1958 Gibson LG-0 [3.7 lbs] :: Loose back braces & center seam

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1958 Gibson LG-0 [3.7 lbs] :: Loose back braces & center seam

This 57 year old Gibson has some minor back issues involving multiple loose braces and an open center seam from block-to-block.  The back does not have an internal center seam reinforcement to keep the joint closed and I opted to not install any cleats.  The reinforcement cleats were omitted as the guitar will be for sale and I did not want to potentially devalue the owner's mostly-original guitar.

1960's Teisco May Queen [7.6 lbs] :: rewire & setup

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1960's Teisco May Queen [7.6 lbs] :: rewire and setup

A player found this in the trash and brought it by to get it playing.  The electronics were rewired and the frets were loose and glued down.  I shot another quick video to keep up on my video editing practice so keep an eye out for it on the blog.

Jag switches in a Silvertone :: 1960's Silvertone 1488 Silhouette

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Jag switches in a Silvertone :: 1960's Silvertone 1488 Silhouette

The old rocker switches on this 60's Silvertone are sloppy and unpredictable, so they need to go.  They were held in place by massive amounts of electical tape and all the switches moved as one, making it difficult to quickly select specific pickups.  Here the switch is being replaced with a Fender Jaguar-style setup to greatly increase reliability.

This is the same Silvertone in for broken truss rod, links here and here.

Loose back brace :: 1958 Gibson LG-O

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Loose back brace :: 1958 Gibson LG-O

Here I'm gluing up a loose back brace with a scissor jack inside and two cam clamps on the outside.  The center seam is also open so that will be glued up as well.

K&K mandolin pickup install :: 2015 June A5 [2.0 lbs]

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K&K mandolin pickup install :: 2015 June A5 [2.0 lbs]

A K&K Mandolin Twin Internal was installed along with some fret work.  The pickup installation involved enlarging the tailpiece bracket hole (Irwin's Unibit / step drill is a life safer for this) along with drilling out the tailblock for the endpin jack.  The two pickup elements are adhered with double stick tape just inside each f-hole near the bridge foot.   The trickiest part of this installation is working through the small f-holes.  Even the internal nuts on the jack had to be installed inside the mandolin ... just giving me a taste of what it's like to build a ship in a bottle.