own guitars. It's an addiction.

More things you can try without too much risk... Smooth sharp fret ends. Lightly sanding the gloss poly (sticky) finish on your neck for a more satin feel. Rolling your fingerboard edges. Replacing pickups/electronics (basic soldering skills). Replacing tuners (if the shaft holes are the same diameter). Widen nut slots (carefully) when using heavier gauge strings.

These guys are the final boss guitar shop gatekeepers

Pole pieces on a pickup are easy peasy. They are made to be adjusted to help balance individual string volume.

For me, pickups with adjustable pole pieces are a must. I hate it when all of the strings don't have the same volume and sometimes a pole needs to be raised to get a string equal to the others. It's a simple twist with a screwdriver 🪛

Putting new strings on a Strat is almost more than I can handle.

I agree with most of these but not the first one at all. Adjusting your pole pieces is very easy and it's super easy to put them back to same spot. There's really no risk. I generally just leave mine alone but I've messed around with them just to see what the difference is. There's a big difference between this one and most others on the list.

I love to tinker and have a pretty good idea of where my limits are. I bought a beautiful "blemished" Xaviere guitar with a quilted top from Guitar Fetish years ago and the one downside to this thing was the frets were rough. A professional crown and level was going to cost as much as I paid for the guitar, so I bought the tools off Amazon to do it myself and watched a lot of YT videos. It turned out great. That being said, I might not have taken that on with a higher end instrument on my first go, but I'm confident now if my Fender were to need it.

Man the first thing that came to mind was scalloping your own fretboard, glad to see it got a mention. I did relic my USA deluxe strat, but I stripped the poly off and refinished in nitro first. And to be fair I'm a pro propmaker and knifemaker, there are some adjacent skills coming into play. Reshaping a neck sounds like fun but not on anything expensive because that could end up being a really bad day.

I love hearing you guys joke around and talk about guitars in the back ground thanks for the vids

I just learned how to fret level and recrown. It wasn't very difficult. I did start on a really cheap guitar just so I didn't ruin one of my guitars but it worked. I've done a couple now and it's made them much better guitars.

I bought a Glarry guitar for 69.00, and I changed the pickups and bridge for another 69.00. The neck was like the business end of a caveman's club- it actually bulged out at the heel instead of tapering. I had no choice but to sand the neck down to something playable. After a couple weeks of elbow-grease, the neck became quite reasonably slim, and since it was sanded with the curve of my hand, it's also very comfortable.

I adjust the pole pieces on all my humbucking pickups. I start with matching the radius of the strings and then tweak as needed to balance string to string volume. As long as you are just adjusting them even with the top or a couple of turns above, you will be fine. Just don’t crank them all the way out or in.

That is one of the great things that you have said in this video! Among the what not to do is there are GREAT SQUIRES out there! I have gotten one as a gift and it blew me away. I couldn't believe how nice it was. The classic vibe series are something to be proud of fur sure!

One of my favorites is people trying to adjust nut slots with needle files from the local big box store.

I bought a used Gibson Flying V at a pawn shop. After setting the action super low it had a buzz on one string around the 14th fret. So, I took my Revlon diamond nail file to it. Plays great now!

One of my Les Paul guitars, I adjusted the poles, I’ve adjusted the pickup heights Anna put a new nut…Oh yeah, that guitar is over 40 years old and works perfectly! ✌️😎🎸🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶 And I relic my Les Pauls by playing them!

In my early 20s I worked as a guitar teacher in a drum & guitar shop. When I had spare time I hung out at the repair bench watching and learning from the guy who worked on instruments full time. He mostly did setups and fret leveling/crowning/polishing. (Never did fret replacement, though.) A year or so later he quit, and in desperation the owner asked if I'd take over the job and I agreed to do it. The first guitar I leveled/crowned/polished the frets on was a Les Paul Custom. I was sweating bullets, but it came out fine. The second one was a Guild 12 string acoustic, and it also came out great. I've done hundreds since then, and always do my own. Still haven't ever replaced frets, though. I'll leave that to someone who's done it and has the right tools for the job.

I've been doing my own electronics for ages. Recently I decided to start learning minor fret work. Started with simple polishing. Now learning to do fret ends. The key is not jumping into something bigger than you can handle. I have an 83 Strat that needs some fret leveling. That will have to wait until I am sure I am up to it though.

I totally get the pole piece thing. You adjust it - better or worse? Can't tell. Re-adjust - better or worse? Put it back to original position - sounds different?! Rinse and repeat. - This channel is real fun. Great stuff.

A Casino hat with Every New Squire Sold

That beginning woosh will clear your sinuses in the morning. Also, watching a neck reset looks like an autopsy and I would never think about doing it.

another story: in 1970 when I was 16, I took my '68 Tele (which I bought brand new w/hard case in 1968 for $170). I had seen the Beatles movie with G. Harrison playing an all-rosewood Tele, and decided I wanted mine to look like that. I completely disassembled it, completely removed the finish from the body, stained the body with a walnut colored stain, gave it a few coats of shellac, and then put it all back together. it was noticeably lighter without the thick factory finish, and it looked MARVELOUS. unfortunately, I didn't play any better than I had before. But I loved the way that guitar looked. I wish I still had that guitar.

I've learned a lot from watching the twoodfrd KZfaq channel on guitar repairs. It's nice to know how so many things are accomplished and that most of them require way too much experience for me to tackle. Fret polishing, polishing, polishing, now that I can manage.

I've adjusted my pole pieces. I've also added my own pickup covers and replaced my SE 3 way blade switch with one for a Core model.

i had to learn to do everything myself out of necessity. There arent any luthiers around where i live. A headstock repair or neck reset i havent tried, but if i ever get into a situation where it needs to be done i will take my time, look up as much information as i can and start out slowly doing it myself.

The main reason I do as much of my own work stems from the time I took a guitar in for a setup to who was supposed to be one of the best in my state. He did a shitty job so I took a set up class and now do it myself. It progressed from there. I have also built six guitars.

The NUT , replacing it, cutting and shaping seems to be an art I have not mastered.

The first time I fret leveled, it was with my am pro ii strat - successfully. My next project would be refretting my squire with stainless steel.

I did a number of things early on in my learning. I am always interested in “how the thing works” when I get into something. I reshaped the neck on an $80-ish dollar guitar I actually still have. I didn’t do it without any consequence, but I still have the guitar. I think on super cheap guitars, it’s just the cost of gaining experience. If that’s your thing. I really want to try a re-fret on that thing now that it’s been mentioned. Lol

The guy on the left should never try and give himself a hairdo.

I have adjusted my own pole pieces on one guitar that I have, because the low E was a bit overmodulated, and I had already adjusted the pickup height, so I moved it about half of a turn. That helped me with that one issue, as for reshaping a neck, unless it feels like a baseball bat, I am usually good with it. I am a woodworker, so reshaping the neck would be rather simple for me. Antiquing a guitar, is something that I haven't done yet, I think that is a fad that will pass by quickly.

I've refretted two guitars and reshaped the neck on a Strat and a Tele - they play really well!

Always adjust the pole pieces on your humbuckers and especially on your filtertrons which really need it.

I love working on my guitars! None of these things are difficult to do, just do your research. It’s just a guitar, it’s not that complicated.

I've always adjusted the pole pieces. Never had a problem.

I finally sent my Les Paul studio to a luthier to have the pickup job I had been botching done right. Now my guitar is a wonderful friend. Every thing is better.

I have reshaped my neck, you just have to go slow and don't take too much wood off at a time. I also relic my fender road worn body further and it looks awesome.

I gotta say that’s some pretty solid advice. I scalloped a Gibson Victory MVII in high school. Did not end well but hey, at least it provided income to a local luthier for the repair….

I do all my own work on guitars these days overall unless its wiring i dont feel like doing. I own a few guitars that have some seriously crazy wiring stuff happening inside them that are not as simple as say, messing with the wiring on a strat or a LP. Get a POS guitar and use that to learn how to repair or mod on. Ive been playing 30 years and im so happy i know how to do all this stuff myself.

I refretted a guitar many years ago and it did not turn out bad, I still have it today and it works.

Here's one to try ONLY if you're really good at soldering and wiring and working with tiny parts, etc. I've done this to a few really bad sounding Chinese humbuckers. they usually have a very high DC resistance north of 13-14K from overwound coils, which results in high output and bad tone. BUT - if you rewire the coils in parallel instead of series, it totally changes the sound and tone of the pickup - brings up the high end, and reduces the loud mushy midrange. I've turned unusably bad sounding pickups into ones with decent tone by doing this.

I finally crowned and polished the frets on my Epiphone Dot after 21 years. I am so glad I did. If you use tools for a living and you get guitar-appropriate tools for the job, it can be so simple…. ….with the right tutelage.

My first electric was a used LP copy made by Stagg, (I think), paid 75$ back in 79. One of the first things I did, after messing with the intonation without a tuner😂 was change the pole heights. The high E and B strings had no volume and ajusting the pickup height made the G too loud.

I'm SO lucky to have a good guitar tech. If I even need a set ofstrings changed I give it to him and say " Give her a good cleaning and set intonation too" & next day I get a call saying "she's all ready ". It's a wonderful feeling. Next up he is putting a HyVibe unit in an acoustic for me. WAY beyond what I could attempt.

1- Pole pieces are easy you should be doing it because it is a form of EQ 2- Reshape a neck - No don't ever do that, there are alot of variables and you can ruin the neck or it can snap due to thinness of wood. Its a dumb thing to have done. 3- Resetting neck - Depends on If you have a neck jig or know what you are doing, otherwise take it to a luthier. Its not magic its quite easy but it requires you knowing a few things, also a Bolt on neck is easy AF anyone can do that, set necks or acoustics, Follow Dave's World and find his video where he shows you a few guitars he had to do it to and follow his instructions. 4- Refretting - Nope Have a Luthier do it, You need Patience and a bit of skill to do this, Kit guitars are the best to start with like Solo Guitars, Really its something that if you need a refret its probably vintage or from an earlier decade, these days SS, PRS nickle alloy, or JESCAR EVO frets are ridiculously tough material and you should never need a refret. 5- Don't relic your guitar, and don't buy relic'd guitars..............freaking posers

I worked in a very metal based guitar shop back in the early 90's and I scalloped a ton of necks for many of the next best future "guitar gods"! LOL! BTW, loosen your strings before tightening your truss rod. Fret not, if you break it there are guys like me that can fix it!

The two coolest brothers i love and respect 100%. There are few Others i listen to.

I change my own strings and do my own setups, including truss rod and pickup adjustments, including, rarely adjusting, the pole pieces. I polish and take small scratches out of the frets, but leave fret leveling, replacement and all other major fretwork, binding and wood repair, neck re-set and such to the pros and it's worked out fine. Years ago, I totally F'ed up a nice finish trying relic it. It looks like crap. Now I'll have to have it stripped and refinished. For anyone who wants to try it, my advice is: Subtlety is king. Just a little wear looks great when it isn't real.

I've literally played guitar my whole life, but just in the last few years, I started wondering about my pickups/ neck/ nut/ bridge/ saddles..etc.. I enjoy it now...pex

i did take my PRS Wood Library guitar and taped off neck and took xxxx steel wool and made the neck satin feel and never looked back, and it was a beautiful gloss blue neck

I'm expecting my third new tremolo arm kit for my jazzmaster today. The arm has bound up in the bolt and snapped off twice now. I figured out a cool trick for placing the tremolo holding part on a 2x4 to get leverage on the arm sleeve to loosen it or tighten it safely... but yeah, this sucks

every guitar player should know how to adjust action..neck relief and intonation to keep an instrument playable in time you form your own recipe for how you like it set to how you play

I'm like a lot of other people in the comments - I taught myself all of these skills over the years and have been building for well over a decade. I started learning using handtools only and working on cheap guitars and kits, which is definitely the way to go, but it didn't take hundreds of refrets (for example) to get competent at doing them. Maybe ten or less to get the kinks ironed out, then the hundreds since have been refinement. Carving or reshaping necks by hand is even more straightforward. The only skill on this list that I would say is genuinely hard is the neck reset. That's because even a basic one is tricky, and there are a number of different styles of joint (as well as a range of adhesives) that can add complication. Try a Somogyi - with the dowels from Hell - sometime! You need a lot of experience and the right tools for the job before you can attempt any reset. There's a further huge caution I'd give to anyone wanting to get into this stuff, and that is that online forums and things like Facebook groups are full of misinformation. I've seen random people offer hundreds and hundreds of answers to questions that are simply wrong regarding finishing techniques, glue types, how to level frets, how to repair cracks, or a thousand other things. If someone suggests splines for a broken headstock, for example, odds are that they're not a luthier, but they've just seen the technique online somewhere. 90% of the time, splines are not necessary, and can actually weaken a joint in some cases (as well as vastly overcomplicate a repair job unnecessarily). If you're not experienced, how would you be able to distinguish between a garbage answer and a useful one just by looking at forums? Sorting out how to tell the good from the bad is probably the first thing ... and, if you aren't a builder or repairer, then please, please don't weigh in with an answer to someone's question, no matter how tempting it may be or how well-meaning you are. You can do a lot more harm than good. As others have said, if your guitar is expensive or one that you value for other reasons, then yeah, don't make it the first instrument you experiment on. As every repairer knows, the worst type of guitar to work on is one that an inexperienced person - whether the owner or a "friend" who thinks they know what they're doing - has first tried to fix themselves. First, you have to undo the mistakes made, then do the repair itself.

I refretted, scalloped, and reshaped the neck on my guitar. I still wasn’t happy so I adjusted the pole pieces on the pickups. It’s a pretty awesome oversized paperweight now. Pretty cool.

I bought a really nice tele body on Ebay that I missed was was cut for a I guess a strat neck or something more rounded at the joint. I had a tele neck ready and total impatience. I dremeled the neck cavity until it fit. It worked out somehow. Lesson don't drink and work on your guitar. Make sure you know what you're buying.

I LOVE to tinker. I offer free setups to my friends and colleagues. Built 5 from scratch in the 90s. Including neck shaping and installing the frets. Still level frets here and there. If I had the tools these days, I'd do a refret, easy. I don't do pole pieces. Don't see the point. No need for neck resets on my electrics ;) I only 'relic' finish with real life dings and wear, but I've aged nickel hardware with great success.

Anytime you can cross reference guitar repair with the battle of the Somme, I'm impressed.The butchery, the senseless carnage, those poor guitars!

I leave Neck Resets, Fret Leveling and Refrets, Replacing/Repairing Lifted Acoustic Bridge, Broken HeadStock of Premium Guitar to the Professionals, I actually used an inexpensive Epiphone Les Paul to teach myself how to scallop a fretboard and after completing the Job with files and sand paper by hand, I then found out Professionals Use Dremels and Others Power assisted Tools, but I can do some excellent hand work now

Hey Guys I have a USA stratocaster on which I successfully scalloped the fretboard 10 years ago - but now it needs a refret - the difficulty is of course getting the neck absolutely straight - any tips?

Actually I did scallop my own frets , it was a Warmoth neck , so it's completely replaceable, used it for years on my Warmoth guitars I like to tinker so I change the neck often. I have cleaned up the fret level and even refinished guitars but the one thing I stopped doing my self was anything with a soldering iron I ended up nearly ruining my pots and wiring so I leave that to the pros

Refrets, find a luthier and pay for a refret but if you are handy ask them to teach/supervise you for same price as a refret. I learned this way and have now done around 12 refrets plus and really have it down now as good as most luthiers. Just buy necks on eBay that need a refret and practice on them once you have been taught. Don’t skimp on the tools. Buy pro tools if you intend to refret your guitars. I’ve seen some terrible work done by guitar shops that have refretted a guitar.

Not a tinkerer, but thank God I bought a cheap Epiphone Les Paul junior to try to work on instead of my regular guitars. The moment my screwdriver touched the screw for the wraparound Bridge, slides right off and makes it 6 in scratch right on the Finish!

I set the pole pieces on my Gretsch Corvette, sounds good to me. And dang it, you're supposed to have a few parts left over!

I've been doing re-frets for about a decade, it just takes patience and $500.00 in tools lol. I've always wanted to try a scalloped neck, so I bought one. Roasted maple for a Strat build I'm currently doing. I would NEVER attempt to scallop a fretboard. YIKES! Lately I've been repairing two sets of pick ups wound by Bill Lawrence that had the covers semi-disintegrate from a nitro pickguard. I will never use nitro pickguards again. They're great pick ups and worth the effort. I also have a friends old Gibson student acoustic he sat on shattering the back. I've collected the back and bracing, now I need the courage to do it.

My G&L Comanche has individually adjustable pole pieces on the pickups. It was a selling point. I haven't done it yet but I'm curious to see if I can get more clarity or more/less bass out of it by making adjustments. I will remember to do half turns only and I'll write it down on paper so I can return it to factory if I hate it ;-)

Haha I can understand this for people who are not mechanically inclined and don't understand basic physics and how things work, I'm doing a relic job on a mex strat right now, and so far it's looking good, but I also build custom cars and build plastic models, where alot of the same principles of relicing apply, but I also am not going at this without any knowledge, I have read up on some things and watched what people have done, idk if I'm up for reseting a neck yet, but maybe someday, I also built an entire electric guitar in wood shop, neck and body, I bought the hardware and electronics, it was playable but not the best but it was my first attempt, this is kinda funny but I have a maple tree that we chopped down over a year ago and I am planning to do sometime with it besides burn it, idk if there's a guitar in there or a table but something, lol

What I like about building cigar box guitars is it lets me do things like neck shaping and fretting at a very low cost.

Funny, I am a do-it-yourselfer, except as it relates to the guitar. I keep them clean and restring them, but that's about it. It helps to have a great guitar tech or two. :)

I adjusted the pole pieces on my first electric, more because I was trying to figure out how it worked I didn’t ruin it though The other stuff I wouldn’t trust myself to do, although my guitars are getting relic jobs, but it’s taking years

Referencing the Battle of the Somme makes you very cool, in my book!

What tools do I need to set Intonation and adjust neck bridge and all that stuff?

Very good episode, never do anything that requires more than a screwdriver or Allen key. Unless you have experience.

Guys I am in java Indonesia currently I bought an acoustic guitar well made but inexpensive,the guitar sounds tinny and very mid range high end frequency,what would cause this at a guess ? The nut and bridge seem to be plastic of some kind defo not bone ,could this be the issue? If not what else would cause this on an acoustic I have noticed a lot of the locally made acustics have the same problem ,just hopping it's not the wood as there's not a lot can be done about that I don't think it's the wood as it seem very decent wood ,any ideas would be really helpful thank you Brian.

I'm going to do my first refret on a 76 Les Paul deluxe.

Great comment thread! On topic, if anyone knows of great resources for swapping parts, tech, and even building guitars, please let me know (books, videos, etc). There’s a few out there, I’m just not sure which ones people feel are of good quality.

It’s a good thing no one told Les Paul not to experiment or adjust anything on his guitars.

love the feel of my se silver sky satin neck have not sanded my core model yet

My daughter bought me an '85 Squire (Strat) Bullit HSS from GC I became a luthier hobbiest because the fretboard was just nasty. I'll tackle pretty much anything that needs fixing and I don't have money to pay a pro. I wouldn't consider doing any of those repairs, but my Squire looks awesome and sounds as good as any Strat out there.

I don’t understand #3, what is a neck reset? Is that on older guitars that have spacers in the pocket to keep the neck even?

I wish I could adjust the poles on my pups, the A string is just way too damn loud for some reason. I hit an open E power chord and it's like the B note on the A string overpowers every other note and overtone.

Just a note on prices. In the '80's-90's guitar prices rose which drovw buyers to used gear. So much so that prices on new gear came down a bunch to compete. Excess personal debt today could hit new purchases in the same way. Used gear has climbed in cost.

I am learning to do most of these BUT I have a stock of guitars that cost me about £50 each. So what can I make with them? I can make mistakes.

Cutting a new nut isn’t as easy as it might appear. Built a Partscaster, try to cut a new bone nut. Fucked it up twice. Took it to a luthier that did a fine job. Lesson learned.

before tinkering I think get one of the sub $100 dollar guitars for practice, such as replacing pickups, snip the wires and re-solder them, making adjustments related to maintenance. This is why guitar shops so important and need support. Let the experts do the real stuff

My experiences so far: #1 Pole Pieces - Had a PRS that the B string was the only quieter string and only on the bridge... Adjusted and perfect. #2 Neck reshape - Nope... sell it and get what you like #3 Neck reset - Set neck... No. Bolt on... Yes. I'll shim that #4 Refret/scallop - I'd do it... but I'd spend more in tools so... nope #5 Relic - Nope... I'll buy one done well. Otherwise I'll do it myself over 50 years of actual play.

I did most of these things myself on one particular guitar. It’s a MIM ‘72 Tele deluxe. I chipped all the poly off and did a refin/relic with leather dye, upgraded to CuNiFe pickups, threw a bigsby on it with a Callaham bridge and other fun stuff. I had to adjust one of the screw/magnets on the pickups. The neck was reshaped a bit because I sanded the back down. I did not do a reset or refret but I did roll the edges of the neck, gave it a refin and relic too. It looks really good. The trick with a poly relic is if you want that look chip all the poly off and do a refin with the relic in mind. It doesn’t have to be perfect to still look good. The whole project cost about $1500.

“Barefoot at Merlefest” sounds like a love song from the 70s by Captain and Tenille

pickup pole pieces should match the fretboard radius. i reshaped the second electric solid body (Gibson sg special) as soon as i got it new. neck reset, done that once, worked out thanks to youtube. Awe, man, refrets are easy... take it easy and logically (Woodwork). never scalloped a board. i think relicing is daft, just opinion.

Adjusting polepieces should be part of every guitarists skillset...almost ever single pickup where they can be adjusted will sound better with them tweaked to suit the radius and strings rather than left flat. Some pickups don't even kick in properly unless you do it (Fender Wide Range Humbuckers for instance).

I relic'd my Martin acoustic accidentally.... left in the in trunk of my car after coming back from a gig on a -40 degree night (a Canadian winter depending where you are...). Nice crackle to the finish now. I kicked myself for that, but I was pretty exhausted from the gig. 10 years later, meh. it looks like it's been used. And it has. lots.

For Bass Players- DIY fretless, but then again both Geddy Lee and Flea both agree you're not a real bass player until you've ruined a perfectly good bass trying to be Jaco.

I have a killer KZfaq Reality guitar show concept that would Be a total hit. Who should i approach with it? Thx.

There are people myself included who have that technical acuity and insatiable curiosity which makes doing any of these things achievable and enjoyable, if you have it you know it, you’re the guy everyone calls to fix something, I have done all of these things except a refret and a neck reset, I have however done an initial neck set and complete fret level and re-crown. It depends on your god given abilities, If you’re not sure you have these abilities you probably don’t

I disagree on a few topics. Re pole piece heights .... Never on single coils with solid pole pieces. Almost never on HB's where there is proper PU height adjustment. But I did do it on my Casino since the P90's were mounted on the surface with no PU height adjustment possible. It helped me even out the response of different strings. Re re-shaping the neck ... Never, but I have removed high gloss finish on the back of the neck on several guitars. And I did it on the maple fretboard of a Squier that had a high gloss finish too. I was very happy with the results. Completely agree that everyone should learn to do a basic setup (intonation, relief, action). And for gods sake, if you have a floating trem learn the proper technique so you end up with a level bridge when changing strings (KZfaq is your friend). Maybe a bit more dangerous, but I think most people should not shy away from dealing with fret sprout. Its going to happen to you someday. Fret leveling is not that scary either, but you need to do a bit of research to make sure you are tacking things in the right order, in order to minimize how must metal you remove (i.e. start with a straight neck using a notched rule, check for individual high frets and see if they need to be tapped down before filing them, and then do the old sharpie trick to assess progress). On setting up an acoustic, especially the first time, I recommend buying a new nut and saddle first, and do your adjustments on the new parts, so you always have the originals to go back to in the event you "go a little too far". They are not that expensive and reduce the anxiety factor a lot.

Damn right on the relic-ing. Let time do that for you. I'm of the mind that the stories behind naturally occurring relic-ing is what gives an instrument it's MOJO as opposed to the relic-ing itself.

my personally I feel like you should also learn to solder in a new jack. it’s so easy to do, just a couple lugs. perhaps not everyone owns a soldering iron but even still, you could borrow one and learn !

Cutting the nut slots or outright replacing the nut is one task some folks should leave alone or to a professional. Agree with a refret job or fret level/crown. Some folks need to stay away from soldering things. Along the lines of resetting the neck, for a bolt on neck, shimming the neck pocket/area is pretty safe adjustment/fix as something one can totally reverse by just removing the shim they made.

The thing that I have no idea how to even attempt is changing the electronics on a semi hollow body.