Newbie

[geoff]

G'day,

just thought i would intro myself, say g'day, and i look forward to contributing, and mostly learning here!

 

I am a born tinkerer, my wife calls me TIM the toolman sometimes, just becase i cant leave things how they are suppose to be.

 

i have recently been drawn to guitar repairs, well because i play guitar, i like guitars, and i was given an acoustic guitar that a friend didn't use anymore, it has a bulging sound board behind the bridge, i have played it about as much as i am going to like that, and started dissmantling it, with the thought, i could learn from it, and maybe end up with a guitar that might play a little better than it does at the moment.

Anyhow, this guitar is a cheapo construction, it has a dowled on neck,of which i found out the hard way, but in the process i have learned how to remove frets, make a makeshift steamer, and found out that there are more neck joints than a bolt on or a dove tail.

 

I was in the process of looking for ways to fix this cheapo guitar, looking at new necks, looking at how i could re-attach this neck, when i came accross another guitar, a washburn electric acoustic, with a snapped off neck, anyway long story short, i bought it, very cheaply, it the hope i could repair the neck, and have myself a guitar i could use when i play out.

 

i will attach a photo, i dont actually have the guitar as yet, but was hoping for some constructive help as to the direction i should take in fixing this type of break.

 

cheers

Geoff

 

[geoff]

thanks very much paul, so far i am proud of my progress, but i would not have even considered doing this without the help i got here on this forum, as a newbie here, i must say i was expecting to receive far less help, and that would have been understandable, as people here are obviously professional's in this field, but to my surprise and delight, i was welcomed and helped from the getgo.
i hope to have a lot more reason's to hang around here for a bit.

cheers
geoff

[Ned Knepp]

Wow, that looks great, Geoff.

Like Mike was saying. Test on scraps if you can. I keep bottles of some basic color stains so I can mix and match. One is ebony black, one that is tobacco brown, a red, a yellow and, for some reason I can't remember, a dark green.
It's all alcohol based so mixing them isn't a problem and these colors have managed to cover what I need. One thing I've learned about the stain I use is that it darken a bit with a finish coat. I sometimes wipe a bit of shellac over it to get a better idea of exactly how it will look. Of course that really depends on how much I care about matching. Like Mike, sometimes, I don't care that much.

Ned

[geoff]

yep i will be visiting my local paint man this morning, i will take a scrap of wood and the guitar to him and see if we can find something that is close, i might just take the, show off the repair attitude, as long as the repair is good, why not show it off.

Ned thanks so much for your help with this repair along the way.

cheers
Geoff

[William F.Eden]

Is this the same guy. that didn't want to get his feet wet.????????????? You got to be kidding Bill.'''''''''''

[geoff]

Hi Bill,
of course you are refering to my other project on the go, i said i wanted to get my feet wet, just maybe a toe at a time!!!!
this repair i think was well within my means, and if it didn't workout i was prepared to replace the neck, but the other repair is going to require me to pruchase and make jigs for the task's required. this repair i have just done, i did with nothing more than a hand saw, and sanding block, an angle grinder, and some clamps, sandpaper and elbow grease.

cheers
geoff

[Grahame Myers]

Well done mate, great looking repair! You can be proud of this job, a pro couldn't have done it any better. Maybe you could stain the new wood, and then spray clear laquer(or maybe with some stain in the laquer too). With a job like this, you just have to keep experimenting on scrap till you get the tone right. When I think of my first attempts back then as I was getting started..but..uh..lets not go there, I still turn red with embarassment when I think about it :-) Of course, back then there was no internet, I've learned so much in the last ten years due to being able to pick the brains of the top repair men all over the world, especially here on Franks forum. Good luck with the next project(s)

Grahame

[geoff]

thanks grahame,
i think a pro could have done a bit better than me, but i am happy with my result so far.
in the process of applying the finish.
will post some pics when done.
cheers
geoff

[geoff]

i decided to sand the whole neck, and finish it all together.

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

It looks good and should be really strong. Good luck for the finish touch-up, this is the real tricky part!

[Tim Mace]

Man you must love that neck!!!!Great job! ...just one of the benefits for not paying any attention to me..

[geoff]

thanks tim,
i payed attention mate,
i just thought i would try it this way before replacing the neck.

[geoff]

ok so i have applied some finish to the neck,
apart from where the fretboard binding meets the neck wood, it turned out ot too bad, ot sure how i will tidy those edges up.
nearly time to put the nut on, and re-string this baby.

i will post some pics of the final assembly when done.