Banjo Repair: A Five-String With A Past
by Jim · Leave a Comment
This one is from the 1920s. The frets were a bit of a mess, and there was a great big hole in the skin. It was brought in by a customer whose father played it professionally in a banjo group from 1926 until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.
I replaced the skin [...]
Guitar Repair: refurbishing a 1969 Gibson SG
by Jim · 7 Comments
Sometimes it’s hard to believe what is on my desk. Gibson only made SGs with front accessible controls in 1969. It should have a bigsby trem, and a scratchplate.
It should also have a fingerboard. What a mess. This customer bought the guitar as is, as he knew that this could be a very valuable guitar [...]
Repairing a Zither
by Jim · Leave a Comment
Just a quick one about a very unusual instrument that came by the Jim Fleeting Guitars workshop, for repair.
This is a zither. It is a folk instrument, played with hammers, and is a precursor to the piano. Other zithers include, amongst others, the hammer dulcimer.
My job was to clean it, replace the missing strings, and [...]
Hello. My name is Jim Fleeting. At my workshop in Ripon, North Yorkshire, I create custom guitars and basses for customers around the UK and Europe. The Guardian describes me as one of the UK’s leading luthiers, which is nice of them. I built the UK’s first nine string bass and popped up in Guitarist and Guitar & Bass magazine, after winning an award from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust. I also head Jim Fleeting Guitars’ thriving repair shop.