My friend Jeff started playing guitar recently, and after playing acoustic for a couple years he's interested in an electric. He recently asked me about buying decisions and what to look for when shopping around. I told him, "The most important piece of advice is to ask the sales rep if they have a good tech to do a proper setup with fresh … [Read more...] about What is a Custom Pro Setup?
Repair & Care
How Has Repair Informed My Building?
I started learning acoustic guitar repair and setup technique in 1999, just as I finished my first build. In many ways my career has come full circle. I became obsessed with the notion of building a guitar when I was young. This earned me an apprenticeship to learn acoustic repair and restoration. A little later I ended up running my own retail … [Read more...] about How Has Repair Informed My Building?
Humidity & The New Monsoon
[This article is about weather patterns and climate in the Flagstaff region of northern Arizona. It was written in 2021, and a lot of the information is still relevant to understanding the humidity patterns in this area.] Can you over-humidify an acoustic guitar? I observe patterns with our workflow and the repair demand related to the weather … [Read more...] about Humidity & The New Monsoon
Latest Repairs & Info
Check out some recent repairs from the Solstice shop. Click the arrows inside the pic to scroll that post. In need of repair work? Click here to book your appointment! Get VIP Updates * indicates required First Name Email Address * Interests Custom Sound repair services Solstice Guitars View previous campaigns. … [Read more...] about Latest Repairs & Info
Climate & Instrument Wellness
In this Article... Humidity Myths & Rumors Temperature Welcome to Flagstaff, AZ. Big skies, beautiful mountains, full seasonal changes, and a pretty harsh climate for string instruments! Our humidity can get down to single digits, and the wide fluctuations can severely irritate guitars and other things made of wood. Average … [Read more...] about Climate & Instrument Wellness
Why I Charge $600 Minimum for Re-Fret Jobs
No matter what kind of car you drive, sometimes it needs new brakes and tires. And sometimes with guitars, taking out and replacing each and every fret is the only way to correct certain problems like long-term fret wear and fingerboard irregularities. Most players have heard of this job: the infamous Re-Fret. It's a labor intensive process. And … [Read more...] about Why I Charge $600 Minimum for Re-Fret Jobs
Humidity Discussion
What happens when a guitar gets dried out? Here's one example. Aside from cracks like the one shown here, the critical geometry is affected. This makes any setup adjustments difficult. There are many different pieces of wood glued together inside a guitar, braces and parts with grain lines pointing in all different directions. When these … [Read more...] about Humidity Discussion
Acoustic Pickup Systems
What is an "Active" Pickup System? When talking about acoustic pickups, an "active system" means it's powered by an internal battery. This is technically called a preamp. Preamps are simply small powered circuits designed to make the pickup signal sound better before it leaves the guitar. A preamp adds frequency equalization (EQ) to … [Read more...] about Acoustic Pickup Systems
