The Hub

The latest builds, repairs, and conversations from across Looth. Activity
Filters AND Search cases× Reset all
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Yamaha FG410A with very fragile fretboard

Hello everyone, I hope you're doing good. I'm very much a new guitar repair enthusiast, any advice or feedback would really appreciated. I'm working on this Yamaha FG410A, as you can see, it's in rough shape. The guitar lived in a case in a storage container since the 90s. The guitar was really dry when I got it, so I started my slowly introducing moisture. I removed the frets and then put the guitar in a bag, with a hygrometer…

10 replies
10 replies
LikeShare
Private member
I think your approach makes sense. You will learn much from this project. I am sure you will discover creative ways to fix problems. I have used the saw dust CA glue method to fix divots in the fin…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Advice on getting this 50s parlor nylon back into good shape?

Hi all, I'm new here. I've been playing guitars for ~15 years and recently started as a technician at a music production school in London, where part of my job is maintaining the guitars. I picked up this 50s parlor nylon the other day and it's in bad shape but I don't know how to go about repairing it. The main issue is the bridge. The guitar was kept high strung and the bridge has twisted and lifted off slightly at the base. T…

13 replies
13 replies
LikeShare
Private member
So now put the iron on low, heat the bridge for at least 5 minutes, then take it and the insulating cardboard off, and see if you can begin to work palette knives under the bridge. If it's not relativ…
Private member DiscussionElectric Repair

Possible ground loop in Tele

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…

8 replies
8 replies
LikeShare
Private member
Well, another update: I rewound the neck pickup, and flipped the polarity, so now the set is RWRP. Everything wired back up, and when the pickups are in series (position 4), it's dead quiet. The buzzi…
Private member DiscussionDesign and Testing

FFT tools for modal frequency work

I did a pretty big update to my web tools last week. These are updated from the older versions I had up on celestialinstruments.com. There’s an updated FFT tool now, plus mode detection for guitars and plates, wolf note detection, played-note energy transfer, monopole mobility, plate thickness calculation, and 1/2/3/4 DOF modeling that can be prefilled from FFT data. The part I’m most excited about is being able to fit a measured guitar re…

3 replies
3 replies
LikeShare
Private member
Dang! That's a lot of very cool stuff! Awesome!
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

GoBar deck adjustment

Hi folks, I thought you might be interested in this approach to having easy height adjustment for a GoBar deck. I learned this tip from my buddy, Don Parker. He lurks around here too from time to time. :) The basic idea is rather than having a booster platform on the base for use when gluing braces to plates you bring the roof down lower. There is a 3D printed spacer in black in the pics. I linked to a downloadable STL and 3MF of…

4 replies
4 replies
LikeShare
Private member
Just FYI, as far as I know, go bars have the same clamping strength no matter how much they are bent. If you want a different level of force, you need a heavier go bar. Or vice versa.
Private member DiscussionElectric Repair

Dealing with a zero fret...

Hey everyone, I have a Vaccaro bass guitar and I'm getting a lot of open note buzz on it. In truth, the bass could stand a refret but that may or may not be in the cards. Additionally, the truss rod nut is stripped. I'm also wondering if this nut is designed to come out? I imagine it is but it's kind of funky. A 1/4" Allen wrench is still too small to grip it. So the questions: 1. How would you deal with the zero fret and the nut? The st…

6 replies
6 replies
LikeShare
Private member
The divots in the zero fret almost look intentional, though that doesn't make sense since one of the big advantages of a zero fret is that it can be levelled together with the other frets. Are the fr…
Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

Epiphone LP Limited Edition severe fall damage

Okay gang I have a doozy of a crack repair. Young guy brought in a Epiphone LP Limited Ed. He had picked up the case while it was unlatched at the guitar took a nasty tumble. Severe finish damage, and the wood has a shear split in it as well. The undercoat is thick with a thin layer of nitro color on top. Spoke with a sweetwater rep and they said that the finish was nitro. Here's the guitar specs via Zsounds: Epiphone Inspired by Gibson…

4 replies
4 replies
LikeShare
Private member
Did you reach a solution yet KT? I have a similar issue with the same guitar, although my damage is midway down the neck. I may start experimenting with ideas this weekend in my attempt to avoid refini…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Brand new Gibson Hummingbird with Wolf tones

A customer brought me a new Hummingbird with fret buzz a few weeks ago. After performing what may be the best levelling job I've ever done, the buzz was reduced, but still noticeable, though it sounded different than normal fret buzz. When I noticed that the sound was worst when playing F2 (on the A string or D string), I did a frequency analysis and discovered that the main top resonance was at 163.9 hz, and it all made sense. Those…

9 replies
9 replies
LikeShare
Private member
I am getting way above my pay grade here, but if you accept that (1) a wolf tone occurs when the impedance mismatch between string and soundboard is minimized and a resonance is created (allowing vibr…
Private member DiscussionGeneral

Guitar Case Repair?

Does anyone offer repair of guitar cases? I've done a few and it's kinda fun (traditional wooden cases only). With the prices of guitar cases going up, I'm wondering if there might be a market. They are less of a throw-away item at $200 per case. I've had three people ask in the past few weeks: Broken latch, missing handle, loose lining. We replaced the handle with one of the buckle-on handles. If so, Any training available that you…

5 replies
5 replies
LikeShare
Private member
If I could find a source for the clam shell hinges (the offset ones on the plywood acoustic cases), I would do case repair in a heart-beat. I've probably spent 100s of hours searching and inquiring.…
Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

When chips happen--customers, expectations, and responsibility

Hey all, I am really enjoying digging through the looth group. I have not yet watched all the ding kings vids or read all the amazing comments and articles here, but I've been appreciating some of the loothing for dollars stuff, seeing other people's intake sheets, discussions about dealing with customers, and it led me to this question: How do people deal with customer expectations, liability, and the inevitable accidents that can happ…

4 replies
4 replies
LikeShare
Private member
@member some really solid perspective here, thank you. You're so right regarding the bit about some of the more abusive customers being the most obsessed with cosmetics, to paraphr…
Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

A little trick to handle small laqcuer chips

Evrybody knows it. Guitar dropped and ....chips. Often it can be fixed easily but very often you need the color. In my case it was a Jackson with a metallic red. I had all the chips but how to handle. Tweezer were no option. The chips flipped away. I used a small sewing needle. I've flattened the tip using some sandpaper on the workbench. Then I put a drop of thin superglue on a piece of paper, dipped the needle right in an pushed it on…

1 reply
1 reply
LikeShare
Ian Davlin
Great move !