Month: November 2019

This is one of those problems that can get you pulling your hair!

There is whole list of things that could cause it and you can’t just point to one and say ‘this is where the problem lies’. So, the way to go (at least I did), is to start at the beginning and go through the steps, loosening and tightening strings after each step, as you go along.

Unfortunately, there is no conviction in what you do, only hope that the step you are at will be the one that will banish that awful buzz. Side note: If you think that this is the step you can jump to and solve the problem once the next instrument with such a problem comes along, you are mighty wrong, my friend. 

So, after that rather rambling preamble, I think you got my drift: one such instrument came to me. The 13th fret was buzzing on the thin ‘e’ string. 

Unconsciously, I ‘pooh-pooed’ it and tightened the truss rod, half a turn. Problem solved? Nope! Then, I gave it another half turn. Solved? Nope!

As the neck began developing a back-bow, I released the truss rod a bit and decided to shim the saddle under the area where the first string sat, thinking that raising it would raise the entire string a wee bit. Solved? Nope!

Then I decided to spot dress the 14th fret. Sanded, crowned and polished it. Solved? Nope! In fact, now the ‘e’ string had developed a buzz on the 14th and 15th fret too!!!!! 

Then I decided that the whole fretboard – at least on the treble side – needed a fret-dress. So that was done. Solved? Nope!

Then I thought maybe it was a single fret that was popped up. I tapped down every, single fret on the treble side. Solved? Nope!

As I stood scratching my head, I recalled that I had neither dressed the zero fret, nor did I hammer it in, so I did that. Solved? Nope! 

Then, I looked at the nut, squinting with suspicion at it. The grooves were indeed deeper than I would have liked to see. So I did the baking soda-super glue trick ( a pinch of baking soda in the string groove with a drop of superglue holding it in). Problem solved? Nope!

Then I decided to pull out the old nut and put in a new one. So, out it came and I sat a new one in its place. But the new one would not sit properly at the treble end.

I looked at it and sure enough, there was a remnant of the old nut stuck there, as if not wanting to go away. Pins and needles refused to make it budge and I had to pull out my freshly sharpened chisel to dull its edge on it. After I stuck the new nut in place did that solve the problem? Nope!

Then, as I ran out of options, I decided to give the sides of the frets (along the side of the fretboard) a shave. They were sticking out but nothing that would send you rushing into the ER. Problem solved? Nope!

Then as I stood exasperated, I took off the strings one more time and began dressing the 14th, 15th 16th and 17th fret with a vengeance: sanded, crowned and polished them shiny new and strung up the guitar again. Problem solved? Yes!

Wait!!! What???

Yup! Problem solved. But hadn’t I done this before? I did, but maybe not enough the first time round. 

This is in continuation from the last blog post – https://lkoguitargarage.com/chillyburst-in-hot-soup-i/

 

 

 

So, I stuck the bridgeplate, drilled out the holes (the view as seen reflected in a mirror)

but the top, where the bridge would sit was uncharacteristically warped. Thanks to the missing bridgeplate earlier, the top had been pulled out of whack – one side higher than the other. 

Again, the ice-cream sticks came to my rescue. The view above is with them cut to size, stuck and sanded level to the plain of the rest of the top. 

Yet, when I placed the bridge on it, there was enough gap to slip in a couple of ATM cards! The other side of the bridge – the one closest to the soundhole – sat fine.

Again some innovative thinking came to my rescue.

I marked the area (the thick red line) on the top where the bridge would not sit flush with the top and smeared it with glue. Next, I sprinkled a healthy dose of sawdust on it, let it set and then sanded it even. Then when I sat the bridge, it sat perfectly. 

Glued, clamped and left to rest for 48 hours, it turned out like this:

Then, I turned my attention to the little touch-up areas. Not perfect, but the spots no longer catch your eye from a mile off.

The strap button was removed, its original hole sealed  and painted, a new hole was drilled and the strap button installed

Before I threw on new  .012″ – .052″ strings, I scrubbed clean the fretboard, oiled it, polished the tarnished frets, and it came out looking like this.

I stretched the strings and tuned up the guitar. Though I never played the guitar before, there is a lot of sustain that I noticed. Only the owner will be able to tell me if the sustain was new (and a result of the instrument acquiring a bridgeplate).

Here’s looking forward to a happy youngster! CHEERS!

 

 

This sunburst – chillyburst – came to me on its deathbed. A young friend’s first guitar, it is one of those inexpensive contraptions that cost double its actual cost, if repaired. But repair, I had to and yet not put in anything from my pocket.

But first what ailed it. Cheap guitars are cheap because of the (ply)wood used, its (lack of) craftsmanship and other throw-away material used in it. However, these instruments have a market here in India. For parents, they are an ideal choice, for they don’t cost an eye, a kneecap and your right toe, and the child gets to play out his/her infatuation. You never know when the child loses his/her infatuation with the instrument.

Knowing the many corners that ‘manufacturers’ cut in making these instruments, even for me, this instrument was nothing short of a shocker.

Change my name if you won’t be able to drive your truck through that! But it wasn’t an ordinary lifting bridge. Look at the photograph on the left. The right corner of the bridge continues to be attached while the left one is ready to fly off. Naturally, all that tension warped the bridge too.

The one bright spot – thankfully, the neck was straight and the truss rod worked.

I have always frowned at strap buttons installed right on top of the heel of the guitar (ideally, it should be on the left of the heel). So, it’s out and a hole would be drilled in the right place to take in the strap button.

Another thing I am not a great fan of: an adjustable saddle. While it might adjust the saddle height – which seems like a great feature – it actually does more harm to the top, eating into it and the bridgeplate sitting below it.

And then, there were minor touch-up issues.

But the biggest problem – what I earlier referred to as a shocker – was when I discovered that the instrument did not have a bridgeplate! A moving man without a heart???!!!

A rosewood/maple bridgeplate would have been way too expensive for the project, but repair I had to. So…

…ice-cream sticks! But before your smile broadens, this is not that variety that you are used to. These are special sticks used in aero-modelling, modelling, etc. I laid five horizontally and six of them cut into half, laid vertically, as the back.

Sanded, smoothed and cut to fit, my bridgeplate would rival a rosewood/maple bridgeplate in sturdiness!

And I wasn’t going to put the adjustable saddle back into the bridge, so…

…I used two bone saddle blanks, stuck them together and shaped a saddle by hand!

Now, all that was left to do was get everything together and hope it would hold!

NEXT TIME: GETTING IT ALL TOGETHER!