Featured Restoration - Double Cracks!

Dear Guitar Enthusiasts,

Least expected the last 2 consecutive jobs were repairing cracked necks. Both guitars' necks were seriously cracked indeed. A Martin OM-28V came in first with a almost severed neck. A few days later a Takamine guitar arrived in two. Here are the pictures of both guitars' cracked necks.

Martin OM-28V

Takamine

The repair is of course to re-glue the cracked portions and get the guitar back in action. However many of my clients are not aware of a whole of details and considerations that come with a cracked neck repair job. This is where I play my part as a professional, i.e. to provide the best fitting repair options to suit their desires and budgets.

For cracked guitar necks, I provide these options.

1. Re-glue the cracked portions.
2. Re-glue the cracked portions plus reinforcements.
3. Re-glue the cracked portions plus reinforcements plus cosmetic touch-up

They simply differ in terms of the amount of jobs. I am not going to dive into elaboration of each option as I think they are pretty self-explanatory. However I welcome any queries regarding them if you deem necessary.

The Martin OM-28V
The owner was determined to have it fixed to last because he really liked the guitar. The crack was due a fall by his younger brother who has accidentally dropped the guitar. The owner has chosen my 3 option, that is to re-glue the cracked portions, reinforce its neck and perform cosmetic touch-ups on the affected areas. Let the pictures talk. The sequence starts from left picture and goes clockwise.

The Takamine guitar
The client who brought it to my workshop isn't the owner. He wanted to get the guitar repair for a friend who has pretty deep attachment to this Takamine guitar. At first, he has chosen the 2nd option, that is to re-glue the cracked portions plus reinforcements. Eventually I have decided to go all the way for this guitar because I think it would make the owner really happy. Again, let the pictures talk.

Thanks for taking time to read my posting!

Featured Restoration - The Corner

A chip at the corner

Hi Guitar Enthusiasts,

It has been really a while since my last posting. Setting up a guitar making workshop was indeed demanding. I started it in last April and I am still on the way. The process was demanding, exciting, interesting and above all, humbling. I guess I would not arrive to an end. This workshop setting up may as well as be a journey that never ends… perhaps when I get summoned to meet my Lord.

Anyway, this is going to be a short one… :) I will try…

A client brought in a guitar for repair. He sent me a text message reading,"I kind of smashed my guitar…"

The incident; when he was about to walk off with his guitar, he placed it in his foam gig bag and sling it over his shoulders. The only problem was he didn't zip the gig bag. The force of the swing launched his guitar up and away. It hit the ground on its headstock, it bounced off and landed on its back. Think about the sound of "the guitar" and the expression on my client's countenance.

From the top picture, you should be able to see the extend of the damage. A part of the picture was blurred out deliberately. In fact, the rest of the pictures were likewise.

I have initially advised my client to accept it as no structural damage on his guitar was detected. However he would like the chipped area to be reinforced to prevent further cracking or chipping.

I think it was a valid request so I took the job. At the onset, I couldn't determine the nature of restoration. The first thought was to sand it smooth and flood it with cyanoacrylate (CA) glue to stop any future cracking or chipping.

I pondered as I looked at the chip. Something told me that my initial thought was not going to cut it. Strangely I didn't realize the reasons for my hesitation however the reasons only revealed themselves in my mind after I have completed the restore work. Strange but true.

Here is why; the impact has dented the corner severely. The wood grains have been forced out of their natural directions. Even with smooth sanding, the wood grains would not harmonize and aesthetic value will go out of the window. It could probably get by but that was not why I took this job.

So… plan B got the green. I took my Japanese hand saw and cut the chipped corner away. See picture below.

The severed chip fell onto the board

From this point, some of you may already know how it ended, right?

I made a new "corner" from African Blackwood to replace the missing part. It was imperatives that this "corner" be made to size and as well as finishing before gluing it to cut part. If I have glued this "corner" first, I would be compelled to work this "corner" to size and finish with it attached to the headstock. No good at all…

The risks of damaging the existing areas were just too high to go down that path. Re-finishing was not an option as it would involve a lot more unnecessary work.

On the other hand, the difficulty of sizing and finishing a "corner" first was expected as well. Between a rock and a hard place, the rock was a better choice for me.

So I went ahead in making a "corner" to completion before attaching it to the headstock. The first attempt wasn't successful. It was indeed not easy. The second piece was better but it wasn't good enough too. Only at my third attempt, the outcome was decent enough to deliver to my client. See picture below.

A new "corner" glued

I send these 3 pictures to my client to seek for his approval. He has responded positively to the restoration work. He has collected the guitar with delight and appreciation. That makes my work meaningful.

Thanks for reading!

Featured Restoration ( A Broken 12-string)

A brother in Christ has brought to me his dear Takamine 12-string after a tragic incident that occurred in his house. Fortunately only his 12-string was affected and nobody was harmed, Praise God. He told me to be wary of IKEA shelves, don't load it with too much weight ... his Takamine 12-string has suffered impact blows from a string of falling objects when his IKEA shelves gave way to the constant loading from the items they were supporting. The impact has resulted in a broken headstock. It was indeed a guitar lovers' nightmare, equally to a guitar restorer ... This is one of those challenging restoration jobs that are talked about ...

This brother is a close friend. I took up this challenge as a way to reciprocate my gratitude towards him for being a brother in Christ and a faithful friend to me.

Lets' take a look at the start state. The headstock was totally severed from the rest of guitar.

The broken Takamine 12-string

A close-up on the matching members

Guitar in parts of neck and headstock

Fortunately or usually, such cracks are repairable. You can also see the severed fibres are perfectly matching to each other.

Headstock Front

Closed-up

Headstock Back

After studying the mechanics of the crack and the wood grains of the neck, time to get started.

Some wood splints and chips were carefully removed from the crack areas to avoid possibility of weak sealing between the crack areas when glued. The easy part was to glue the two parts together.

Glued and clamped

The wood glue needed only 30 minutes to set but it was recommended to not stress the glue joins within 24 hours.

Curing for the next 24 hours

After the glue has cured for 24 hours, the clamps and wooden blocks were removed. Usually the excess glue will ooze everywhere and cleaning was inevitable.

Glued Headstock Front

Glue marks were easily visible.

Glued Headstock Back

This is a 12-string, and my brother told that he has no intention to load all 12 strings on it from this point on. So he said I didn't have do a lot, just glue it back will do. However, it woud be hard to believe that the glue will be able to hold the tension exerted by all six strings. More has to be done ...

I think that both front and back of the headstock need to be reinforced. So I begun from the back.

Cutting a seat for the mahogany stripe

I used a piece of hardwood (mahogany) to reinforce the weakest part of the guitar neck.

Gluing again ...

Same rules apply ... 30 minute/24 hour

After glue is cured.

The mahogany is inserted into the seating

I went on to work on the headstock front

A square seating was cut into the headstock front

The tricky part ... the square seating was cut according to the size of the reinforcement wood. In this case, I should have used tonewoods but I didn't have any of the shape and size readily. Nevertheless, a piece of hardwood was used for reinforcement.

Gluing again ...

Same thing ... 30 minutes/24 hours

When the glue was cured.

I didn't think that my friend was going allow the two reinforcement woods to stick out like sore thumbs, so the excess wood must be removed.

Reinforcement wood seated snugly

Sanding down

The Headstock Back

Most sanding and shaping work were done finally. Next, I went on the stain the reinforcement woods to blend into the guitar neck.

The back, after staining

The Front, after staining

For the headstock front, the reinforcement wood needs to be varnished.

Clear Satin varnish was applied to the demarcated area

Buffing ... the back

Not perfectly concealed but it was smooth to touch

the front ...

Pretty blended

This dear friend of mine usually forgets a thing or two ... there was no guitar nut when he handed the guitar to me. So I was left with the options to buy a standard 12-string plastic nut, or hand-craft one. For this friend, I have decided to hand-craft a 12-string guitar bone nut ... oh dear ...

However, he has emphasized that this guitar was not going to hold 12 guitar strings anymore but I have cut light marks for the high octaves strings set in case he changes his mind later on. You might be able to see in the pictures below.

The 12-string bone nut

From the side

Nut seated snugly

The Headstock Front

The Headstock, Strung

The back

The Back

Finally, the completed work! My dear friend's 12-string has been restored and road ready again! It was tough but it was rewarding to see it through.

It is finished!

Praise the Lord for seeing me through this entire process.

Featured Restoration (A Taylor Baby Story)

Dear All,

Every now and then, I will get some uncommon restoration job requests. These guitars bear certain unique identities that were like no other. It was not about price nor the superiority in the wood but the strong bond between the guitars and their owners. Some jobs were down-right economically not viable to be undertaken but these owners have insisted that prices were not the main concern although it is worth weighing. The overwhelming desire to have the guitar restored back to "the desired state" was the main challenge for me. It is ethical to remind the owners the impending investment and the expected outcomes. If owners are agreeable, the jobs get a green light to proceed.

While there are many websites in the internet that feature the quality of the restoration jobs, this feature article is all but for this purpose. I thought it is valuable to share with this unexplainable passion to anyone who cares to read this article, and passing the flame to more people who are playing guitars, stopped playing guitars, play guitars once in a blue moon, just picked up guitars and those yearning to do so.

Here goes,

It is a Baby Taylor, arrived with a cracked neck. After ten plus years on the road, inevitably the road wears were noticeable at various areas the Baby. The owner requested for re-glue of the neck, replaced new bone nut/saddle, set-up, clean up. There is an"off limits"area that ruled out any restoration jobs regardless if they are desirable or not. I'll let you savor the moments of this process until the last few pictures where you will be able to see the "off limits" area. You will understand immediately the reason.

Notice the glue marks, the crack line was glue marks (picture below) ... Baby Taylor's headstock is glued to the neck by means of Taylor's unique finger joint. The crack propagated from the joint ...

Glue is applied to the crack line

More pictures of the clamping process ...

Curing

My concern was the puny bit of glue to take on the string tension ... as it turned out, the glue dislodged and the crack re-appeared when I loaded the string tension upon the guitar. As such plan B was incepted. While it was not my favorite but it was a viable option, i.e. to reinforce the cracked area with another piece hardwood. A cavity is routed out from the crack area and a piece of mahogany was introduced into the cavity. (see picture below)

The reinforcer was glued in place

The piece of mahogany was glued in place. Again, another 24hrs of curing. Thank God for Titebond wood glue, things were made much easier.

Clamped for glue to cure

Once the glue is cured, time to sand the mahogany to flush with the neck.

Dremel ... carefully removing excess wood

Wah lah! Almost flushed!

Much excess is removed

The final sanding was done by hand. Scratches were inflicted onto the surrounding areas during the sanding process thus these scratches have to be removed by buffing.

Buffed ... most scratch marks were gone

An important thing I have learned was that all structural issues on the guitar must be addressed prior to other jobs like aesthetic upgrades or pickup installations. Finally the neck was reinforced, and with peace of mind I moved on to install the new bone nut and saddle. Once the new bone nut and saddle were installed, setting up and tune up follow. It was a great relieve that the mahogany was able to hold the neck together. Here're some pictures of the restored guitar.

The Finished Bone Nut

A closer look at the slots

Strings are seated just above the crown of the bone nut

The fitted saddle.

Bone Saddle

You may wonder now, what was the unique identity of this Baby Taylor? A friend to this owner has drawn an illustration of a toddler, munching away some food, who is the son of the guitar owner. That fully qualifies the "off limits" status. Does it not remind us that youth is invaluable and to cherish the food delivered to our tables daily? The illustration was completed with pencil ... on the top plate.

Enjoy the last few pictures to sum up the story!

Such detail touches

Nothing could drive me to clean the illustration away, it is sin to do that. From another angle ...

The full illustration

Finally, the Baby Taylor.

Yes! It is done!

If you got till this point, I really appreciate the time you spent. Stay bless!