Members Misha Posted June 20, 2011 Members Share Posted June 20, 2011 So would turning it into a planter. And it would look so pretty with flowers growing out of the sound hole. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Misha Posted June 20, 2011 Members Share Posted June 20, 2011 The way I see it, Misha, it's a win/win. If I can fix the existing top then it will be whole again and I will have learned something to use toward building guitars. If not, then I have to take the guitar completely apart. For now I need to finish the guitar I've started though because it may be easier to learn by doing it from scratch. Well, whatever you decide to do, good luck and post pics and clips of the result!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LiFeStArTs@40 Posted June 20, 2011 Members Share Posted June 20, 2011 A new top would be a great skill builder... Especially if the said new top was ADI. Just sayin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted June 20, 2011 Members Share Posted June 20, 2011 Does that have a lam or solid top? If lam, make it a new top... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 20, 2011 Author Members Share Posted June 20, 2011 Does that have a lam or solid top? If lam, make it a new top... It's a lam top, Terry. I thought they were supposed to be more stable, but then they can't test for four year-olds using their dads' guitars as trampolines! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 20, 2011 Author Members Share Posted June 20, 2011 Remember these? I think I found a use for them since I don't have any deep throat clamps. I was actually going to run out to Harbor Freight but remembered I'd made them. I can't fit 3 in the sound hole so I can't clamp down on the bridge plate; just the X braces. Even so, the belly seems to shrink. Note the reflections in the gloss finish. Curved lines are the giveaway - kind of like a fun house mirror: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted June 20, 2011 Members Share Posted June 20, 2011 Those clamps look happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted June 20, 2011 Members Share Posted June 20, 2011 It's a lam top, Terry. I thought they were supposed to be more stable, but then they can't test for four year-olds using their dads' guitars as trampolines! I was thinking that you had referred to it as a lam-top, in past posts...consider this to be an excellent opportunity for building a solid spruce top for it, then...get a whole bunch of more use out of it and it'll likely sound great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted June 20, 2011 Members Share Posted June 20, 2011 Neil, you've received enough advice here that I won't add to it, other than to suggest that you filter it very carefully. I've got the deep throat (Linda Lovelace) clamps plus the KBK caul if you want to use them - they are expensive if you need to buy them for just one project. I've also got an over sized belly bridge but you would need to confirm pin hole spacing. I'll add that you have a lot more balls than I do too even think about retopping it. Again, do your research - I haven't done it but I know its a whole lot more work than just topping a new guitar. And of course, you'll do a reset as part of the operation so you'll get to fix that problem. FWIW, I tried a neck reset recently. Reshaping the dovetail to get the right neck angle is a HUGE PITA. HUGE! Basically trial and error shaping and fitting with six degrees of freedom. Brain surgery is easier. Now you start to understand why it costs so much. And the resets that I have done are much easier than setting one from scratch, and making the joint itself is even harder. I gained a whole new respect for the people who make a living doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted June 21, 2011 Members Share Posted June 21, 2011 I have a cheap Applause round-back guitar that I bought back in the 1970's. When the bridge started coming up, I pried it off, slapped some wood glue down and held it in place by drilling two holes at either end of the strings and bolting it down with nuts, bolts, and washers. I'm not saying that anybody with any degree of sanity should do something like this to a real guitar, but I'm still playing that guitar on a regular basis and it still sounds pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted June 21, 2011 Members Share Posted June 21, 2011 I have a cheap Applause round-back guitar that I bought back in the 1970's. When the bridge started coming up, I pried it off, slapped some wood glue down and held it in place by drilling two holes at either end of the strings and bolting it down with nuts, bolts, and washers. I'm not saying that anybody with any degree of sanity should do something like this to a real guitar, but I'm still playing that guitar on a regular basis and it still sounds pretty good. Is that your "American Flag" guitar, or am I mis-remembering? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 21, 2011 Author Members Share Posted June 21, 2011 Thanks, Freeman. I'm gonna take this one slow but I'm leaning toward just gluing it all back together. Thanks for the offer on the tools but I think I'm going to read up and maybe build my own. As for retopping it, yeah it would be gutsy to try that - but I'm not that gutsy. To get the top off I've got to route out the binding and try and cut the slightest amount from the top of the kerfing - and even then only after I've popped the neck off. I won't even get into how daunting the whole idea of setting the correct neck angle is to me right now. I think I'll just focus on finishing my MJ build first then maybe further on build a new dread once I have something to back up the old ego. Adi's too expensive to waste on such a cheap guitar with my lack of skills and practice anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted June 21, 2011 Members Share Posted June 21, 2011 Thanks, Freeman. I'm gonna take this one slow but I'm leaning toward just gluing it all back together. Thanks for the offer on the tools but I think I'm going to read up and maybe build my own. Go back and reread your post #20. Ignore everything else. If you would like me to build you a KBK caul let me know (Starrshine could also make one or you could do it yourself). I've used the caul twice now - it would be perfect for a bridge reglue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members revive Posted June 21, 2011 Members Share Posted June 21, 2011 Cool! You blew its pecker off! only in HCAGF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted June 21, 2011 Members Share Posted June 21, 2011 Is that your "American Flag" guitar, or am I mis-remembering? Yep, that's the one. I still play it the first Monday of every month for the elementary school kids at their opening ceremonies. I lead them in the Pledge of Allegiance, then we all sing "America (My Country 'Tis of Thee) and then we sing the theme song for each of the two schools. At Rosamond Elementary we do a re-written version of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin" (Their mascot is a robin) and at WestPark Elementary, where the mascot is the wildcat, we do "We're the Westpark Wildcats", a re-written version of Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog". The kids like it and so do the teachers, since it gives them five free minutes once a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted June 23, 2011 Members Share Posted June 23, 2011 I probably would have replaced the top myself with all those brace problems considering the fact that it was a plywood top....combined with the fact that you'd have to do all the work to repair the spruce at the bridge footprint and bracing. You could go with some nicer wood that way. Probably shape the braces better and use hide glue. Make a nice rosette instead of the original. French polish the top. If the kerfing was basswood or something soft I'd probably strip it off and go with some nice mahogany kerfing. Consider it an upgrade and it would probably sound better. BTW you can usually reset the neck angle at that time without steaming apart the dovetail (assuming that's even possible with the glues they used) pretty easily by just adjusting things at the neck block when gluing the soundboard on. So: Solid spruce top with better bracing with no repairs and a reset neck angle vs. repaired plywood top, "budget factory" bracing, lneeding a neck reset for the same amount of work. It's a lot easier to install a nice pickup system with the top off for good measure too. I usually go with one that uses soundboard transducer, microphone and onboard active equalizer. It's not like this is some vintage piece that's losing value doing all that. Just building a killer tool for making music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 23, 2011 Author Members Share Posted June 23, 2011 HOw can I say no to that avatar? Seriously, this will be a learning experience. I do indeed have plans to build a dread and since I don't have the molds and all I'll probably just use the Tak as a template so even if I've truly killed it it will at least live on in a next generation sort of way. It's something to look forward to at least. In the meantime, I could conceivably start working on the molds and templates... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted June 24, 2011 I was just poking around inside the Tak with a flashlight and noted some sloppy glue work on that repair job I had done a few years back. I didn't know a thing about luthery at the time some I didn't question the following: what kind of glueis really runny and dries clear? I think I know the answer but I feel I need a second opinion. If it's what I think it is a neck reset may not bet possible. I have pics but can't post them until tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted June 24, 2011 Members Share Posted June 24, 2011 what kind of glueis really runny and dries clear? Thin CA? Tim McKnight has some cool glue info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted June 24, 2011 Yeah, it may be. If so there's probably no way I'm going to be able to steam that neck off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 26, 2011 Author Members Share Posted June 26, 2011 Pics of glue mess inside: He really doused that neck block but jeebus what's with the puddle? (pay no attention to the busted ladder brace - some would call that mojo personified! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted June 26, 2011 Members Share Posted June 26, 2011 Could be anything. If he tried to wipe up his squeeze out but didn't get it all, it'll leave a coating like that -- sort of a glossy finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted June 29, 2011 Author Members Share Posted June 29, 2011 I went over to my friend's shop to restart work on my build but at the end of the night I decided to show him what I'd done with the Tak. I don't know if it was the beer or the lateness of the hour but we did some meatball surgery last night - and the prognosis for the patient is not too good! First, we prepped the patient for surgery: You can't really see, but I'd already taken a sharpened spatula and broke the glue joint beneath the fingerboard extension. Sure, I did crack the finish in places but by and large I got the fingerboard free of the top without major damage... Then with the help of a a fret extractor thingie and a drill press we made the first incision: Rosewood smells so good when you grind into it. Now it was really time to put the patient under. Time for the laughing gas... well, actually some steam from a cappuccino machine he got of the local Craig's List: You see where this is going; time to inject the steam directly to the neck joint: The plan from that point was to loosen the joint and use a jig to pop the neck free of the body. It turns out however that that mess inside was neither AR glue (aka Titebond) or CA glue (aka Super Glue.) It clearly wasn't hide glue - we'd have smelled that once steam was applied - but it was something else that did not react to steam. So we pulled the patient out of the jig, got a fretting hammer and started just whacking away at the heel cap. Well, by that point things were already turning ugly. I think the guy who repaired it last actually used epoxy which means that if this neck is coming off I'm going to have to saw it off and bolt it back on. I don't know what I'm agonna do at this point. Maybe scrap it and chalk it up to experience or further dissect it and see if there's anything I can save and integrate into a new dread build? If this guitar is indeed a loss I think that'd be cool to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted June 29, 2011 Members Share Posted June 29, 2011 Not an expert, but are you sure you pulled off the correct fret? I would have taken off the next one down. You want to inject the steam in the gap just past the dovetail, not into the neck wood itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members katopp Posted June 29, 2011 Members Share Posted June 29, 2011 Nope, correct fret, but I agree with the thin CA. Looks like a mess.If it is CA and the neck was set with CA - thin CA - then you will probably pull out a lot of wood from the block, too. Thin CA wicks itself into every crack and nook... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.