The Bench

Close-up of the control layout on a PRS S2 McCarty 594, whose two tone knobs are push-pull pots used to coil-tap each humbucker

Do Push-Pull Pots Wear Out or Fail? An Honest T...

A guitar tech's honest take on whether push-pull pots wear out or fail. How the coil-split switch actually works, what really breaks, how to test one on a used guitar,...

Do Push-Pull Pots Wear Out or Fail? An Honest T...

A guitar tech's honest take on whether push-pull pots wear out or fail. How the coil-split switch actually works, what really breaks, how to test one on a used guitar,...

Black single-cut Gibson Les Paul with two black soapbar P-90 pickups

The Gibson Les Paul Special: Two P-90s, a Slab ...

The Les Paul Special is a real US Gibson stripped to its essentials — a slab of mahogany and two P-90s. A bench tech on how it sounds, where it...

The Gibson Les Paul Special: Two P-90s, a Slab ...

The Les Paul Special is a real US Gibson stripped to its essentials — a slab of mahogany and two P-90s. A bench tech on how it sounds, where it...

Cross-section illustration of a set-neck mortise-and-tenon joint showing the glued surfaces and common crack line

Is a Re-Glued Neck Joint Bad on a Used Guitar?

A re-glued or re-set neck joint isn't an automatic dealbreaker. A bench tech explains why set necks fail, whether a proper repair is safe to gig, how to read the...

Is a Re-Glued Neck Joint Bad on a Used Guitar?

A re-glued or re-set neck joint isn't an automatic dealbreaker. A bench tech explains why set necks fail, whether a proper repair is safe to gig, how to read the...

Diagram of the inside of a 1/4-inch guitar output jack showing the tip-contact clip, jack nut and washer, solder lugs, and the spinning-jack problem that makes a guitar cut out

Why Does My Guitar Cut Out When I Move the Cabl...

If your guitar crackles or goes dead when you wiggle the cable, it's almost always the output jack, not the amp or pickups. Here's how to prove it, the spinning-jack...

Why Does My Guitar Cut Out When I Move the Cabl...

If your guitar crackles or goes dead when you wiggle the cable, it's almost always the output jack, not the amp or pickups. Here's how to prove it, the spinning-jack...

Standard tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece on a Gibson SG, the hardware a locking kit replaces

Are Locking Bridges and Tailpieces Worth It on ...

TonePros and Faber locking studs freeze your tune-o-matic and stopbar to the body. Here's what that actually fixes on a Les Paul or SG, what it doesn't, the inch-vs-metric trap...

Are Locking Bridges and Tailpieces Worth It on ...

TonePros and Faber locking studs freeze your tune-o-matic and stopbar to the body. Here's what that actually fixes on a Les Paul or SG, what it doesn't, the inch-vs-metric trap...

Diagram of an electric guitar signal path showing the toggle switch and output jack as the two most common causes of crackle and cut-outs

Why Does My Guitar Cut Out or Crackle When I Sw...

Crackle, dropouts, or a dead position when you flip the pickup selector almost never means bad pickups. A bench tech walks the signal path to the two real culprits—the toggle...

Why Does My Guitar Cut Out or Crackle When I Sw...

Crackle, dropouts, or a dead position when you flip the pickup selector almost never means bad pickups. A bench tech walks the signal path to the two real culprits—the toggle...