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Post by chezvoz on Feb 4, 2012 14:36:10 GMT -6
The original pickup ring and pickup cutout fit nothing standard, so I'm trying to find the solution that will sound good, look right and not cost too much in time or money.
I'm with you there EB, I like the idea of using what I have on hand.
But I also have mixed feelings about cutting the top of this guitar to fit larger pups.
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Post by wirewrapper on Feb 4, 2012 18:42:03 GMT -6
If you use heat to straighten the post cool it with motor oil, it may keep it from losing temper.
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Post by chezvoz on Feb 5, 2012 20:28:09 GMT -6
So, here's my fretboard repair. I put a sliver of rosewood along the edge of the binding to give it support, then used the rosewood filings to fill the gash, using the CA glue as suggested. The water and soldering iron worked but did not get the grain to rise all the way to fill the dings. They are about half as deep as before. I'm leaving that for now. There are some pits that are shiney with the CA glue. I may come back to them latter. Very impressed with this technique. Thanks for the advice. Wirewrapper - I don't now how to use heat to straighten the post. Would that be with a propane torch, trying to get it hot enough to bend easily? I was just going to try pressure to the high point.
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Post by wirewrapper on Feb 5, 2012 20:49:25 GMT -6
So, here's my fretboard repair. I put a sliver of rosewood along the edge of the binding to give it support, then used the rosewood filings to fill the gash, using the CA glue as suggested. The water and soldering iron worked but did not get the grain to rise all the way to fill the dings. They are about half as deep as before. I'm leaving that for now. There are some pits that are shiney with the CA glue. I may come back to them latter. Very impressed with this technique. Thanks for the advice. Wirewrapper - I don't now how to use heat to straighten the post. Would that be with a propane torch, trying to get it hot enough to bend easily? I was just going to try pressure to the high point. Someone else mentioned heat as a method, and I assume propane would be good as any torch for that small job. I just thought that if you went that route that cooling it with oil might save it's strength. I'm not a guitar mechanic and I try to stay out of EB and Danes way, they know far better than me, but I have bent some metal so I thought I would throw my 2 cents in.
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Post by dnic on Feb 5, 2012 21:27:12 GMT -6
Wirewrapper has the right idea about quenching in oil to keep the strength of the steel. In certain applications that would be necessary but I doubt the stud is a hardened. And I think Eddie is on to something with screwing the pieces together and then straightening. At this point I would suggest screwing the studs together to, or slightly past the bend and then with one end in a vice or clapped between two boards then just bend straight with vice grips or channel locks. No heat and be careful not to over bend. Oh and the reason I'm saying no heat now is because heat will discolor or totally blow the chrome off the steel or brass.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2012 9:05:35 GMT -6
Pretty good job on the fill. I would use a razor blade now to scrape it down even smoother.
Dane is right to get it hot it enough to bend the stud, it will dis color it. When trying to bend it back, do it in small movements, not all at once. It may not be perfect, but it will be close enough. All you can do is try, and hope for the best. If it does break then you will need to find another bridge mount. But if you do fix it, the nice thing is you won't need to keep moving it once it is set to the right position, for the action of the strings. I would use that on the high E or first string side. EB
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Post by chezvoz on Feb 13, 2012 16:12:08 GMT -6
I straightened the bridge post pretty well. I put it in my new drill press, turned it on and watched the wobble, just to see exactly how out it was. It made it clear that there was only one bend, not a compound one, so I just gently bent it back. I can now adjust it as low as this guitar will take - the neck sits high above the body.
The bridge posts are a little loose in their holes - which are only holes in the body, no extra wood or support from below. I'm not sure yet if this will be a problem.
The bridge parts are a lot cleaner now, but still have lots of corrosion. I strung it up to see how the bridge alignment was. It looks like this bridge is really a bit narrow as I need to use the outside grooves in the roller bridge for the E strings. I will probably use my newer bridge which looks to have a better saddle spacing.
Under all the corrosion, it came with gold hardware. I'm going to switch to nickel because I am not a fan of gold and I can age the new parts to look more appropriate on this body.
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Post by chezvoz on Feb 26, 2012 14:04:10 GMT -6
Stratpurist's Bigsby arrived yesterday - very generous of him.
The Bigsby tailpiece has a different mounting hole configuration than the original one. The wood along the heel of the Crown is not reinforced - there is no block for the strap -mount or any other extra wood to strengthen it. So I'm worried that the existing wood might not hold since the old holes will be so close to the new ones. If I wanted to reinforce the guitar on the inside to give the mounting screws something solid to grab onto, how would i do that? Everything has to go in and out of the pickup holes and there is a support post under where the bridge mounts blocking the direct access to the heel.
Any ideas?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2012 15:08:54 GMT -6
That will be a little hard to do. I had to reenforce the neck on mine. I had to use two pieces of wood to do it. You may have to do the same to get the wood around the support that is already in the guitar. But you will need to make some kind of a tool to get the wood with glue, bake to where you need it. The only other way would be to make a control hole in the back of the guitar. But then that just wouldn't be right.
EB
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Post by dnic on Feb 26, 2012 15:30:56 GMT -6
So strats Bigsby is a B5? Two problems, this is an arch top and there is no inside support-which you already mentioned. You need a B7 type Bigsby for this guitar because even if you reinforce the top (and there is only one way to do so properly) the Bigsby still won't screw down flat and won't work right. The B7 screws in from the end into the the tail block and hovers over the guitar top.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2012 15:49:28 GMT -6
Here is a look at mine. If you want I can take more pictures so you can see it better. I know it's not what you have as far as the trim goes. But I think it's close. I also have a Tele with the flat top trim that look like it too. EB
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2012 15:56:28 GMT -6
Hey, I seen a guy on TV last night playing a guitar like the one you are redoing. It had the painted "F" hole on it. He had humbuckes in it. It had no markings on it so I could not tell who it was made by, But sure did look a lot like yours.
EB
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Post by chezvoz on Feb 26, 2012 16:12:24 GMT -6
The only marking on my guitar is the Crown on the headstock. No other words, serial numbers or anything else. The bigsby is like yours EB. THe original had a similar trem setup, but a Japanese design. That's the design see on most of these, where the handle has broken off and only the spring stop remains. What I was thinking might be possible for reinforcing the heel, was to shape a pice of wood as close as I can to what I think the inside curve of the heel is, then apply the glue inside with a long swab, insert it and clamp with dowls on either side of the bridge support block. Like so... Seems like it could work. Big problems with clue application and clamping. What do you think?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2012 16:20:32 GMT -6
Looks like it would work. All you can do is try it. It won't hurt anything, plus it would give you some wood to work with, in mounting the trim. or anything else.
EB
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Post by dnic on Feb 26, 2012 18:43:21 GMT -6
I guess I'm lost. The Bigs you got IS the right kind for your guitar. But the holes don't line up, but there is a block to screw into? It held the old trem for how many years? I would glue plugs in the old holes and go for it without any additional wood inside.
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