Kawal Guitars

[loquito5765]

Has anybody here ever heared of them? My friend just brought one over, Im not sure the term for it, but it looks like an acoustic-electic. The body is cracked down the seams. It looks like sombody dropped it sideways on its neck. The bridge is completely ripped out, leaving 4 small holes in the body. The electronics work, but Im not sure how well. My main question is, is somthing like this even worth refurbishing? Maybe it would make a good winter project, but mind you Im a n00b when it comes to project guitars.

Ill have some pictures up in a little while.

[unclej]

i've never heard of the brand but i'd say that you have an excellent opportunity to learn a lot about guitars with a project like that. do a lot of reading here and on other forums. get a book or two about building and repairing guitars. ask some questions after you've done your homework and i'll bet you can fix it up to at least playable condition.

and by all means, post some pics when you can.

[loquito5765]

Alrite got some pics!

Just an overhead view, you can see my shadow and a bee near the bottom. (that thing almost stung me)

Now you can see the damage

Closer up.

If you look close, theres a crack along on this side too.

A nice shot looking right down inside of it

I think that says kawal, if anybodys got any other ideas, tell me.

Side view, you can see how long the crack is.

What Ive found, is if I press agent the neck (pressing on the neck, twards the body) I can aucually make the seams line up again. What Im thinking, is would some wood glue do the trick? I know the strings will give me a little more levrage twards keeping it on there. Once I get the body completed, Ill work on the bridge, then the frets, the frets look pretty worn. If I can, Ill work on the pickups too, Although they work, Im not sure how well they work. Seems like a fun winter project, I aucually got the guitar itself for 5 bucks, but Im thinking all together, its going to cost me around 50-60. If anybodys got any information at all that I missed, or just want to comment on it saying its a piece of crap, anything (I mean ANYTHING) will help.

[unclej]

well, being the nice guy that i am i'll give you $25 for it right now and i'll even pay for the shipping.

seriously though, it's definitelyl fixable but again, do some reading before you get started. it may be as simple as getting yourself a few clamps and a bottle of titebond but there may be more to it. if you're able to get it fixed i think you're going to find that it has a big ole bluesey sound to it. those are old school single coils on it..probably pretty low output. you can tell by the fretboard that somebody has put a lot of music through it..good mojo buddy.

good luck! (and i'll still give you $25 if you don't want to mess with it)

[loquito5765]

Hahaha thanks! But I think Im inspired enough to give it a go. Ill give this little orphan guitar a good home.

[loquito5765]

Update: Body work is done, glued and clamped it, and that nasty crack along the top is gone. Now Im working on the wiring, and in the market for a new tailpiece and bridge. Nothing left to work on without getting more parts. Im happy to say everything is going smoothly so far.

[unclej]

looking at the pic of the top of that guitar it looked like it might have had a bigsby tremolo on it but i can't find a pic of one that fits that profile. the circle on the upper right hand of the outline where the tailpiece was kinda reminded me of it. a regular trapeze tailpiece and adjustable bridge might get your strings high enough to clear the pickups but i could be wrong.

i've searched everywhere for some mention of kawal guitars and can't find it anywhere..there's a good chance that it's a kawai

[loquito5765]

It may be kawai. My thought is theres an independent guitar manufacturer. Im looking at bigsby tremolos, thats what Im hoping to put on it. I have a piece of the tailpiece and its just a plain rusted piece of metal, most likey used for a cover.

My two ideas are:

1: Buy a tremolo and a bridge, and raise the strings high enough with the bridge to match the neck.

2: Cut the neck where it connects to the body low enough that the tremolo matches up with it, and suck the pickups into the body accordingly.

Im thinking 2 might be cheaper and 1 may be easier, and I have a nack for distroying projects. Ill just be sure to do alot of measurments when I find a cheap enough tremolo, till then Im still trying to refret it, or find somewhere to do it for me. School is in 6 hours so I should get to bed.

[loquito5765]

alrite got an updated picture for ya!

[loquito5765]

Its been a while so I thought Id update you guys. The body work is completed, I ordered some pickups on ebay and theyre on theyre way. Once they arrive, Im hoping to get the electronics done, then all I need is a bridge and tremolo. Its looking good tho.

[loquito5765]

UPDATE!

Guitars goin good, new pickups and tuners, electronics done and my new bridge and tailpiece are on the way. I ended up buying a bronse gibson-like floating tailpiece and bridge, and when theyre here, Ill just string it up and it should be ready to play. Naturally the photogenic boy I am, I got some pics. As youll see, the new pickups really make the guitar look new.

PICTURE POSTING RULES NOT FOLLOWED.

Edited September 22, 2005 by rhoads56

[loquito5765]

*drumroll*

I am proud to announce... my kawai guitar now offically plays. Im so proud of myself, I just got the strings on a few minutes ago, and its still falling out of tune, but at least im making a noise with it.