On The Bench: My Week in Pictures: Wednesday 10.27.10

Wednesday: 9:30am

I had a rough time getting going this morning, but finally made it into the shop around 9:30. After taking the clamps off the neck and tail blocks that I glued yesterday, I started getting set up to glue the linings into the new archtop. Unfortunately, my chisels were a bit too dull. So I pulled out my stones and got to work re-honing the edges.

Looking a bit better now!

Back in business!

Here's the archtop ring after removing the neck and tail block clamps.

Because the sides are thin, there is not enough glue surface to hold the top and the back onto the guitar. The linings are added to make sure there is enough material the glue the top and back to. There are a few different styles of linings. I use a kerfed lining. The small cuts into the side of the lining makes it very flexible. In the past I've made my own, but it is very time consuming. Now I prefer to just buy them, they are cheap enough.

Gluing in the linings near the tail-block. I'm using hot hide glue, and you have to work very fast. Hide glue cures by cooling so, if you don't get the clamps on in time, it won't stick. This is the third guitar that I've used hide glue on and I'm starting to get a little bit more comfortable with it.

I work my way around the top edge one piece at a time.

The top edge is about done. Tomorrow, I'll start on the back edge.

11:45am

Back at Guru Guitars, I pulled out the Yamaha FG300 refret which I started yesterday. I finished truing up the fingerboard. The next step is installing the new frets.

I use a dremel tool with a very small bit to clean out the fret slots. It's really important to have all of the old glue and dust out of the slots before you install the new frets. If there is too much gunk in there, the frets will not seat. There will be small gaps between the fret and the fingerboard. All the hard work flattening the fingerboard will be for nothing.

The fret wire we use, comes in a roll. I cut each fret to size before I install it.

Here's a freshly cut end. The round part on the top, is the Fret. The part below is called the Tang. This is the part which gets hammered into the fret slot in the fingerboard. The small triangle shaped thingys on the tang dig into the wood and theoretically hold the fret in place. It doesn't always work!

Because this guitar has binding on the neck, (Binding is the white stuff around the outside of the fingerboard)I have to undercut the tang on each side of each fret. I use a small pair of nippers...

...And then file it smooth before I install the fret. It gets repetitive, but that's part of the job.

Getting ready to cut the next fret.

With the fret installed, I trim the ends flush. Snip, Snip...easy!

Fret's in. Only a few more to go!

2:00pm
Sometimes you have to shift gears abruptly here at Guru...This afternoon one of our regular customers came in with his PRS. He gigs almost every night of the week, and last night his PRS developed a phantom electrical issue. The bridge on this guitar has piezo elements under each string for an "acoustic" sound. Unfortunately, the B string on said bridge started to intermittently cut out. We had a few guesses about what the problem might be, but we couldn't get the guitar to mess up in the shop...Hmmmm...I hate when that happens! We have a two week back log of repairs right now, and we don't usually jump people to the front of the line. However, on occasion, we make exceptions for working musicians. So I put away the Yamaha refret and got to work fixing...something...I'm not sure...

I cleaned the connections between the bridge and the preamp, and after, what seemed like a mighty struggle, pulled the electronic guts out of the guitar. I looked everything over as closely as a could. I found a few suspect solder joints on one of the many tiny circutboards and fixed them. (I forgot to take a picture...sorry!)
I really hate it when I can't pinpoint the problem. I have no idea if I fixed the issue or if there even was an issue with the guitar at all! Time will tell!

Part of the deal was that he wanted the guitar cleaned up really well.
So I got to work polishing up all of the hardware.

I got it all back together. Problem solved!...I think. Gulp!

4:45pm
With the PRS safely in its case awaiting for the return of it's owner, I got back to the Yamaha.

In a perfect world all of the frets would be perfectly on the same plane after fretting, But no matter how careful I am, I've never been able to make that happen! In fact, very few people can make that happen! So, it's common practice to level the tops of the frets with some sandpaper and a really straight block. This process creates flat spots on the tops of each fret which then have to be re-rounded. I do it kind of old school, With a home-made file and brass fingerboard mask. I learn this technique from Ralph Novak and I love it! Thanks Ralph!.