CA Guitar Repair Blog

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

RC Stromm Acoustic Guitar Headstock Repair

This acoustic guitar came in a few years ago for a headstock repair. I used a nyatoh backstrap overlay to repair the damage, and it has held up admirably all this while. That was until one of Che'gu Awal's guitar students carelessly dropped it after a private practice session. This time the crack was in a different location and even more severe, which led me to suspect that there was a problem with the wood of the neck itself.

After the back of the headstock and neck was shaved down, I decided to remove wood from both sides of the crack; and glue in rectangular blocks of wood for reinforcement. Upon chiseling out wood to form channels for the wood blocks, my earlier suspicions were confirmed. Wood on either side of the truss rod, especially in the truss rod area; was rotten. So rotten, in fact; that some sections looked as if they'd been eaten by termites.

Once the wood blocks had been glued in, the back of the neck was shaved to accept a backstrap overlay. This time, the backstrap overlay consisted of a "sandwich" of pine and chengal. And instead of bending the overlay, an extra-thick slab of pine was carefully shaped to conform to the profile of the shaved headstock/neck area.

The backstrap overlay was glued in with Titebond III, clamped; and set aside for a week. Once the clamps were off, it was time to trim the overlay to size and reshape it as necessary. As it turned out, most of the chengal ended up being sanded off completely; leaving just two small areas near the end of the headstock and volute. Yes, I added a volute because I believe it adds strength to the weakest areas of the headstock/neck joint.

Following this, the entire back of the neck was sanded down, and refinished in Tru-Oil. About 10-15 coats were put down, with some steel-wooling action going down every three coats or so. The final coat was considerably thinned down with naphtha; and left to cure for about a week. As a finishing touch, Birchwood Casey Gun Stock Wax was applied to the entire back of the neck and headstock; and the area buffed by hand.

This RC Stromm Acoustic Guitar came in at the end of July, and the job was only completed yesterday. This means that it took about five months for this repair, imagine that! I sent the guitar to Che'gu Awal earlier tonight at RF MusicWorks. While he was trying out the guitar, I recorded a short video (with his permission, of course). I've also put together another video that summarizes how this repair was carried out. Here are the videos, then. Do check them out:

RC Stromm Headstock Repair

RC Stromm Acoustic after Neck Repair

With that, I humbly take my leave. Thanks for dropping by. Stay home, stay safe, and God bless :)

Monday, December 14, 2020

SX VTG Series Strat-Style Solidbody

I really don't know how the owner of this sunburst SX VTG Series Strat-Style Solidbody managed to get hold of one, but it's brand new. Word is that SX were forced to redesign their headstock shape after you-know-who threatened them with a lawsuit ages ago. Now, as this guitar sports the old-style headstock; it must be NOS that someone had carefully stashed away for years. Heck, even the "SX Guitar" gig bag looks mint.

Let's explore this guitar further, then. It sure looks like a '60s Strat, right down to the vintage-style tuners. The C-shaped maple neck sports a skunk stripe and "two way truss rod" with access at the headstock end. There's no walnut plug at this end though, just plain maple.

The 12" radius rosewood fretboard sports 21 medium-jumbo frets, side dot markers and pearloid dot fretboard markers. The rosewood board is rather dry, but a good dose of lemon oil should fix that in no time. The frets have been crowned with care, and sliding one's hand up and down the neck is a pleasure. This is proof that someone took the time and trouble to properly dress the fret ends. Good on you, SX!

Neck pocket fit is nice and tight, something I have rarely seen on lower-priced guitars. I'm also pleased that the neck pitch is sufficient for a low-action setup. No need for a shim or anything like that. Saves me a lot of time because now I don't have to remove the neck to make any adjustments.

As for the body, it seems to be two pieces of solid wood, probably topped with an attractive ash-like veneer. The three-tone sunburst finish has been artistically applied, and protected by a thick layer of clear poly. You might find it hard to believe, but there isn't a finish defect to be found anywhere.

The vintage white three-ply pickguard, pickup covers and switch tip complement the body nicely, I must say. The three ceramic single coils have flat polepieces, and the bridge is a generic vintage-style six-screw tremolo with block saddles. The skinny trem block is most probably zinc, and only has three holes for three springs. This means you'll have to break out your portable drill if you ever want/need to add more springs.

The body features HSH pickup cavity routing, and is unshielded. Which is a plus point, strangely enough; as the lack of shielding paint allows one to clearly see that the body is solid wood. It's not a sandwich; and definitely not plywood. Might it be ash? I salivate at the thought.

Electronics consist of the three aforementioned three single coils, mated to a generic PCB five-way switch, mini pots; and sturdy output jack. The switching sequence is as one might expect: neck only, neck+middle, middle only, middle+bridge; and bridge only. The controls are for master volume, neck tone, and middle tone; which is vintage-correct.

I set up this SX with Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (010-046) and almost no relief, plugged it into my Ross G515 MiniMouth (which I use for testing both guitars and basses) and spent some time noodling away. I tell you, she's a smooth player. And, yes, I turned on my phone recorder and uploaded the audio file to SoundCloud. Do give it a listen if you're curious about what this guitar sounds like.

On the whole, this SX VTG Series Strat-Style Solidbody represents value for money, and performs much better than most lower-priced guitars I've worked on so far. If you can find one, grab it before someone else does!

Acknowledgement
Fender®, Stratocaster®, Strat®, Telecaster®, Tele®, P Bass®, Precision Bass®, and the distinctive headstock designs of these guitars are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Squier Deluxe Stratocaster Overhaul

Another 2008 Daphne Blue Squier Deluxe Stratocaster came into the shop recently. I must say, though, that this one was in much worse shape than the last one I worked on. It was covered from headstock to lower strap button in grime, the frets were cruddy, and the bridge rusted out; to mention a few of its maladies. The worst problem was that it hardly made a sound plugged in, and the controls didn't seem to work. Yes, folks, it was time for an overhaul!

Most anything and everything that could be taken apart was, and then thoroughly scrubbed clean before being serviced and/or polished. This included the body itself, as well as the aged white knobs, switch tip, parchment pickguard and back plate. Cleaning/polishing agents used included soap, water, acetone, naphtha, Scratch-Dini; and good 'ole Autosol.

Sadly, budget constraints dictated that I only did the absolute minimum in getting this guitar back in shape again. For example, although the frets were so worn that a full refret was warranted; I ended up just reconditioning the fretboard and polishing the frets.

As for the bridge, the rusty twin pivot posts were stuck in their bushings. Had to pull both bushings out from the body, and then only work on removing the pivot posts. Getting the old saddle height screws out of the block saddles was an equally arduous task, I tell you. In the end, it was my mini butane torch that saved the day. You know it: heat, plunge in water, heat, plunge in water to the nth degree. The saddle height screws and intonation screws/springs were replaced, but I had to reuse the pivot posts after derusting them (budget constraints).

The Duncan Designed™ SC101 single-coils were still in good shape, but the five-way switch, pots and output jack were prime candidates for the dumpster. It was another case of water damage, for sure. Amongst the replacements were Alpha A250K pots and a Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack.

After stringing this Strat up with Ernie Ball Super Slinkys, setup wasn't all that difficult, thanks to the new saddle height screws and intonation screws/springs. The truss rod needed to be tweaked a little, and a Sen (Japanese Ash) veneer neck pocket shim added to obtain the desired neck pitch.

That's about it, folks. Thanks for checking in, and I'll see you again real soon. Meanwhile, stay home, stay safe; and God bless :)

Yamaha AES620 | Part Three

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

In the previous post, we took a look at what was done to this gorgeous Yamaha AES620 in terms of electronics upgrades, maintenance and servicing. Once the guitar was all spruced up, it was strung with D'Addario EXl110s, tuned to pitch and set up. I then plugged the AES620 into my G515 MiniMouth amp for a final check, the results of which you may listen to on SoundCloud. All that was left, then, was to snap some pics; as seen on this page. Detailed specs on this guitar are listed in Part One.