Members Freeman Keller Posted October 25, 2014 Members Share Posted October 25, 2014 I do some minor repairs for my local music store - it gives me a chance to practice and hone my skills and pick up a little cash on the side. You would think that it would be setups and fret work and the occasional neck set or crack, but a lot of the repairs over the past year have been either broken headstocks or lifting bridges. Got a call last week that they had a guitar for me to look at, while I was there another walked in the door. First one was a pretty abused Seagull. The lifting bridge was obvious but the repair ticket said it needed a new nut and the electronics didn't work. The end of the fretboard was also coming unglued. I told the owner that I needed to fix the structural issues before I could even start to evaluate the nut, but a quick measurement told me there was zero neck relief (clerk at the store admitted he had done a "minor adjustment"). I estimated an hour and a half of my labor to fix the bridge, f/b extension and relief, and anywhere up to four more hours to set up the action. Owner said "do the minimum, I don't want to spend much money". Working a pallet knife with hot water under the bridge It popped right off. It looked like a good glue job but the failure was at the interface Cleaned all the old glue off and got out the KBK bridge caul Nice glue squeeze out with lots of clamps Last step was to lightly glue the f/b extension back down Interestingly, when it was all back together I gave it about 0.006 of relief and was able to measure the rest of the setup. It wasn't perfect, but it was certainly playable and didn't need a new nut after all. I plugged it in to an amp and it does have a very week signal - I told the owner that I could do more but it might not be cost effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 25, 2014 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2014 I said that another guitar walked into the shop while I was looking at this one, a cute little 3/4 size Yamaha, almost brand new, with a broken head. The mother of the child who owned it was going to buy a new one (they are only $150), I told her I would like to try to fix it, it would cost at the most an hour and half of my time and if it didn't work out she could go ahead and buy the new one. She said OK, so I took a little dental pick and cleaned out as much of the splintered wood as I could. My repair book cautions not to try to dry fit a break like this, you only get one chance. The glue of choice is a slow setting epoxy, once mixed it becomes very runny and works its way into all the little cavities. Clamped it down and put some blocks under the headstock to hold the angle and smacked it together with a mallet A little clean up after the epoxy set and I think it will be OK I told the mother to wait one month and if it was still holding up to pay me for an hour of my work, if it wasn't then she didn't owe me anything but to buy her son a new guitar. (note that there are things that I could do to make that stronger - embedding some little carbon fiber grafts or putting a veneer back plate on it, but a $150 guitar simply doesn't merit that kind of effort) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted October 26, 2014 Members Share Posted October 26, 2014 I would tend to agree about you working miracles . It's refreshing to hear about people like you who care about others. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted October 26, 2014 Members Share Posted October 26, 2014 I'd just throw a go-away-from-me price out there and see what they do. Folks think expensive means good and many will surprise you if money isn't a problem for them. Some hold the object needing repair intrinsically valuable because it's symbolic in some inseparable way to them, i.e, "How much to sooth my ailing heart?" Another same-make, same-model isn't going to fix their problem. It isn't a matter of practicing questionable ethics. It's a matter of honest billing for the required time and material on an object that isn't worth it. That said, it isn't up to you to tell someone their property isn't worth your time. You can say to them that you can't take the job and let your conscience select an answer that doesn't slight them, but don't tell them their property is valued at X and you're price to fix it is X+. That's a bit arrogant and possibly ego-bruising to them, though I'm quite sure unintended on your part. Ask straight up if the guitar has any special meaning if it looks beyond economical repair. Nice repairs, BTW; especially the Yamaha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 27, 2014 Author Members Share Posted October 27, 2014 Actually that is part of the problem. I will (try) to repair something that no one else would touch, and when I put many hours into it I frequently only charge a small portion of that time. Finish touch ups are the hardest and I'm usually not satisfied (even tho I tell the owner that I can't make the repair invisible). I'll spend hours futzing with a touch up, usually making it worse instead of better and finally give up. I tell these people that I'll try to make their guitar first playable, second structurally sound and last, if possible, looking OK. Most of the time that is enough, but once in a while I'll get someone whose guitar has been thru hell and they wonder why I can't make it new. I have two quotes on the wall of my shop "Make the action as low as possible without buzzing" and "I'd like my guitar fixed but I don't have much money". Good thing this isn't my job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted October 28, 2014 Members Share Posted October 28, 2014 Can't see the pics because I'm at work but I'll say this for now: "You mean you can't?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dendy Jarrett Posted October 28, 2014 Members Share Posted October 28, 2014 That is truly some nice work. It is good to see someone try to salvage instead of replace. It protects the environment, the use of wood and I could go on and on. Good on you.D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tom Mc1 Posted October 28, 2014 Members Share Posted October 28, 2014 Unfortunatly inexperienced people would rather fix a cheep broken guitar than purchace a new one. From the owner's stand point, it is cheaper to fix it than by new. From your stand point, Freeman, you are a good heart probibly making a child happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 28, 2014 Author Members Share Posted October 28, 2014 Unfortunatly inexperienced people would rather fix a cheep broken guitar than purchace a new one. From the owner's stand point' date=' it is cheaper to fix it than by new. From your stand point, Freeman, you are a good heart probibly making a child happy.[/quote'] I don't totally agree with this. From my perspective every one of these is a musical instrument capable, at least as some time in its life, of making music and making the player happy. If its possible to make that happen again I am willing to try. Part of the reason that I don't charge people very much is that I want them to let me try - I'm up front about the limits of what I can do, altho some still expect miracles. I have bought guitars at yard sales, fixed them up and donated to a local music program. We had a few capers back in the good old days of HCAG where guitars got donated, setup and given to people who truly needed them - I'm proud to have been a small part. We live in a throw away society, but many of the things we are throwing away can and should be salvaged, repaired, recycled. Besides, its fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dendy Jarrett Posted October 28, 2014 Members Share Posted October 28, 2014 I don't totally agree with this. From my perspective every one of these is a musical instrument capable, at least as some time in its life, of making music and making the player happy. If its possible to make that happen again I am willing to try. Part of the reason that I don't charge people very much is that I want them to let me try - I'm up front about the limits of what I can do, altho some still expect miracles. I have bought guitars at yard sales, fixed them up and donated to a local music program. We had a few capers back in the good old days of HCAG where guitars got donated, setup and given to people who truly needed them - I'm proud to have been a small part. We live in a throw away society, but many of the things we are throwing away can and should be salvaged, repaired, recycled. Besides, its fun. This sounds cool. We have a project we are starting back up on the drum forum called The Traveling Box of Drums. We would start with one donated item in a box, and send it at random to a forum member. He then takes that item, but donates another item and forwards it to another member and the "pay forward" notion just keeps on growing. Sometimes you get really great stuff added to the box and sometimes ... not so much. You guys should start doing this again. So many in need out there now since the economic collapse. I love musicians for this sort of giving spirit. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members katopp Posted October 28, 2014 Members Share Posted October 28, 2014 A travelling caper. We haven't had a caper since ... OMG... is it THAT long ago? And the capered guy disappeared even before that last crash. But if we want to do something alike on this side of the pond (for you Americanos: "old Europe"), I'mm willing to start one here..... I've got a box of stuff and even the odd guitar to send away... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted October 28, 2014 Members Share Posted October 28, 2014 Capers? They make me gag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members poppytater Posted October 29, 2014 Members Share Posted October 29, 2014 FK, you sir, are a craftsman and a gentleman. Good on ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 29, 2014 Members Share Posted October 29, 2014 Nice work! I have a Yamaha acoustic with a headstock snap just like that. I got it free from a guy that was throwing it out. My plan is to cut the ass off the guitar and install the headstock inside at the bridge and put string anchors where the nut used to be. Pretty sure I got the idea here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted October 29, 2014 Members Share Posted October 29, 2014 Nice work! I have a Yamaha acoustic with a headstock snap just like that. I got it free from a guy that was throwing it out. My plan is to cut the ass off the guitar and install the headstock inside at the bridge and put string anchors where the nut used to be. Pretty sure I got the idea here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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