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I posted this in the resonator forum, but since this falls under general repair as well, I'm curious to see just what can be done to bring her back. As with many resonators, there's a pretty wicked cone buzz, though I believe that's mainly attributable to the bridge being worn and the internals having worn out a bit.


The Short Version:
Ex girlfriend went El Kabong and broke the neck over my back during the breakup. Repair job was/is absolutely hideous. (See pics) I need to make this better as best I can.

Looking for advice on where to begin. I assume removing all of the hardware would be a good first step?


NOTE: this will be a virgin venture into luthiery, so I am as green as freshly felled lumber here.

Jeebus! I hate morons with hot glue. Good luck getting it off the raw wood.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Hate to say it, but it's time to have that one put down. A case of beer, some friends, maybe some lighter fluid, and a match. It's no longer an issue of trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear - that sow has been slaughtered, pickled, eaten, and excreted, and that's what you're left to work with.

This might sound sarcastic, but I'm being genuine here. If it were mine, I would let it go up in flames in a magnificent ceremony. These Johnson resonators are often a rattly can of worms hardly worth saving when they are brand new. In this state it's even easier to send it off to the alter.

Or some people prefer shooting over burning. That can be fun and therapeutic too...

Here's a video from my friend Mark -

_________________
Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Yeah, it was kinda awkward when I first saw it.

I'm gonna give it the old college try, but this thing is pretty much a practice piece before I attempt a real repair on a guitar that hasn't suffered such atrocities.

Take all the hardware out ... build new box and neck reinstall hardware

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

No worries. I knew I might receive that sort of response. And if I were already a luthier worth my salt, I might be inclined to agree. See, the reason you'd burn it is the same reason I'm so excited. There's SO much wrong with it that I can teach myself a multitude of repair techniques all in one project.

I figure surgeons don't make their first incision on a live person, so learning how to work on a live guitar is probably best practiced on a dead one first. Fortunately, this cadaver has graciously agreed to donate its organs to scientific research.

I fully expect this guitar to teach me the at least some of the following fundamental luthier lessons before it finds itself on a funeral pyre:
How to remove/replace components without leaving any marks
How to repair the marks I make while removing components
How to remove/replace tuning pegs
How to remove/repair a nut
How to remove/repair a previous repair in a heel
How to remove a bend in the neck
How to adjust a truss rod
How to reglue a fretboard
How to completely remove a finish to bare wood and add a new one
How to remove/replace/adjust a spider bridge
How to add plugs for new screws in resonator cover plate
How to remove/replace a resonator cover plate



Oh, and I believe Mark and I would get along just fine.

What an interesting thought. Hadn't even occurred to me that I could shake her down for her jewelry at the funeral.

One of the best ways I can suggest to start !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Big Jim has it! You won't know if you can do it until you try. Remove the neck. Use it for a pattern to make a new neck. Save the box. Take your time. You can always burn it later if this doesn't work out. With luck, you'll just burn the neck.

The Short Version:
Ex girlfriend went El Kabong and broke the neck over my back during the breakup.

Glad it wasnt YOUR neck ! Hot glue would have been useless

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

In all aspects and applications, hot glue remains useless as boobs on a bull.

Looking to get into the prelim work this weekend. I'm thinking once I have anything with a screw in it removed, I'll start figuring out the neck/heel removal.

From what I understand, localized heat and a little steam should release the glue holding the neck in place, yes? I'll be working with minimal tools at home, so this could get "creative".

I bought a Steamer off ebay for like $30.00 and have had good success in neck removal ;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Hand-Held-1 ... 2c8e733a63

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Do you use a bike pump needle with that to get into the joint cavity, Wud?

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

The nozzle u see on it will come off by the body and u can mount the longer one with the needle adapted to the end or get High Heat hose and clamp it on there and the needle on other end .

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

dang the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Decided to get a jump on the weekend and see how far into this I could get after dinner tonight. Attacked anything and everything that had a screw in it and moved on to the hot glue where the soundboard meets the neck with a razor knife. Needed a little persuasion for it to release, so I used my wife's hairdryer on the low setting. Worked pretty well, but it revealed another glue line beneath the hot glue. Started pulling the cone bridge only to find yet another glued joint that wasn't original. A little heat, a razor knife, a small screwdriver a minor amount of swearing and the cone was removed.

All told, I've got about 90 minutes into it so far.

pics of last night's progress:

Hardware removed, but the cone is glued down with what looks and acts just like elmer's white glue.


Hot glue removed, cone heated up and pried off of the sound hole, more glue lines joining the party at the neck, ridiculous amounts of aftermarket glue repairs, and does that sticker denote QC inspector #5, or serial number 5 on a Johnson?




Happy Friday, folks. I was really hoping to put some time into this project tomorrow morning before I sprinkle a little fairy dust for Valentine's Day with my wife, but the bossman has ther plans. Got 2 days worth of work dumped in my lap 15 minutes before the close of business today only to learn the panels we're gluing up are due to the client for inspection by close of business on Monday. Good thing they're only on 2 hours North of us.

Pulled the tuning pegs (tuning machines?) right after work today.

Hand to God, I swear this stuff has to be caulk of some kind. Is there a legit style of glue used in luthiery that behaves just like white silicone caulk?

Believe it or not , you will see stranger !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

It's the stuff that you can't identify that's scary!

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Haha, good to know.

Funny thing is that while they were both held firmly in place by the stuff, they popped right off with a little heat and some gentle pressure from a razor knife. Also appears to have come off without further damage to the finish.