The Bench

Diagram showing the stacked cost of a project guitar totaling about $820 next to a vetted set-up used guitar at about $700

Should You Buy a Project Guitar? An Honest Take...

Most project guitars aren't the bargain they look like. Here's the honest bench math on which fixes are cheap, which ones wreck your budget, and when a clean, set-up used...

Should You Buy a Project Guitar? An Honest Take...

Most project guitars aren't the bargain they look like. Here's the honest bench math on which fixes are cheap, which ones wreck your budget, and when a clean, set-up used...

Open-coil humbuckers on a Gibson Les Paul, exposed bobbins showing where thousands of turns of copper wire are wound

Are Hand-Wound Guitar Pickups Actually Worth It?

Scatter-wound vs machine-wound pickups: the one difference that's real, the vintage-PAF myth, and whether hand-wound is worth paying for — an honest take from the bench.

Are Hand-Wound Guitar Pickups Actually Worth It?

Scatter-wound vs machine-wound pickups: the one difference that's real, the vintage-PAF myth, and whether hand-wound is worth paying for — an honest take from the bench.

Close-up of the six-saddle bridge on a black Fender American Standard Telecaster where the string break angle over the saddles is set.

Does String-Through-Body Actually Sound Better ...

Does stringing through the body beat a top-loaded bridge? The only real change is the break angle over the saddle. An honest take on tone, sustain, and feel from the...

Does String-Through-Body Actually Sound Better ...

Does stringing through the body beat a top-loaded bridge? The only real change is the break angle over the saddle. An honest take on tone, sustain, and feel from the...

Vintage six-screw synchronized tremolo bridge on a white Fender Stratocaster, illustrating a floating bridge that pivots

Hardtail vs. Tremolo: Which Should You Actually...

A used-guitar tech's honest take on hardtail vs. tremolo bridges. The one difference that matters is whether the bridge can move: fixed bridges win on tuning stability and simplicity, trems...

Hardtail vs. Tremolo: Which Should You Actually...

A used-guitar tech's honest take on hardtail vs. tremolo bridges. The one difference that matters is whether the bridge can move: fixed bridges win on tuning stability and simplicity, trems...

Close-up of a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop showing the neck humbucker near the fingerboard and the bridge humbucker by the tailpiece.

Neck Pickup vs. Bridge Pickup: Why They Sound S...

The real reason your neck pickup sounds warm and your bridge pickup sounds bright isn't the pickups — it's where they sit over the string. A bench tech explains position,...

Neck Pickup vs. Bridge Pickup: Why They Sound S...

The real reason your neck pickup sounds warm and your bridge pickup sounds bright isn't the pickups — it's where they sit over the string. A bench tech explains position,...

Front of a Gibson Les Paul headstock showing strings wound around the tuner posts, where most new-string slack hides.

Do You Really Need to Stretch New Guitar Strings?

New strings go flat over and over for the first hour — but you're not actually stretching the steel. Here's what's really settling (slack in the tuner windings, nut, saddle...

Do You Really Need to Stretch New Guitar Strings?

New strings go flat over and over for the first hour — but you're not actually stretching the steel. Here's what's really settling (slack in the tuner windings, nut, saddle...