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Bench Notes: Content Audit (First Pass)

Editing guidelines (house style going forward)

Voice

  • Dry wit, not snark. Keep the deadpan, confident, slightly irreverent voice already established in the best original articles (fret sprout, saddle, hide glue, refret). Cut lines that read like a punchline for its own sake ("confident bullshit," forum-poster jabs, "buy the pickup for the fight you actually want to have"). The wit should come from a sharp, true observation, not an exaggerated jab.
  • Dan's actual opinions stay in — just land them dry instead of loud.
  • Rare, occasional cussing (like fret buzz's one asterisked line) stays rare. Not a running bit.

Structure

  • Lighter heading density. Target 3–5 H2 sections per article, not 6–8. Combine adjacent small sections that don't need their own header.
  • One list structure per article. Either a single bulleted list (with bold lead-in labels) or none — don't mix multiple list types in one piece. An article gets a second, clearly distinct list section only if it runs at least 50% longer than the current library average.
  • Standardize all "list-shaped" content (causes, signs, options) on the bulleted list + bold lead-in label pattern (matches saddle #26, humidifier #28, refret #33's "signs" lists) instead of the one-H2-per-item pattern used in most of the "not done" batch.
  • End with the existing "bring it in for a free evaluation" CTA (or a natural variant) on every article, no exceptions — matching setup #1, fret buzz #6, hide glue #32, and volute #48. The CTA text should link "Book Now" to the website's booking page: Book Now.

Siloing and linking

  • Each article owns one clear angle. Where two articles share ground, the deeper explanation lives in one place and the other links out instead of re-explaining (model: fret buzz #6's linked list of "actually check these first" articles).
  • Move blocks between articles freely where content is misplaced (e.g., Tusq material currently duplicated between the bone-vs-plastic and bone-vs-Tusq articles should live in one place).
  • Every article should link to at least one sibling Bench Notes article where a natural connection exists, to spread traffic across all 52 instead of a few.

Length

  • Keep most articles close to the current median length. Treat outliers (setup #1's story, refret #33's deep dive) as intentional exceptions, not the new default.

Batch rollout plan (3–5 articles per batch, stop and check in after each)

Structural batches first, since they set the final link map everything else points to. Category sweep batches after, for tone/format polish only — no topology changes needed there.

  1. Pickups cluster — #5 (repurpose to piezo vs. magnetic), #18 (dial snark back to dry wit, tighten headings, restore CTA)
  2. Nut / tuning-stability cluster — #3, #4, #24, #45
  3. Frets-wear + truss-rod clusters — #9, #33, #11, #42
  4. "Setup vs. ___" series — #10, #35, #38
  5. Top / bracing / bridge cluster — #12, #25, #23, #36
  6. Recently-edited cleanup — #19 (string gauge), #20 (intonation): dry-wit pass, heading/list cleanup, restore CTA
  7. Setup & Playability sweep, part 1 — #1, #2, #6, #13, #16
  8. Setup & Playability sweep, part 2 — #26, #40, #41, #46, #47
  9. Frets & Neck sweep — #8, #34, #39, #48, #49
  10. Body & Materials sweep — #14, #22, #32, #44
  11. Strings & Tuning sweep — #17, #37, #52 (#21 already covered in batch 6)
  12. Care & Storage sweep — #7, #15, #28, #30, #50
  13. Electronics & Pickups + Tone & Guitar Lore sweep — #27, #29, #51, #31, #43

That's all 52 articles, each touched exactly once, in 13 batches.

Decisions

  • Batch order: structural/linking clusters first, then the category sweep. Confirmed.
  • CTA: every article gets the "bring it in for a free evaluation" closer, no exceptions.
  • Voice calibration set: the dividing line is authorship this session. Only 5 of the 52 articles were touched by me this session: bone vs. Tusq nut (#24, light cold-open edit), string-change interval (#21, light punch-up), intonation (#20), string gauge (#19), and single-coil vs. humbucker (#18). Intonation, gauge, and pickups each went through multiple rounds of "add more hot takes/snark," which is where the drift compounded. The other 47 articles are Dan's original writing and are the real voice baseline. Dan specifically flagged "How often do I need a setup?" (#1) and "Does my guitar need a neck reset?" (#8) as the truest examples of his own voice — those two are the sharpest reference points, with the rest of the untouched 47 as supporting baseline. Batches 1–6 below re-calibrate #18, #19, #20, #21, #24 against that baseline; the category-sweep batches (7–13) mostly check already-authentic voice against the structure/format rules, not fix tone from scratch.
  • Progress tracking: checklist added below.

Batch checklist

Batch 2 — Nut / tuning-stability cluster, ready for review: #3, going out of tune fast, #4, bone vs. plastic nuts, #24, bone vs. Tusq nut, #45, tuning pegs
Batch 3 — Frets-wear + truss-rod clusters, ready for review: #9, why frets wear out, #33, refret, #11, how truss rods work, #42, truss rod cover
Batch 4 — "Setup vs. ___" series, ready for review: #10, setup vs. fret job, #35, setup vs. restoration, #38, electric vs. acoustic setups
Batch 5 — Top / bracing / bridge cluster, ready for review: #12, top sinking/bellying, #25, bridge lifting, #23, why bracing exists, #36, scalloped bracing
Batch 6 — Recently-edited cleanup, ready for review: #19, string gauge, #20, intonation, #21, string-change interval
Batch 7 — Setup & Playability sweep, part 1 (#1, #2, #6, #13, #16)
Batch 8 — Setup & Playability sweep, part 2 (#26, #40, #41, #46, #47)
Batch 9 — Frets & Neck sweep (#8, #34, #39, #48, #49)
Batch 10 — Body & Materials sweep (#14, #22, #32, #44)
Batch 11 — Strings & Tuning sweep (#17, #37, #52)
Batch 12 — Care & Storage sweep (#7, #15, #28, #30, #50)
Batch 13 — Electronics & Pickups + Tone & Guitar Lore sweep (#27, #29, #51, #31, #43)