Jim Hollis Guitar Setup and Repair

So a couple of weeks ago I posted pics of a Garrison 12 string I started repairing. This ended up turning into quite a project with loose braces, top cracks, and a broken truss rod, but it turned out great! Here are a bunch of pictures of the work and a video so you can hear how the repaired guitar sounds.

Getting some work done on this Garrison 12 string…

Hey all... It's been quite a while since I've posted anything to the page but I really don't spend time during the summer in the workshop. Now that we're almost halfway through September, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm available beginning October 1 to start working on stuff again. So, if you have a guitar that isn't playing nicely for you, let's schedule a time and get it looked at.

I don’t really spend a lot of time in the guitar workshop this time of year but I was able to make some progress on a project I’m doing for myself. I have some final fitting and shaping of the neck and neck pocket to do and then I’ll be ready to start on the finish. Picture the guitar all black…

Had this one in the workshop and, wow, did it need some TLC! This is a 1976 USA Fender Strat that belonged to the grandfather of a young man learning to play. I was told the guitar lived through a fire and then was asked if I could help get it playable. After some conversation, we decided to do cleanup of the fire damage, apply laquer to stablize the finish, clean all the metal parts and electronics, replace a broken pot and lost k**b, do a full fret job, then finally a setup and new strings. I love how this turned out and I think I was able to preserve the sentimental value of this instrument to the family and keep it looking like grandpa's guitar. If you need help with your guitar, just send me a message.

Used some curly birdseye maple and got the 2 back covers made…

So this came in yesterday. Stay tuned and see what I have planned.

Spent some time in the workshop this evening and got this replacement rosewood bridge made for an acoustic guitar I’m working on…

Here's a Guild parlor guitar that made its way to the workshop in need of some real TLC. This one needed a full fret leveling, recrowing, and polishing along with a new bone saddle to correct intonation issues. 4 of the 6 strings were way off so the guitar constantly sounded out of tune. Here are some pictures taken along the way and a video clip so you can hear how the Guild sounds now. It's amazing what a couple of hours work will do to a guitar. I'm really pleased with how this one turned out.

Had this nice, road worn Fender Telecaster in the workshop for new strings and a setup. If you have an instrument you'd like me to take a look at, just send me a message.

Here's a guitar I picked up for myself. It's a 1981 Ovation 12 string. Didn't need much to get it into great playing condition. Repairs included re-gluing the loose soundhole overlay, some fill on the fretboard, and making a new bone saddle. Then just a good clean, wax, new strings, and electronics (this guitar never had any). The last picture shows it next to my 2014 Ovation spalted maple 6 string and I'm including a video so you can hear how it sounds. If you have questions or need work done on a guitar, message me.

Hey all. Here's a 90's Gibson Gospel acoustic that was in the shop with a broken bridge. The photos show the guitar after I removed the broken bridge, the jig I made to route the saddle slot in the new bridge, and then a couple with the new bridge on the guitar.