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mairj40

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Everything posted by mairj40

  1. I picked up a 60's Harmony H39 on Craigslist today. It needs a bit of work. It is missing the cable that runs from the control knob to the jack that plugs into an amp. The neck was starting to separate from the body some. I got it home and took all the hardware off and steamed the neck off. The action was HORRIBLE. When I put a straightedge on the fretboard to the bridge, the straightedge is about 1/2" below the top edge of the bridge. Is it the same with an archtop hollow body as it is with other guitars, where the edge of the straightedge should rest on the top of the bridge? Hopefully I am making sense.
  2. I just picked up an old Espana acoustic guitar. The guy I bought it from said that it was his fathers. It is not in too bad of shape. The biggest thing is that it has a ton of crazing on the top. Is there any way to fix this without sanding it down to bare wood? I have sanded acoustics down and refinished them before, but this guitar is pretty cool looking (aside from the crazing). Or should I just leave it? It is the top of the line that Espana made. I see them for sale on Reverb for $200 to $375. I only paid $25 for it, so it isn't a huge deal if it needs to stay the way it is. But, I'd like to make it look as good as possible.
  3. Interesting story about this guitar. I sold it shortly after I posted about it. I got it somewhat playable again and passed it on. The other day I was surfing Craigslist and saw that this guitar was back on there being sold. So, I scooped it back up. I have taken it completely apart and am sanding it down to refinish it. I am going to make a shim to fit under the neck to tip it back to the correct angle. I also bought a Bridge Doctor to install and help out the future desire it might have to belly worse than it is. I find it somewhat strange that these guitars don't have a heel on the back of the neck. I would think that screwing through the neck block into the heel of the neck would be way more effective at keeping the bridge end of the neck from sinking down from the string tension. I thought about making a heel to attach to the neck and into the neck block to help support things a bit, but I think I will wait and see how it all goes back together. There is a lot of sinking that has gone on with the end of the neck. Hopefully I can get it corrected now that I have a little more experience with bigger repairs.
  4. I'm having some issues with the wiring. I ordered a new wiring kit for it, but it didn't come with any schematics. The one below was suggested, but my PRS pickups have three wires, not four. And I also do not know what is north and south start and finish on the PRS pickups. How do I make this work? Any ideas?
  5. I got the bridge located last night. I'll pull the neck back off so that I can wet sand the body and polish it.
  6. Thanks, man. It is far from perfect, but it should play (hopefully). I couldn't rebuild the neck. It was cometely wasted. The back of the neck was cracked open, and the truss rod was bent and sticking completely out of the back. Not to mention half the headstock was missing. I ordered a replacement neck from China. It's the only thing I could really do. I hated to not put an original PRS neck on it, but they aren't the easiest to find.
  7. Here is where the project is at now... The neck is temporarily attached so that I can measure out the bridge location.
  8. Here's the latest project. I had never routed pickup openings before, but I figured that this would be the project to try them on.. They aren't perfect, but that is what they make pickup rings for Lol.
  9. Got most of the shaping done on the horn...
  10. Got the rough shape of the new horn done and glued on. I also got the replacement block sanded down and shaped to the body.
  11. Here's today's progress. I made a Mahogany block to fill in what was missing. It is current;y in the clamps drying. I also started filling in some of the bullet holes with Kwik Wood, an epoxy wood filler.
  12. Nope. It probably desintegrated. Lol.
  13. Yeah, the rest of the neck is toast. The truss rod is bent and sticking out of the back of the neck. It looks like the tuners are $30 to $40 a piece. All three speed knobs are there. One is off and in the case. The switch still turns and feels fine, but who knows if it will actually work. The jack socket is still intact too. Yeah, I didn't figure it would be worth anything when it's done. I just though it might be a way to save a pretty awesome guitar. I love tinkering with this stuff. It's like my therapy. Lol.
  14. One pickup just says "Vintage Bass" on it and the other just says "HFS" (I believe). I haven't looked them up yet to see what they are selling for. The one that says "HFS" is ruined, but the other one may be ok. I need to check it for continuity and make sure that the wires aren't broken.
  15. I bought it for $50. It came with the case. One of the pickups is still good and there are four of the tuners left. I figured, if nothing else, the case, pickup, and tuners were probably worth $50. Even if I can't get it back into shape, I don't think I got hurt too bad on it.
  16. I have a very sad story. I get a PRS CE-22 from a guy who's ex absolutely destroyed it. She stabbed it, smashed it, and shot it. The neck is a complete loss. The body is in several pieces. Pretty much the whole middle section of the guitar, where the pickups and bridge are, are gone. One of the horns is broken off as well. I am not sure that I will be able to salvage any of it, but I am going to try. I currently have the two halves of the guitar in the clamps at home waiting for the glue to dry. The guitar is basically in the shape of a "U". My plan is to trim the edges of the broken parts in the center of the body and make them as straight as I can. Then I'll cut a solid piece of oak or maple to fit into the center where the wood is missing. The guitar originally had a trem system on it, but I am planning on using a Wilkinson wrap around bridge on it when I put it back together. I'm thinking that having the extra structure of the wood in place of the trem cavity would be a good idea. I think this guy will need all the reinforcement and strength it can get.
  17. I have an OLP Coffin guitar that I am trying to rewire. I followed the diagram below, but there is no sound when the 3 way switch is in the middle position, and the tone does not seem to work. Is this an incorrect diagram? It has two humbuckers with a one volume and one tone control with a 3 way blade switch.
  18. I decided to go with a Wilkinson wrap around bridge. I had used a Badass style before, but it seemed too high. I couldn't get it low enough to make the action where I like it to be. The Wilkinson is 3mm lower. Plus, it has quite a bit of height adjustment to it.
  19. I have the fretboard glued on and I am working on shaping it to the neck. This guitar originally had a Steinberger-KB Tremolo. It was missing when I got the guitar. From what I have read, they were known for a flawed design. I filled in the trem routing and I had put a hardtail strat bridge on it. I was never overly happy with it though. It seemed like I couldn't get the saddles adjusted high enough to clear the frets. I tried shimming the bridge, but I don't like doing that. Since I am redoing the guitar again, I am not sure what the best way to go for a bridge would be. I was thinking of trying a Gibson style bridge, like what the Les Paul Juniors have. I believe they are a wraparound bridge. I am just worried about the bridge being too high and the action not being good. Also, then I would be stuck with the two large holes in the top of the guitar from the mounting posts. Any suggestions as to hoe to find the best bridge without having to drill holes into the guitar to experiment with different bridge types?
  20. The only other saw I have is a circular saw. I might be able to cut straighter with that than a jig saw.
  21. I have the new fretboard. I order one from Stewmac. What is the best way to trim it to fit the neck? I am currently without a band saw or scroll saw. I was thinking of just using my jig saw and cutting it about 1mm wider than it will need to be in the end. Then once it is glued on, I can sand the edges to match the neck. Does this sound reasonable?
  22. Thanks. Here are some more pictures of the finished product.
  23. I picked up a Brownsville New York for $20. It was a mess. Someone had written all over it with marker. I refinished it, and I think it looks pretty cool. My wife's cousin saw it before it was even halfway done and bought it from me. I went for a kind of old school rat rod feel with it. I finished it in flat black and added a decal that my wife's cousin liked. I added some zebra pickups and called it good.
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