Friday 13 March 2009

Repairing a hole in an acoustic side

I have a lot of tools. There are so many different jobs I do on guitars I need a lot of tools. Most I buy, many I have to modify and a few I make.

This little clamp I made for a specific job, it doesn't get a lot of use but when I need it it's the only thing that will do.




Its made from a small piece of Australian Blackwood that I had around the workshop and an old kluson style guitar tuner. I like using guitar parts to make tools - it feels right that old guitar bits can help fix damaged guitars. A bit like donating your organs.



This guitar is unusual - it was hand made in London by a small maker who only ever made a few instruments. It is made entirely from recycled wood. It has the most balanced, lively and sensitive sound i have ever heard from a guitar.

It was brought to the workshop by its very proud owner who is clearly deeply in love with his guitar http://morganmusic.co.nz/vff/.

It needed a re-fret, a repair on a minor split in the top and a hole in the side - which is where the little clamp comes in.


The back and sides of this guitar are made of solid walnut. Solid wood has a much better resonance than ply but isn't as strong and breaks much more easily.

One small piece of wood was still hanging on to the damaged area and I found the other pieces inside the instrument. I decided to strengthen the area by putting a patch on the inside. I made this patch from koa simply because its a strong hardwood and I happened to have a suitable piece in the workshop from an old ukulele top - another example of organ donation.

I removed the piece that was still attached with tweezers and glued it to the inside of the koa patch. This piece of the side covers about 2/3 of the hole. I drilled a 1mm hole in the koa just above the piece of side and passed an old guitar string through it (recycling again). This way I can align the splintered piece of side and keep it flush to the side of the body as well as attach the patch all in one process.

Its then a case of applying the glue and fitting the patch. The string passes through the hole in the post of the tuner and I can tighten it up.


Once the glue has dried the clamp is removed and the remaining splinters are glued in place like a jigsaw. The patch gives them something solid to be glued to. Then its a case of touching up the finish and the job's done.

I was sorry to see this guitar go - I cannot remember playing a better sounding guitar. I got Bill in from next door to have a listen, he's an experienced sound engineer http://www.labstudio.co.nz/ and really knows guitars.

He didn't want to put it down either.


Glyn


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I am no longer repairing guitars - since covid 19 I now work full time making pickups
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5 comments:

  1. Unknown6 October 2009 at 01:21

    hi glyn
    great idea, very helpfull!
    thanks

    ofeq

    ReplyDelete
  2. tim hill21 December 2009 at 05:32

    Hi Glyn,
    This is Tim Hill from London, and that's one of the guitars that I built !
    I can't remember the number but it should be on a label inside. i certainly recognise the grain and pattern in the Walnut, you spend so long looking at the wood as you make it that you never forget !
    Many thanks for your kind comments about the guitar, and I'm glad to hear its still lovingly looked after !
    I only ever built 9 acoustics and 1 electric bass. I now design HiFi, so still connected with music
    www.fergusonhill.co.uk

    Many thanks
    Tim.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glyn Evans6 April 2010 at 21:15

    Hi Tim,
    great to hear from you. The guitar is still with its original owner and he's madly in love with it. There's a pig inlayed at the 12th fret position if that helps you remember.
    Its got heaps of wear - all from use and no sign of abuse. It was a joy working on such a lovely instrument - if you design hifi half as well...
    Cheers
    Glyn

    ReplyDelete
  4. gaspedals7 July 2011 at 04:00

    that is an incredibly smart little DIY tool! Do you have or could you make a blog entry that illustrates some of your other 'homebrewed' tools? I would love to get some ideas for my own workbench where I build electric guitars and guitar effect pedals.

    Thanks!

    Jeff

    ReplyDelete
  5. bitey23 October 2012 at 10:02

    many thanks for sharing this great idea!

    I own a gorgeous 1967 Levin acoustic which my lovely teenaged Son accidentally swung into the sharp corner of a coffee table. Result: a large hole in the walnut side.

    I couldn't figure out a way of successfully repairing the hole myself so I took it to a professional guitar repairer. He couldn't convince me that he knew either (and was ludicrously expensive) so it has languished in it's case for over a year.

    Suddenly your brilliantly simple tool and technique has given me my next project!

    thanks again!

    ReplyDelete

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