Stephen Beckwith
Guitar Expert and Luthier
Education
- BS, Electrical Engineering, University of Lowell
Certifications & Organizations
- Member, Guild of American Luthiers
- Member, Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (A.S.I.A.)
Favorite Piece of Advice
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Co-authored Articles (15)
How to
Tune a Mandolin
An old joke: If you've been playing mandolin for 30 years, you've spent 15 years tuning and another 15 years playing out of tune. While it's true that it's not the easiest instrument in the world to get in tune, it's a p...
How to
Custom Paint Your Electric Guitar
If you're tired of the look of your old electric guitar, a custom paint job is a great way to switch things up and revitalize it. However, painting your guitar isn't as easy as just taking a brush with paint to the body ...
How to
Put a Banjo Strap on
Attaching a strap to your banjo can make the instrument easier to hold and play. The process is fairly simple, but the steps will vary depending on the design of your banjo.
How to
Restring a Mandolin
Mandolins have a beautiful and distinctive sound, but their strings can really take a beating while being played. Old strings will change in tone, altering that crisp mandolin timbre. Luckily, replacing old mandolin str...
How to
Make a Custom Guitar Strap
Guitar straps are important for performing live and with friends. You don’t have to go out and spend money on one if the straps at the store don’t stand out to you. You can craft your own guitar strap from home. Make...
How to
Change the Knobs on a Stratocaster
The Stratocaster, commonly known as a Strat, is a style of vintage electric guitar produced by Fender. It first came out in 1952, but there are still Stratocasters being made today. You may want to change your knobs out ...
How to
Install Schaller Strap Locks
Dropping your guitar on the floor can damage its finish or even ruin its sound. Investing in quality guitar strap locks can prevent that from happening. Schaller brand locks are widely used, durable, and easy to install....
How to
Install Guitar Pickups
Cheap or inexpensive guitars can easily be upgraded to sound of better quality. For my metal style, the bridge pickup is of big importance. Replacing with upgraded models increases power, sustain, and crunch.
How to
Repaint a Guitar
One of the limitations when purchasing a guitar, especially a low-budget model, is the lack of color choices available. If you are set on having a specific color, or simply want to try your hand at refinishing an old or ...
How to
Repair Guitars
Repairing guitars becomes easier as you become more skilled at diagnosing the problem and replacing parts properly. Here is a tutorial on the complete repair of a Les Paul example.
How to
Adjust a Double Bass Bridge
A double bass is pretty easy to take care of, but your bridge might be getting a little out of whack if you play your instrument a lot. Whenever you tune your bass strings, you push the bass bridge forward without realiz...
How to Replace a Truss Rod on a Guitar or Bass
A truss rod is primarily used in guitars and basses to counteract the string tension and help the instrument neck keep its proper shape. If the neck on your instrument won’t hold its shape no matter how much you adjust...
How to
Replace Guitar Tuners
Guitar tuners will help you tune your guitar to the correct pitch so that it sounds as good as possible. They're an important part of your guitar experience - with an improperly tuned or untuned guitar, instead of making...
How to
Tune a Dulcimer
If you've never tuned a dulcimer before, you might think that only a professional can do it. Usually, though, you can tune your dulcimer at home without any professional help. The Ionian Mode is the method most commonly ...
How to
Replace Guitar Inlays
Whether your inlays are cracked or broken or you just want an upgrade, replacing your guitar inlays is a relatively inexpensive way to jazz up your guitar and give it some character. Replacing inlays does take a lot of w...
