Freeman Keller

Thanks for the review, Chris. I've looked at the Glu-Boost products and discussion at one of the lutherie forums has been positive. Were you happy with the way the drop fills buffed out? Did you scrape, sand (if so what beginning and ending grits), use Micro Mesh or similar and/or buff (which products and methods?)? I'm assuming that both the Epi and Breedlove were poly - were you able to blend the drop fill into the finish to your satisfaction? Even tho the manufacturer says its OK for nitro, there was a comment on one of the forums that it did soften or react with nitro - was your beater by any chance finished in lacquer and did you have any issues? Again, when you did your repairs on the beater were you happy with the scraping/sanding/buffing? How did you apply glue to the cracks - straight from the bottle, wick tip, pipette or ?? Last question about cracks - would you be comfortable gluing the crack with one of their products and using another adhesive for cleats (probably AR) - I just can't imagine trying to position and clamp a cleat covered with CA I'm also interested in the accelerator - the ones that I have used did cause some whiteness and the CA sort of blistered up, making it slightly more difficult to scrape, plus they get really hot when they kick off. It sounds like you had no problems with the accelerator (also assuming that you sprayed it on top of the CA, not applying to the surface first which is sometimes done). Did you wear breathing protection with either the glues or the accelerator (I have become very sensitized to cynoacrylate and have to wear a respirator whenever I use them). Their tint kits are pretty interesting - I have used tinted CA (amber and black) but matching color on existing guitars has always been a problem. The kits are pretty expensive but I'll probably have to pick both the traditional and bright colors. Getting repairs to look good is always difficult - I tell my customers that it will be structurally sound but might not look as good as I would like. I'm always looking for better ways to do cracks and dings, particularly on poly. Might have to give these a try.

Chris, I'm going to add one more question to my previous comment. Since you can buy cynoacrylate glues from a number of sources, including lutherie supply houses, model and hobby shops and hardware stores, what is the advantage of Glu-Boost over any of these other products? I use a fair amount of very thin CA for repairs and installation of binding and purfling - why would I want to consider this product? According to the link in your article, 2 oz of the ultra thin Glu-Boost sells for $15.00. LMII sells it for $20.75 (interesting mark up, eh?). They also sell another thin CA called Hot Stuff for $11.03, half the price of the Glu-Boost. StewMac sells their own thin CA for $5.73 for 1 oz, roughly the same as the Hot Stuff, but currently have it marked down to $3.84. There are similar and significant savings with other CA products. I have used both the StewMac products and Hot Stuff and have been very satisfied with both. I do think the StewMac accelerator leaves some white haze (which is why I asked about it in my previous question). One significant problem is that usually the bottles clog up long before the glue is used - caps become glued to the bottle and require pliers to remove, the tips get plugged (yes, I know that Glu-Boost has a little pin, I usually use a piece of wire like a guitar string). I actually think its better to buy smaller quantities of the glue to minimize problems with the bottles. The one product that does look attractive from Glu-Boost is the tinting powder and I may end up buying both the vintage and modern kits (at $44 bucks each they are pretty darn expensive too). I do have StewMac's amber and black medium CA and they work fine for drop filling those colors but from time to time I'm asked to repair a colored guitar. Anyway, I would be interested in your thoughts why these products might be better for lutherie than some of the other things on the market.

Click - now I recognize the name. Glad to hear it is working for you. As far as the pickup, I am far from knowledgeable - I install what people bring me and I listen to them before giving the guitar back, but I don't personally use a pup and I really don't have an amp or effects to tell much about them. I can tell you how easy they are to install, what problems I have seen, and the comments that I hear back from the users. I'll try to pass any of that along, but otherwise I'm not much help. There is a discussion at one of the lutherie forums on best methods of amplifying a classical guitar (many folks are recommending the K&K with an external preamp) but one that popped up that is kind of interesting is this guy https://www.ikmultimedia.com/product...acousticstage/ I wasn't going to link it until I saw your comment about the belt preamp being a possibility - that is how this works. Here is the discussion - note at the bottom that Hesh recommends the Baggs Lyric - in my book that says a lot. http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=51794

One last thing to remember - if you do remove the Fishman UST you will need to make a new saddle (or shim yours). The pickup is 40 or 50 thousands thick, that will lower your action about 25 thou unless it is shimmed. Leaving the p/u doesn't hurt.

No experience with it. I've installed other Baggs p/u's but not that one. I have done the Fishman with the little mic, it seems to work fine but is prone to feedback and takes a bit of futzing to find the sweet spot. I like installing K&K's, quite straightforward and people seem to like the sound. Most of the time people use an external DI or preamp to match impedance and boost the signal. Lots of ways to skin that cat.

I'm surprised that Fishman can't (or won't) answer that. I'm not familiar with the Sonicor but I have installed a number of Matrix pickups and preamps - this is the little bit I know. Aftermarket preamps come with a piece of double sticky tape on the part that contacts the wood next to the sound hole - I would assume that factory versions do also but I'm not totally sure. If that is the case the tape should come off with a little heat from a hot air gun or hair drier. What I do know is that frequently the double sticky tape does not adhere well when I install them - I always try that way first and if it doesn't stay I'll some times glue it directly to the underside of the top with a drop of gel CA (I discuss this with the owner first). In theory I could still get the preamp off by working a thin blade between it and the top but I tell the owner that it really is pretty permanent. If the factory happens to use CA it still should be possible to remove it with a thin pallet knife. I can't tell you if one preamp is compatible with the other UST - I think all Fishman pickups are the same except for size. I did have a question about putting a K&K piezo into a Fishman preamp and was told (by K&K) that it probably wouldn't eq well - different transducers have different outputs. In that case we simply brought the K&K out to the jack and abandoned the onboard preamp - the owner runs it thru an external DI. I don't know about the Sonicor but at least some models of the Matrix (and I believe Infinity) have some of the electronics in a little cylindrical part of the inside of the jack - the last one I installed only had the volume, tone and phase switch at the soundhole. I'll add that I am not a big fan of Fishman pickups - they are frequently very hard to balance between strings. In fact I have almost totally stopped installing them. However if you are considering a Fishman pickup I would sure look into the ones with the little internal mic - blending that with the piezo seems to give a pretty realistic sound. Good luck

A few years ago I was asked to build a special guitar. My customer (and friend) wanted an acoustic that looked like an ES-175, but he didn't want any electronics in it. Oh, and it had to be red. Some of you might remember it, the f/b inlays were a bit controversial. Well, I got a call this morning, it needed new strings but would I just give it a general check to make sure everything was OK, I said sure. Here is the guitar back on my work bench [ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-attachmentid":"32219619","data-size":"full"}[/ATTACH] This is what my friend was driving when he brought it over [ATTACH=JSON]{"alt":"Click image for larger version Name:\tRedcar.jpg Views:\t1 Size:\t196.1 KB ID:\t32219621","data-align":"none","data-attachmentid":"32219621","data-size":"full","title":"Redcar.jpg"}[/ATTACH] Nice when your car matches your guitar

You might find a little more life here http://yamahavintagefg.boards.net/forum

The top is definitely solid, the back probably so (I can see some of the same grain inside). Interesting concept. I'm disappointed but not surprised that the person that resurrected this hasn't checked in. Oh well....

OK, here is what it looks like inside [ATTACH=CONFIG]n32104650[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n32104651[/ATTACH] The first is just a shot thru the sound hole at the lable and back bracing. The second looks up towards the "neck block" showing the bottom of the two neck bolts. They ar 3/16 allen head and were nice and snug on this guitar. The braces are basically T shaped and have little cylindrical protrusions on them - I'm not sure if they have structural use or were part of the casting process. The top bracing is made the same way and looks pretty much like a normal X brace with some fingers and tone bars. It has a black plastic bridge plate to which I glued the transducers of a K&K pickup. Back and sides are some sort of light colored wood with a nice grain - maybe cherry or something. Top is probably spruce. I played the guitar a bit last night - sounds fine but I'm not going to run right out and buy one. It will go back to its owner today.

The skeleton is kind of interesting looking - there are very obvious molding marks and vents. It certainly does not look like CF - I would agree that it is just molded fiberglass. The wood appears to be glued to it, there are small blobs of glue that just looks like epoxy. Seems to be an OK sounding guitar, I'll put the p/u in it tomorrow and convert it for a left handed player. If Owen had any interest and had contacted me as I originally suggested I would take some pictures and experiment a bit with the neck bolts but since he didn't bother I won't either.

Well, I don't think Jason Owen is going to return but since I promised and the guitar came in today, here is my report. The Garrison has a molded skeleton made of fiberglass (or maybe its just some sort of plastic), I seriously doubt that its carbon fiber. It has a lot of little molding vents and is more or less in the shape of normal braces. There is a structure that runs around the rims (kerfing), X braces with some tone bar looking things, a bridge plate with some extra reinforcement, a skeleton tail block and sort of a neck block, again what I would call a skeleton. The neck block has two allen head bolts in it, they must hold the neck on. The neck "block" is not thick enough to have a neck tenon inserted into it so my best guess is that this is a bolted butt joint. The f/b extension looks to be glued to the top - there are no bolts like a Taylor NT neck has. Based on this, if I were asked to do a reset I would assume it would be fairly straightforward - heat and pop the f/b extension, unbolt and floss the neck heel to get the correct angle, glue the extension back down. I know I would at least have to make a new saddle so that and a setup would be included. There is always the possibility that a new nut will be needed when the neck angle is changed. I would probably give an estimate of $200 for the reset and $50 more if a nut were needed. There is one other possibility with any bolt on neck - if the bolts become loose the neck angle will change and it looks like it needs a neck reset. If thats the case and I didn't make a saddle or do any other setup work the cost would be $25 for a half hour of my labor.

I have a Garrison scheduled to come into my shop to have a pickup installed. Not quite sure when that will happen - the pickup is on order - I would guess in the next week or so. When it gets here I'll see what I can figure out. I'll PM you when that happens but if you don't plan on checking this forum often you might want to PM me your e-mail addy. Let me add that I build guitars and do repairs, including neck resets, so I have a bit of understanding about the issues here. I'll try to figure out what would be involved.

Have you seen this

I was going to say something about it will be "opened up" when you finish.....

The two lutherie forums that I frequent are the Official Luthiers Forum http://luthiersforum.com/forum/ and the Musical Instrument Makers Forum http://www.mimf.com/ OLF has a subforum on repair and would probably be a good place to put your request, MIMF does not. While the both cover aspects of musical instrument construction, I tend to think of OLF as more "chatty" and down to earth, MIMF often has esoteric discussions by folks who really get into their building. I did a search for "yamaha neck reset" at OLF and got 20 hits, "yamaha serial numbers" gave zero.

I forgot to tell you, I looked for the date code and couldn't find it - just using a flashlight and mirror and there are some corners that are kind of hard to see into. However if its on a side from the neck to the middle of the lower bout I couldn't see it. I was reminded, however, about how lightly this guitar is built (which might be part of the secret) and the fact that the inside is finished (back and sides, probably before the top was put on. As far as trying to get that information, about all I can suggest is periodically posting a request on all the major discussion groups, including repair forums. Logically anyone working on one would be able to check it for you but getting folks to remember is going to be hard to do.

I'm not going to be a whole lot of help I'm afraid. I have a red label Nippon Gakki FG-150 that I bought new in either 1969 or 70. As I recall I paid a hundred dollars for it with a cheap clapboard case. A few years ago when I did the saw-off-the-neck-and-make-it-a-bolt-on reset I drilled thru the serial number on the head block. The last three digits are 644, the rest is obliterated. It does have the t/r cover like your lower picture. I think I have the serial number written down somewhere but it honestly doesn't matter, it is a cheap guitar that happens to sound pretty good and with the reset is pretty playable. Some day I will sell it, hopefully to someone who is more interested in a getting a good cheap guitar that its pedigree. CT, from time to time Yamies come across my work bench, I'll try to get whatever info I can.

Probably better get one before the tariffs go up.

I'm not really a Fender guy, I just know that they make a lot of HSS and HHS and HHH models - you need to play them and decide which ones have the sounds in the positions that you play. Its always possible to get an inexpensive Strat or Tele and have a good tech route out the pickup cavity to fit a 'bucker - usually that would be the neck position (where I think they do the most good) I'm building three tele-clones right now and the customer for one of them wanted a P90 in the neck. I thought the idea was cool so I'm doing it with two (and maybe the third if I like it) Remember too that when you look at a dot 335 it is an entirely different guitar than an Fender - besides the pups they are different scale, totally different construction, different f/b radius - all of which will affect both the tone and the playability. If you truely want a 335 style guitar (and I love them) save your money, shop wisely and enjoy what they can do.

My whole point was that trying to fix something the wrong way just made it harder to do it right when the wrong way ends up not working. I had a Fender with bondo in the neck pocket, and just recently a beautiful Guild 12 string that someone had shaved the bridge. Bring it to me or someone who knows what they are doing in the first place and it will be much simpler. And while I like to buy good quality tools, sometimes that isn't totally necessary. I built my steamer from an old espresso machine, a length of vacuum line from an auto parts store and the little needle thingie for inflating footballs (I got mine from Tom Brady). Here is the thread on fixing that Rogue - it was a bad glue joint from the factory, the epoxy just made it worse, after doing it right its about as strong as it will ever be http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-41/31575332-repairing-the-beast-rogue-double-neck

If you really do prefer Fenders you might consider one with one or more humbuckers. Lots of options

I had some bozo do that to a POS Rogue. I charged him extra to clean up his mess before I fixed it correctly. That's been several years ago, it hasn't come back so I assume its held up.

I build and repair guitars and that would concern me a lot. I assume that is some sort of 355 clone - at one time Gibson made some 335's with "short tenons" that were notorious for weakness. I don't know if Epi did but I would stay away from those models (you can tell by pulling the neck pup and seeing if the tenon extends into the cavity). The cracks in the finish could also be due to a neck reset, if you do decide to buy the guitar it would be worth while to check the neck angle. Last thought - if the neck really is loose and it is a long tenon a good repair tech could remove it, reset it and somewhat clean up the finish at the heel. In my shop that might be 2 or 300 dollars. The finish is the hard part.

I just buy a piece of maple with the grain running the right direction from LMI for 3 bucks - its like kerfing and back reinforcing and a bunch of other small wood items that I could make but it just isn't worth it http://www.lmii.com/products/mostly-wood/inside-the-box/bridge-plate Note that they sell spruce for classical guitars but then of course classical guitars don't have string balls. It would be interesting to see what you are doing but I'll be absolutely honest - I don't have a clue what people are doing with voicing. When I started building (ten years ago) I was all smart-assed and thought I knew what voicing was all about - I read Siminoff;'s book (and attended a lecture by him), met Carruth and looked at his glitter plots, sat in a seminar with Grevin and listened to him tap plates. Granted, I've never bought Ervin's book (or for that matter, Gore's) but those aren't the style of guitar I want to build (and the books are damn expensive). So, my first few guitars I pretended I understood voicing and most people think they sound pretty good. My last few guitars I admit I don't understand voicing and most poeple think they sound pretty good. I'll bet yours will too