CA Guitar Repair Blog: Adonis Acoustic Overhaul

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Adonis Acoustic Overhaul - Part 5

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Folks, you might recall (Part 4) that the bridge on this Adonis Acoustic was reglued to the top on December 26, 2025. Well, the clamps have been removed, and we're into the home stretch. You know, I've never really done anything to the frets or fretboard thus far, so let's start with that. The frets, though badly tarnished, are in fairly good shape. All they need is a good clean and polish. The grimy fretboard, meanwhile, is crying out for a good scraping and conditioning. That being said, let's give it a go.

Cleaning the Frets

Scraping the Fretboard

Here's the Result

Deep Cleaning the Fretboard With Naphtha

We also need to install new tuners. There's no need to enlarge the holes, as they're already 10 mm in diameter. However, the troublesome low and high E tuner screws need to be pried free beforehand, the resulting cavities plugged, and new screw holes drilled.

Low E Tuner Screw Extracted

High E Tuner Screw Extracted

Resulting Cavities Plugged

New Tuners Installed - Image 1

New Tuners Installed - Image 2

With the tuner issue addressed, let's move back to the fretboard. As it's been scraped and cleaned with naphtha, all that's left is to condition it with some lemon oil. And, as the bridge is even drier than the fretboard, I've also treated it to a generous dose of that wonderful elixir.

Fretboard Conditioned With Lemon Oil

Bridge Gets the Same Treatment

Now, as this guitar has just undergone a bridge reglue, we'll not stress it with regular gauge strings. Instead, it's been set up with D'Addario EZ890s (9 - 45), a tip I learned from local session ace Aduka Sariat. Muchas gracias, Aduka. Well then, our Adonis is now ready for a photo shoot. It isn't all that pretty, no doubt, but it sounds alright to these ears. Go ahead, then. Click the link and listen to this Adonis on Soundcloud.