Wayback Machine band of Tucson, AZ, Tom's Guitar Workshop

THE FENDER FORUM
A collection of individual forums to discuss all things related to Fender: guitars, basses, amps, modifications and repairs, performing, recording, etc.

GUITAR ACOUSTICS
University of New South Wales (Australia) Physics Department site. Learn about harmonics, standing waves, Chladni patterns, the sound spectrum, the decibel, Helmholtz resonance...

Does your guitar sound as good as you remember, or as good as you would like (be reasonable here...)? Has it gotten harder to play? Is it buzzing? Does it look as good as it used to?

There are many simple things that can be done to acoustic and electric guitars to make them work better. You can do some of these things yourself, or you can take the instrument to a qualified repair person if the work is beyond your abilities or if tinkering is not your forte.

Lots of people start small (changing strings correctly, polishing the finish, lubricating tuners, etc.) and work their way up (removing scratches & dents; adjusting the neck, saddle or nut; installing new tuners...). Some people go so far as doing fret work, replacing the bridge or beyond. Sound scary? Good - you need to respect your limits.

However, even if you end up taking your axe in to a real luthier or guitar tech, it doesn't hurt to know the lingo and to know what to ask for. Most luthiers respect that in a customer, as long as we remember who the expert is.

This forum is here to try and answer your questions about your guitar's tone, looks, and playability. I have learned things through trial and error, conversations with pros, observation, and internet luthiery forums. Maybe I can help with your guitar issues.

-Tom

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HOW TO REGISTER: UPDATE (August 2007): To register to the forum, we are adding one more step to that described in the above paragraph. After you have registered, contact the webmaster (me!) via the Contact Us form. Identify your username (see above) to me, and sound like a human being with good intentions, and I'll add you pronto so you can participate in the forum.

We apologize for this enormous inconvenience; this requirement has been necessitated by a FLOOD of spammers falsely registering for the forum in the last few months.

Hope you can weather the additional bureaucracy--if you do, you will make Tom a very happy online luthier!

Thanks! --Susan
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