Guitar Pictures

Category: Guitar Setup

  • The Erlewine ShopStand: The Rock-Solid Hub Your Workshop is Missing

    This is it: the glorious, rock-solid monster that anchors your entire workshop and changes the game forever.

    The Erlewine ShopStand shown as a standalone unit, highlighting its robust construction and small footprint.

    It puts a decisive end to the familiar, frustrating reality for so many of us: that slight wobble you try to ignore, the cluttered benchtop that forces you into awkward angles, the constant, low-level fear that one slip could turn a precise job into a disaster. Every stroke matters with a file, and if the very foundation holding your work is moving, your accuracy suffers. The noise, the feel… it’s enough to drive you mad. This isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a corrosive agent that fundamentally undermines your confidence and focus. You’re fighting your environment instead of mastering your craft.

    đź“š The Master’s Vision for a Flawless Workflow

    To solve a foundational problem, we look to a master. Dan Erlewine didn’t just accept the limitations of a traditional workbench; he reimagined the very hub of the workshop. In this video, he lays out his thesis for why a dedicated, stable, and adaptable workstation is not a luxury, but an absolute necessity for professional-level work.

    Dan Erlewine working confidently on a guitar neck held in the Erlewine ShopStand, demonstrating its stability.

    🏆 The Three Pillars of a Professional Foundation

    The genius of the ShopStand lies in how it systematically dismantles the core problems of a hobbyist setup. It’s built on three pillars that create a truly professional foundation.

    1. Reclaim Your Workshop (The Space-Saver).
      For a smaller shop, bench space is prime real estate. The ShopStand solves the “real estate crisis” by replacing a bulky, space-hogging bench with a tiny footprint. You no longer have to sacrifice half your workshop to permanently-stationed power tools; the ShopStand becomes a hot-swappable hub, maximizing every square foot.
    2. The End of ‘Wobble-Induced’ Fear (The Stabilizer).
      Bolted directly to your floor, this heavy-duty, rock-steady column is the ultimate confidence booster. The constant, subconscious micro-corrections you make on a wobbly surface vanish. That fear of slipping is replaced by the profound stability needed for the most delicate and demanding tasks.
    3. Bring the Work to You (The Ergonomic Hub).
      With a height adjustment range of 27″ to 36″, the ShopStand adapts to you, not the other way around. It eliminates the “shop floor shuffle” of bending and hauling tools. Even better, it unlocks 360-degree access, allowing you to move completely around the workpiece without bumping into a bench—a game-changer for shaping necks or buffing a body.

    🛠️ The System in Action: From Fretwork to Final Polish

    The “Aha!” moment comes when you realize this isn’t just a stand; it’s a modular system. A task that used to be a frustrating, multi-step “unclamp-flip-reclamp” dance suddenly becomes fluid and intuitive.

    • Precision Fret & Setup Work: With a neck jig locked into the Guitar Repair Vise, you can tip the instrument into the perfect playing position and orbit the work, inspecting every angle without breaking focus.
    • Effortless Nut & Saddle Shaping: As Dan demonstrates, you can clamp a belt sander into the Angle Vise, bringing the tool to the perfect height for comfortable, precise shaping.
    • Flawless Buffing: The stand’s rigidity makes it the “perfect buffing stand.” It provides the stable base needed to apply Dan’s “Gibson secret”—keeping the piece moving in a circular motion, like steering a car, to achieve a beautiful, streak-free finish.

    đź’° The Investment: Forging Your Workshop’s Central Hub

    Let’s be direct: this is a serious tool at a serious price. You could probably try to build one yourself if you have a welder and time to burn on grinding, drilling, and painting. But that’s a fair bit of work that pulls you away from the actual craft of lutherie. The real argument for a “buy once, cry once” tool like this is about what you’re truly investing in.

    This isn’t just an expense; it’s an investment in confidence. It’s the aesthetic and functional upgrade that professionalizes your space. It’s knowing that if it’s good enough for Dan Erlewine, it’s good enough for you. You can build your ultimate workstation starting with the cornerstone: the Erlewine ShopStand. And remember, StewMac often has “SAVE WITH THE SET!” bundles that package the stand with the essential vises for a better value.

    ✨ The Payoff: The Feeling of “The Real Deal”

    After you bolt this to your floor and complete your first major job, the lasting feeling isn’t just satisfaction with the work. It’s an ascension. You’ve eliminated the amateur’s biggest variable—an unstable environment—and have earned the right to see yourself differently. Suddenly, you feel you can take on more complex jobs, to demand more precision from yourself. It’s the moment you stop feeling like a hobbyist and start thinking like a professional. You become the quasi-professional, and the path to becoming the real thing is finally clear.

    What’s the one tool that transformed your workshop from a hobby space to a pro-level environment? Share your story below.

  • End Fret Buzz: Pinpoint Problem Frets with the Fret Rocker

    That frustrating, tell-tale buzz. You know the sound.

    A close-up of the StewMac Fret Rocker tool, a small, precision straight edge.

    Whether it’s an open string ringing sour or a note dying out on the fretboard, persistent fret buzz is a common plague for guitarists. It ruins tone, compromises playability, and can drive even the most patient musician to distraction.

    The main culprits are almost always frets that are either too high or too low. Pinpointing the exact offender, however, can feel like a game of whack-a-mole. You could end up chasing your tail, taking material off one fret only to find the next one is now wrong. It would be a nightmare pursuit trying to guess and play around with it.

    For the serious hobbyist aiming for professional results, precision matters. This guide introduces the Fret Rocker, an essential tool for accurately diagnosing fret issues, and arms you with the knowledge to silence that buzz for good. You’ll gain the confidence that your guitar will play properly, and you can’t blame it for your bad playing!

    🎦 The Master’s Approach: Dan Erlewine and the Fret Rocker

    When it comes to essential guitar setup and repair, Dan Erlewine from StewMac is the master. In this video, he demonstrates his “Fret Rocker,” an ingenious tool designed to quickly identify problematic frets.

    Watch as he shows you the simple yet effective method for pinpointing the source of fret buzz.

    ✨ Engineered for Precision: What Makes the Fret Rocker Essential

    The Fret Rocker is a small, precision-ground straight edge specifically designed to quickly pinpoint high or low frets. Its method of use is deceptively simple: you span three frets at a time. If the tool rocks, you’ve found a problem area. But its true genius lies in its engineering:

    • Multiple Lengths: The Fret Rocker comes in short, medium, and long lengths, allowing it to accurately span three frets anywhere on the neck – from the narrowest spots near the nut to the wider areas over the body.
    • Unmatched Accuracy: These lengths are precision-ground to within **1 and a half thousandths of an inch**. This extreme accuracy is what separates it from improvised tools, ensuring your diagnosis is reliable.
    • Diagnostic Power: When the tool rocks, it indicates a problem with one of the three frets it spans. As Dan notes, “the chances are 50:50 each way” that it’s either a high fret or a low fret *next to* the point of contact. This precision tells you *where* to investigate further, rather than just guessing.

    This tool is so reliable it’s used on valuable instruments, including vintage guitars like the 1959 Gibson ES-125T (as seen in the video). This communicates a clear message: if it’s good enough for an expensive, valuable, historic guitar, it’s certainly reliable for yours.

    A close-up of the StewMac Fret Rocker being used on a guitar fretboard to check for high frets.

    đź’° Precision vs. Penny-Pinching: The Fret Rocker’s True Value

    Many hobbyists consider alternatives like credit cards or homemade metal straight edges to check for high frets. While these DIY methods might offer a quick, low-cost starting point, they come with significant risks.

    A homemade tool could be out of tolerance, not perfectly flat, or could even introduce inaccuracies if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing. This can lead to inaccurate measurements and sloppy fret work, wasting your time and potentially damaging your instrument.

    For the serious hobbyist who values their time and strives for professional results, investing in a high-quality, purpose-built tool like the StewMac Fret Rocker is a “buy once, cry once” decision. It guarantees precision and consistency, eliminating guesswork and significantly reducing the risk of errors. The confidence you gain from knowing your diagnostic tool is perfectly accurate is invaluable.

    Ensure your fretwork starts with precision: StewMac Fret Rocker (Amazon).

    🔧 Beyond Detection: Your Next Steps to a Buzz-Free Neck

    Identifying a problem fret with the Fret Rocker is the crucial first step. To completely eliminate the buzz, you’ll need to follow up with a few more precise operations:

    1. Leveling:
      The identified high or low fret (or frets) needs to be carefully leveled to match the height of its neighbors. This often involves a precision filing tool.
    2. Crowning (Reshaping):
      Once the fret is level, it must be reshaped to its proper “crown” profile. This is vital for proper intonation and preventing string contact across too wide an area. A specialized crowning file is essential for this. We recommend the StewMac Compact Z-File Guitar Fret Crowning File (Amazon) for its efficiency.
    3. Polishing:
      Finally, the frets must be polished to a smooth, mirror-like shine. This removes any file marks and ensures effortless string bending and vibrato. Always use fret protection like the StewMac Fingerboard Guards (Amazon) to protect your fretboard during these steps.

    🏆 The Payoff: Play with Confidence, Craft with Precision

    Eliminating fret buzz transforms your playing experience, allowing your guitar to truly sing. The Fret Rocker empowers you to diagnose problems with absolute confidence, setting the stage for precise, effective repairs. The satisfaction of doing this work yourself, knowing your guitar plays perfectly because of your own accurate efforts, is immeasurable. It’s a testament to your mastery and dedication as a craftsman.

    What’s your most stubborn fret buzz story, and how did you finally silence it? Share your experience below.