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Author Topic: 'Tis the Season for Resurrecting, I guess  (Read 7557 times)

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Dante

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Some of you remember my old Explorer. I don't play er much because the Kahler is in terrible shape. So, I googled 'Kahler Replacement Parts' and found Wammiworld.com.

They hooked me up with a new stringlock (behind the nut) because my E was always slipping out of the clamp and going out of tune. New clamp = problem solved  :thumb-up:

I got some new springs because she didn't always come back to tune, I'd have to give her a quick pull up to return to tune. New springs = problem solved...or so I thought.

They told me to clean out the rollers so that they 'spin'. Two of my 30 year old rollers didn't turn anymore, which ain't good  :nono: So, I used my neighbor's toothbrush to clean out the rollers until they all turned again. That worked for a short while but, I knew I needed to replace those rollers, so I bought some teflon rollers (they're like glass) and they are just what I needed. She comes right back to tune now and the new rollers are a bit brighter, like new strings.  :banana-trip:

Quick aside: all the bridge saddles are held onto the trem via a long pin that runs through them. When I removed the pin, I picked up the saddles in a wad and thought 'oh shite, I don't know what order they were in'   :o   So, I eyeballed them into place. I took a second look and thought, these two need to switch places...so I did it, and looked again.

Strung her up, tuned her, checked the intonation (I nailed it, every saddle was in the right spot  :banana:) and I have my old friend back.
« Last Edit: Time Format by Dante »
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kawai2g4b

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Re: 'Tis the Season for Resurrecting, I guess
« Reply #1 on: Time Format »

I literally just went through the same thing with my Guild X-79 (pic is my avatar) that I purchased off of Ebay.  It has the same stud mount bridge as your Explorer and had its issues.  It needed a new roller and a bridge length adjustment screw to replace the one that was bent due to the screw not lining up with the stud post (the stud post has a narrow shaft and sits inside of the screw path.

I ordered the replacement parts, fixed the roller saddle, but since the previous owner routed guitar a 1/2" too close to the fretboard the screws didn't make a difference.  After re-routing the bridge area, I went to the hardware store and bought two short .70mm screws and tightened two nuts on each.  The screw and nut fits snugly in the bridge length adjustment space, actually fully contacts the post, and gets the intonation spot on.  Then I tightened the adjustment screws onto the screw and nut doohickey to keep pressure and, along with the stud head, to prevent it from falling out. 

In summation, I spent just $30 to fix a previously completely unusable guitar that the previous owner gave up on after his half-assed Kahler install.

I'm diggin' the Explorer!  And thank God for Kahler and their parts department. :thumb-up:
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Pearce G2R with ADA TFX4 in loop.
ADA MB-1/B500B
And other non ADA stuff.

Kawai AQ-500 guitar, Korean Fender Lite Ash Strat, Electra X930 MPC modded, G&L L2K basses, Peavey T40, Fernandes basses.

kawai2g4b

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Re: 'Tis the Season for Resurrecting, I guess
« Reply #2 on: Time Format »

Here are both my resurrections from the last two years...the aforementioned Guild X-79 and this random custom Lipman that I got off ebay. 

The Lipman had previously gone through the following: bridge conversion from kahler to tune-o-matic, neck tilt to go with bridge change, and a headstock repair.  Aside from the piece of wood filling in the old Kahler hole, it looks great, quite unique at that.  I figure it was worth salvaging as it had original 30+ year old Seymour Duncan dual blades and neck humbucker.

Now the problem...like the Guild, whichever bozo had the guitar before me jacked up the bridge location on it  :facepalm:...about an 1/8 inch too close to the fretboard for it to intonate correctly.  On a recent trip to a local store (which has a new, younger owner), they had a whole pile of old bridges for dirt cheap.  I managed to find a tune-o-matic style bridge with three holes on each side for the mounting studs.  I used the new bridge and used the third hole to push the bridge back to the right place.  However, as the holes are semi- connected, the bridge began to sink back, causing the strings to buzz up against the front edge of the bridge.  Then I drilled through the opposite extra hole, tapped it, and ran a screw through that which would force the back up the bridge upward as it rests on the bridge height adjustment wheel.  It is ghetto-rigged?  Hell yeah!  But it works perfectly with no sustain loss!  All for 7 bucks.  I'm considering placing some kind of gold cover over the wood block inlay under the bridge.   :metal:

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Pearce G2R with ADA TFX4 in loop.
ADA MB-1/B500B
And other non ADA stuff.

Kawai AQ-500 guitar, Korean Fender Lite Ash Strat, Electra X930 MPC modded, G&L L2K basses, Peavey T40, Fernandes basses.

Dante

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Re: 'Tis the Season for Resurrecting, I guess
« Reply #3 on: Time Format »

That Lipman is a stunning axe

rnolan

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Re: 'Tis the Season for Resurrecting, I guess
« Reply #4 on: Time Format »

I've got one of those old SD blades in the neck PU position of my tele, not a bad PU  :thumb-up:
I see what you mean about the bit of wood filling the old Kahler hole, dodgy or what.  I've been thinking about how you could patch that up to look better, you could inlay a nice bit of rosewood (ideally under the whole area including the bridge and stop tailpiece) and re-drill all the mounting holes.  For this I'd go with 1/2" thick rosewood (or ebony but it's a bit of a bitch to work).  Alternately, use 1/8" thick rosewood and just do the ugly area.  You could leave the rosewood unfinished and lightly oiled so your not up for a respray.  This would make the area a feature.  You could inlay a brass plate over the wood block (this was my first thought) but it would need to be lacquered as brass goes green etc when exposed.
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Dante

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Re: 'Tis the Season for Resurrecting, I guess
« Reply #5 on: Time Format »

Maybe a laminate to cover that?

rnolan

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Re: 'Tis the Season for Resurrecting, I guess
« Reply #6 on: Time Format »

You could do a laminate but it would still need to be recessed (inlaid) and laminates are thin so it would be easier to use a thicker piece of wood.  The reason I suggested rosewood (dark) is to contrast a little with the top wood.  I don't think you could find some thing that matches the grain figure on the top wood.  The golds a good idea but how?  I spose you could use a gold plated tele bridge plate and cut the end off.  I had to cut the end off my tele bridge plate when I fitted a sunken Floyd to it so it's pretty straight forward (cutting the plate, not so routing the cavities for the Floyd, that was a little more complex  :D )
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kawai2g4b

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Re: 'Tis the Season for Resurrecting, I guess
« Reply #7 on: Time Format »

At this point I have other gear in line for repairs so the wood block cover will have to wait after tax season.  I had enough of polishing the brass knobs on my basses so point taken on the brass cover.  However, IMHO, the rosewood to me would still have the same issue that I have now. It would look better but the shade difference would still be awkward to me if not others.  I'm thinking a pearl inlay in that place as there is already extensive use of it on the fingerboard.  Not only that but it would contrast both the bridge and the body.  Would it be too gaudy in your opinion?
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Pearce G2R with ADA TFX4 in loop.
ADA MB-1/B500B
And other non ADA stuff.

Kawai AQ-500 guitar, Korean Fender Lite Ash Strat, Electra X930 MPC modded, G&L L2K basses, Peavey T40, Fernandes basses.

rnolan

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Re: 'Tis the Season for Resurrecting, I guess
« Reply #8 on: Time Format »

Pearl would work I think (remember to wear a mask  ;) perl's bad for your lungs) or abalone, as you say it would match the rest of the guitar and reasonably easy to inlay, have you inlayed pearl before ?, I used to buy pearl sheets from the luthiers mercantile in california, not sure if they are still going.  Another thought, if you did pearl you could inlay it as say a butterfly (I did flower petals on my hand made guitars with a bit of abalone in the centre) or anything you like, then it would look like it's meant to be there
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kawai2g4b

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Re: 'Tis the Season for Resurrecting, I guess
« Reply #9 on: Time Format »

Excellent work on the flower inlay!  Sadly I have no inlay experience, but I should go and seek some literature and practice the art on my strat body carcass.  Most of my repair work is on the garden variety MacGuyver type at the moment.  My previous posts on this thread would describe my best work.  Now if I had better Ebay luck lately I wouldn't even have to take those steps in the first place.  :facepalm:

Then again, the Guild and the Lipman are still SICK!  And now functional! >:D

Fortunately, as dodgy as the original repair looks it is still solid and I won't be constrained by the edges of the wood block.  I may go with a pearl "amoeba" inlay that faintly echoes the body shape.  That or I will inlay a "Rescued by (enter name)" massage into the pearl design as a nod to the "Lipman 1981, For John" message that is inlaid into the headstock.

New NY resolution, learn inlay work if my free time allows.
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Pearce G2R with ADA TFX4 in loop.
ADA MB-1/B500B
And other non ADA stuff.

Kawai AQ-500 guitar, Korean Fender Lite Ash Strat, Electra X930 MPC modded, G&L L2K basses, Peavey T40, Fernandes basses.

rnolan

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Re: 'Tis the Season for Resurrecting, I guess
« Reply #10 on: Time Format »

It's not hard to do but is a bit fiddly, Also if you do it in smaller bits (like the flower it makes it easier to get pearl the right shape).  Typically you buy the pearl in small sheets maybe 1/8" thick.  You cut it to shape(s) with a jewelers saw (like a coping saw but finer blade) and you can sand it to smooth edges etc (this is when you need to wear a mask, one of those throw away paper ones is fine as the pearl dust (like some wood dust is bad for you)).  Then you route the outside shape of the inlay (a dremell with the router base and a 1/16" router bit).  The route should be deep enough to leave the pearl a little bit proud above the top.  When you route the wood, keep some of the wood dust which you mix with epoxy (5 min araldite works fine).  You don't need too much wood dust, just enough to colour the epoxy so it matches.  Glue in the inlay, sand back to flat (with sanding block) when it sets, finish with 1200 paper.  Normally this all happens before you spray the guitar. So in this case you might mask off around the inlay (as sanding will scratch the surrounding area).  If you are going to spray over it when it's done that will also fix the area around it.  To leave the pearl unfinished, you'll need to be careful not to scratch the surround too much.  When the lacquer is set/dry (if you sprayed), use brasso to take out the 1200 scratches (the more you rub brasso the finer it gets so it takes out it's own scratches (so work one application of brasso on the cloth)).  Then a buffing wheel on a drill will "melt" the brasso scratches out (make sure all the brasso is cleaned off before buffing).  The lipman is a stunning guitar, worth the effort (but as you say functional (which is the main thing)).
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