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My guitar got smashed.
It was attacked by a Martin Dreadaught on a small mountain stage resulting in a faceplant. The top is Redwood. I was able to get it to glue up fairly well and have done some splice and drop fill on the vertical cracks. I'm curious about suggestions for the deep cross grain areas. I am hoping to not re-shoot any lacquer and just rub out the finish with some Kovax dry sanding. It was never high gloss buff to begin with and it's a personal…
Palm Bender Tips from Seth Lee Jones
Violin Repair Crash Course: Bow Rehair
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Proper Loothing: Back in the Saddle Again!
Martin D-35 with cracks everywhere!
Hello looths! Long time lurker, first time poster here all the way from New Zealand. I have recently acquired this 2008 Martin D-35 for a very cheap price ($1000 NZD - around 600 US!) it's dried out in a very cold environment and has two substantial cracks running all the way across the top, one large side crack, and a previous side crack repair that's been done quite poorly. I'm only about 3 years in to this repair journey and this is d…
Thoughts on Restauration Roger Archtop
Hey everybody, I should restore this Roger Rossmeissl Archtop. There is a lot of work to do. The owner is aware of the possibly-much-more-work-than-value situation. I am still thinking about how to aproach it, I want to start working on the guitar in August. It seems that there is not much warping in the top, few wood is lost. I do not know what happened to the guitar, but sometimes I hear a voice coming out the corner of my workshop mumb…
neck reset acoustic guitar with two necks (harp guitar)
I've owned this Jersey City made 12-string/drone 'harp' guitar for a few years and want to get on the repair. I've taken the necks off many dozens of Schmidt-made guitars but never one with two necks. I've searched the web looking for harp guitar neck removal and didn't find anything of use. Asking for any tips/aids/experience from the loothers. My plan is to make a custom neck removal jig that fits the necks, and then drill the typical…
Dunable Yeti with a backwards rod???
Hello! Im working on a repair for a cutsom build for a customer. Its a Dunable Yeti built in 2022. Anyway, all work was going fine till testing the rod... i discovered that the rod is working the opposite of how it should function on any other guitar. CCW is tightening (and no, no a dual action rod) Tightening this rod is adding relief. The guitar already had too much when disengaged. Trying to figure out how to approach this as this is a f…
which frets for LP Delixe 70s
Hi, I am still a little confused by the new look of the forum, hope this is the right place to ask. Which fretwire would you recommend for a refret of this 70s LP? The current frets are 2.75mm wide, but dressed down to 0,35mm height. I have heard storys about frets that are this low but never seen in real life before :-) (0.108" wide and 0.014" height). Thank you in advance :-)
Resin Casting a Replacement Pickup Cover for an Ibanez Musician
1930s Martin 00: Best practice
Long story short, customer want to add carbon fiber in the neck for strength. Without string tension, the neck is dead straight; with strings, it's about double the relief he'd like. Is it insane to add carbon to this guitar? Or is it fine?
PBass has been stripped of it finish… looking for expertise, friends!
Hi friends, I just stumbled upon a 1966 P-Bass, nearly completely original. The owner bought it in 1971 and it had already been stripped of its original finish. That was a thing back then. You can guess that 55 years of gigging had the wood absorb much of the owner’s DNA and sweat. Maybe a few beers as well. Surface was quite tacky as you can expect. I cleaned it with naphta and StewMac’c brand-new cleaner (quite a great product I'd say…
1918-1922 Gibson A3 " Ivory" Mandolin Dovetail Joint Measurements and Angles
Here are some pics of 1918-1922 Gibson A3 "Ivory" Mandolin Dovetail Joint Measurements and Angles.
Tremolo issues. Not returning to "zero"
Hey guys. I guess this is an old topic, everyone talks about it but I haven't been able to find a definitive solution for this. Here's the deal: I'm working on a PRS Silversky that has this old problem that when you use the trem bar, one string (G in this case) goes sharp. I made a few adjustments to the nut as we all know that's the first thing to look at...no good. This guitar is new so I'm pretty much ruling out the bridge and posts si…
Bass Neck Stiffness, Can't Get Enough Relief
Hello, I hope everyone is having a great 4th of July weekend so far. I was recently asked by a friend to work on a cheap S101 bass someone had given to him. It had no electronics and it was severally back bowed. After finishing up the electronics, I did the set up. He wanted the guitar tuned low, to Drop C. So, I went out and bought some Ernie Ball Power Slinkies 55-110. Once I got to the nut depth check, it was clear there were large, g…
Spanish Heel failure
Hi all, I got a Do Santos DSMSCC RC in shop, the Spanish heel has failed , or rather collapsed into the soundboard, splitting it on both sides along the grain, a broken brace just under the fingerboard extension , cracks on both sides on the top/side bindings, I measured wood humidity on the fingerboard 9% and inside the (very inaccessible) body 11% The normal procedure would be to re-humidify before jacking or clamping back into place ,…
Splines: When are they necessary?
Question about splines: At what point are they necessary? My question is primarily regarding the crack to the left between the bridge and the sound hole as well as the crack at the upper bout that runs along the fingerboard extension. I have already glued them both and used the TJ cleats that run the full length of the cracks. I have already splined the lower bout crack that runs from the bridge to the binding as it was super gappy and d…
