JWHandcrafted

06/04/2025

Nothing like a meticulously planned and executed wiring harness for a semi hollow guitar… this one goes into a Sheraton II with some Gibson T pups….
Bourns pots and orange caps…… much better than what was in before…
Going to start with original schematic wiring plan but might tweak from there after hearing how it all interacts….

05/08/2025

Been way to busy here for photos or posting. But here is a few shots from the last day or so at the shop. The new compensated neck jig has had a lot of upgrades and tests and customizations since i bolted it to the floor. But now it’s been in use in the shop fret levels for a couple months and the dividends its paying in quality and efficiency are pretty awesome.

Dialing in a refret on this customer’s American Standard Telecaster.

New pickups and nut in another customer’s Gibson Les Paul Standard

And some cool vintage Gotoh double hex pickups went in the EC 400. This one is probably going in the wall for sale… and riiips!

Lot’s going on. Feel like I’ll never get ‘caught up’ Thanks for all the work, and patience.

1 guy shop…. Quality is my #1, 2 and 3 priority…

I’ll try to post more regularly.

01/09/2025

Avoid costly crack and neck repairs this heating season , Humidification options are In Stock!!

12/23/2024

Last minute Holiday Gift SALE! 1 Day. This Monday Dec 23rd.
20% off any in stock cutting boards or coaster sets! In person only. inside our guitar shop at Stationery Factory! Dalton MA. 11am- 5pm
(possibility for tueaday am pickup/purchase by appt only also. DM for details)
Pictured is what we have left in stock. Excellent gift items, or treat yourself for Holiday entertaining!!!
Come by to say hello!

10/14/2024

Loving this new bridge clamping fixture from StewMac !!
When bridges are seated properly (inlaid) into the finish, and fully contacting the wood, it can be hard to trust your clamp pressure is even on all sides, because the contact points rest below the finish. This is especially true for the sides.
This cuts the clamps down to two big solid cast AL ones (i bought from Martin Guitar when i visited the 1833 shop forever ago. shh. don’t tell them i’m using them on a Larrivée Guitars) and I can clearly trust the pressure is even and adequate because the wings adjust independantly!
Flawless bridge repair!

09/25/2024

Buried super late at the shop another night… Seems like I’ll never catch up on my backlog. No help that I’m such a perfectionist… but Bill Frisell playing Dylan’s “Masters of War” made me lift my head from this old vox neck for a moment.

Couldn’t find the same solo performance to share but here is a good one too….

April 22, 2005La Trastienda, Buenos Airesw/Viktor Krauss~Bass, Matt Chamberlain~Drums

09/06/2024

There and back again: This was a pretty intense hail mary pass that worked out well. This customers beloved Lucille was in a really bad way. It had some major problems with the neck; extremely bowed and the trus rod was really messed up. It would not even get in range of a decent aet up. The seat for the truss rod nut was also compromised and had to be rebuilt.
(We had also rebuilt the electronics, installed Bartolini pickups and restored the varitone switch that had been removed previously)

So I removed the fingerboard to replace the truss rod with a new one from Gibson. But even without the fingerboard, the neck was inately too bowed still, and I was sure the fingerboard would rack and bow under the pressure once reglued, so we jigged the neck straight and routed and installed two carbon fiber rods to help hold it that way. Then, once dry, we levelled the neck material before reglueing the fingerboard.

After getting it out of the clamps, we had removed the frets, another pass to level the board itself, and installed wider, lower frets to suit the customers needs.

After dialing in the setup with the customer, It’s got a new lease on life and off on the road.

09/04/2024

Heard a great interview on NPR last night. They were discussing the new Elvis boxed set, "Elvis Memphis," in which they discussed essentially stripping all of the strings and choirs and wall of sound garbage off of the middle era Memphis sessions. I was instantly on fire to hear it!

This interesting twist really shows how still at the top of his game Elvis was later in his career, regardless of all of the sappy stuff they dressed it up with. I much prefer hearing the live recording of a band who was dialed in and top of their game, with a slightly matured and still super skilled and emotive Elvis shining through.

It's at least interesting enough to put together a small playlist of my favorite few to share with you! But check out the full boxed set of remixes of the music Elvis recorded in Memphis throughout his career! From small mixing changes to the early Sun era sessions to the big changes in the Elvis in Memphis album sessions, and the later Graceland Jungle Room stuff. It' been really fun to listen through.

Playlist · jack-273 · 6 items

05/11/2024

https://instagram.com/p/C61i2P1uBWb/

02/29/2024

Here’s another Benchcaster finished up. This was a prototype for the line. This one bears the previous logo experiment. (there will only be two with this logo.. including a white one that I also have almost finished) So this one isn’t numbered.
Eric Johnson pickups. Open geared locking tuners…
I think I already have a buyer for this one, but that doesn’t materialize, i will announce here