Guitar Porn: Tanya Shpachuk

Or: A relaxing indulgence on Youtube.

Probably 2 years ago, I stumbled across a video that was just a luthier who was doing a “routine” refret of a well-used guitar. I was entranced. No music (apart from other techs in their shop testing their repairs).

Turns out that the creator of the video is a Ukranian lady, Tanya Shpachuk, and besides it being a woman doing this killer work, she was doing this work amidst the Russian invasion.

No talking, no commentary, no on-point makeup, just the actions of a very skilled guitar technician¹, working their magic, and the amazing care she takes on repairing these old guitars. And she has done a TON of these videos. There is the occasional text overlay explaining something, and for once, the comments are not a toxic waste dump.

As soon as she started a Patreon, I hiked up my knickers and sponsored her. $5 a month is nothing to me, but every extra $5 to her will make a difference. Makes me feel a little good.

The fact that throughout the conflict with Russia, she has continued to work, and to use her YT channel to bring a human view of life in Ukraine is just awesome.

This may not be your cuppa, but grab a fresh cup, and spend 10 minutes watching Tanya work her magic, see her always changing fingernail art. If you watch more, you may even catch a glimpse of her dog, a cute dachshund.

Oh, do not ask in the comments why does she use the soldering iron and the solder. (It is to soften the glue in the fret groove, so that you do not splinter the groove when you pull them out)

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1. You might note that I used “luthier” and “technician” in this. Luthiers are in general people who can take raw materials and craft a guitar. A technician is someone who can do repairs and improvements. Honestly, I think that Tanya is above most of the techs I have worked with. And she has explored in finishing a build of a kit, I think she’s in the uber tech realm.