The Scroll Shop (Ed of H's Shop Thread)

[David Houck]

   

[edwardofhuncote]

[new guitar for me]

Oh?  Do tell!

Just the sweetest little 'ol Martin dubble-ohh you ever seen or heard about, Coz.   

Nah... for a while now, I've had eyes out for a small guitar I could leave out in the house, (anticipating spending a lot of time here again later this year, adjusting to some more Titanium hardware) I really have been looking for a Martin Dreadnought Junior, in sunburst finish, but specifically one without the electronics, and preferably an earlier version that had the slightly deeper body. Missed a couple. Passed on a couple. Then the other day I went in the store to pick up a bass for a setup job, and this little guitar had just come in on a trade, needing some minor work and a good setup. I'm a total washout for a Martin 12-fret 00, especially when they're mahogany and spruce. The work needed was well within my capabilities, so I didn't have to think real hard about that deal. (binding was popped loose in a couple places, a couple dings, needed a good setup)

She's a 2016 00-17S in "Black Smoke" finish, solid mahogany sides and back, sitka spruce top, scalloped braces, rosewood fingerboard and bridge. I think her name is Sweet Peggy-O. Make that OO.

[cozmik_cowboy]

I approve whole-heartedly!

Peter (Who will resist the urge to pick the fly poop from the pepper & point out that the body size is numeric; a 00, not an OO.  OK, so I didn't resist too hard....... )

[pauldo]

Nice job with the fingerboard inlay!

I can see where the clamping of the top could create a bit of anxiety.  I suppose due to every bass being a bit different with bout radii's, top/ back protrusion/ overhang and what not that it isn't practical to have an 'aligment flange' on those clamping blocks.  Unless... there was a way to make adjustable alignment blocks that fit on to the clamps themselves which would allow for a pre-set of the top prior to adding glue.   

[edwardofhuncote]

Sharp eye, Paul. Yep, my clamps are kind of a universal fit for this job but will work on just about any bass from 1/2 all the way to 4/4 size. I could actually improve upon the design some... the cork-lining on the cauls could be thicker for one, but it's really mostly about spreading the clamp pressure out evenly all the way around the edge, and putting maximum pressure at the corners and blocks with the cam clamps. Getting the top aligned correctly isn't as hard as it looks, but it is a very critical step. This bass had a finishing nail driven at both the neckblock and the tailblock, so it was very easy to put right back. (you can probably see this in some of the earlier pictures) Believe it or not, the missing pieces of veneer that stay on the body (or come off with the top sometimes) also help get it back in place.

The first picture here also reveals the next challenge. (and now for my next trick...!) See how the very top edge is 'squared-off' instead of notched out to fit around the neck joint? Okay well, it didn't come thataway... the plywood around the neck joint had gotten broken out in the many mishaps along the way, and I squared it off in order to fix it later. Other than the gap looking bad, it's also a structural problem. I have to fabricate a new piece to fit exactly, sorta' like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. It'll be a custom-fit piece, and will have to be touched up to match the finish around this area too. I'll get some illustrations of that as we go.

After a couple evenings out of the shop, I'm back at it tonight.

[edwardofhuncote]

Part 1 - Button and Neck Joint clean-up

This whole neck-to-body joint was an ugly mess that had been fixed and broken and fixed again several times before. I've gotten it back to structurally solid, but now it's time to try and patch in some missing plywood. All these pieces have to be hand-fit, so this part is a bit time-consuming and tedious.

First, let's put on some music... I just got a new stash from May, 1977. It helps keep things moving on long days up here. Keeps things chill.

Starting with the back... the 'button' is hiding another dowel repair. There was another chunk of the back missing I guess from having been removed once before. Nothing too complicated here... just pieced-together some more birch plywood and glued the salvaged button back on. Dressed up the edges with a file and followed with sandpaper. This will all get touched-up later, and while it won't ever look great, again, it's a very solid repair. Note that nothing here looks symmetrical. Yeah... it's not. Not even a little bit. I'll point out more startling asymmetry later.

*I happened to notice the fingerboard was popped loose up near the nut, and since I'll be working on leveling it up soon anyway, figured I might as well work a little glue under it and clamp it up for the night.

Last picture shows the gap between the end of the top and the neck joint that needs to be fixed. In the last post I pictured it being cut off and flushed up. Y'all think about that a while... I'll be back in a few for Part 2. 

[edwardofhuncote]

Part 2... filling the gap.

Pictures will do most of the 'splainin' here... I wanted to do this all in one piece, and I probably could have but it just wasn't worth the effort it would have taken. Plus, given some thought, there was an advantage to making separate parts.

Like I said before, there is nothing mirror-image to work with on this old bass, and just making these pieces took a couple hours by the time they were fit, glued in, and trimmed off to something close to ready for finishing. I'm pretty happy with the results. Incidentally, a little extra here... I added an extra layer of spruce to the birch plywood pieces... not only for the extra thickness, but to match the top, which has a outer laminate of spruce. It'll make a little better finished job. Just a little bonus-round. You can see it if you zoom in close.

Here's why the 3 separate pieces... no matter how empty a gesture it might seem at this point, I glued in the small center piece with hide glue just in case someone might ever want to take the neck out of this bass the proper way. If that day comes, they can easily gain access to the dovetail joint by popping out that one piece. So, to whosoever shall be the next poor soul to work on this one... you're welcome! I did that just for you.

Here's the progress in order:

[edwardofhuncote]

Couple more pics to illustrate some of that wacky symmetry I've been going on about...

As 'off' as everything looks, the neck is actually aligned pretty straight in the body. I can't really take any credit or blame for that, so I'm just going to be thankful that the bridge is going to sit somewhat where it needs to on the top. Cosmic Symmetry; gifted.

Now the rest of it... that's all me, and glue. Ordered strings and a bridge for it this morning, and patched the hole in the rosewood fingerboard today. That'll be the next post.

[David Houck]

   

[peoplechipper]

Shows that you are a true craftsman that you made future repairs easier, I try to do the same with my jewellery...I should try to document the process on my next piece, could be fun.

Are you steaming old glue apart? I had a friend who was a guitar builder/repair guy taught me that vinegar will loosen up hide glue and regular wood glue; it takes longer but not as scary as pressurized stem into a joint...and you do have to let the vinegar dry outta the wood before finishing the repair...Tony.

[pauldo]

Gregory, that is Artisan Craftsmanship level repair work!

A few posts back where you glued the fingerboard near the nut, it looks like the peg head has a ‘layer’ removed from it...  what is going on there?

Really appreciate this thread!

[edwardofhuncote]

A few posts back where you glued the fingerboard near the nut, it looks like the peg head has a ‘layer’ removed from it...  what is going on there?

I think you may be seeing the finish crackling and coming off in chips, Paul... here's a picture of the whole pegbox. I really don't know what to do about that one. On one hand, the pegbox is the only part of this bass that isn't, and hasn't ever been broken. The original H.N. White tuning machines cover up what little bit of the finish is left. It isn't hurting anything, and the rest of the bass doesn't look great either, so I could leave it as-is. Since I have to mix up something to put on the neck's heel to touch-up around all those ugly repairs, there's a good argument for refinishing the entire neck. I may toss that idea at my customer. I dunno... I could lean either way... whatchall think?

These tuners will clean up nice! H.N. White made these in-house rather than outsource back in the day. Finding an intact set for an American Standard bass today is akin to the search for hens teeth.

Lori at International Violin Co. https://www.internationalviolin.com/ got me strings and a bridge in one day! (actually, at $36.50 these bridges were such a good deal, I bought a couple.) Can't say enough good stuff about the Kirr family that runs IVC. Been dealing with them for years.

The fingerboard repair is done, but the post on it is not... maybe later this afternoon... depends on how crazy things are at Shawshank today. (real job looks and feels remarkably like the prison from the movie)  

[edwardofhuncote]

Took a little break from the shop tonight to actually play some bass instead of working on them... I really needed to study and practice for a gig coming up this weekend, a wedding and reception with some requests I had to learn. Plus, I just needed to play a while... reason enough! I'm at a good place to take a break on the King bass again now... from here on in it's basically a matter of how far do I go with making it pretty. The structural repairs are done, and I'm about ready to restring it. There are still a couple key things to address, but we'll get to them.

As promised, here is the repair to that carriage bolt hole down through the fingerboard. I may still have some colorizing to do, but after the whole fingerboard has been dressed and oiled, this repair will be almost unnoticed. The way it is situated right between the D and A strings, and way down there near the body, darkened in a bit... shoot. I'm good with it.

The pictures are in chronological order, beginning with the plugged hole frome earlier. I picked out a piece of scrap rosewood that approximated the color and grain pattern, then shaped it to a small rectangle with chamfered corners. (simply because this is a fairly easy shape to rout out, and the straight lines easily 'disappear') Next, rout the pocket, leaving some relief. (so the inlay sticks up just a little bit). Mix up some epoxy and rosewood colored filler, then pop the inlay in place. It's 5-minute epoxy resin/hardener mixture, but I like to let this cure overnight before filing it off flush. After it's had time to completely set, that stuff carves just like wood. If it's still rubbery, it'll roll up and pull out of the rout while you're working it. Save yourself the aggravation and sadness... stand back and admire your work. Or just quit for the night. 

*Hey y'all, check out that tiny little machined aluminum router base on my Dremel tool... courtesy of Stewart-MacDonald Guitar Shop Supply.

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Precision_Router_Base.html

See you all back here in a couple... I've got another setup job on a Chinese upright for Fret Mill Music to do tomorrow night, and gigs this weekend.

[cozmik_cowboy]

My posts have refused to appear for a couple days now, so a fine way to run a test would be to say "Well, done, sir!"

Peter

[pauldo]

Holy crackled finish Batman! 

Nice job on the fingerboard.