FRETS.NET

In Frank Ford's pictures of the tone bar repairs he used "turnbuckles" for raising the archtop. I tried finding that side turnbuckles and had no success. Where can you purchase them that small?

Views: 391

Attachments:

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

I have a couple of small trigger clamps I took apart and turned the jaws around to work as spreaders (an idea I most likely got from Frank). Easier to work with in a guitar body than turnbuckles.
Thank you for that info. Not sure how to reverse that clamp making it into a spreader. I have a Quick-Grip with a metal stopper at one end but cant figure out how to move the other end?
Some of my clamps have an alternate screw hole for the fixed jaw at the opposite end. Those are easy- just move the fixed jaw to that end pointing outward. If there's no alternate hole, you have to saw off the end of the bar (it's too long to fit inside a guitar anyway), turn the movable jaw piece around, and also reverse the fixed jaw. I have ones I've made various lengths, and I just make blocks padded with cork to fit instruments as I need them.
Greg, is all of this doable through the soundholes of an archtop? I confess I've never had to work on one but it seems a bit like orthoscopic work to me.

Bob
In fact it is! You need small hands to get in there but with patients, you'll live.At Frets.com there's a whole page on how Frank Ford done all that in the same guitar I have.
Gibson ES-175-D.I'm doing the work on my own guitar because I love that guitar.I've sure learn a lot about guitars over the past 5 years about repairs and new ideas. Look into it.
Good engineering.I had a different idea but yours soundsbetter.There's a shop nearby me that sells clamps like that used so I dont have to change the ones I already have for other use.When I bought this ES-175-D in 1974 the shop that sold it to me did work on it because I took it to Gibson authorized repair people and they told me Gibson wouldnt have done the work inside like the way it was done.I want to correct the problem myself because too many repair people said different things on how to fix it other than the right way and that scared me.Frank Ford said raise the top and place 3/32 thick spruce over the tone bars and that fixes the problem of the sink top.With that kind of pressure dont you think I need more support than that, something thicker?
Thank you for your time and advise!
John
I too made them like Greg. Also, cut 3/4 dowel into 1 inch chunks. Super glue them on to the top pad, and you'll have more room to use the triggers. Makes reaching braces easier too. Friendly plastic works great to custom mold cauls so they don't slip, like on real skinny braces.
Thank you for the imformation about the clamps. My biggest concern is getting it right. Who's method to follow in repairing the sink top, and what to do with that piece of spruce glued along the side of the brace instead of where it should be?
If jacking up the top changes the pitch or unglues the old braces (tone bars) slightly is that possible? How would I fix that?
Here's a question no one has answered yet: the tone bars (braces) have cuts in them spaced about 1 1/2 inches away from one another, was that factory made, and why?

RSS

© 2024   Created by Frank Ford.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service