Taylor 150e 12-String Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar

Overview
Amongst the main features of the Taylor 150e 12-String Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar are layered Walnut back and sides, a solid Sitka Spruce top, Hard Rock Maple neck and heel, Ebony bridge and fretboard, matte-finish body, black binding and pickguard, Micarta saddle, Tusq nut; and "natural-sounding" Taylor Expression System 2 (ES2). Click HERE for the full description of features, specifications; and available options for the Taylor 150e.

The Taylor Expression System 2 (ES2)
The foundation of the ES2 is Taylor’s "patented behind-the-saddle pickup," which features three "uniquely positioned" and "individually calibrated pickup sensors" feeding a "custom-designed professional audio-grade" pre-amplifier. Three "soft-touch" center-detented knobs allow the player to adjust the overall volume, as well as boost/cut the bass and treble. The ES2 is powered by one 9V battery, conveniently located in an integrated end pin jack/battery compartment housing at the "tail end" of the guitar. Another feature worth mentioning is the Phase Switch which can help reduce "low-frequency feedback should it occur in a live situation." This switch is located on the side of the circuit board, and can be accessed through the soundhole. Click HERE to learn more about this "revolutionary pickup design."

Custom Warmoth Fretless Five String Bass

Warmoth was behind the basic build of this absolutely delicious fretless five string bass; ie the maple neck, ebony fretboard, and body. Yes, those were the only stock components. Among the custom features added on was a body-mounted fretboard extension, stained hardwood veneer center stripe and one-of-a-kind active circuitry. I say "one-of-a-kind" because it was designed and put together by a sound engineer/electronics guru to the owner's exact specs. He fondly referred to it as "Jaco," no doubt in honor of one of his all-time favourite bass players.

'Nuff said, then. This bass came into my shop because the pickup was "splitting apart" and the output of G-string was way louder than the other strings. Closer inspection revealed that the "pickup" was actually two separate pickups that had their "ears" cut off on one side, and were epoxied together. The pickups were from the EMG LJ / SJ Jazz Bass set, namely the EMG-SJFS5JB (neck); and LJFS5JB (bridge).

After unscrewing the "pickup" halves, the LJ and SJ came apart immediately. Interestingly, upon bringing them together, I noticed that they were repelling each other, ie their magnets were of the same polarity. No wonder even epoxy could not hold them together for long! Realizing that two pickups of similar polarity should not be placed so close together, I suggested to the owner that they be relocated further apart. He reacted positively (thank goodness), and so it was time to get down to work.

First of all, for the pickups to be mounted separately, I needed to replace the missing "ears." As luck would have it, I had a set of unused Jazz Bass pickup covers lying around, and they graciously consented to donate their "ears" to the EMGs. That problem being solved, the next issue was widening the existing pickup cavity to accomodate a wooden spacer between the pickups.

After careful measuring, out came the drill press, router bits, chisels and sandpaper. I don't mind sharing with you that it was a lot of hard, meticulous work, with little room for error. Always remember this: measure twice, cut once! I also had to shorten the fretboard extension, for obvious reasons. In any case, after lots of prototyping, I ended up with a block of pine that fit nicely.

Next came the staining of the pine block and fretboard extension. I used a mix of StewMac Vintage Amber, Cherry Red and Medium Brown Liquid Stain, plus a hint of Indian Ink dissolved in ethanol to obtain the color I was after. Now, although all three stains are water-soluble, I prefer ethanol as it dries faster and does not raise the grain nor cause wood to swell as much as water.

Once the stains were dry, I lightly sanded the surfaces, glued on the fretboard extension, and sealed it with a few coats of clear. The ebony fretboard, being rather dry, was also reconditioned with lemon oil. What was left, then, was to put Jaco back together again, string him up, do a basic setup; and invite his owner to take him for a test drive.

I'm pleased, thankful, and relieved that the owner, after an hour of judicious tweaking; declared Jaco fit for duty. Best of all, the G-string had stopped misbehaving altogether. What a joy!              

1997 Gibson Les Paul Custom

When this guitar arrived at my doorstep, I was thrilled beyond words. I mean, this was the very first Les Paul Custom I'd ever worked on. Out of curiosity, I took a few pics and emailed them to Gibson Customer Service. Within 24 hours (bravo GCS), they replied that the "pictures and serial number" were "consistent with a Les Paul Custom model in Ebony finish, made on the 202nd day of 1997 in Nashville, TN." So, what I had in my hands was the real deal, and not a well-made knockoff. Besides the obvious, I've managed to ascertain a number of specs, thanks to the Gibson Guitar Board.

Finish:        Ebony
Body:        Mahogany/carved maple top
Neck:        One-piece mahogany/1959 rounded LP shape
Fingerboard:    Ebony/22 frets/24.75" scale/mother-of-pearl block inlays
Nut Width:    1.6875"
Pickups:    Alnico Humbuckers: Neck - 490R/Bridge - 498T
Controls:    2 volumes/2 tones/3-way switch
Hardware:    Gold
Bridge:        Tune-o-matic/stop bar tailpiece
Binding:    "Sumptuous multiple binding" on body/neck/headstock

Work Done
Fret dressing
Hardware cleanup/polish
Electronics cleanup
Rewiring
New tone caps: Sprague "orange drop" 0.022uF