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Private member DiscussionShare Your Repair Content

Introducing the NutBuster

Hello All I have been using Ted Bergstrand's online nut calculator on Benchmuse.com which is excellent. It allows you to have a consistent gap between each strings vs the progressive gap that the Stewmac rule gives you. Or you can do consistent centers to the strings. I have definitely found measuring the nut with calipers to work a lot better than the stewmac rule and don't use the rule anymore. I wanted some additional functionality…

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PS All Hail Ted Bergstrand who introduced me to many very useful things. Kind of nuts how many things I use now that Ted turned me on to.
Private member DiscussionGeneral

Off-Gassing

Any tips on handling the off-gassing for vintage guitars? I just took in a 1941 D'Angelico. The original tortoise shell pickguard is gone and has been replaced. New case as well. The frets up the neck are going to need to be cleaned. But are there any other precautions I should tell the client to take? Anything I should take into account? -Mike

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Ian Davlin
The consensus seems to be to leave it out of the case so the off gassing doesn't create a gassy feedback loop with the existing plastic.
Private member DiscussionGeneral

modifying waverly tuners

Gibson Roy Smeck Radio Grande 7 string! in for tuner replacements... Currently has faulty original grovers, wants waverly titanium that I'd have to modify the plate shape to fit---and drill a new lower hole mount to avoid new holes drilled in the headstock ( around the "e" in waverly logo; and new plate hole and old plate hole would intersect by a whisper ). I'd have to remove the cog to mill & install, but the mounting screw head has c…

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I know you're looking for the best ways of utilizing the Waverly tuners, but perhaps using tuning machines that are a better fit (maybe without drilling new holes) would be a better solution.
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Discoloration inside acoustic guitar...

Hey Looths, I have a 1980 Guild 12 string in the shop and while doing a preliminary examination I noticed this odd discoloration inside of the guitar. My immediate thought was water damage, although it hasn't bled through to the outside of the guitar and lifted the finish. I also thought of glue smear but I can't quite tell. Any thoughts here?

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Ian Davlin
Could be one of those exploding gel humidifiers.
Private member DiscussionGeneral

When do you guys suggest a bridge re-glue?

At what point do you tell a customer that their acoustic instrument needs a bridge reglue? Do you do it when the corners are just barely starting to lift? Once it has begun to affect playability/tuning stability? Do you offer half-measures to save them money when the damage is not too bad (dripping in some thinned tite bond instead of removing the bridge entirely for example)? I ask this because a Godin acoustic bass just came across my…

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Ian Davlin
You've had better luck than me with half measures. I'm not sure why you're diluted Titebond worked, but the one of the unfortunate things about Titebond, is that you cant glue TB to TB. It could be th…
Private member DiscussionGeneral

70's Tele Neck w/ truss rod issues and a bulge behind first fret

I've got a client with a '72 Tele. It needs a re-fret, but the truss rod isn't functioning. In fact it's backed out of the channel significantly, and there's a bulge in the neck underneath the first fret which suggests to me there's something going on with the truss rod anchor. The puzzling thing is the wood in the neck has bulged, but the skunk stripe and the finish don't appear to be disturbed at all. I'm thinking I'll probably hav…

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The only other potential thought I have outside of maestro's James and Ian is, while it's hard to know via photos; has the neck been refinished? I'm seeing some sheen in the worn areas which I wouldn…
Tom Krebs DiscussionGeneral

Source for the rubber material found on ...

I'm looking the name and source for the rubber material found on the jaws of the Stewmac pattern makers vise and the Proper Work Station. Not having good search luck Thanks.

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It's urethane rubber sheeting. I get it from McMaster-Carr. I think the wooden jaws on the Stewmac vise uses 1/16th" urethane. The Total Vise stuff is typically 1/8 inch. You can also get it in 3…
Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

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…

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@member Thanks Ian, I also have some ultra thin fill&finish on the way. I will do some experimenting with it and see if it can help me out any.
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

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…

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Ian Davlin
I thought I might add an outlier of an opinion here. I understand the temptation to close the cracks with higher humidity, but you're asking a lot of adhesives, reinforcements and human attention span…