Stew Mac is like luthier Snap On. Prices are crazy but it's good stuff. And yeah man Dan Erlewine? Well he's just great. Top skills and a brilliant persona!
My Dad always told me that you gotta have the right tool for the right job. You can tell alot about a man's character from the tool he choices. I don't trust a person who would remove a bolt with locking pliers, aka vice-grips", (which is a brand not a tool.)
@@tylerbrandon460 Yeah yeah yeah, we all know about brand names, nobody likes a know it all. With that being said, sometimes using vice grips is necessary. If you're good at what you're doing you'll be able to use many tools for the same job. A good craftsman never blames his tools.
I went to high school with Mike in Chicago around 1961. We were both thrown out of our normal high schools and had to go to a special private school for incorrigible students in order to graduate. I was playing guitar in then as I still do but back then I was into acoustic folk style music. I was over at Mike's parents house once or twice with him. He had a large collection of blues records which he played for me. I had very little knowledge of blues back then. A few years later in 1963, we both ended up in Greenwich Villiage, NYC. I as an aspiring young folk guitarist working my way up in the folk circles and Mike was playing in the Butterfield Blues Band. We shared the billing several times. I playing as a side man for various different folk acts and Mike playing with Butterfield. Mike was playing a Les Paul most of the times I saw him. We also shared a few venues at the various folk festivals that went on in the 60's. The Newport folk festival was the most well known.
Sir, I threw my back out last week and have been laid up. While being in bed I found your videos. Wonderful stuff, my friend. Helping a broken man get well. Happy holidays!
Boy this fellow knows his Stuff. A true artist at his craft sure makes things look easy. The amount of skill he possesses is legendary. His books are my main sources for all things guitar. Well done Mr. Erlewine.
I love your videos. You remind me of my Dad, who has since passed, because he was a craftsman and a tinkerer. You are passionate about your craft and it shows. Being a guitar player, you have helped me out immensely with doing my own work on my instruments and I thank you. I could watch you work all day!
I'VE BEEN BUILDING GUITARS FOR QUITE A WHILE, SEEN ALL OF THE OTHER GREAT BUILDERS AND REPAIR PEOPLE HERE ON TH-cam AND I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYBODY SAYS, DAN IS STILL THE BEST REPAIR LUTHIER BY FAR. HE'S PROBABLY FORGOTTEN MORE TECHNIQUES THAN MOST PEOPLE KNOW TODAY. AWESOME GUY I'VE LEARNED TONS FROM HIS VIDEOS, BOOKS, DVD'S AND TH-cam VIDEOS.
That scissor jack cracked me up. It is the littlest one I have ever seen. And yes Mike Bloomfield is one of my heroes, too. He and Dylan were quite a combination.
I like that plane iron chopper for the drill press. I made one from brass, and I bought a lock pick set out of Canada. I got lucky, the place that sold the lock picks had Swedish Pippin files in 3 cuts for $30 each! I decided to buy a lock pick set for fun, because what I usually pay for Pippin files made the lock pick set free. There are a few picks that make great fret slot cleaners. .015, .018", & .025", with a small sharp edged hook? They work a real treat for picking & digging out small debris. I filed down the .025" to .020, and just love it! I will also never lock myself out again. Seriously picking locks takes practice, but it is something you can do while anywhere. Riding on a plane or a bus, or waiting at the doctor's office. Working with small tools, doing fine work with my hands makes it that much more enjoyable.
I am so happy the things that Dan has done have come back to him by giving him the opportunity to work and make money on the guitar of his hero. And that is what the Golden Rule is all about.
Great advice as always - good to see even Dan Erlewine has gotten wiser over the years. I see since he is on his feet a lot he wears those nice german made shoes whose name I won't mention, but begins with a B and ends in -Stock! Goes to show Dan always has been THE MAN, and I give him a shout out because he has taught us so much over the years. Thanks, and keep up the good work!!
Hi Dan, I want to thank you for all the good advice from many years back. Love the old ones. Yes they need TLC. Given a lot of them of them the help they deserved.
Dan, I enjoy very much watching you work. You are THE Pro! Some of the things you do would scare the hell out of me, even though I have always done my own basic repairs and setup.
I sure wish Dan had been commissioned to repair the chunk of wood that had been crudely sawed out of this iconic guitar while he was doing such a great job on that refret!
Dan, please film a how to build solid body electric guitars, both flat top and arch top styles. I think we in the hobby/ small shop builder community would be very happy, even if a lot of the material is covered in other videos it would be cool to have two custom builds to learn from. When I first started building out of my garage you were still selling the old dvd from the 80's or 90's and everyone complained about the film quality so I passed on buying it. Now I'm kicking myself because I get the feeling it will never happen. By the way, anyone else out there that builds for the love of building and doesn't mind sharing, it would be great to see someone out together a full Les Paul style build together from start to finish. Without the use of CNC by the way or with fancy router duplicators, just regular tools most small shop builders with a good understanding of basics could use as reference. I don't think anymore strat or Tele videos are needed, there are plenty of great ones out already. Rambling...... hope everyone has a great year. Happy building.
See Upton Bass' videos on making upright basses. They use a drill & depth stop to get the contours right in the top, & back, then use small planes & chisels to carve the top down to the bottom of the guide holes. Option 2 is to use a standard router and templates to terrace the top, then carve the top down to a nice smoothly curved contour with the German relief carve on the edges. There are quite a few good videos on making Les Paul, PRS, & Moserite type carved tops, as well as solid wood ES 335 type tops. True ES 335 type tops are press formed plywood, using carved cauls to press form the plywood. I use MDF forms sealed with polyester. They don't last very long, but metal forms would cost about $25,000 each to have made for ONE style guitar.
Wow, I wish I was a luthier because I feel this great work and info is being wasted on me. Great to see high levels of work regardless of their nature.
Dan's still my Guru--he knows all the best methods to repair guitars and virtually everything I learned came from him through his magazine articles and books. But, I am curious: Who owns this guitar now?
I dislike super glue for this. Superglue has decent compressive strength but I've seen it get brittle with age and I never want to make a permanent bond with it if I can avoid it. I use tightbond II and sawdust from grinding up a matching piece of wood. I'll sand from an area of my scrap rosewood that matches the wood, and I just fill the holes. The best tool I have for getting the repair flush with the surface are Stew Mac's 1/4" smooth sided nut files (make sure it's burr free first). I've made absolutely undetectable repairs in rosewood this way. I've even aligned a bad nut cut with the wood glue and sawdust and using some unique tools I made for that kind of repair to get the alignment right.
A pleasure to watch you work but I must say, the plastic [hanging?] loop on your chisel handle prevents [or at best interferes with] one of the major functions of delicate chisel work, namely with the palm and heel of the hand. Another tip, when paring of the repair is to use the back of the chisel until you get right down to the last bit. Depending on the grain, always.
Dan ,your the man! When this video came to my attention, I wondered if this guitar may have been used on the"Super Session" album. I found a nice piece on Mike Bloomfield's guitars by John Gruinn. Wow. I had no idea that you had such an association with him " back in the day". Is it true? Do you still have the Gold Top? Anywho, Highway 61 and Super Session had major impact on my musical life. This video, to me, became an exhilarating action/ adventure when you applied the chisel. Really great stuff. Thanks so much for sharing. By the way, I saw Buddy Guy at the Grande Ballroom (pronounced Grandy Ballroom by the local hippies at the time), in Detroit in 1967. Where you there?
Mike Bloomfield is such a great guitarist. Him and Robin Trower are two of my favorites. Peter Green and Gary Moore round out the top five along with David Gilmour.
I'd like to drop that scissor jack in my flattened Washburn J6, that has a top that sunk down about 1/4 of an inch or so under the bridge. I'm getting that banjo sound, plus, the damn bridge is set so high...what a mess. Obviously the support inside broke, or was never put in. Hard to tell if you need a fret job with all this before it.
This is the best form of advertising I have ever seen. I don't even repair guitars but I want to buy stuff from stewmac.
Stew Mac is like luthier Snap On. Prices are crazy but it's good stuff. And yeah man Dan Erlewine? Well he's just great. Top skills and a brilliant persona!
HAHAHA, RIGHT!
you nailed it
Rofl
Man I'd love to have him fix and tune all of my guitars.
This man has a tool for every single thing he does.
My Dad always told me that you gotta have the right tool for the right job. You can tell alot about a man's character from the tool he choices. I don't trust a person who would remove a bolt with locking pliers, aka vice-grips", (which is a brand not a tool.)
Over the years you learn that you can't always find what you need on the shelf or you can easily make one just as good or better.
@@tylerbrandon460 Yeah yeah yeah, we all know about brand names, nobody likes a know it all. With that being said, sometimes using vice grips is necessary. If you're good at what you're doing you'll be able to use many tools for the same job. A good craftsman never blames his tools.
You can tell a lot from a man by the size of his tool.
.
.
.
Box
He invented half of them.
It's so nice to have TH-cam Videos to preserve and share the craftsmanship of these Old Timers! Thanks for sharing!
We all now know what it took him decades to learn technology is amazing!
I went to high school with Mike in Chicago around 1961. We were both thrown out of our normal high schools and had to go to a special private school for incorrigible students in order to graduate. I was playing guitar in then as I still do but back then I was into acoustic folk style music. I was over at Mike's parents house once or twice with him. He had a large collection of blues records which he played for me. I had very little knowledge of blues back then. A few years later in 1963, we both ended up in Greenwich Villiage, NYC. I as an aspiring young folk guitarist working my way up in the folk circles and Mike was playing in the Butterfield Blues Band. We shared the billing several times. I playing as a side man for various different folk acts and Mike playing with Butterfield. Mike was playing a Les Paul most of the times I saw him. We also shared a few venues at the various folk festivals that went on in the 60's. The Newport folk festival was the most well known.
Was he always into guitar making?
Dr Harmonica can lay down some mean licks on guitar.
Francisco Berríos he writes ‘bout Bloomfield :)
What’d you guys usually have for lunch?
These videos are so soothing.
Sir, I threw my back out last week and have been laid up. While being in bed I found your videos. Wonderful stuff, my friend. Helping a broken man get well. Happy holidays!
Thanks, Dan! You are a great Luthier! It is an honor to watch you work!
And in case you sneeze while re-fretting, Stew Mac will sell you tissues and a tissue holder.
And a Tissue Genie(tm) to dispose of the used ones.
Boy this fellow knows his Stuff. A true artist at his craft sure makes things look easy. The amount of skill he possesses is legendary. His books are my main sources for all things guitar. Well done Mr. Erlewine.
Fascinating to watch - so much thought and patience into these tiny repairs.
It’s like watching the world’s best surgeon operating!
The patch didn’t look flush yet, needed more sanding. I love these videos I’m addicted
Integra DIY
Lol... he probably saves the super secret finish work for the Stu MAC video series.
Available for $89.99
🤣🤣🤣🤣👍
A true master! With so many great stories too.
I love your videos. You remind me of my Dad, who has since passed, because he was a craftsman and a tinkerer. You are passionate about your craft and it shows. Being a guitar player, you have helped me out immensely with doing my own work on my instruments and I thank you. I could watch you work all day!
I think I just discovered a new form of therapy. Watching this restoration brings me peace.
Dan is a genius, I love his book, have it memorised. He has devised a Stew-Mac tool for everything
I'VE BEEN BUILDING GUITARS FOR QUITE A WHILE, SEEN ALL OF THE OTHER GREAT BUILDERS AND REPAIR PEOPLE HERE ON TH-cam AND I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYBODY SAYS, DAN IS STILL THE BEST REPAIR LUTHIER BY FAR. HE'S PROBABLY FORGOTTEN MORE TECHNIQUES THAN MOST PEOPLE KNOW TODAY. AWESOME GUY I'VE LEARNED TONS FROM HIS VIDEOS, BOOKS, DVD'S AND TH-cam VIDEOS.
So much education and the tools you've developed are truly peices of art
That scissor jack cracked me up. It is the littlest one I have ever seen. And yes Mike Bloomfield is one of my heroes, too. He and Dylan were quite a combination.
I like that plane iron chopper for the drill press. I made one from brass, and I bought a lock pick set out of Canada. I got lucky, the place that sold the lock picks had Swedish Pippin files in 3 cuts for $30 each! I decided to buy a lock pick set for fun, because what I usually pay for Pippin files made the lock pick set free. There are a few picks that make great fret slot cleaners. .015, .018", & .025", with a small sharp edged hook? They work a real treat for picking & digging out small debris. I filed down the .025" to .020, and just love it! I will also never lock myself out again. Seriously picking locks takes practice, but it is something you can do while anywhere. Riding on a plane or a bus, or waiting at the doctor's office. Working with small tools, doing fine work with my hands makes it that much more enjoyable.
The Mike Ehrmantraut of fretboards. Don't mess with this guy, he's a pro.
+NutritionalZero More like Mr Anderson from Beavis and Butthead. "I tell you whut...!" :-)
+NutritionalZero
That's a real compliment! I love Mr. Mike! Thanks, Dan
NUT ZERO, NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT, DAN IS THE BEST.
I am so happy the things that Dan has done have come back to him by giving him the opportunity to work and make money on the guitar of his hero. And that is what the Golden Rule is all about.
I think of this channel and Dan Erlewine as a global treasure.
I immediately have to buy all the tools Dan uses when I watch his videos 🙂
Dan and StewMac have a tool for every possible issue.
I could watch these videos all day! Love watching skillful people at work!
Dr.Dan,always impressive,great to see you again!!
I'm so glad you're filming everything you do on this guitar. I'd love to send you my 1963 Gibson ES 125T for a fret job, it could really use it.
Great advice as always - good to see even Dan Erlewine has gotten wiser over the years. I see since he is on his feet a lot he wears those nice german made shoes whose name I won't mention, but begins with a B and ends in -Stock! Goes to show Dan always has been THE MAN, and I give him a shout out because he has taught us so much over the years. Thanks, and keep up the good work!!
A lot of thought and prep went into that. Thank you Dan. A repair done by one of, for one of the legends.
Amazing knowledge and craftsmanship.
It’s great to see a professional at his craft, I am a musician but only watch for dans repairs they are great!!
a fan from the U.K.
These videos are always wonderful but this series on the Bloomfield guitar is priceless!
Hi Dan, I want to thank you for all the good advice from many years back. Love the old ones. Yes they need TLC. Given a lot of them of them the help they deserved.
Enjoy everything I've seen you do.
Dan Erlewine is a legend in the field of guitar repair. The first book I owned on the subject was by this man.
goddess of guitar repair...Always love to see him work.
Dan the man...superhero.
A True Legend . . . .a True MASTER !
A Craftman as such is getting harder and harder to find.
Knowledge gained thru years of experience, love for both music and wood, high standards of craft ...and humility. That is an exemplary combination.
Another great video, Dan. Thanks mate.
He's a legend
Thanks Dan for passing on all your knowledge.. I really enjoy your videos.
I can't stop watching these.
I love your work man.. i wanna be like you..
Dan, I enjoy very much watching you work. You are THE Pro! Some of the things you do would scare the hell out of me, even though I have always done my own basic repairs and setup.
Great work mate really great job
Amazing work sir. Take care of your health sir.
Your a master!! That was awesome!!! I love how you invent your own tools!!!
Great work . Fun ! I learn a lot on this channel , from this dude . Thanks
Great job Dan. looks fantastic. Appreciate your knowledge.
Just stumbled upon these videos last night. I'm hooked! Thanks for sharing, and preserving all these skills. You can't get an app for that.
That's such a cool trick with the drill press chisel. I shall be making one of those for sure!
Great video, as always. I've learned so much from you, Dan, and like so many countless others, I really appreciate you making these videos.
That same guitar changed my world... the moment I first heard it. I have never been the same. And I'm not the only one.
I restrung a stratocaster yesterday and I was proud of myself... then I watched a bunch of these videos xD restringing is nothing in comparison
GrimRT :D The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step!
never be afraid to work on your own axe.
Listening to you is like listening to bob Ross. Love this
I sure wish Dan had been commissioned to repair the chunk of wood that had been crudely sawed out of this iconic guitar while he was doing such a great job on that refret!
That's just amazing....
Dan, please film a how to build solid body electric guitars, both flat top and arch top styles. I think we in the hobby/ small shop builder community would be very happy, even if a lot of the material is covered in other videos it would be cool to have two custom builds to learn from. When I first started building out of my garage you were still selling the old dvd from the 80's or 90's and everyone complained about the film quality so I passed on buying it. Now I'm kicking myself because I get the feeling it will never happen. By the way, anyone else out there that builds for the love of building and doesn't mind sharing, it would be great to see someone out together a full Les Paul style build together from start to finish. Without the use of CNC by the way or with fancy router duplicators, just regular tools most small shop builders with a good understanding of basics could use as reference.
I don't think anymore strat or Tele videos are needed, there are plenty of great ones out already. Rambling...... hope everyone has a great year. Happy building.
See Upton Bass' videos on making upright basses. They use a drill & depth stop to get the contours right in the top, & back, then use small planes & chisels to carve the top down to the bottom of the guide holes. Option 2 is to use a standard router and templates to terrace the top, then carve the top down to a nice smoothly curved contour with the German relief carve on the edges. There are quite a few good videos on making Les Paul, PRS, & Moserite type carved tops, as well as solid wood ES 335 type tops. True ES 335 type tops are press formed plywood, using carved cauls to press form the plywood. I use MDF forms sealed with polyester. They don't last very long, but metal forms would cost about $25,000 each to have made for ONE style guitar.
THANKS SETH B,
Wow, I wish I was a luthier because I feel this great work and info is being wasted on me. Great to see high levels of work regardless of their nature.
Dan's still my Guru--he knows all the best methods to repair guitars and virtually everything I learned came from him through his magazine articles and books. But, I am curious: Who owns this guitar now?
Wow, thanks. That is actually a really good tip. It's not often I run across luthier tips I haven't heard of before. I like this one.
Dan must live forever!
great stuff Dan
Right on stew Mac , your lucky to own that guitar
Wait a minute, wait a minute! ...a mini scissors jack? Yes, you are truly a
mad scientist!
I wish you could get a hold of one of Duane Allman’s guitars!
Excellent video series. I'm really enjoying watching them. Your skill is staggering
Man , getting free lessons from a master .
There’s only one luthier I could imagine working on this guitar, and Dan’s it.
noticed the ohio bobcats sticker on your door and would really like to stop for a visit sometime, thank you for your very educational videos
Great stuff!
This is awesome, keep them coming please.
did anyone catch whose guitar this was?
I dislike super glue for this. Superglue has decent compressive strength but I've seen it get brittle with age and I never want to make a permanent bond with it if I can avoid it. I use tightbond II and sawdust from grinding up a matching piece of wood. I'll sand from an area of my scrap rosewood that matches the wood, and I just fill the holes. The best tool I have for getting the repair flush with the surface are Stew Mac's 1/4" smooth sided nut files (make sure it's burr free first). I've made absolutely undetectable repairs in rosewood this way. I've even aligned a bad nut cut with the wood glue and sawdust and using some unique tools I made for that kind of repair to get the alignment right.
Great work Dan, your videos are the best.
Wow im in michigan, the next time im down there i cant wait to visit
brilliant as always!
6:22 I could hear that on a loop all day
I don't understand shit about guitar repairing but I can watch this all day long..
Total Artist !
A pleasure to watch you work but I must say, the plastic [hanging?] loop on your chisel handle prevents [or at best interferes with] one of the major functions of delicate chisel work, namely with the palm and heel of the hand. Another tip, when paring of the repair is to use the back of the chisel until you get right down to the last bit. Depending on the grain, always.
This guy is a legend!!
Dan ,your the man!
When this video came to my attention, I wondered if this guitar may have been used on the"Super Session" album. I found a nice piece on Mike Bloomfield's guitars by John Gruinn. Wow. I had no idea that you had such an association with him " back in the day". Is it true? Do you still have the Gold Top?
Anywho, Highway 61 and Super Session had major impact on my musical life. This video, to me, became an exhilarating action/ adventure when you applied the chisel. Really great stuff. Thanks so much for sharing.
By the way, I saw Buddy Guy at the Grande Ballroom (pronounced Grandy Ballroom by the local hippies at the time), in Detroit in 1967. Where you there?
EXCELLENT I 'm sure you would do the same fix to any guitar since you are good and reliable.
Cheers
Totally excellent.
this guy rules
Fried chips are the best. They go great with some fresh fried fish!
I can't stop watching this bro videos.. 👊👊 more than excellent" "tu la rompes"!!!!
I love this. Helps me sleep
So much. Thank you
Mike Bloomfield is such a great guitarist. Him and Robin Trower are two of my favorites. Peter Green and Gary Moore round out the top five along with David Gilmour.
International legend.
Dan is the Billy Mays of luthiers!!
i wish I could get this guy to work on my guitars.
Great tips and video as usual Dan…thanx!
But I'm kinda surprised by all the tools laying on top of the un-protected guitar…
stewsim I think the body the necks attached to is just a mockup piece to act as a jig.
Definitely a plausible possibility…didn't think of that.
Definitely a plausible possibility…didn't think of that.
stewsim 3:28
Pure Courage!
I'd like to drop that scissor jack in my flattened Washburn J6, that has a top that sunk down about 1/4 of an inch or so under the bridge. I'm getting that banjo sound, plus, the damn bridge is set so high...what a mess. Obviously the support inside broke, or was never put in. Hard to tell if you need a fret job with all this before it.
Fine work! thanks
DAN RULES!