Dave Staudte (rhymms with "Howdy") NB Guitar Repair (New Braunfels, TX)
Forum Replies Created
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Oh it’s been a while. 30+ years ago there were not many resources available. I had Complete Guitar Repair by Hideo Kamimoto. (I think we all did) It’s still a great starting point. Dan was just barely getting going on the VHS videos and books in the early 90’s.
Can’t seem to post the links but there are great videos on StewMac’s Trade Secrets page.
Probably a lot on YouTube but you’ll have to use your best judgement there (I’m thinking)
You’ll either need a heat lamp (and a way to protect top with carboard wrapped in tin foil) Or a heating blanket to heat the bridge to approximately 240 degrees. And a thin sharp spatula. Gotta pay attention to grain run out. And try to determine if the bridge may have been finished with lacquer, poly or who knows what. (that all can be repaired if things go sideways) You’ll need some cauls for both inside (triangle shaped to fit the crotch of the X brace and thick enough to be as tall or taller than the braces depending on the clamps being used) and outside to protect the top of the bridge. (most of us make these as there are no universals) Other than that it’s pretty straight forward. Remove bridge, clean surfaces for best adhesion and reglue.
Bellied tops can get more complicated, I’d cross that bridge when you come to it. There are specialized cauls for this. If it’s not bad I’d leave it some bellying is expected on all acoustics. (and I wouldn’t bring it up with the customer unless they do first, could open a can of worms) Almost all acoustics have a radius in the top and are not truly flat.
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Nothing can be determined until the guitar is on the bench. The customer’s 1/32″ could actually be a 1/16″ or more likely .010″. No one can give opinions, advice or estimates until the guitar has been evaluated. I would start there. Alot of times people call for pricing or other questions to waste your time and you never hear from them again…
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Wow! I’ve done several of these, that carbon fiber trick is new to me. Definitely using it on the next one. Some of those 70’s necks are sooo spongy. I’ve had to use the thickest tang on every single fret on more than one. Even over the extension, and yes that helped and was confirmed by TJ’s talk at Northwoods on the Bar Frets.
Extension shim yes, if the drop off is .020″ or more. I just use a headplate veneer with 3 drops of thick CA glued to a sacrificial board and take it to the sander. Doug showed Danny West a cool trick with the same idea and 2 1/4″ dowels. Probably convert to that method.
I reset the neck first, sandout FB then fret last. My methods are too difficult to describe in text. All I can say it’s a lot of trial and error until you get the hang of it. Don’t be surprised if you have to pull many frets in the beginning before you start to figure it out…having said that I will start stringing the guitar up to “a tension” even before all the frets are installed to see where I’m at. This is before any fret ends are cut.
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I’ve used a wax pot as well, I had to open it up and adjust the thermostat to get it right.
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I’ve done at least 3 of these. Nice tight fits with what appeared to be pretty strong hide glue. Took much longer to get it to move (using steam, before the heat sticks) compared to a Martin.
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I love my MacRostie Binding trimmer, they work really good.
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Did you separate the ground wire from the cover on the neck pickup? If the pickup cover is still connected to one end of the coil it will give you grounding issues. Found this out the hard way too and thanks to Doug Graham was able to fix it…but I had no schematic to work off.
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Looks like a mandocello to me, but I’m sure there are better experts around here that will chime in…
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Wow, I thought it only came in the Get You Really Freaking Drunk Fast proof. 190
I guess there are a few different grades, but for shellac purposes I think you want the highest grade possible (or allowable in your state) When I lived near the border the nylon string guru’s would go to Tijuana and get 200 proof stuff…
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For what it is worth, I built 5 guitars with aluminum tops for a guy about 5 years ago. I glued the tops to the sides with West System 105 and 206 Slow Hardner. They’re all still together. The braces were integrated with the top, milled out of solid aluminum so no other glue joints except the rim. The bridges were glued with the same, and I put the 2 Gibson bolts in for good measure.
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.37 cents each when you buy 100
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I’ve used these about ten times they seem to work great, haven’t tried any others…
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0825ZWQ57/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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I signed up with Anderson almost a year ago, it was quick, easy, and surprisingly affordable.
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See reply below with top bracing pics…thought I had this figured out 🙂
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Unfortunately, I do not have any of the guitars. The are mostly in CA. He’s gotten interest from Ovation and Rainsong recently among others. Does well at the NAMM show regarding interest and met with Tim Teal from Martin with them. I have Guilianni’s book and yes it would be interesting to test them. Surprisingly they actually sound pretty good!
