Acoustic "re-work"

[JPK]

My first project i embarked on is provin hard so in mean time i have this. and i really need help.

A friend of mine heard me talking bout building guitars and he said he had a guitar in his garage that wa being thrown away, i said i would look at it and see what i could do. Turns out its an acoustic, union jack paint work, no machine heads, looks like it was once wired to be electro-acoustic. now first i thought, 4get the the electro' past and cover the holes Up put machine heads on and just string it up. but then i thought 12 string. always wanted a twelve string and seen as the guitar is in fairly good condition why not.

I tried removing the bridge, proving very hard, the nuts turn it gets loose and the bolts start moving as i'm trying to unscrew, bringing me my first problem. then i thought about the headstock n wondered if it was worth lengthening it just a little to allow for the other 6 strings, but the neck is attatched to the body and i don't want to damage any of it. When the bridge problem came about i thought of just drilling more holes, buyin the farules sorted, but the strings wont fit on with the design of da bridge, so heres where i need help...

What can i do with it all, i will post pictures so you can see what condition its in so its easier to see whats going on. the colour of it seems to be turning Yellow, i'm hopin its just the clear coat ageing a little, so just gonna wet sand laquer agen, wet sand laquer agen n hope it turns out Ok, if not may mean a whole body strip which i don't really want to do...I'm also thinking of keepin the elcectro-acoustic if the 12 string idea works out...hope you guys can help me...

Picture soon

JC

[al heeley]

Blimey, sounds like you're heading for an awful lot of work - hope the basic guitar is worth all this effort, what's it's origin?

Adapting an old 6-string acoustic to 12 strings fills me with fear - there's a lot of extra tension there to fold a less-than-well-built acoustic in half once another 6 strings are added, and also to play 12 strings well you need a wider fretboard than a std 6-string (Ok, it never stopped rickenbacker but they are foul pigs to play)

[scab]

as for making it a 12 string guitar.. i definately wouldn't do it.. first of all it would be quicker to build a new one from scratch. second if you made a 12 string out of it the bracing underneath the soundboard wouldn't be strong enough to handle the extra tension you'd be putting on it.. I don't know what you're getting at about the bridge.. if you're trying to take it off then thats easy, but i'd have to see pictures just to determine if the thing is even capable of being fixed.

[fryovanni]

You would be wise to get your tuners for a six, don't screw with the bridge if it is in tact, and string it up. See what happens with six strings on it. If the neck is in need of a re-set or if the guitar has other issues with six strings attached. You are better off finding out now instead of after you attempt to put more load on it. I am also trying to figure out why you are removing the bridge? Is there damage?

If you want to learn something about acoustic in doing a bit of work on this one. Get it to play very well as a six (I mean very well). If you can do that, then you can study the bracing, and consider what it would take to convert it to a twelve.

Peace,Rich

[JPK]

You would be wise to get your tuners for a six, don't screw with the bridge if it is in tact, and string it up. See what happens with six strings on it. If the neck is in need of a re-set or if the guitar has other issues with six strings attached. You are better off finding out now instead of after you attempt to put more load on it. I am also trying to figure out why you are removing the bridge? Is there damage?

If you want to learn something about acoustic in doing a bit of work on this one. Get it to play very well as a six (I mean very well). If you can do that, then you can study the bracing, and consider what it would take to convert it to a twelve.

Peace,Rich

Indeed it is damaged...i thought it was just a few scratches at first, turns out few things need filling in, i had the idea of 12 string the work i'd need to do did put me off tho, if it was easy enough i wasn going to do it, now i know not to. there is really nothing wrong with the guitar apart from slight discolouration and the small damage to the bridge, and machine heads missing and it had no strings to start with. its origins are from a previous builder who was moving workshops and the project was no longer wanted and it was recovered from a skip. my friend gave it to me cos he had no use for it...just wanted a small project for time between work cos i don't have much nowadays.

With your advice i'm now gonna keep it 6 string n over the next week just make it look good, i think i can purchase and electro-acoustic unit locally so i'll keep that if i can. i can buy machine heads locally, just finding the right type. let you all know how it goes.

JC

[fryovanni]

You would be wise to get your tuners for a six, don't screw with the bridge if it is in tact, and string it up. See what happens with six strings on it. If the neck is in need of a re-set or if the guitar has other issues with six strings attached. You are better off finding out now instead of after you attempt to put more load on it. I am also trying to figure out why you are removing the bridge? Is there damage?

If you want to learn something about acoustic in doing a bit of work on this one. Get it to play very well as a six (I mean very well). If you can do that, then you can study the bracing, and consider what it would take to convert it to a twelve.

Peace,Rich

Indeed it is damaged...i thought it was just a few scratches at first, turns out few things need filling in, i had the idea of 12 string the work i'd need to do did put me off tho, if it was easy enough i wasn going to do it, now i know not to. there is really nothing wrong with the guitar apart from slight discolouration and the small damage to the bridge, and machine heads missing and it had no strings to start with. its origins are from a previous builder who was moving workshops and the project was no longer wanted and it was recovered from a skip. my friend gave it to me cos he had no use for it...just wanted a small project for time between work cos i don't have much nowadays.

With your advice i'm now gonna keep it 6 string n over the next week just make it look good, i think i can purchase and electro-acoustic unit locally so i'll keep that if i can. i can buy machine heads locally, just finding the right type. let you all know how it goes.

JC

JC,

The main reason behind my suggestion, is that you can't tell what condition an acoustics in without it being strung up. I occasionally pick up a fixer if I see one at a garage sale or what have ya. The first thing I try to do is get strings on it for a week or so, to see what is happening. The last one I picked up (a little 12 string, no tuners, and the neck was cracked at the heel(cracked, but the parts were not completely seperated)) had to have the crack repaired first, then on went a set of basic tuners I had laying around. In a few days I made a couple minor tweaks to the truss and let it set for a few more days. Everything seemed to be holding up pretty well, and the neck angle/ bridge height seemed good, soundboard had no significant deflection. Then I went about my fret work, set up the nut properly, and made a new saddle to replace the old plastic one. $10 with case plus a set of tuners and a little materials then BAM she is back in service .

Peace,Rich