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Remember how I say that the same kind of guitars, or, guitars with the same kind of problems seem to follow each other to my work table? Well, here is another prime example. Some weeks back, this instrument came back to me Those of you who are regular readers of my blog, will remember this one. For those of you who would like to read what work was done on this one, you can do so here Guitar repair – why strings are imperative while diagnosing problems The bridge split that had cured so handsomely, had returned to be worse ...

A while back  this #ashton came to me in this state Not only was the bridge split through the line of the bridgepin holes, a (possibly) leaning saddle had also split it open in line with the saddle slot. See? If that was not enough, the bridge was lifting so much, I had to probe and poke to see what was holding it on! If it had been just one of the splits and not both together, I would have still repaired  the bridge, why, you will learn soon. But this one was beyond redemption and just had to go ...

And I'm back after a break! HAPPY NEW YEAR, FOLKS!!! May the year be one of fulfilment, peace, happiness and prosperity! Some time ago, this older #Yamaha F310 came to me with a complaint of action so high that it was unplayable beyond the 5th, 6th fret. It had a rising bridge, which in the process of its lift, had pulled the top too along with it, giving the instrument a more-than-healthy belly. A look inside showed the main cause of the problem - the 'X'-brace arm on the bass side had come unglued. Seeing the loose brace, the belly ...

To those unfamiliar with the brand name, Seagull Guitars and Simon & Patrick are sister brands under the Godin company, a Canadian giant (To know its worth just check out its selling price in India). I received this model to work on, recently. The owner, a knowledgeable young man, brought in the instrument after he saw the action rise on it and discovered that the bridge was rising. As I went over the excellent construction of the instrument, one point rankled me - the nut and saddle on such a pricey instrument was of a micarta-type material. Now, don't get ...

This landed on the workbench recently, and I still haven't been able to figure out its name. The label read one name and the headstock quite something else but quite illegible. A completely laminated instrument, it had some years on it and the job card was a litany of woes. A probable reason for that could be that it was not a personal instrument but belonged to an office, passing through many hands. So, the guitar had a healthy belly, a crushed saddle was leaning in the bridge, and the bridge itself was lifting (naturally the action was sky high) ...

This Fender FA 125-CE which came to me recently - was, in many ways - a mixture of opposites. Quite clean otherwise, its headstock and the portion between the soundhole and the bridge, under the strings, was proof that dust was never removed from those portions of the instrument. Though it seemed like quite the singer, its bridge had lifted, and had even pulled a belly in the top, behind  it. The ideal way to deal with a belly is to first remove the bridge and then go about straightening the top. If the bridge is lifting, it only helps ...

I say 'The return...' because it is after a long-long time that a Yamaha, and that too a F310, came visiting me! I had started to think that going by my consternation - which I have seldom tried to hide -  for this particular model (sold in India), owners had shied from approaching me. For those of you who don't know the reason for my angst, you need just go to the search bar of this blog and type in Yamaha. See what (all) you come up with! Anyway, when the young man walked in with a Yamaha F310, my ...

And the run of black dreadnoughts continues!! This time it was a #hertz with not just a cracked but a lopped off headstock Thankfully, the owner, a sensible young lady, did not try and get adventurous with glue, but instead, brought it to me. Even if the headstock had not fallen off, the guitar seemed to have seen better days. That's proven by the rust on the hardware on the headstock. Besides, the fretboard and bridge were in a pitiable condition - dried to tinder. I dry-fitted the two parts and they fit well, telling me that this would turn ...

I have often commented on the strange coincidence that similar instruments or those with similar problems seemingly find their way  onto my workbench. If you've been a regular reader of my posts, this is the third consecutive black dreadnought to stumble into the Lucknow Guitar Garage, and who's to know that there are no more to follow???!!! This Squier came to me with its bridge having lifted enough to park a few trucks in the shade! That was the problem but what caught my eye immediately, was the 'modern art' on the headstock of the guitar. The extra length of ...

This Cort was brought to me only for a change of strings. As I quickly examined it, I realised that there was much more than dust and grime that needed to be cleaned off it. There was a jagged crack that ran almost the entire length of the bridge. A crack like this begins (almost always) in between the bridgepin holes and is caused due to three or four reasons. One is when the hole is too small or the bridgepin is larger than usual. Invariably, string tension helps pull the wood fibres apart even as the bridgepin is pushing ...

I think I have worked on this instrument before - a set-up, bone nut and saddle - but I'm not very sure. But it recently came to me in this state, with the owner naturally none too happy. He said that the instrument was in its case and when he took it out to play, he found it like this. From the looks of it, the break was along the seam of the neck joint, but it  was a break. It wasn't as if the seam had opened up. But besides the obvious problem, it was also apparent that the ...

Just a small, quick one this Sunday but about a very disconcerting trend among the youth today. There is a shocking lack of basic information - about the acoustic guitars that people own, and just about everything that concerns them (the youth). Day in and day out people (primarily youngsters) come to me and call the saddle the bridge, the nut 'the white thing at the top', don't know the difference between the fretboard and the neck, not knowing what action is, not have any inkling about the specifics of the instrument that they own, and are happy to remain ...

Hello there, beautiful people! Long time no see. Long time no hear! Well, only I am to blame! Partly staying busy and a greater part, my laziness! Mea culpa! I am here now and bring to you this Hertz that was brought to me by a returning customer. It had some years on it but I could make out that once healed, it could play and sound good. It's problems? Well, the bridge was lifting and the saddle was tilting forward and had an odd curvature to it as it stood in its slot. As a result, the action was ...

There are times in guitar repair - as are in life - when you get the feeling that the Almighty is testing your patience and resolve! A simple job like a bridge reglue, where you basically repeat steps that you have repeated umpteen times before to certain success, will yield horrifyingly discouraging results! Take for example this Ibanez that came to me a couple of months ago. Yes! It was presented before me exactly like this with the Hydra-like tentacles sticking out, as if searching for a prey to sting! There were other eyebrow raisers too. The winds on the ...

Yeah! A troubled soul contacted me recently, asking if could repair his Mohan Veena. Now, to those who were enjoying teenage in the mid 90s, Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt winning the Grammy on his acoustic guitar improvisation - the Mohan Veena - was a big thing. At least to me it was. Why? I don't know. His name and the name of the instrument just got stuck in my memory. So, after all these years, fancy being bumped by a pleasant memory! I took one look at it and I said that I would do it. The tailpiece had somehow ...

This guitar came in recently with the lady owner complaining of fretwire buzz around the 10th fret - across the fretboard - but primarily on the 'e' string. I took one look at the saddle and saw the saddle falling forward. Meanwhile, at the nut end of things, the slots seemed a little too deep for my liking. I suggested to the owner that changing the nut and saddle to a set of proper dimensions, and that too of bone, should help solve the issue. A saddle standing straight in its slot, would raise up the strings automatically. But before ...

YEAH! I work on electrics too - but only fretwire stuff and (God forbid) structural damage. This pristine US-made Stratocaster from 2002 was brought to me after the owner - himself quite capable of taking care of his instruments - had tried just about everything to get rid of the irritating fretwire buzz. Out came the tape and assortment of tools to tackle the issue: I had managed to find six high frets (Find the six red dots to find the naughty fretwires). But before I began employing the tools, it was imperative to protect susceptible areas. So, the mummyfication ...

In my last post, I had urged people to stay away from certain repairs in the interest of the instrument and their pocket. Guitar repair – Some repairs are JUST NOT DIY!! As if to rile me some more, along came this instrument from out of town. I must apologise but what looks like an ordinary lifting bridge, was in fact ravaged by someone who seemed to have got his hands on a chisel and a hammer. You can't see it in these photographs but what I saw was piles and loads of wood glue oozed out and dried form ...

'N'ae pas peur d'essayer' is French phrase meaning 'Don't be afraid to try'! I doubt the author was referring to intricate rectifications to your acoustic guitar! Glue-up jobs on acoustic instruments are not one of those things that I would advise my readers to undertake - unless they have an experience of instrument-making or woodworking. Then too, I prescribe a generous dose of caution. Imagine, you have a Rs 50K guitar and (God forbid) something were to happen to it. Would you try and repair it yourself or take it to someone who sees five such instruments in a day? ...

Having a tall saddle is always a good thing. For one, it increases the break angle of the strings (the angle that the strings make, rising from out of the holes and leading up to the saddle). This, in turn, affects the sound emanating from your guitar. Greater the height, greater the break angle, more is the downward pressure exerted by the strings on the saddle, deeper is the contact of the saddle with the top of the guitar, better is the transfer of  energy, and thus, better is the volume and sustain of the instrument. This is something that ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR, FOLKS! While being a post about a repair I undertook recently, this also is an illustration and proof that you must always bring your guitar with the strings on, even if they are tuned down. This helps me check out a whole host of problems: belly, lifting bridge, action over the fretboard, relief in it... Without the strings, I will have to put on a fresh set of strings, because I need to measure the parameters mentioned above, the cost of which will be PASSED ON TO YOU! This guitar a, #Pluto, sporting a handsome sunburst, came ...

Last week I left you at the point where all was in readiness to glue the bridge to the top - well, almost all. When I placed the bridge on its footprint, just to see how it sat, this is what I got to see. Not encouraging at all. What the lifted wing tips told me was that due to the continued strain of the strings on a lifting bridge, the front corners had warped. Not good at all! So, for me to have any chance for the bridge to glue properly to the top, the bridge would have to ...

Among the new(er) guitars in the Indian market, Tanglewood is a brand that I have come to like for its simplistic yet sturdy design. Yet the Tanglewood that came to me recently had a lifting bridge, and one which seemed to have taken a bit of the top as it lifted. Also, the belly behind the bridge was H-U-G-E!!!! The owner, a returning customer, pleaded with me to get the guitar into shape again and I had to explain to him that I would try my best but as things stood, it did not look too promising, for as I ...

So, this came in a few weeks ago. It was a pretty all-Mahogany Martin (and I got so excited I forgot to take a photograph of the label in the soundhole!!) I looked it over and except for some battle-scars, along the lower bout periphery, could not figure out what was wrong with it. And true to a Martin, it had that beautiful mellow sound, though the action could have come down a tad. It was left for the owner to point out this And then as I thought, all those battle scars were in fact, repairs carried out earlier ...

Remember this one? Guitar repair – Tackling Techno trouble II Well, this was the second in the series of (failed) repairs initially undertaken during the jinxed period of July to October. It came in about a month ago for me to take off the bridge and try and reglue it. And as you can imagine, taking a bridge off is generally a very destructive process. It takes off material from the bridge footprint (the top) which needs to be replaced. I did that and clamped the repair with a block of wood to keep the filling flat. Of course, I ...