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Southpa

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Everything posted by Southpa

  1. HAWHAW, now that I've got your attention ... Here is a relatively rare sight. I just finished repairing these two guitars, owned by separate people but with similar ailments. (The guitars, not the owners) They are Yamaki Daion acoustics built between 1978 and 1984 in Japan. The 6-string belongs to a co-worker, and the 12-string to a friend of mine. Both had structural bracing issues, ridiculously high action due to top warping, bridges rolling forward, the usual. Either not enuf glue or temp/humidity applied to hide glue over a long time caused bracing to pop off and then string pressure took over. The 6-string just had loose bracing, fairly easy job, just glue and clamp, thats worth a box of beer. The 12-string was difficult to assess and repair thru the sound hole. I glued the loose braces back down (hope I got'em all ) and I had to replace the bridge plate and remove and reglue the bridge to put the top profile back to original specs. A lot of work and my buddy owes me large on this one. The strings are right on the deck and ring clear as a bell, a real player! The Daions were made of good material, natural wood bindings and soundhole rosettes, very good tone just a bit lacking in the glue area. They also featured brass nut and bridge saddle. Cool guitar as far as acoustics go.
  2. IMO, if you are cutting the right slot for the tang there is no need for glue. That is why frets are built that way ie. with a barbed edge to hold them into the wood. Back in the 1800's many guitars and banjos had glued-in frets. The frets were just square rods resting in a shallow slot. They built the modern fret to get away from that because they kept falling out! And now you guys wanna slap the glue back in there!
  3. I've illustrated how the Stewmac hotrod works in the past but never considered them to be the best. You can always find pros and cons with anything these days. I'm just saying that a single action rod works just as well FOR ME and MY guitars. I found the hotrod difficult to fit into fender style necks because of it's depth and I find that rods that are actually "anchored" into the wood are more responsive. It just boils down to what kind of wood you are putting it in in the first place. I had a discussion about this with a buddy just yesterday regarding the actual QUALITY of factory made guitars as opposed to custom built. My guitar price guide described some discrepancies in Gibson LP's built in the past years. In a couple they actually mentioned that the neck used was "quartersawn" over a few production years. I was under the impression that Gibson, of all companies, would have used q-sawn necks exclusively!
  4. I make my own. Its the most basic 1-way model, unit cost winds up at about 3 bucks and I can do custom sizes. Just 3/16 mild steel rod, brass acorn nut (drilled thru and threaded) and anchor block out of 3/8" bolt section. The rod is set into a precurved channel and covered by a curved hardwood fillet. I too, find the Stew-mac hotrod too deep (and too expensive/unit). If I were planning on building lots of guitars and preferred the hotrod I'd probably be taking advantage of their bulk price rather than buying one at a time. Not to knock 2-way truss rods but I've rarely experienced the need to adjust a backbowed neck. IMO, thats a shoddily built, sh**ty neck, start over. I don't build those kinds of necks. I've seen a few backbows out of all the repair work I've done and they were on sh**ty guitars. We all like to keep costs down and this is one area where I don't find its necessary. Good discussion topic.
  5. Its a very common reaction with fresh cut holly. My last GOTM entry featured a one-piece tele style neck cut from a solid block of holly. The wood was cut from a log I found in a client's yard. There were blue/green streaks in the grain afterwards. After quartersawing I had to let the wood sit for over 2 years before it could be used. I heard its some sort of oxidization effect when exposed to iron and air. I've also heard that its a fungus. Either way the discoloration is inherent with this species. http://www.woodturns.com/articles/wood/holly.htm http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Holly_Staining_Fungus_or_Pigment.html There are other woods that can "weird-off" on you like that. Fresh cut purpleheart will go dull grey if not protected from sunlight.
  6. What wasn't mentioned is that you initially set your intonation up at the FIRST string saddle. I adjust the saddle about 3/4 towards the headstock prior to positioning the bridge. Always leave a little leeway room on both sides. I usually angle the TOM bridge slightly over 1/8" back. This should give ample room for intonation adjustment on the bass side. In your case, being a 7 string, you might need to go a little more.
  7. Thje next time you visit the dentist ask if they could supply you with a few "previously enjoyed" bits. They are high quality and they use quite a variety of sizes and shapes. All you need is the right sized collet.
  8. I finished it a while ago and I really like playing this one. Not that I don't like my other guitars but this is the new kid on the block . I was originally calling it the "Swampcaster" but a brief encounter with BL & Co. resulted in my having to change the name to "Swamp Telecaster" under threat of copyright infringement litigation. BIG Specs: ALL hardware is gold colored. Gold hardtail bridge, Gold colored jumbo frets, Gold plated jack plate, neck mounting plate and strap buttons Gold plated mini Grovers Gold plated pickup rings Brass nut Brass hex-rod fb inlays Brass/ebony side marker dots Handmade single action truss rod w/ brass adjustment nut. custom made, 1-pce. brass string ferrule plug epoxied into the body 25" scale Neck is one piece Q-sawn HOLLY, ebony skunkstripe. Sanded down to a shiny 2000 grit and left natural. EXTREMELY smooth feel, fastest neck I ever played! Aged mahogany back using that cool vinegar-steelwool-rustynail recipe. Top is bookmatched wrn. maple with matching burls. The burls and surrounding areas are painted in with dyes to resemble some strange plants. Just winging it, as it were. But it was fun to use some of the natural wood figuring for an authentic look. Pickups are Samarium Cobalt Noiseless for strat, I like 'em! This guitar is totally "open back" accessible. The pickups (strat or tele) can be changed without having to remove the strings. The cover plate is held on by magnets, they mate up with countersunk screws in the body. This covers everything, 5-way blade, vol and 2 tones, rear tone for bridge pickup. Some more pictures here: http://www3.telus.net/Alsplace/Tele3/ I originally had some Q-pounders and the fb was dyed black.
  9. Finally! Someone made a guitar thats easy on the back! What do you figure the builder was thinking? That guy looks kinda creeeeeepy!
  10. Good read! I'm about to begin construction of 2 O-28 style (ala Ian Anderson) guitars. I have the molds and will make some changes/mods along the way. I'm basically taking a bit of info from here and there (Kinkade's book, Robbie O'brien and internet, ie. you et al.) for guidance. I got a good start in the materials and tools, resawing my own maple and spruce, got the right sized moulds and a bender. Feel free to expunge any more bits of info if you want, barring any secrets that CF Martin & Co. covet, I wouldn't want to see you get in any trouble. But I'm interested in how they get such a BIG sound out of such a little guitar like the baby martins etc. I'm assuming its a combo of thin tops, scalloped bracing and lightweight bridge. But I know there is a line somewhere where strength and stability are compromised.
  11. The guitars in this link are dead ringers for my guitar and they are Kawais! Show me one that says St. Gerge on it and I'll believe you.
  12. I've been through a few like that. Three options, wall hanger like you mentioned, poor man's dobro (makes a nice guitar for playing slide and number 3 is to pop the fretboard, level/flatten the neck face and install a proper adjustable truss rod. I've done this to several guitars with great success. After the truss rod is installed and fb glued back on (or on occasion, new fb) you can carve that big chunky neck down and make it REALLY playable.
  13. 5. Fill the slots with dust and superglue mix, reslot the board, install wide frets. If the slant is small enough the frets would (should) cover the evidence.
  14. Just the first assembly of my "swamp" tele. I usually leave them like that for a few days, sort of an in between breather, before I continue. Still LOTS to do, more scuffing and clearcoating. I still have to rewire one of the pickups, and do the general wiring. Might install a push/pull and dig up some new wiring schematic. Also considering a piezo under the bridge, still thinking. Anyway, I kinda like the finish and color of this guitar.
  15. Ya know, I'd say there are probably about 14 guitars built for every person on this planet. Every time I walk into a pawn shop I have to laugh, all those sh*t copies on the wall ...everyone's first guitar, selling for ridiculous prices. I'm not talking about the 60's vintage Japanese built guitars like in this thread. I mean the guitars that were made cheap INTENTIONALLLLLLY. I deal with that stuff too, just bought an Academy acoustic off the local buy & sell board for 20 bucks. I'll clean it up, set it up with new strings and sell it to someone for 50 bucks. Thats about what anyone wants to spend on their kid's first guitar. The difference is when I sell them they are PLAYABLE. The Japanese stuff is out there, you just have to be vigilant. I like shopping for guitars thru online facilities like Kajiji, Craig's list, "Used *yourtown*" etc. I'm not hardcore like getting up early on weekends (GAH! only to go fishing) to hunt thru garage sales. Pretty slim odds that someone is selling a guitar and you pretty much have to be first in line. But those old guitars are still out there, sitting in people's closets and attics...waiting for YOU! I find it can be very habit-forming but extremely educational. I check the Used Victoria ads every day and have this year's copy of the Vintage Guitar Price Guide handy. Yeah, I love guitars that much.
  16. I bought a length of fretwire from a friend who originally got it from LMI. Jumbo size and its much harder (or less malleable?) than conventional mild steel wire. I don't take as many pics anymore, too busy and I forget. But I DO occasionally document something that I haven't done before for edumacational purposes. So many members on this forum now and much of it winds up on the back burner in the archives in a very short time. I sometimes wonder why I bother at all.
  17. So far so good. BODY: Mahogany back (salvaged from the junkpile - used to be part of somebody's headboard ), bookmatched maple top with burls and some moderate flaming, mix in a bit of interesting grain pattern. More clear to be applied yet, after a good scuffing. The maple is from the same plank I used to build the Tequila Sunrise tele a few years back. NECK: One-piece Fender style. Solid quartersawn holly w/ ebony skunkstripe. Hand crafted single action truss rod. Fretboard side is dyed black and cleared in poly. Inlay is from 5/16" brass hexagon rod, brass sidemarker dots. HARDWARE: EVERYTHING will be gold, 'cept for the pickups. Gold fretwire (hard stuff), brass nut, hardtail bridge, gold Grover minis, all pickup, switch, etc mounting screws will be brass, gold vol/tone knobs. Pickups will be Seymour Duncan quarterpounders. I rummaged thru the used pup box at the local Mom 'n Pop music store and found these QP's, 2 were dead so I rewound them and they are HOT! HOT! HOT! When I'm closer to finishing I'll have better pics. I've managed to keep this project going on the sidelines while doing umpteen repairs. The time to push is now, so I hope to have this done by Sept.
  18. You can always pop the fb, take out the steel rod (it should have a steel reinforced neck) and install a proper adjustable truss rod. Thats what I did with the Kawai. The original truss rod was adjustable but about the diameter of a coat hanger. You can turn these old guitars into real players, they are made of good materials but have some design flaws. Your Kay could probably use some new frets anyway...its good practice!
  19. I just finished doing a backstrap on a 60's Kawai, exact same break.
  20. I just think they are really cool.I guess the designers were pretty stoned back then to come up with such outrageous shapes (eg. Mosrite copies like the Tokai Hummingbird). I am ashamed to admit that I own a few and actually enjoy playing them! The one on the left is a recently repaired and upgraded Kawai. The right one is a Teisco 6-string short scale bass. Both guitars are fully functional. The rocker switches allow any pickup combination possible. Some weak points when comparing to modern designs are in neck structure (undersized truss rods w/ thick, fat necks) and weak pickup outputs. But I like the variety of materials used for decoration mostly and overall sturdy construction. And I have yet to see one from that era with a plywood body.
  21. Old guitar? and old frets? Pull the frets, resize the slots, refret the guitar. If ALL of the fret ends are popping out then you may as well do it right. If it was just the odd fret I might suggest superglue and clamp for a few minutes. OR pull the fret, overbend it slightly and reseat into the slot THE OTHER WAY ROUND. That way the fret tangs bite into new wood.
  22. They are meant to be played clean thru an acoustic amp for the best results. But still very adequate thru a conventional amp and VERY authentic sounding thru headphones. This whole digital concept is something to get used to. First off, your strings ALWAYS sound brand new, kinda cool. I've been dabbling in Workbench and programmed some favorite song settings. Open / alternate tunings are fun but at low volume you might hear the standard tuned strings mix in, yuuuch . But if i want I can go between dropped C# metal LP to open G Mastertone banjo with a flick of the switch, thats cool. One point tho, I can't do open/alternate tunings in 12-string mode, don't know why but ti just won't stick.
  23. The only PU I know that features 1/4" dia. pole pieces, aside from yours, is the Seymour Duncan Quarterpounder. Are your pickups for a bass? ie. 1 string between 2 poles and can probably be used as a 8-string guitar pickup if the spacing works.
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