<![CDATA[Brooks Acoustic and Guitar Restoration, LLC

<![CDATA[Brooks Acoustic and Guitar Restoration, LLC - Brooks Blog]]>Sun, 12 May 2024 00:50:38 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Guitar building as a hobby?]]>Tue, 22 Oct 2019 15:30:24 GMThttp://brooksguitarrestoration.com/blog/guitar-building-as-a-hobbySo I've been told on more than one occasion that it is cool that I can make money doing a hobby. Definition - Hob-by (noun) - an activity regularly done in one's leisure time for pleasure. Why do people see what I do as a hobby and not a job? My best guess is because I work from home. I have a good sized shop where I'm able to house all my tools, build guitars from scratch, restore guitars and do simple set ups on them. I have also been to a trade school where I studied luthiery under a professional luthier who has been in the business for many years. I don't have a store in town because then I would need to sell other manufacturers' instruments to keep the doors open, making it not as easy to build my own.

I also don't build from a kit or assemble parts-casters, not that there is anything wrong with that. But I think there is a point at which you become a guitar assembler, not a guitar builder. To me, that is a big difference between a hobbyist and a career as a professional luthier.

What's going on in the shop? Well, I have 2 custom guitars built (click on the pictures below to see the one made from Black Heart Sassafras) and several Sleeper Conversions ready to go out the door. You are welcome to stop by and play them if you like. If you ever wondered how they are built, come by and I'll show you around and answer any questions you have.

We are coming into fall weather now so the air is going to dry out. Bring your guitar by to get a set up so I can make adjustments and I will oil the fingerboard and bridge to help keep them from drying out. Also I'm now using Stringjoy stings. They sound great and feel amazing, and they are made in the USA. You get a new set of these babies with any set up.

]]><![CDATA[1930s Gibson and New Custom Guitar]]>Thu, 20 Jun 2019 16:05:14 GMThttp://brooksguitarrestoration.com/blog/1930s-gibson-and-new-custom-guitarHey everyone! I've had some cool stuff in the shop lately. Like this 1930s Gibson L-00. This guitar came in for a complete restoration, and it needed it. I started off this restoration by taking the neck off as it needed to be reset. As for the body of the guitar I went through the sound hole and reglued the braces that were decoupled and fixed the cracks.

Once the body was solid I put the neck back on, refretted the fingerboard, and made a new bridge. Of course, the guitar was cleaned and hand polished. It also received new tuners and Stringjoy strings.

I've also started on another Brooks Acoustic Custom, inspired by a Martin D-18. This guitar will have a slightly thinner body, my scalloped X-bracing, and a V-shaped neck.

I asked people to vote on the paint over on Facebook, so put your vote in: Natural or Burst top. What would you like to see?

If you need a set up on you guitar or need one restored, or maybe you just want to play a Sleeper Conversion or a Custom Brooks Acoustic, come on by and I'll get you sorted.

]]><![CDATA[2019 update]]>Tue, 05 Feb 2019 21:30:39 GMThttp://brooksguitarrestoration.com/blog/2019-update I've been busy in the shop so far working on this Rosewood custom RB-11. I've also done some restoration work for a few customers. I received an email from Dave over at The Healing Box Project and was informed that the green Keith Urban guitar I rebuilt last year will be signed by an artist; Charlie Daniels, Marshall Tucker, Sara Evans, or Toby Keith are possibilities. Then it will be auctioned off to benefit The Healing Box Project.

Colton James @cjd573 came into the shop and is now the owner of the Harmony archtop guitar we named Humpty Dumpty. I posted a video of him playing it over on Facebook @BrooksAcoustic.

Above is a picture of the braces glued in place before carving them to shape. Below is the rosewood back ready to be glued to the sides.

And here I'm routing for the binding.

Stay in touch! I'll be posting more pictures as I move along with this build. You can always check Facebook and Instagram for goings on at the shop that might not make it into the blog.

]]><![CDATA[Choctaw Nation]]>Tue, 16 Oct 2018 15:56:23 GMThttp://brooksguitarrestoration.com/blog/choctaw-nation

What a great honor it is to be a Choctaw Registered Artist. If you would like to know more about the Choctaw Tribe here is a link. https://www.choctawnation.com/

]]><![CDATA[Custom Guitar Build Update]]>Thu, 11 Oct 2018 20:17:46 GMThttp://brooksguitarrestoration.com/blog/custom-guitar-build-update So the custom guitar build is almost finished! Since the last post I've glued the neck on, made a bridge, and put on the tuning gears. I will let it sit under tension for a day or two then finish it off with a pickguard and LR Baggs pickup.

I'm still calling this guitar the custom build so if you have a good name for this guitar based on the Kalamazoo KG-11 leave it in the comments section and if I like it, we will call it that name. I've already got the wood for the next custom. That one will be rosewood back and sides, spruce top, and red cedar braces.

This guitar sounds amazing, and I made a short clip of it. Keep in mind that my musical abilities are suffering right now as I have a torn muscle in my left shoulder making it hard to hold my fretting hand up on the neck. Once this guitar is completely finished, I will put up a better video going over all of the things this awesome guitar has going on.

]]><![CDATA[Custom Build Update]]>Tue, 25 Sep 2018 14:00:00 GMThttp://brooksguitarrestoration.com/blog/custom-build-update

Progress on the custom guitar slowed a bit as I was having issues with my spray guns, but I have fixed the problem and moved forward. After a few more coats of nitrocellulose lacquer, it was time for sanding. I started to level the surface with 320 grit sandpaper then 600 and finally 1500. I have to wait a few more days for the finish to harden then I'll be able to buff the body to a shine. The neck is getting the same treatment and is still a few days behind the body. If all goes to plan, I'll be gluing the neck to the body next week... I'm excited!

The pictures below show the body sanded to 600 grit.

And these pictures show the body sanded to 1500 grit.

]]><![CDATA[Update on the Healing Box Project Keith Urban Player Guitar]]>Mon, 17 Sep 2018 15:00:00 GMThttp://brooksguitarrestoration.com/blog/update-on-the-healing-box-project-keith-urban-player-guitarSo, I've decided to go ahead and do a sleeper conversion on the Keith Urban guitar that I'm fixing up to donate to the Healing Box Project. While the paint on the guitar is really pretty, I had to put a new headstock on and patch up the couple of holes that were in the body. So the guitar doesn't look new anymore, obviously. BUT, I figured that I could at least make it sound better with a sleeper conversion. When I get done, this will be the most expensive Keith Urban Player guitar ever created.

Take a look at the pictures below. The top one is what I found when I opened up the Keith Urban Player guitar. The bottom one is what a sleeper conversion looks like. The bracing is optimized for tone on the sleeper conversion.

The Keith Urban guitar had a very crude scalloped bracing (which is at least something because a lot of times the braces are block braces). Something you can't see from the pictures is the bridge plate on the Keith Urban is plywood construction, not solid wood.

I'm not quite sure how the neck is attached to the body. Generally, there is a dovetail that holds the neck on the body and I can steam that off. Or on some models, they have a bolt on neck that I can take off. However, I've run into the case where a neck is held onto the body with dowel rods and there is not really a nice way of getting it off so that I can put it back together the way it was originally. With that lack of knowledge, I decided to try something new to open the guitar up and was very happy with how that turned out.

Follow the progress on Facebook and on Instagram @RobertBrooks1911. Stay tuned!

]]><![CDATA[The Healing Box Project]]>Fri, 07 Sep 2018 15:38:36 GMThttp://brooksguitarrestoration.com/blog/the-healing-box-projectI've recently reached out to Dave at The Healing Box Project to sponsor the great work they are doing with injured veterans. If you haven't heard about them, you should definitely check them out. Dave and CJ are always looking for support to help them get guitars into the hands of veterans. They provide guitars and guitar lessons to veterans as a sort of rehabilitation.

I came across this broken Keith Urban guitar that had the headstock completely broken off and a couple of holes in it where it had controls for a pickup. Unlike with Dillon's guitar, I didn't have the headstock for this one so you'll see that I had to create one to glue on.

It really is a very beautiful guitar. I considered taking the back off of it and doing a conversion but I think I'm going to keep it as it is (at least for now. Who knows if I'll change my mind later?).

]]><![CDATA[Hanging with Dillon Wilfong of The Matching Shoe]]>Tue, 04 Sep 2018 23:52:55 GMThttp://brooksguitarrestoration.com/blog/hanging-with-dillon-wilfong-of-the-matching-shoeI hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! Maybe you BBQ'd with the family. Or went fishing with friends. Or enjoyed the day on the river. How did you spend Labor Day of 2018? I got to spend a portion of the day with this guy.

Dillon Wilfong The Matching Shoe Broken Guitar

Yes, that's right. That is Dillon Wilfong, from the awesome band The Matching Shoe, playing Humpty Dumpty! He absolutely shredded that guitar. It's no wonder that he and his band have generated such a high-energy following of "Shoe-Heads"!

I had the pleasure of repairing a broken headstock on one of his favored guitars. Snapped right off!

He was extremely happy to get his guitar back in playing condition. As you can see, I repair headstocks uniquely. My background in carpentry caused me to think a little differently about how to make these types of repairs, and I immediately brought my knowledge into the field of guitar repair when I started school. This is a repair that is made to last.

]]><![CDATA[Meeting the Grand Prize Winner and Shop Work]]>Sat, 01 Sep 2018 15:04:24 GMThttp://brooksguitarrestoration.com/blog/meeting-the-grand-prize-winner-and-shop-workLots of exciting things happening at the shop lately!

With the remake of the website, I decided that we also needed to make some updates to the shop itself, more specifically the office/waiting area. While the original office served its purpose for a while, I wanted to get some mud on the drywall and get fresh paint throughout. In addition, I thought I needed something a little nicer on the floors (rather than the plain concrete that was already there).

I also moved everything around in the shop. Originally, my work station was in the front office area but that didn't leave a lot of room for people who were waiting, so I moved my work station into the main shop area. Of course, adding in a big toolbox and a big desk to that area caused cramping so I had to get some big shelves and reorganize everything to make better use of what I had.

Then, I decided to add some comforts for customers to enjoy as they wait. So now, as you wait for minor repairs to be done, you can enjoy some water, coffee, other drinks (you know, the drinks that take the powder packets), and can play the guitars (which will eventually be hanging on the wall once I figure out how I want to do that).

Also, John Bayer, the Grand Prize Winner of the Guitar Giveaway came by to pick up his prize. He mentioned that he doesn't know how to play guitar yet, but has wanted to learn for a while now. Hopefully, John, this sleeper conversion will inspire you to learn a few chords!

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