Monday 24 June 2013

When did you last clean your guitar? Honestly?

Morning all,

This is Ben with my first blog for the new, improved and deliciously spangly new Cookes website. Welcome along, make yourself a nice steamy brew, take a nice comfortable seat and we shall begin.  Well, what a week it’s been!  I’ve finally managed to clear the huge raft of guitar repairs that all poured in through the door over the last seven days.  It seems that everybody has collectively decided to put right that dodgy axe so that it’s ready just in time for summer.

You know, S-U-M-M-E-R.  It’s when the hot yellow thing in the sky is meant to make us feel all warm and fuzzy.

Anyway, I’ve installed a pickup on an acoustic guitar, made two basses and five guitars playable again and cleaned bodies, polished frets and oiled the fretboards of everything else that moved.  String action and poor intonation is a big bugbear for most guitarists and, if you know you’re in for a disappointing jam on a guitar that fights you every step of the way, these things can put you off even wanting to pick it up in the first place.

Guitars can also get pretty disgusting when they get regular use or haven’t been used for a while.  If yours is looking manky and needs a good scrub, if it feels like you are playing a cheese grater or if the electrics on it make funny noises when you touch it in a certain way, bring it in a let me see if I can make it feel like the first day you bought it again!  A full service costs £35 plus a new set of strings; not prohibitively expensive and it could just inspire you to pick it up a little more often so you can finally nail that solo you’ve been trying to work on.  Yes, that one, where that bit is meant to go ‘bididdly doo wakka weeeyooo’ but currently just goes ‘meh’.

Hmm, I think I need another coffee.

Take care all, keep on rocking!


Ben. x
ben@cookes.co.uk

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