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Good afternoon all. I have started the process of removing all the binding from the old Country Gentleman and it's going well. I did discover after removing the strings that the neck is pretty loose and moves around quite a bit (no surprises there). I removed the black plug on the back side of the body then removed the large regular (slot) screw that holds the neck in place. I thought the neck would just slide out considering how loose…

Hi folks. I have a Martin DX1 in for crack repairs. I was feeling around and discovered two huge cedar plates glued to the top. Many gluey fingerprints and spots which leads me to believe they aren’t stock but want to make sure before I remove them. I looked online for a bracing diagram but no luck. Does anyone have any info on this? Much appreciated ! Images

Good morning to all - I have another skill building question - picked up another cheapo electric guitar to practice repairs on. I didn't see the big dent, but figured its an opportunity to practice another type of repair. big chunks of polyurethane finish are gone and the bit that's left has a hairline crack around the bottom. I'm thinking to use wood filler to fill in the missing chunks, and want to know if its best to remove the piec…

Guitar neck topology is worth going microscopic. 🔬🦠 After building my starting surface from a wireframe network in the sketch environment; a system of 4-degree control point spline rails, tangent to projected isoparametric curves along the shaft — I can convert the NURBS surface to a T-Spline and start cleaning up the artifacts left behind by the original loft. In this demo I’m turning on Box Display, which feels strange at first because…

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…

To repair previous "repairs" I removed the back of this guitar. I'm considering setting the neck by slightly pulling the block back whilst gluing on the back. If the seam on the bottom of the guitar where the back and sides meet is within easily workable amount (see by doing a dry run) then hmmm...the concept has my attention! I could otherwise just do a regular neck set. Votes? Thoughts?? Images

I am restoring an old Supertone with a thickened and heavily alligatored finish. The finish softens quickly with acetone, and it looks like it has had an overspray. I would like to keep the staining on the oak back and sides, and to preserve the decal on the headstock. The top I would like to strip and sand. The questions are: 1. What more do I need to know about the finish? 2. How should I remove the finish or at least thin/smooth…

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…

Hello, Looking for any suggestions for replacing the missing hex nut on a Pedulla Bass. This is not a standard size and from limited past experience this is fixed to the end. A flat 5-6 mm nut seems to fit but not securely without removing material under the nut shelf. Thank you, Mark Images

Has anyone removed the stabilizer bar from a Fender Wildwood Acoustic guitar? I need to repair the bridge area and I cannot figure out how to remove the internal stabilizer bar. Any input would be appreciated

Hey everyone, recently I've been getting more requests for neck resets from customers, and up until this point I haven't been offering them since I don't have the practical experience. I'm keen to change this, and I've borrowed my fathers Harmony H167 that has seen better days. I've done an initial cleaning and assessment, the truss rod works although I may need to force it into a backbow to have a fully adjustable neck. This shouldn't…

A Gagliano Jumbo probably made by Kay in the 1950's. It looks like this had a previous neck reset based on the shims and some sloppy chisel work. I removed the 14th and 15th frets because I had read that these might have a straight tenon. I didn't need to drill any holes for heat, as the spruce shims both split in half after the fretboard extension was released. The dovetail is about 11mm long, the pocket is 14mm deep, and the 15th fret…

I recently picked up a used custom guitar that the seller said he bought in Vietnam Nam many years ago. I bought it as a wall hanger due to the wonderful Mother of Pearl work, especially on the back. It was very apparent that the top on this instrument was sunken at least 3/8 of an inch, as the weird bridge setup was heightened to the max and there was barely any action height. Once I took it apart and removed the foam inside, I was…

Hi all, I am building a mandocello, Gibson style but with f holes, currently working on the top. I got to a point where I carved it to about 5 mm in the center and about 3,3 around the edges. If has some flexibility but still feels quite stiff. I tap and listen but having experience only with flat top guitars I don't really know what I'm looking for in terms of tap tone and flexibility. I know there is no correct answer to this, but anyo…

The COE reviewed this bridge disaster in January, a Tanglewood acoustic given to me that had the bridge ripped off as well as some of the underlying top, and an attempted repair with spruce veneer (COE video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpOIWQrAlw&t=2685s). The general opinion was to install a bigger bridge plate. However, once I removed the existing bridge plate, I found that the underlying repair had not been fully done,…

I replaced a broken trussrod in a mandolin today, and after gluing the fingerboard back on I was surprised to feel a small ledge on either side of the board suggesting that in the 3-hour period since removing it, the board had shrunk over its width. It was definitely flush before I removed it, and I used the same locating pins as the original builder, so it can't have shifted. Is it possible that the board could have shrunk that quick…

Hey everyone, I wanted to do a bit of a follow up on a repair I'm doing. A customer brought in a Seagull acoustic guitar that had been dropped, causing the heel block to separate. I managed to get that glued back together with pleasing results, however I did need to take the neck off by removing the two bolts which thread into the heel block, and unglued the fretboard extension. All went well here, although I'm left with a situation whe…

Hello Friends, I've had a vintage Epiphone acoustic stored at the shop for almost two years and it's about time to wrap it up. That never happens, LOL. It has a few loose braces, which is a repair I've done in the past. The problem with this one is that no matter how I jack up the loose braces from the inside, some parts of some braces simply do not move enough to come in contact with the soundboard. This is happening in a couple…