Valencia CG200 Classical Guitar

This attractive full-scale classical guitar came in for a restring and tune, saddle work; and clean/polish. According to STB Music, the guitar features a spruce top, bound rosewood back and sides, nato neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, nickel frets; and NuBone saddle.

L. Luthier GA20W Bridge Repair | Part One

Part Two ▶

This rather lovely L. Luthier acoustic guitar is suffering from a lifting rosewood bridge. After taping off the periphery of the bridge, I carefully used a heated spatula to prise it off the soundboard. Once off, I noticed three things. The first was that there was paint stuck to the bottom of the bridge; and paint on the soundboard where there should have been only bare wood. No wonder the bridge had started to lift --- part of it had been glued to paint!

The second was that there was only one rosewood bridge locating pin when there were holes for two. Maybe omitting the second bridge pin saved L. Luthier a cent or two, who knows? Finally, as can be seen in the pic, an insufficient amount of glue had merely been squirted to the bottom of the bridge prior to clamping. No one bothered to spread it evenly for uniform coverage. And they expected it to stay on? Seriously, the bridge gluing department supervisor had better keep a closer watch on what his subordinates are doing.

Well, I've started the ball rolling by scraping off all the paint and glue residue from the bottom of the bridge. I've also sanded the bottom flat, but not entirely smooth; so that the new glue will have something to grab on to. The next step will be prepping the area of the soundboard underneath the bridge. I'll have to scrape it clean until bare wood is exposed, reglue any stray wood slivers; and sand it flat. Not really looking forward to that, I tell you. Stay tuned for Part Two.

Yamaha SLG110S Silent Guitar | Part Two

◀ Part One

Full Refret

This entry is the second of two on the Yamaha SLG110S Silent Guitar. To read the previous entry (Overview), please click HERE. Now, the original frets on this guitar were so worn that there wasn't enough height left for a level and dress. That being the case, I refretted the entire fretboard with StewMac #149 fretwire. The images below outline the basic steps I took in re-fretting this Yamaha SLG110S Silent Guitar.

Yamaha SLG110S Silent Guitar | Part One

Part Two ▶

Overview 

This Yamaha SLG110S Silent Guitar came in for a full refret. Well, it turned out to be a not quite so ordinary job, as I practically had to dismantle the whole instrument so as not to damage any of the fragile plastic parts or electronics. That being done, I was presented with the opportunity to 'peek under the hood,' so to speak. Based on my own observations as well as information from Yamaha Music London and the SLG110S Owner's Manual, I've put together a brief overview of this truly innovative and unique instrument.

Main Features
Neck: Mahogany
Body: Maple
Strings: Steel
Scale Length: 24 15/16"
Fretboard: Rosewood
No. of Frets: 22
Bridge: Rosewood
Frame Units: Maple (left frame is detachable)
Under-Saddle Sensor: LR-Baggs

Connectors
Aux In Jack
Line Out Jack
Phones Jack
DC-In Jack

Controls
Aux Vol
Volume
Bass
Treble
Effects Switch (Off/On - four selectable effects)
Phones Switch (On/Off)

SPX Digital Effects
Reverb 1/Reverb 2/Chorus/Echo

Power Supply
Standard 9V alkaline battery
AC Adaptor: PA-D012(A)/PA-130(A)/PAD09/PA-3C

Basic Operation
Right out of the supplied gig bag, you'll have to put this guitar together by reattaching the left maple frame to the main body. It's quite simple, actually. Loosen the two frame attachment screws (they double as strap buttons), insert the upper and lower frame rods into their respective brackets; and re-tighten the attachment screws.

The moment you plug a standard mono guitar cable into the Aux In jack, the Power LED should light up. That is, provided your 9V battery has enough juice left in it or you've plugged in and turned on your AC adaptor. Kindly note that Yamaha does not recommend using an AC adaptor while you have a 9V battery installed. In other words, if you want to use an adaptor, remove the battery; and vice-versa.

Plug the other end of the guitar cable into your amp, and you'll be good to go. The overall output of your guitar is controlled by the SLG110S' Volume knob. Bass and treble response can be tweaked by adjusting, you guessed it; the Bass and Treble knobs. Finally, you can run a dry signal, or add either reverb (two varieties), chorus or echo via the Effect knob.

If you'd like to jam to music from your CD/mp3 player/phone, connect a mini stereo jack from the device's headphone jack to the guitar's Aux In jack. The volume of the music from your device is controlled by the Aux Vol knob. Now, let's say you get the urge to play at 1 a.m. but don't want to disturb your roommate, family members; or neighbors. No problem. Just turn on the Phones switch and plug in a pair of stereo headphones.

That's about it for this overview. Here's a video on YouTube in which a certain Dave from Toronto closely examines the Yamaha SLG110S Silent Guitar. Do also check out Part Two, in which I outline the basic steps taken in re-fretting this guitar.