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.

A Rather Nice Acoustic-Electric Guitar

This guitar has me stumped. Right off the bat, the spelling error on the label raises a red flag. An exhaustive online check on the model name has turned up loads of acoustic-electrics with Zebrawood tops, backs and sides; but none that resemble this. Then, there's the matter of the serial number drawing a blank on the usual sites I rely on for verification. A well-made knockoff? Your guess is as good as mine. It came in for an electronics check after a fall. Turned out to be a disconnected ground. Fixed that.

The top appears to be spruce. The neck, back and sides could be some species of mahogany. The fretboard and bridge look like rosewood. Frets are nicely crowned and the ends smoothly dressed. In terms of looks, there's black body binding and faux tortoiseshell purfling, a black heel cap; and Florentine cutaway to boot! Long story short, it looks good, feels good, plays good, intonation is spot-on; and the preamp works as it should. What's not to like?

Ashton CG-44CEQAM Acoustic-Electric Classical Guitar

Nice classical guitar, this. I really love the deep amber hue, an indication that this instrument has seen its fair share of smoky gigs. It came in for cleanup and polish; plus restringing with a set of Ernie Ball Ernesto Palla Clear and Silver Nylon Strings. Looking around the web, MusicWorks has proven to be a reliable source of information; some of which is reproduced in the next paragraph.

Top: Spruce

Back and Sides: Catalpa

Neck: Maple

Tuners: Gold "butterfly"

Pickup: Under saddle

Preamp: Prener SPII (4-band EQ with sweepable mids), built-in tuner

Outputs: XLR and ¼” jack

Takamine D Series ED2NC Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Preamble
Work done on this Indonesian Takamine ED2NC acoustic-electric beauty included fretboard reconditioning, restring/tune; and setup. The owner also needed a fix for the D, A and low E machine heads (tuners) as they were somehow missing their nylon washers. Turns out he bought it (used) that way. Shame on the seller for taking advantage of an inexperienced player!

Fixed the tuner problem somewhat by substituting Vape machine OCC (Organic Cotton Coil) silicone ring washers for their missing nylon counterparts (I've also used this solution while restoring an SX Standard Series Strat-Style guitar). Gave him a packet of spares just in case, and treated him to one of my three-minute sermons. I don't think he'll be buying his next used guitar without checking the condition of the tuners first.

To be fair, other than the tuner issue; this baby was in good condition, the electronics worked; and it sounded great either amplified or on its own. Click HERE to watch a YouTube review of the Takamine ED2NC by Melodramatic Music Store.

Last but not least, let's take a look at some specs; courtesy of Rockshop New Zealand. Sad to say, there isn't any information on the ED2NC or D Series at the official Takamine website. I guess they're not manufacturing them any more.

Specifications
Body Shape: NEX Cutaway
Top/Back/Sides: Spruce/Mahogany/Mahogany
Binding: Black
Rosette: Concentric Rings
Neck: Mahogany
Fretboard: Rosewood/dot inlays/20 frets/25.5" scale
Nut/Saddle: PPS (Polyphenylene Sulfide)
Truss Rod: Two-way Adjustable
Bridge: Rosewood pin-bridge
Color: Natural (NAT)
Finish: Gloss
Electronics: TP-4T 3-band preamp/end pin jack socket

Ibanez York 628/12 Restoration | Part One

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Just found out today that all the pics from my July 31 post on this Ibanez York 628/12 are missing. Serves me right for hotlinking. That post has already been deleted. And so, here is a repost with all the details and pics; for those of you (like me) who are into this sort of thing. The guitar has been partially stripped and refinished. It is currently undergoing the last leg of clear-coating (see last 3 pics), after which it will be hung to dry for as long as possible before final wet-sanding and polishing.

Details
Name / Model No: Ibanez York 628/12
Category: Dreadnought / 12-String Acoustic
Serial No: 75 328
Production Notes: Crafted in Japan circa 1975

Specs
Full Length: 43"
Body Dimensions: 19.75" x 16"
Body Depth: 4.5"
Neck Width: 1.75"
Top: Spruce
Back and Sides: Mahogany
Soundhole Rosette: Wood Marquetry
Body Binding: White
Fingerboard: Rosewood / Bound / Abalone-like Block Inlays
Bridge: Rosewood
Tuners: Chrome / Unsealed

Front view.

Back view.

Front of headstock.

Back of headstock. Tuners still working okay.

Nut is falling apart. Owner wants it rebuilt.

Serial Number.

Seems like a previous owner had this refinished.

Shrunken pickguard. Needs to be replaced.

Extensive damage to the back.

Neck heel/neck seam has come apart.

Damaged mahogany back.

Binding has not been scraped clean.

Finish damage near the end pin.

Nice bridge.

Fixing the split in the neck heel / neck seam.

Inlays at 1st and 3rd frets actually came loose.

Regluing the back to the sides.

Baking soda/CA glue nut rebuild attempt.

Spruce top stripped, sanded and restained. 

One pesky bottom brace reglued.

Clear coating in progress.

Hung to dry in between clear coats.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three