Guitar
I see quite a few old Hofners, it's amazing how many are still around.
It is, however, unusual to see one that had not had a neck break at some time in its life.
This one has not only had the typical break but it's been repaired badly. These pics show the typical Hofner break.
There are two large screws straight through the fretboard in an attempt to fix it. I've seen this before, it never works. I take then out and the neck falls off. But they leave rather ugly holes.
The underside of the neck shows a history of failed repairs.
There are two sets of bolt holes as well as the factory locating lugs.
The heel looks even worse with two old screws snapped off in it.
Someone's put a lot of work put into this one.
This blog is about the repair to the fretboard - I'll deal with re-attaching the neck another time.
First I remove the couple of frets either side of the damaged area.
Then with a sharp chisel remove the area between the frets.
I take it down about 3mm being extremely careful tp leave the binding. The binding is delicate, it's an old guitar and the plastic dries out and gets brittle.
I select a piece of rosewood with a similar colour and do my best to match the grain. It's not possible to get it exact but this one's pretty close.
It's important to cut it to the right size. It can't be so big that it pushes that old binding out and I must leave just the right gaps to seat the frets.
This grain looks good to me.
I use a couple of fret guards to ensure a fret slot gap either side of the fill and clamp it in using alaphatic resin to glue it in.
Here's the finished article. I just need to put the frets back. With oil and when the strings are on it should almost invisible.
It always seems a shame to have to fix someone elses blunders - right first time works for me.
Cheers
Glyn
………………………………………………………………………………………….
Feel free to contact me about repair work (if you are in NZ). I only check emails weekly so the workshop phone is always the best 09 307 6501.
- Too Hot To Handle
Its officially summer here in New Zealand and the weather is warming up. The acoustic season has begun - there's nothing better than sitting out on the deck strumming a few chords, dog by your side and a cold beer on the go. There is a...
- Music Man Stingray V De-fretting
I got a call the other day from Matt from the Auckland Rockshop - "can I de-fret a Music Man Stingray 5 string Bass for them?" Well in fact he said "what will it cost?". This is a job I do from time to time so I thought I'd write...
- On Tour - Tales From The Back Line
There are a few different aspects to guitar repairing. All my work happens in my own controlled environment - the workshop. Touring Guitar Techs have to work wherever they find themselves - they need to be quick, have magician like fault finding skills,...
- Fender Bronco Fretboard Repair
This one is a 'real' repair, in the sense that something is broken. Its a Fender Bronco which is an instrument I very rarely see. It is by no means a new guitar but it still gets regularly gigged and toured with NZ punk band Die!Die!Die! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die!_Die!_Die!...
- New Zealand Music Month
. I'm going to do my best to get out and see more live music in May. There are so many of my customers I've never seen play live.Check out http://www.nzmusicmonth.co.nz/ for what's going on.Looks like I'm in for a busy month keeping...
Guitar
HofnerArchtop - neck problems
I see quite a few old Hofners, it's amazing how many are still around.
It is, however, unusual to see one that had not had a neck break at some time in its life.
This one has not only had the typical break but it's been repaired badly. These pics show the typical Hofner break.
There are two large screws straight through the fretboard in an attempt to fix it. I've seen this before, it never works. I take then out and the neck falls off. But they leave rather ugly holes.
The underside of the neck shows a history of failed repairs.
There are two sets of bolt holes as well as the factory locating lugs.
The heel looks even worse with two old screws snapped off in it.
Someone's put a lot of work put into this one.
This blog is about the repair to the fretboard - I'll deal with re-attaching the neck another time.
First I remove the couple of frets either side of the damaged area.
Then with a sharp chisel remove the area between the frets.
I take it down about 3mm being extremely careful tp leave the binding. The binding is delicate, it's an old guitar and the plastic dries out and gets brittle.
I select a piece of rosewood with a similar colour and do my best to match the grain. It's not possible to get it exact but this one's pretty close.
It's important to cut it to the right size. It can't be so big that it pushes that old binding out and I must leave just the right gaps to seat the frets.
This grain looks good to me.
I use a couple of fret guards to ensure a fret slot gap either side of the fill and clamp it in using alaphatic resin to glue it in.
Here's the finished article. I just need to put the frets back. With oil and when the strings are on it should almost invisible.
It always seems a shame to have to fix someone elses blunders - right first time works for me.
Cheers
Glyn
………………………………………………………………………………………….
Feel free to contact me about repair work (if you are in NZ). I only check emails weekly so the workshop phone is always the best 09 307 6501.
Workshop Hours
Mon……. 8-6
Tues……. 8-6
Wed…….. Closed
Thurs …..8-6
Fri ……….8-6
Sat/Sun ..Closed
Tues……. 8-6
Wed…….. Closed
Thurs …..8-6
Fri ……….8-6
Sat/Sun ..Closed
Mr Glyn’s Guitars
21a Khyber Pass Road
Auckland
New Zealand
http://www.mrglyn.co.nz/
www.facebook.com/MrGlynGuitars
www.mrglyn.blogspot.com
09 307 6501, 021 912678
- Too Hot To Handle
Its officially summer here in New Zealand and the weather is warming up. The acoustic season has begun - there's nothing better than sitting out on the deck strumming a few chords, dog by your side and a cold beer on the go. There is a...
- Music Man Stingray V De-fretting
I got a call the other day from Matt from the Auckland Rockshop - "can I de-fret a Music Man Stingray 5 string Bass for them?" Well in fact he said "what will it cost?". This is a job I do from time to time so I thought I'd write...
- On Tour - Tales From The Back Line
There are a few different aspects to guitar repairing. All my work happens in my own controlled environment - the workshop. Touring Guitar Techs have to work wherever they find themselves - they need to be quick, have magician like fault finding skills,...
- Fender Bronco Fretboard Repair
This one is a 'real' repair, in the sense that something is broken. Its a Fender Bronco which is an instrument I very rarely see. It is by no means a new guitar but it still gets regularly gigged and toured with NZ punk band Die!Die!Die! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die!_Die!_Die!...
- New Zealand Music Month
. I'm going to do my best to get out and see more live music in May. There are so many of my customers I've never seen play live.Check out http://www.nzmusicmonth.co.nz/ for what's going on.Looks like I'm in for a busy month keeping...