Port Richmond Guitar Spa

Port Richmond Guitar Spa Guitar & bass setup, repair, and modification services in Port Richmond, Philly.

Specializing in guitar, bass, and lap steel setup, repair, and modification services.

New Pure Tone jack and a fresh setup with EXL145 12-54 strings in CGDGBC tuning for this made in Japan ‘60s/‘70s Zenon....
04/04/2025

New Pure Tone jack and a fresh setup with EXL145 12-54 strings in CGDGBC tuning for this made in Japan ‘60s/‘70s Zenon.

A gorgeous 470 JL Julian Lage Signature model in for a fresh setup with NYXL 10|46 strings. Incredible guitar. ...
04/03/2025

A gorgeous 470 JL Julian Lage Signature model in for a fresh setup with NYXL 10|46 strings. Incredible guitar.

Fresh setup (we kept the strings) and electronics checkup for this gorgeous heavily modified Squier Bass VI. I modified ...
04/01/2025

Fresh setup (we kept the strings) and electronics checkup for this gorgeous heavily modified Squier Bass VI.

I modified this last year. Staytrem bridge, Series/Parallel switch (strangle switch location), Strangle switch moved to push/pull tone pot.

Enjoy, !

Late ‘60s SG Special in for some work. The neck pickup had come loose when the owner tried to lower it too far. Spring ...
03/31/2025

Late ‘60s SG Special in for some work.

The neck pickup had come loose when the owner tried to lower it too far. Spring and washer dislodged and were up in the pickup coil. All better now.

A note here for all techs: PLEASE, when working on a vintage guitar like this, send the original parts home that you pull out and replace. This SG had its switch and jack replaced by another tech and the owner never received these parts when he picked the guitar up. These original parts can be cleaned and repaired, and if not, can be kept and sold with the instrument. The switch and jack that were installed are cheaper components that should be replaced to keep the value up. They work, but devalue the instrument.

The bridge pickup was switched out for a humbucker in a P90 shell by this same tech. The original mounting plate had to be modified in order to install this, again devaluing the instrument. There was a better option with a better pickup that would have installed here fine without a modification. The owner wasn’t given a chance to make this decision.

I corrected the wiring for the bridge pickup. The pickup’s metal shell ground was attached to the pot lead, and the original wiring was modified before it came in. All better now. No longer canceling out with pickguard pressure due to the braided shield of the neck pickup touching the metal plate of the bridge pickup. Now playing in phase in the middle position.

Pickups balanced, frets cleaned and buffed, fretboard oiled. Strung up with a setup of Hybrid Slinky strings.

Late ‘70s Electra MPC in for some fretwork, electronics cleaning, and a setup.Cartridges inside provide onboard effects....
03/31/2025

Late ‘70s Electra MPC in for some fretwork, electronics cleaning, and a setup.

Cartridges inside provide onboard effects. This one has the Phaser cartridge installed and it sounds thick and swirly. Good stuff.

Strung up with EXL-110 10-46 strings.

Vintera Jaguar gets some upgrades. upgrade required replacement of the original Fender bridge thimbles. I opened up th...
03/29/2025

Vintera Jaguar gets some upgrades.

upgrade required replacement of the original Fender bridge thimbles. I opened up the existing routes to the required 3/8” by hand, added the original bridge ground wire to the route, and installed the thimbles. Unfortunately, the string ground wire didn’t make a good connection to the thimble, and due to the solid install of the Mastery thimble and the difficulty in extracting it without damaging it, I decided to go another route with the ground wire.

I remedied this by removing the original string ground wire from the circuit and used a dremel to route a new ground wire from the vibrato chamber to the control cavity. I laid down a pad of copper foil tape and soldered the ground wire to this pad. Excellent contact and stability with increased surface area for ground support. This wire was then soldered into the circuit. My own modified Classic Player Jazzmaster has this string ground mod, and many American Fender Jazzmaster and Jaguars use the vibrato chamber as a string ground path.

A Mastery bridge is such a great upgrade. I own two offsets with Mastery bridges and I prefer them to other alternatives out there.

Strung up with a set of EXL110+ 10.5-48 strings. Playing and sounded great.

Lots of work done this week on this Riviera. Full rewire with new electronics. mini humbuckers, CTS pots, Switchcraft ...
03/29/2025

Lots of work done this week on this Riviera.

Full rewire with new electronics. mini humbuckers, CTS pots, Switchcraft toggle and jack. Orange drop caps. Vintage pushback wire.

Brand new unbleached bone nut handcrafted here at the Spa from a blank.

Setup with NYXL 10|56 strings.

02/09/2025

Hello everyone!

After years of not posting on FB I’m back. Expect weekly guitar postings and some other content from time to time.

I’ll be checking Facebook Messenger so if you’d like to hit me up there for needed work, feel free to do so. I’m available as always for your instrument needs.

Jeff

A new Lotto Guitars is born! I finished up the wiring and brass nut for Joe at Lotto Guitars a few weeks ago but with th...
02/09/2025

A new Lotto Guitars is born!

I finished up the wiring and brass nut for Joe at Lotto Guitars a few weeks ago but with the holidays and gigs I forgot to post about it!

Joe’s guitars are a master craftsman’s dream. Unbelievable build quality. The point where engineering and art meet. You need to play one.

This instrument received a custom solid brass nut done in house here at the Spa. You can see it shaping up through the process. All done by hand.

The wiring is the same circuit as Jerry Garcia’s famed Tiger. Effects loop with buffer, DiMarzio Pickups Super 2 pickups, CTS pots with Orange drop caps, Pure Tone jacks, etc. The effects loop is before the volume k**b, allowing a constant level and buffered signal to go to the pedalboard and back to the guitar. Tone 1 is middle, stacked pot tone 2 is neck/bridge.

The “harmonica” bridge allows great control over action and intonation, and the implanted brass block that it’s mounted to increases contact and adds to the overall transfer of tone.

Strung up and setup with a set of Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 10-46 strings.

Hit up Lotto Guitars with any questions!

Spent some time today rewiring ’ SG ‘61 Reissue. A densely packed electronics cavity was leading to some intermittent i...
10/01/2021

Spent some time today rewiring ’ SG ‘61 Reissue. A densely packed electronics cavity was leading to some intermittent issues with the bridge pickup that were solved by removing the large cap and extra lead pickup wire. Swapped in a 223 orange drop and trimmed a few inches of wire to free up some breathing room. Turned out great. This SG is amazing. One of my favorite guitars that’s been visiting me for years now. Enjoy, Joe!

Custom in for some fret leveling and fret lacquer removal, plus action/intonation. A really sweet bass! ...
10/01/2021

Custom in for some fret leveling and fret lacquer removal, plus action/intonation. A really sweet bass!

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Philadelphia, PA
19134

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