The Hub

I have a Favilla Classical guitar on the bench, in for a bridge reglue. This is a low to mid-range classical guitar, made circa 1960, and it's an heirloom guitar for the customer, he basically wants it back in playing shape. The story is that he went away on vacation, and when he returned the bridge had delaminated from the top and took a fair amount of finish with it. It also appears that someone attempted to glob on superglue at some…

Video on Top Mapping a Master Built Robert Ruck Classical Guitar with a Magic Probe- at the end I talk about the magic probes benefit to some repair work.

Hello all, got a problem in a telecaster I rewired that has me in a twist. The basics: friend has a 2001 US Standard telecaster (left handed not that it matters). He bought it used and says it was quiet initially. A few years back he grabbed the pickups out of it and moved them to a new tele body with a torrefied maple neck he preferred. Recently he upgraded the new build with a Lollar CC tele set, and asked me to reinstall the original…

So, I made a modular clamp based on the split clamp idea. Started on a prototype about two months ago and finished it. What I was aiming for was a clamp that I could use on the BOTTOM of acoustic guitars as well as tops to clamp cracks, cleats, braces, patches etc. Especially a clamp that would access small openings like "F" holes, small sound holes etc. Essentially a way to get a clamp to areas not accessible to jacks, wedges etc.,…

I am working on a wall hanger that I thought would be fun to get working. It is an old Tokai. I have repaired a crack on left tuning arm. Also removed the bridge that had been badly glued on by previous owner. I am deciding if I want to put the effort into re-fretting it. I am new to Classical guitar actions, so my question is this - when you put a straight edge on the neck, where should it hit the bridge, if at all? I have learn…

This is a Kamouraska classical guitar, model 111, made in Canada in 1979. Internet information says it was made in La Patrie, Quebec, and later the line became La Patrie guitars. It looks like someone has been into this one before as the dovetail fit was poor, the gluing is very sloppy, and there are some rough chisel marks on the face of the heel. Note that if you drilled holes at the 13th fret you would miss the pocket by a few mm. Th…

I have a Yamaha Classical on my bench that's giving me a run for my money with a mystery intonation issue. All but the B string are perfectly intonated with the usual compensations we see. The B string however is almost an entire 1/2 step off (sharp) at the 12th. Right from the get go the scale starts going sharp incrementally at every fret. I can find the fundamental harmonic on that string but it's sitting halfway between the 11th and…

I would really appreciate some advice on this repair that I need to do. I've built a number of (classical) guitars so far, but this is my first repair job. I have already set the expectations with the customer that I can probably fix it structurally but the repair will be visible. The guitar is modestly priced and of no historical significance so it seems like an ideal project to take on as a first one. The guitar suffered a blow on the…

I had a client dropped off his Suhr JM Classic for a pot replacement yesterday. The fretboard extension hangs over the pickguard on these a little so I flipped it over to loosen the neck screws a tad. I found what looked like 3 missing neck screws and only one screwed in place. The one screwed in place was bright and shiny. I removed that screw and the neck would not budge at all. I focused a pin light into the neck pocket holes to find…

Hey y'all, Got another interesting job I'd like some advice on. It's a 70s yamaha classical the current owner inherited from his father. At some point it developed a rather nasty top crack, to the point that I'm thinking the job would involve fresh spruce being applied in there. That's routine enough at least, albeit uncommon for New Zealand's climate in my experience so far. (Also open to suggestions on cleaning out the crack to accept…

Work in progress. I post the pictures.

Similar question to the one I had about the mandolin. I have a request for a non-intrusive pickup for a classical guitar. Anyone have a recommendation?

Hallo dear luthiers, maybe you have some tips or opinions for a repair in my shop. It is classical guitar with spanish heel. The neck collapsed into the soundboard. I will not be able to completely close the gaps in the soundboard by pressing. There is also a break in the foot. Do you think it is enough to reglue the braces etc, add something under the soundboard and fill the gaps with wood filler or is it structurally neccasary to add spl…

Cheap classical guitar with plywood top. I re-glued a bridge on a pretty chewed up top, that then departed with bits of the next layer of plywood. I’m thinking the only way to salvage this is flood the plywood with CA to stabilize then epoxy the bridge. Kind thoughts only please. This is freebie work for a community center.