Introduction
It was an old, beat up guitar. The finish was cracked, flaky and severely discolored in several areas. The fretboard was dry and caked with hardened sweat and grime. The frets, well, they were not too worn; but definitely needed a good steel-wooling and polish.The tuners were missing, and the original nut had been replaced with one that was not only poorly-cut; but also not wide enough to cover the full width of the fretboard.
To make matters worse, the bridge had come off some time in the past, only to be re-glued to the top and fastened with wood screws for good measure. That 'repair' didn't last very long, as the bridge had popped off once again; this time taking with it slivers of wood. I looked at the original bridge, it was full of holes and had to be replaced. The body was another sad story. It was was peppered with numerous dings, divots, and deep scratches; and literally coming apart at the seams, particularly in the area around the neck heel.
Work Done
Repairs to the body were addressed by first gluing the affected areas back together with Titebond III, followed by clamping. After the glue had dried, the repaired areas were saturated with super glue until a hard protective layer formed. This layer was sanded flat before the next layer of super glue was applied. The process was repeated ad nauseam; but this was the only way to restore structural integrity to the body.
The fretboard was given a new lease of life after some serious scraping, cleaning with naphta (Zippo lighter fluid); and generous application of lemon oil. The badly-tarnished frets were abraded with 400 - 1.2K grits of sandpaper, steel-wooled with 0000 grade stuff; and given a light polish with Autosol. The nut slot was cleaned out, and a custom-fitted bone nut glued into place. Those missing tuners were also replaced.
Re-gluing the bridge was by far the most time-consuming task. The area beneath the bridge had not been taped off before lacquer was first applied at the factory. This meant that from day one, the bridge had been glued to lacquer, and not wood. It's no wonder, then, that the bridge eventually popped off. I've seen this shortcoming on quite a few acoustic guitars so far; including a rather expensive 12-string. So, after marking the correct position of the new bridge, I had no choice but to meticulously scrape off all the existing lacquer underneath, repair the tear-out; and level the area before re-gluing said bridge.
It seemed like forever, but eventually the guitar was ready for re-stringing and final setup. O happy day, I must say the bone nut and saddle were a much-needed upgrade for this grand old lady. As always, no regrets, even though the smell while filing or sanding bone invariably makes me want to puke.
It was an old, beat up guitar. The finish was cracked, flaky and severely discolored in several areas. The fretboard was dry and caked with hardened sweat and grime. The frets, well, they were not too worn; but definitely needed a good steel-wooling and polish.The tuners were missing, and the original nut had been replaced with one that was not only poorly-cut; but also not wide enough to cover the full width of the fretboard.
To make matters worse, the bridge had come off some time in the past, only to be re-glued to the top and fastened with wood screws for good measure. That 'repair' didn't last very long, as the bridge had popped off once again; this time taking with it slivers of wood. I looked at the original bridge, it was full of holes and had to be replaced. The body was another sad story. It was was peppered with numerous dings, divots, and deep scratches; and literally coming apart at the seams, particularly in the area around the neck heel.
Work Done
Repairs to the body were addressed by first gluing the affected areas back together with Titebond III, followed by clamping. After the glue had dried, the repaired areas were saturated with super glue until a hard protective layer formed. This layer was sanded flat before the next layer of super glue was applied. The process was repeated ad nauseam; but this was the only way to restore structural integrity to the body.
The fretboard was given a new lease of life after some serious scraping, cleaning with naphta (Zippo lighter fluid); and generous application of lemon oil. The badly-tarnished frets were abraded with 400 - 1.2K grits of sandpaper, steel-wooled with 0000 grade stuff; and given a light polish with Autosol. The nut slot was cleaned out, and a custom-fitted bone nut glued into place. Those missing tuners were also replaced.
Re-gluing the bridge was by far the most time-consuming task. The area beneath the bridge had not been taped off before lacquer was first applied at the factory. This meant that from day one, the bridge had been glued to lacquer, and not wood. It's no wonder, then, that the bridge eventually popped off. I've seen this shortcoming on quite a few acoustic guitars so far; including a rather expensive 12-string. So, after marking the correct position of the new bridge, I had no choice but to meticulously scrape off all the existing lacquer underneath, repair the tear-out; and level the area before re-gluing said bridge.
It seemed like forever, but eventually the guitar was ready for re-stringing and final setup. O happy day, I must say the bone nut and saddle were a much-needed upgrade for this grand old lady. As always, no regrets, even though the smell while filing or sanding bone invariably makes me want to puke.
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