Yamaha C-80 Classical Guitar Restoration

Remember the yard sale Yamaha C-80 that came in with the HIH acoustic for repairs? Well, this post is all about this mistreated instrument and how it was eventually restored. 

To start off, you DO NOT put steel guitar strings on a classical. If you don't know how to tie the strings to the bridge, get a set with ball ends such as Ernie Ball 2409 Ernesto Palla Black and Gold. You can find them on the web and most reputable online guitar stores, so there's no excuse for not doing the right thing.

Let's see what the steel strings did to this poor C-80. At the headstock end, the strings had "eaten" into the softer nylon tuning posts, but did not damage them severely. That's a relief. But the bridge was a different story altogether, I tell you. The tension of the steel strings had torn off the front wall of the saddle slot completely, rendering the bridge totally unusable. That's a real pity, as it was a really nice dark piece of rosewood; and now I'd have to replace it. Bummer!

While waiting for the replacement bridge to arrive, the old bridge was carefully removed with a heated spatula. The area of the soundboard in contact with the bridge was then prepped with chisels and abrasives until sufficiently level. Once the new bridge was in my hands, a few rounds of careful measuring ensued. This was to make sure that the bridge would be centered correctly, and at the required distance from the nut for accurate intonation. Yes, it was the old "measure twice, cut once" principle in action.

Once I was satisfied with the positioning of the bridge, the sanded area of the soundboard had to be enlarged slightly to accommodate its new counterpart. Titebond III was then used to glue the new bridge to the soundboard, and StewMac soundhole clamps applied for a week.

The next issue was missing binding and a deep gouge on the upper edge of the fretboard from the nut up about till the fourth fret. Fresh binding was grafted on, and a mixture of rosewood dust and super glue applied to fill out the gouge. Subsequently, the binding and super glue/rosewood dust fill were scraped and sanded level with the surrounding areas. The final step was sealing the repair with Tru-Oil; followed by a good polishing.

I won't go into all the minor details, but this was basically how the C-80 was restored to playable condition. So, what have we learned from this post, boys and girls? Yes, DO NOT ever put steel strings on a classical guitar, because you're going to totally ruin the instrument. Now, has anyone ever tried putting nylon strings on a steel-string? What an intriguing thought!

Saving an HIH Acoustic Guitar

It just warms the cockles of my heart whenever a guitar is loved and regarded as a family member. One sweaty morning in the Age of Covid, a pleasant young man and his mom brought in two guitars in need of repairs: an HIH acoustic and a Yamaha C-80 classical. The HIH was his dad's, while the C-80 was a recent yard sale acquisition. As dad was too busy to bring in the guitars himself, mom and son decided to jointly shoulder the task. I found that very touching. Although keeping costs down was a major consideration (as always); both of them politely requested that I do my best as the HIH had "been in the family" for a long time. 

The HIH was dusty and grimy, clearly well-used; and had on five rusty strings. The major issue was, however, the unsightly crack between the neck heel and the body. In effect, the neck heel had completely separated from the body and was just held on by the fretboard. This really surprised me until I forced the crack open and found that only one measly wooden dowel and glue had been used to "join" the neck to the body. No siree, it would have cost too much to fashion a dovetail joint, so this is the path HIH chose. Way to go, HIH! To minimize cost, I suggested that the neck heel be glued back into place with Titebond III and the repaired area touched up; no refinishing would be done. They agreed, and so I proceeded with the task at hand.

The damaged area was thoroughly cleaned of any loose debris, following which Titebond III was liberally applied to surfaces to be reattached. Clamps were then applied, and any glue squeeze-out promptly wiped off with a damp rag. Two bricks in a bag were tied onto the middle of the neck with nylon rope. This was to provide sufficient downward pressure to the neck heel. The clamps and bricks were left on for some 24 hours to give the Titebond III sufficient time to cure.

Once the clamps had been removed, it was time to clean up any dried glue squeeze-out and make the repaired area presentable. After sanding and leveling this area, a diluted mix of various StewMac ColorTone liquid stains were used to tint exposed areas of wood as best I could. Finally, light coats of Tru-Oil were applied to seal everything nicely. Normally I would have refinished the areas in question; but that would have blown the repair budget out of the water.

That issue having been taken care of, it was time to replace the old grimy tuners. One of the tuner buttons was even missing. After removing the old tuners, the mounting screw holes were plugged with bamboo dowels dipped in glue. These dowels were then trimmed flush, sanded; and each sealed with a drop of super glue.

Now, as the replacement tuner posts would not fit into the old holes, a reamer was used to slowly widen them until they could. New tuner mounting holes were then drilled; and the replacement tuners installed. I must say, the HIH headstock looked a whole lot better with these new tuners.

What was left, then, was to spruce up the fretboard and frets, clean and polish the whole guitar, install a fresh set of strings, tweak the truss rod; and call it a day. Which is exactly what I did, by the way. Thus ended another thrilling episode in the life of a guitar repairman. And what of the Yamaha C-80? Well, that is a subject for another post :) 

Fender Japan ST72 Stratocaster | Part Two

◀ Part One

In the previous post, I highlighted the main external features of this stunning Fender Japan ST72 Stratocaster. Now, I've dismantled everything because it's going to be thoroughly serviced, cleaned and polished.

Hardware wise, everything was in good shape except for the bridge. Rust had begun to take root, especially on the stamped bent-steel saddles. It took lots of Autosol, steel wool, various lubes, and a Dremel polishing attachment to get things up to snuff. 

On to the body, then. As expected, there's no shielding, save for some aluminum foil under the pickguard where the controls are. I really like the "worm route" in the bridge pickup cavity, it's a nice vintage touch. 

Now, the electronics. This ST72 features three ceramic single-coil pickups, a Hosco VLX53 five-way lever pickup selector switch, Gotoh A250K mini-pots, 0047uF (473) tone cap; and generic output jack. I was kind of disappointed seeing mini-pots instead of full-sized ones, I must say. I mean, they could put in a Hosco switch, but not full-sized pots? Guess Fender Japan had to save a little money somehow.

The wiring had been tampered with, as I spotted splicing and heat-shrink tubing on the black and white wires to the output jack; and the totally gnarly solder connections on the output jack tabs. Well, as the volume pot was stuck, I'd have to remove a couple components; and might as well do some rewiring while I was at it. The stuck pot was turning again after some spray lube and lots of coaxing with a set of pliers; thank goodness. A spritz of contact cleaner; a few quick rotations both ways; and this pot was back in the saddle.

I replaced the spliced wires with a length of shielded coaxial cable, and added a lock washer to the output jack socket to prevent it turning by itself and coming loose. You'd be surprised at how many manufacturers try to save a few bucks by not using a proper lock washer. Instead, they'll simply add another hex nut on the inside; making it doubly-difficult to remove the jack from the jack plate for servicing. Nope, you won't find this shortcoming on Switchcraft #11 jack sockets.

Once the electronics and hardware had been serviced, this ST72 was reassembled and set up with Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (010-046). I was secretly pleased that Shaifful requested 10s and not 9s like most players. He has found that 10s give him a much beefier tone than 9s; you see. Way to go, Shaifful! Last but not least, tonewise, this ST72 oozes a totally righteous Strat vibe; I do declare. Don't believe me? Well, give this YouTube Video a listen and tell me I'm wrong.

Fender Japan ST72 Stratocaster | Part One

Part Two ▶

Here's a gorgeous Fender Japan ST72 Stratocaster belonging to Shaifful SENI. Shaifful politely requested that his pride and joy be thoroughly cleaned, polished, serviced and set up; and I was only too happy to oblige. You see, Shaifful is the son of the late Che'gu Ahmad Kisai; a dear acquaintance of mine from the '80s. And that makes him family in my book.

Now, there are lots of MIJ (Made in Japan) Stratocasters around, including many versions of the ST72. As such, I was unable to obtain specific information on this particular model. I believe the experts out would do better than me, based on the serial number and pictures I've uploaded. So, whatever specs stated in this post are from my own observations. As to what it sounds like, here's a short YouTube Video I uploaded that highlights all five pickup positions.

As you can obviously see, the finish is a three-tone-sunburst. The body wood looks like alder to me; but I can't be certain. What I can tell you, though; is that it's definitely not basswood. The neck is one-piece maple, so there's no separate fretboard. The headstock is the big '70s style, and sports Gotoh tuners, two string trees with nylon spacers; and a "bullet" style truss rod adjustment nut.

The maple fretboard features a 7.25" radius and 25.5" scale. The nut appears to be bone, based on visible file marks and nature of the nut slots. The 21 frets are of the small, vintage variety; while the fretboard markers are black dots. I must point out that the fret ends have been meticulously shaped; testimony to the quality of Japanese craftsmanship.

"Made in Japan" and the serial number have been silkscreened onto the neck heel, while the neck plate bears an engraved "F" logo. Now, let me see if I've left anything out. Ah, yes; one very interesting feature of this ST72 is the larger-than-usual tremolo block. I reckon it's almost as large as the "big blocks" found on some US Strats. Nice touch, methinks.

That's about it for this post, then. In Part Two, I'll be taking everything apart so we can have a good look at what's inside this Japanese beauty. Till then, stay home, stay safe; and God bless us all.