Post with 2 notes
my strat is back from time in the shop with local luthier steve. i knocked it off its stand when crawling around plugging in cables, and was convinced that the low E string developed a buzz it didn’t have before. the electric guitar setup procedure on steve’s website was helpful but involved, so i decided to take it to steve himself. on the wall of his shop hung an old diploma from the university of maryland; i asked what he studied: “philosophy. but i always dreamed of working on guitars full time.” i said: “you’re living the dream, man!” he did a full setup: neck, nut + saddle adjust, minor fret work, tightened screws + nuts, restrung… in that so many technologies are now black-boxed (even cars) there was something comforting to hear that much of what can go wrong with guitars are matters of geometry + physics. if you know what you’re doing, you can look down the neck + check the alignment… still hearing occasional buzz but i may need heavier gauge strings, since i use a thumb pick + really dig in. here’s some practice noodling with no pick at all; nighttime, needed to play quiet.
