The Bench

Diagram comparing a single-coil P-90 pickup with a two-coil humbucker and how the humbucker cancels hum

P-90 vs Humbucker: What's the Difference, and W...

P-90 or humbucker? A used-guitar tech breaks down the real construction and tonal differences, the hum tradeoff, and which pickup actually fits how you play.

P-90 vs Humbucker: What's the Difference, and W...

P-90 or humbucker? A used-guitar tech breaks down the real construction and tonal differences, the hum tradeoff, and which pickup actually fits how you play.

Diagram showing how higher guitar cable capacitance lowers a passive pickup's resonant peak and rolls off treble

Do Expensive Guitar Cables Actually Sound Better?

A bench tech's honest take on the expensive-cable myth: capacitance and length change your tone, price rarely does, and what a premium cable actually buys you is durability — not...

Do Expensive Guitar Cables Actually Sound Better?

A bench tech's honest take on the expensive-cable myth: capacitance and length change your tone, price rarely does, and what a premium cable actually buys you is durability — not...

Illustration comparing rosewood, ebony, and Richlite fretboards side by side, showing Richlite as a uniform matte black board with no open pores or wood grain

Are Richlite Fretboards Actually Bad? An Honest...

Gibson used Richlite instead of ebony for years, and it still scares off used buyers. Here's what it actually is, how it plays and sounds, its real downsides, and whether...

Are Richlite Fretboards Actually Bad? An Honest...

Gibson used Richlite instead of ebony for years, and it still scares off used buyers. Here's what it actually is, how it plays and sounds, its real downsides, and whether...

Used Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro in Heritage Cherry Sunburst in its original case with manual and inspection card

Why Do So Many Players Regret Buying New Instea...

The regret is almost always financial: a new guitar takes its steepest value hit the moment you buy it, and a lightly-used version of the same instrument plays identically for...

Why Do So Many Players Regret Buying New Instea...

The regret is almost always financial: a new guitar takes its steepest value hit the moment you buy it, and a lightly-used version of the same instrument plays identically for...

A pair of covered humbuckers on a wine-red Gibson Les Paul Standard, the pickups whose Alnico magnets this article compares

Alnico 2 vs Alnico 5 Pickup Magnets: Does the M...

Yes, swapping a humbucker's Alnico 2 for an Alnico 5 (or the reverse) is audible — but it's an EQ and feel change, not a whole new pickup. An honest...

Alnico 2 vs Alnico 5 Pickup Magnets: Does the M...

Yes, swapping a humbucker's Alnico 2 for an Alnico 5 (or the reverse) is audible — but it's an EQ and feel change, not a whole new pickup. An honest...

Diagram showing the safe 45 to 55 percent relative humidity range for a guitar and what goes wrong when it is too dry, too humid, or too hot

Is Summer Heat and Humidity Actually Hurting Yo...

A guitar tech's honest take on what summer heat and humidity actually do to a guitar — the real risks, the overblown ones, and the boring habits that keep an...

Is Summer Heat and Humidity Actually Hurting Yo...

A guitar tech's honest take on what summer heat and humidity actually do to a guitar — the real risks, the overblown ones, and the boring habits that keep an...