CA Guitar Repair Blog: Kawai MIJ Folk Guitar Gets Some Help

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.