Old Gtretsch flattop - A bridge too far

An old Gretsch flat top started out life with the saddle a quarter of an inch shy of its scale length. A previous repair, avoided top and bridge plate patching by using a pinless bridge. Sadly it didn't last or work that well, I appreciate the idea though.

The original bridge had nuts imbedded in the top and two screw's that went through the bridge adding mechanical strength to the glue joint. This is important because it meant those holes and the original bridge pin holes needed to be filled, ideally adding some structure at the same time.

Eighth inch thick maple plugs were made with a plug cutter and used to patch the bridge plate first. A template made with a 5/8" inch forstner bit was used with a bearing guided router bit to make the matching hole.

The factory installed birch bridge plate was too soft, it needed stiffness and strength. A one sixteenth hardwood bridge plate was needed to consolidate the bridge area and provide a good surface for the ball ends of the strings to bear against. This would be done before the plugs were put in. A scrap of paper was used inside to crease around the plate edges and braces making a pattern of the bridge plate. When the bridge plate was properly fitted a matching caul was made and the new piece was glued in.

With the maple plug fitting just a little bit proud of the bridge plate surface the whole process was repeated with a 3/4" spruce patch sitting on top of the bridge plate. At this point both of the bridge nut mounting holes and four of the bridge pin holes were filled in.

A new bridge could be made with the saddle in the right place and the new bridge pin holes could be drilled without conflict from the original bridge.

This bridge would be made slightly oversized to allow the saddle and bridge pins to be moved back and a little low to avoid a cost prohibitive neck reset.

A pattern was made using the pinless bridge that had been on the guitar. Then it was cleaned up and made symmetrical with a folded piece of paper.

The pattern was traced onto the rosewood and rough cut with a bandsaw. The top profile was machined with a drum sander and fence. The front profile was created with the thickness sander jig.

*I didn't invent this jig but this is my version of it. I first heard of it from a repairman that I worked with years ago and then saw another version of it on a bow making site.*

With the bridge dry clamped in place the slot was marked and drilled to depth with an eighth inch brad point bit at each end. Now the bridge was ready to be glued in place. The previously mentioned bridge plate caul was used to glue down the new bridge.

With the bridge solidly glued in place the saddle slot was finished and a temporary saddle was put in to check the intonation.

The intonation is spot on and the guitar sounds great, a warm round low end with lots of harmonic wash in the top end. A bit of set up work a new saddle....the guitar that had never played in tune or sounded right did both now.

F style Eastman mandolin needs a new truss rod

The addition of a pin to secure the rod to the anchor was it's undoing. This is exactly where it broke. It's a compression style truss rod meaning it pulls against the back of the neck rather than up against a curved filet. The  fingerboard had to come off and a new truss rod needed to be made, the brass nut could be kept.
After careful removal of the fingerboard with heat and a palette knife. I used a chisel to remove the filet piece.
The truss rod broke at the very end where the pin had been installed. It's possible that the truss rod would have been better off without the pin, it was that little bit more that weakened the end. I understand the temptation to put it in. Peening the end doesn't seem like enough. However when you keep in mind that the real torque is in the tightening of the truss rod and that when loosened it shouldn't stress that connection nearly as much.
The bass I did recently came loose because the threading in the anchor stripped. In that case I recut the thread further up the rod and brazed it to the anchor. I'm happy with how that worked out. The bass has a curved filet truss rod and it's longer of course so it's a different situation.
I made a new 3/16" truss rod and 3/8" anchor and peened the end just like the traditional Gibson approach. I stuck with the compression style and put in a straight filet. With a mandolin neck being so short I think compression actually works better IMHO. However I also think it's a good idea to loosen the strings when adjusting a shorter neck. In some cases like when the action of the nut seems to tight, it's worth taking the time to clamp the neck straight and then adjust the truss rod.
 I cut the threads on the rod at both ends with a 10-32 die cutter,  and then fit the anchor to the short threaded end after sizing and tapping it to fit.
After rough cutting a piece of maple for the filet I used my belt sander with a thicknessing table to get it to final dimension. I glued it into place and let it dry over night before joining the fingerboard and the neck. The nut was used to index the neck to length, surgical tubing was used to clamp them together. I like that it wants to center the fingerboard on the neck. A couple of cam clamps held the end down. There was virtually no touch up involved when the clamps came off, just some glue to clean.
In the end it set up nicely and reminded me that I used to enjoy playing mandolin. I should get one or make one.

Reinvented lap steel

This is a lap steel idea I've been working on for awhile. It was black and finished with oil. I sanded back and stained again with mahogany red. The plexi fingerboard is one idea black Corian is another. Purple heart treated with vinegar and steel wool to go black with contrasting fret inlays. I'm still thinking about it.

Charango top repair

The Charango had an accident. The top was so badly damaged it could not be repaired. I started by removing what was left of the top. I knew I couldn't use the original as a pattern but I wanted it intact enough to match the original bracing. I found a similar piece of spruce among some off cuts. After thicknessing it I traced the body outline on the spruce and cut it close to shape except for the shoulder joint.

I used a compass to trace that shape onto the new piece, it was close and after some fine tuning it fit nicely. I had to come up with a different system for gluing the top on, spool clamps weren't going to work. After a bit of research I found a technique for gluing on lute tops. It worked well and there just some refinishing to do. I decided French polishing was the best choice and I'm happy with how it turned out.

Martin 000 my pickguard is shrinking

Shrunken pick guard syndrome, several manufacturers glued pickguards directly onto the wood. The pickguard would shrink and crack the top. Here's one being repaired. The guard has been removed and the cracks are being glued up supported on the bottom with small spruce cleats. I like to make mine round, it allows me to use a plug cutter and then I can thin them down to whatever thickness I want. In this case I shaped them to fit around the braces.