Ovation Celebrity CS24-4 Rehab | Part 7

P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | P5 | P6 | Part 7

Since We Last Met  

The last post concluded with yours truly layering a super glue and rosewood dust concoction onto the damaged area of the headstock extension. This was to prevent the exposed wood from deteriorating any further. Here's the repaired area after scraping, sanding and a light coat of Minwax Antique Oil Finish.

Headstock Extension After Repairs

The next task was removing the wonky nut, which I intended to reuse after cleaning. A few well placed cuts, a hammer, and a block off wood was what it took to dislodge this little fellow. Once detached, the mess of dried glue in the nut slot was more than evident. Cleaning this up required small chisels, blades, sandpaper, and a nut file.

Nut Detached. Here's What's Underneath

Cleaning the Nut Slot

Lowering the Bridge and Saddle

The only way to reduce the high upper fret action on this CS24-4 was to first lower the bridge to a suitable height, and then lower the saddle sufficiently. Let's start with the bridge, then. The bulk of the wood was first shaved off with a scraper, leaving a number of scratches. These scratches were then removed with successively finer grits of sandpaper, from 80 up to 400.

Reducing Thickness With a Scraper

Sanding Through the Grits

Bridge Ready for Ramping

With the bridge lowered, it now needed to be ramped to provide sufficient string break angle over the saddle. On a bridge with bridge pins, I would have used a rotary tool to cut tapered slots from the bridge pin holes to the saddle. But as the strings load from the back on this bridge, a different approach was needed to achieve the desired string break angle. And so, I went to work with a rat tail file, elongating and deepening all six string slots.

String Channels Deepened and Elongated

Once bridge ramping was taken care of, focus shifted to the saddle itself, which appeared to be stock. It was stained, cruddy and pretty chewed up from years of use, but reusable. The first task was to clean the saddle and remove the deep grooves cut into it by the strings. It took quite a while, but after a fair amount of scraping, sanding and polishing, the saddle looked way better. Following this, the height of the saddle was reduced in small increments by rubbing its base against a 150 grit diamond sharpening stone. Periodic checks were carried out, naturally, as there was always the danger of going too far.

Test-Fitting the Lowered Saddle

Bridge and Fretboard Conditioning

At this point in time, no more modifications were needed as far as the ovangkol bridge or saddle were concerned, and the same held true for the ovangkol fretboard. All that was left, then, was to condition the wood with lemon oil. As dryness and a chalky appearance best described the condition of both bridge and fretboard, a rather heavy coat of lemon oil was applied and given time to soak in. Surprisingly, that one coat was all it took to sufficiently hydrate the wood.

Bridge Conditioned With Lemon Oil

Bridge Conditioning Completed

Fretboard Conditioned With Lemon Oil

Fretboard Conditioning Completed

Tuner Issues

We were in the home stretch now, and almost ready for restringing and final setup. But first, I needed to make sure that all six tuners were in working condition. The tuner bushing washers were mostly loose, as expected. Not a problem, though. A No. 10 wrench took care of this really quickly. I had a nasty surprise while tightening the buttons, though. The B-string tuner was missing both its plastic and metal washers, rendering it unusable. Thank goodness I had a few spare tuners in my parts drawer, and one of them consented to donate both its washers. Now, that's a tuner with a heart of gold!

B-String Tuner is Missing Both Washers

Washers Taken From Donor Tuner

B-String Tuner With Replacement Washers

Restringing and Final Setup

Restringing was quick and painless, thanks to all six tuners being in fine shape. Neck relief and saddle height were also spot on. 12th fret action was 4/32" for the Low E, and 3/32" for the High E. It wasn't all roses, though. Throwing a spanner in the works was open string buzz, most noticeably on the High E. Raising the overall height of the nut slightly took care of the problem, thankfully. If you look closely at the pics of both sides of the nut below, you will notice a wood veneer shim beneath it.

Shimmed Nut - Left Side

Shimmed Nut - Right Side

CS24-4 Rehab Completed

Mamashi Cakes Kluang - Hari Raya Goodie Bags for Kulai Orphans

Featured Entrepreneur: Mamashi Cakes Kluang

Date: March 25, 2025

Venue: Hotel Impiana, Senai

Event: Majlis Berbuka Puasa & Penyampaian Sumbangan Aidilfitri

Event Organizer: Pertubuhan Kebajikan Anak-Anak Yatim Islam Daerah Kulai

Background Music: Hendri Saputra

Korib, Boey & Friends @Kuantan Pickers | April 5, 2025

Date: April 5, 2025

Venue: Kuantan Pickers & Kedai Kopi

Special Thanks: Dato' Azman, Dato' Sri Huda, Art Azman 

Vocals: Korib Ibrahim

Guitar: Boey Busker

Song: Widuri

Songwriter: Slamet Adriyadie

Artist: Bob Tutupoly

Album/Year: Bob Tutupoly Vol.1/1977

Label/Cat: Remaco/RLL-805

Korib & Boey @Kuantan Pickers | April 5, 2025

Date: April 5, 2025

Venue: Kuantan Pickers & Kedai Kopi

Special Thanks: Dato' Sri Huda, Dato' Azman 

Vocals: Korib Ibrahim

Guitar: Boey Busker

Song: Widuri

Songwriter: Slamet Adriyadie

Artist: Bob Tutupoly

Album/Year: Bob Tutupoly Vol.1/1977

Label/Cat: Remaco/RLL-805

Maniac Acoustic and ESP GrassRoots Bass Need Some Help

It's nearly midnight on April 3, and I'm busy editing a video in my workroom. Suddenly, I hear a faint salam at the gate. Turns out one of my regular clients is on the way back to KL, and has come to drop off two instruments. 

The first instrument is a Maniac acoustic with two issues. Issue No. 1 concerns the Fishman onboard preamp that, though working, just will not stay in place and keeps disappearing into the body. The second, and more serious of the two, is a lifting bridge. The way it looks, I'll most probably have to do a belly reduction, detach the bridge; and glue it back on.

On to the second instrument, then. It's a used ESP GrassRoots G-LB-52CC bass from Japan that appears to be stock save for the many stickers adorning its gloss black alder body. With regard to this bass, my tasks include removing all those stickers, cleaning and polishing, hardware and electronics servicing; plus a string change and setup. 

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