The Guitar Spa - Bondi Junction

20/04/2026

Haven’t had time to post much lately. We’ve been pretty flat out with a lot of work coming in. Just finished restoration of this 1905 John Winder English mandolin. Arrived in a pretty poor state with a couple of small cracks around the edges and a severe crack down the left-hand side of the top. The repair needed to be done on a very low budget for such a job. Managed to get the binding off around the bottom half and loosen the top about halfway around which gave us enough space to clean up the inside, there had been at least two previous repairs that didn’t stick, and re-glue and cleat the crack. Then replaced the old binding gave the finish a touchup and she’s waiting to be picked up by her owner.

22/03/2026

Caught up with a very good friend of The Guitar Spa, Alex Kuusic 👏👏👏👏this afternoon hard at work doing what he does best at Easts Bondi Junction…… could be coming to a venue near you soon. Keep an eye out for him!

07/03/2026

Before and after pics of another one going home today…… very old, possibly 50+ years old, Yamaha FG-630 12 string. It was in need of some restoration and a major clean up - it’s actually the second dirtiest guitar we’ve ever had in The Spa! The buildup of grime on the fingerboard and even worse on the back of the neck took a lot of time and elbow grease to clean up. My client wants to play it as a six string guitar so we’ve had to do a bit of work on the nut slots and we’ve strung it with D’Addario .012-.053 light gauge phosphor bronze strings. It came up pretty well and plays evenly with a nice rich, well balanced tone. Now we’re off to do some rewiring and electronics repairs on a couple of guitars…….

06/03/2026

Going home today……a 2006ish Epiphone Casino. My client picked it up secondhand and it needed a bit of TLC, a full set up and intonation, repair to a loose output jack and a cleanup of some very tarnished nickel hardware. All in all a nice guitar that now plays very well and sounds great.

29/01/2026

Going home today……. A 1996 made in China Squier Stratocaster which hadn’t been played for a long time and has been passed down to a young lady to learn guitar on. Lucky girl! It came in with some electrical issues. There was no sound output at all. Replaced the output jack, which was faulty, and gave the remaining electronics a good clean especially the pots which were a little dirty and scratchy. Gave it a good polish, cleaned and conditioned the fingerboard, restrung it with D’Addario .009-.046 strings and gave it a full set up including intonation. All in all a nice Strat, sounds pretty good and plays well. A very nice instrument to learn on. 

27/01/2026

Just finished working on this made in Ireland Sheeran by Lowden S02 guitar. The string height at the 12th fret was a touch over 5mm and the neck had a significant upbow which wasn’t helped by a set of 13-56 strings, the strings that were on the guitar when my client bought it new from a store in Ireland for €700, around AUD1200 at current exchange rates. The guitar was almost unplayable above the 5th fret. I removed a 1.35mm shim from under the bridge (having checked the preamp system before and after to make sure it wasn’t there to effect the output tone or sound), restrung it with D’Addario 12-53s which were the manufacturer’s specified gauge strings and played around with the truss rod a bit to get the action as low as possible. Finished up with the string height at a around 2mm with a now very playable guitar. Playability and sound are very similar to a Taylor rosewood GS mini I used to own at about $250 more for a signature brand with the beveled edge on the lower left bout. Would I recommend them 🤔….You can decide that for yourself.

27/01/2026

Before and after pics of a Valencia classical guitar that’s going out today after some restoration work, a bit of a clean up and a restring. It came in with some tape across the lower part of the soundboard below the bridge and my initial concern was that the top was possibly cracked and the tape was there to try and hold it together. After carefully removing the tape it looked like the soundboard was actually OK. So with a little elbow grease and a lot of Zippo lighter fluid (the guitar tech’s best friend for cleaning nearly all types of finishes except shellac and similar natural finishes) we managed to get it back to looking pretty good. Did some further cosmetic work on some scratches and dents on the back of the neck, the back of the body and around the headstock and also on the fingerboard and with a restring she’s come up amazingly well. Considering that the guitar is 100% laminated wood it sounds quite good and plays remarkably well. Coming soon pics of a Sheeran by Lowden with some serious action problems and another pre-loved Squier Strat having its electronics repaired and an overhaul and set up for another budding young player. Watch this space……..

21/01/2026

On the bench this week….another Valencia classical in for a good Spa treatment and a little restoration work. We see a lot of these guitars across the bench. It’s an Australian brand that started in the 70s for entry-level to intermediate players with the instruments manufactured in China to traditional Spanish specifications. This one is a laminated instrument but plays and sounds OK and will look much better in a couple of days time.

15/01/2026

Going home today….this nice 2008 Squier Bullet Strat. Came in heavily soiled, with rusty string trees, a very dirty and slightly rusty bridge and rust encrusted pole pieces on all 3 pickups. Hadn’t been played for a long time and my client wanted it given some TLC and a restring and set up for his 9 year old to use…she’s already learning at school….finished last year learning “Eye of the Tiger” even! Anyway, she’s got a very nice electric to take the next step.

13/01/2026