Thursday, April 03, 2025

Kawai MIJ Folk Guitar Gets Some Help | Part 1

Part 2 ▶

Preamble

Remember the badly weathered Kawai MIJ Folk Guitar that came about a month ago? You do? Great! Now, in case anyone is wondering why it's taken me so long to post an update, all I can say is "blame it on the rain." Yes, it's a tired excuse, but having to do woodwork on one's front porch has its fair share of drawbacks.



Welcome to My Workshop

   

Detaching Hardware - Headstock

Now, here's an update on the progress made so far. We'll begin with the headstock end of things, then. The first component to be detached was the truss rod cover, followed by the vintage-style open gear tuners. Not in entirety, though. All but one tuner bushing stubbornly refused to come off cleanly. Now, as these bushings were metal, I did not dare pry them off and run the risk of damaging the headstock veneer.



Tuners and Truss Rod Cover Disassembled

Five Stubborn Tuner Bushings

Back of Headstock Sans Tuners



Straightening the Neck and Fretboard

With the truss rod cover removed, the truss rod adjustment nut was now in clear view. Two issues then came to the fore. One, the truss rod channel was a little too short to accommodate a regular-sized hex wrench. After modifying one of my wrenches and getting it to fit, issue number two surfaced. The truss rod adjustment nut was frozen in place! Thankfully, after a few days of lubing and gentle coaxing, the nut began to loosen slightly. I was then able to tighten the truss rod and straighten the neck and fretboard sufficiently.



Truss Rod Adjustment Nut

Fretboard After Truss Rod Adjustment



Fretboard Issues

Getting the fretboard straight was but one hurdle crossed. The frets, though level throughout the length of the fretboard, were discolored and tarnished. Then there was the fretboard itself, which was dry, chalky and infested with embedded crud and grime. Finally, the low E string, through years of use, had gouged a deep divot in the wood of the fifth fret.



Tarnished Frets and Embedded Grime

Deep Divot - Fifth Fret



Fixing Fretboard Issues

I'm glad to say that the tarnished frets cleaned up nicely after a good going-over with abrasive pads and sandpaper wrapped around an old ATM card. As for the fretboard itself, a little scraping with a blade successfully removed most of the embedded crud.



Cleaning the Frets

Lightly Scraping the Fretboard

Fretboard and Frets After Cleaning



What then of the divot? I'm glad you asked that question. The solution, folks, was the tried-and-true concoction of super glue and rosewood dust. Pack it in layer upon layer with sufficient cure time in between, until slightly proud of the surrounding wood. Then, scrape and sand the filled surface until level, and smoothen as needed. The repaired area should be barely noticeable after lemon oil is applied.



Super Glue/Rosewood Dust Filler

Leveling the Filled Surface



Prepping for Larger Tuners

Yes, folks, we've finally removed those five stubborn tuner bushings. Though a lot harder to detach than latter-day chromed plastic bushings, the headstock veneer survived the ordeal virtually unscathed; and that's what counts.



Bushings Finally Removed

All Six Metal Bushings



Now, as the stock tuners were only 6 mm in diameter, the tuner mounting holes need to be enlarged with a tapered reamer to accommodate the larger 10 mm tuners that will be installed. In the pictures below, I demonstrate the process for the D tuner. Since then, I've enlarged the remaining five tuner mounting holes in a similar fashion. 



Reaming the D Tuner Mounting Hole

Enlarged D Tuner Mounting Hole

Test-Fitting the Replacement D Tuner

        
 

Harley Benton MB-20BK Electric Guitar Gets Some Help | Part 1

Part 2 ▶

Preamble

This Harley Benton MB-20BK Electric Guitar was at CA Guitar Repair in 2024 for servicing, restringing and a setup; and left the shop with all stock appointments retained. Fast forward to last month, and owner Amirul's here once again with his main squeeze. This time around, he's requested a pickup swap and shielding, besides servicing and restringing. No hay problema, mi amigo! Now, let's take a look at what's been done so far.

Electronics Evaluation and Upgrades

The first thing I did after detaching the neck from the body was to disassemble body-mounted hardware and electronics for evaluation and servicing. Following this, I checked the bridge ground for continuity, and discovered to my delight that it was working as it should. 



Hardware and Electronics Disassembled

Bridge Ground Checks Out OK



Next, the stock 500K mini pots were evaluated. As they were caked in salt and grime, they would not be retained. The stock open frame toggle switch, meanwhile, was tarnished and showed signs of corrosion. As such, it too would be replaced. Subsequently, electronics upgrades agreed upon included a shielded output jack cable, full-sized Alpha A500K pots, an Epiphone toggle switch, a K73-16 0.022uF tone cap; and Switchcraft output jack socket.



Mini Pots Encrusted in Salt

Tarnished Toggle Switch

Upgraded Components



Test-fitting the replacement Alpha pots proved to be frustrating, as the existing pot mounting holes were way too small to accommodate full-sized pots. And so, these holes were carefully enlarged with a tapered reamer, after which the Alpha pots slid into place rather easily.



Alpha A500K Pot Will Not Fit

Reaming the Pot Mounting Hole

Alpha A500K Pot Now Fits Nicely

  

Evaluating the Replacement Humbuckers

The used Epiphone humbuckers, a gift from Amirul's dad, needed to be checked thoroughly before being installed. Thankfully, both were working. DCR readings were 9.07K for the neck, and 9.66K for the bridge.



Pickup Upgrade - Epiphone Humbuckers

Neck Humbucker DCR is 9.07K

Bridge Humbucker DCR is 9.66K



Matters of Shielding

As Amirul had specifically requested that shielding be installed in his MB-20BK, we first had to clean the pickup and control cavities. Here, a small wire "toothbrush" and razor blade came in very handy for removing most of the dried polish residue and embedded dust particles.



Cleaning the Pickup Cavities

Cleaning the Control Cavity



With the cavities adequately prepped, the first coat of conductive graphite paint was applied with an artist's brush. A total of six coats were laid down nice and thick, with about an hour's drying time in between coats.



Applying Shielding Paint - Pickup Cavities

Applying Shielding Paint - Control Cavity



Once the final coat had dried completely, I was able to test shielding continuity with an ohmmeter set to x1K ohms. Thankfully, the readings obtained were invariably 0 ohms, indicating that the shielding paint would do its job. Oh, I almost forgot the control cavity cover shielding. Now, although the cover came with stick-on metal foil shielding, continuity was inconsistent. This being unacceptable, an additional layer of copper foil shielding was applied, and this worked like it was supposed to.



Testing Pickup Cavity Shielding

Testing Control Cavity Shielding

Testing Control Cavity Cover Shielding



Cleaning the Fretboard and Frets

I remember thoroughly cleaning and oiling the amaranth fretboard on this MB-20BK the last time it was here, as well as polishing all 24 jumbo frets. Well, looking at the first pic below, it's as if none of that ever happened. No worries, though. We'll clean things up with abrasive pads, sandpaper on a popsicle stick, naphtha, and lots of elbow grease. 



Fretboard and Frets as Received

Cleaning the Frets

Cleaning the Amaranth Fretboard

Fretboard and Frets After Cleaning

         
           

Tuesday, April 01, 2025

Rumah Terbuka Aidilfitri YAB Menteri Besar Pahang

Date: April 1, 2025
Event: YAB Menteri Besar Pahang's Aidilfitri Open House
Venue: Dewan Dato Shahbandar Chini, Pekan
Media Credit: 
Safar Shah Alauddin
Farizul Hafiz Awang
Atokku Sariose




 

Monday, March 31, 2025

Hari Raya Greetings - 1 Syawal 1446 AH

It's March 31, 2025, and the first day of Aidil Fitri here in Malaysia. Today, allow me to share the Hari Raya greetings received so far. Some are from clients, others are from friends, and two are from former SMK Bukit Goh students whom I once taught back in the '80s. 





Sunday, March 30, 2025