sMg Guitars

November 24, 2009

Here’s my public accolade to Cat Fox for the fret class she gave tonight.  Great stuff, I learned a lot.  I used to hate the final setup, the fret dressing and polishing etc., but tonight’s class gave me the right focus and technique to complete the job.  Oh boy I’m so excited.  I took Carol’s guitar with me to the workshop and now I have a very level, very shiny fret job on her guitar.  I’m going to call Beth and get her to bring her guitar in for the dressing of it’s life.

Thank’s Cat.

October 20, 2009

Yes, it’s been three weeks since I laid hands on any guitar work.  The primary distraction  has been the building of a new spray booth.  I constructed an enclosed booth in the garage with an exhaust fan, lighting, electricity, and units to hang guitar components for spraying and drying.  The majority of the work is done, it just needs a few wrap-ups from the punch list.  I will complete those wrap-ups just prior to my next need for spraying guitars 905 and 906.

I have a considerable backlog of work.  The following list is to help me prioritize.

1.  Guitar 905:  Back is attached to sides, next step is to finish brace shaping and sanding for the top, then installing the top.

2.  Guitar 906:  Box is assembled, next step is to bend binding, route, then install binding.

3.  Guitar 903:  This guitar still has no identity, yet I’m leaning toward a dreadnought, just because.  After I adjust the drum sander, I can thickness sand the sides then bend.  I need to identify and prepare a top.  The Ovankol back is joined and ready for thickness sanding.

4.  Oliver Classical Guitar Repair:  Thank God my brother in law is understanding.  Starting this repair is hard to think about.

5.  Oliver A  Mandolin Repair:  I’ll begin tackling this repair ASAP.  I know what needs to be done, it just needs to be done.

6.  Tepp A  Mandolin Repair:  Much progress made, much to go.  It will be a good companion to the Oliver A Mandolin repair.

7.  Tepp Ukulele:  Modest repair can be done now that I have my RARE Earth magnets.

8.  New Repair Job:  Expecting a guitar to come into the shop Wednesday to improve intonation, probably through a bridge saddle replacement.

Stand by, the Dude Abides.

September 16, 2009

After removing the spool clamps, this little puppy is starting to look like a mandolin.  I have quite a bit of sanding and scraping to do before restoring the finish.  I may also install some back binding.

September 16, 2009

The back on this mando came loose, so I removed it, removed the loose braces, then sanded, cleaned, and rejoined back with added back strip.  Made a jig for the back and reglued bracing.

First brace fit nicely, moved to second brace and added back strip reinforcement.

Stripped off lacquer on back, then installed onto sides with spool clamps.

September 13, 2009

Started repair of Romanian A Mandolin.  CA glued cracks in sides, and rejoined back with strip insert.

Installed new frets.

And…filled top crack.

I have reshaped the back braces, and after building a clamp jig will reglue, then glue the back on again.

September 2, 2009

I offer Guardian cases for my custom guitars.  You can go to the links section to bring up the Guardian case website to view the different cases available.  These cases are an excellent value.  The four models I carry are Standard, Deluxe, Tweed and Vintage.

The Standard is your basic case:

The Deluxe adds more padding and upgraded hardware:

The Vintage is again another upgrade in materials and padding:

The Tweed is the same construction as the Deluxe:

August 24, 2009

My brother in law Bim’s sister Lisi sent me a mandolin for repair and it arrived today.  It’s very similar to the Romanian mandolin (Repair 9001) given to me by Joel Tepp.

Lisi’s mandolin is 50ish years old, with a gourd shaped back and some serious issues.  It sat in an attic for multiple decades, probably going through sever temperature variations and with the strings fully tensioned the whole time.  It essentially compressed itself over the decades.

This is a view of the butt end from the top showing how the tailpiece pushed against the top, compressed against the heel block and binding and shoved a center piece of spruce toward the soundhole.

The above shows the cracks in the spruce top.  The soundboard dipped, once there were cracks and nothing to keep it from dipping.  Another side effect was that the soundhole bowed up in response to the pressure from the cracked top.

Finally, the decorative back pieces have come loose and will need reglueing.

I think the best, and least intrusitve solution will be to remove the center panel on the top where it is cracked on both sides, get in and flatten the soundhole and add new bracing, reinstall the cracked piece and craft a new bridge.

July 12, 2009

Got some sinker redwood from Allied and 4 Engelman spruce bookmatched sets on eBay.

Thickness planed in the drum sander and joined (rather the reverse).  My friend Carl expressed a desire for a parlor, and one of these tops should work.

I just got back from a trip up the east coast from Florida to Montreal, and stopped at a lumber yard and purchased a billet of claro walnut.  I will use this with some walnut sides I have for some future guitar.  My challenge is to find a way to slice the billet into 4 useable plates for two backs.

July 12, 2009

I have been working with Joel Tepp to develop and refine my repair experience.  Yesterday he delivered a gift of a mangled Romanian Mandolin which needs extensive work to resume playability.

There’s plenty wrong, and lots of opportunity to “practice”.  First the back is separating from the body, and the braces are loose.  As well, the butt block and sides are separating.

Next, the sides are cracked and poorly repaired, and the neck heel is cracked through along the line of the side cracks.

Additionally, the top plates are separated, and the finish is terrible.  The frets are down to nothing, the saddle needs to be rebuilt, and the nut has come loose.  Just a few things to do, but I think the side cracks and neck crack are going to prove to be the most challenging.

I removed the back and braces from the back using my silicon heating blanket to soften the glue.  First repair was to reglue the butt block to the sides.

I pulled out the frets and resurfaced the fretboard with CA.  It should sand down nicely, and the fret slots are deep enough and intact such that new frets should seat nicely.  I’ll try and fix the side cracks, but if it proves unsatisfactory, I may replace the sides.

March 28, 2009

After rearranging the garage, where all the power tools reside, and making room for my new (used) drum sander, I decided to take a step toward central dust collection.

The drum sander has a collection bag, and some damaged ducts, so I’ll repair the ducts and continue to use the bag attachment for this one.  I installed a central collection system attached to my shop vac for the Miter Saw, the Table Saw, the Sanding Station and the Band Saw.

It’s really cool to watch all the dust zoom through the clear tubes.