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Fraulini Angelica [4.1 lbs] :: top crack repair

Fraulini Angelica [4.1 lbs] :: top crack repair.

This guitar has a top center crack caused by low humidity and I've been battling with it for most of the summer.  The top was dried to the point of concavity (lower in the center than the edges).  Normally acoustic guitar tops have an arch or are at least flat.  I have had good luck in the past by humidifying guitars to close small cracks before gluing and cleating them.  This crack repair however keeps wanting to pull itself apart, even in my climate controlled shop.  I've gone through two iterations of structural / finish repairs and both times tiny checks developed in parts of the repair.  Having to wait 3-4 weeks for the finish repairs to cure before rubbing and buffing only to find unsatisfactory results was frustrating.  The repairs didn't look terrible, but I knew it could be better.

Cutting and fitting a slice of spruce into the crack helped relieve the stress on the top.  One last round of finish repairs and at long last this great guitar is back in it's owner's hands.

Previous photo of fitting the splint here.

And photo of gluing in the splint here.

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Lanikai LU-22CGC Concert Ukulele [1.2 lbs] :: setup

Lanikai LU-22CGC Concert Ukulele [1.2 lbs] :: setup

A few high frets needed to be reseated, restrung it with D'Addario T2 strings and adjusted the saddle and the nut.

Note that I do not get a lot of ukuleles in the shop so I took the opportunity to get some insight from master builder Jake Maclay of Hive Ukuleles.  We both share Santa Cruz, CA luthier roots but unfortunately did not cross paths out west.  He is extremely knowledgeable and builds beautifully clean ukuleles with a contemporary style.  Make sure you check him out.

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1966 Vox Bobcat [4.9 lbs] :: missing tuners ... and everything else

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1966 Vox Bobcat [4.9 lbs] :: missing tuners ... and everything else

1966 Vox Bobcat [4.9 lbs] :: missing tuners ... and everything else

This 3 pickup 335-style guitar is a "husk-only" project (no parts). The owner was initially looking to restore this guitar but is working out a deal to trade for a Vox Lynx body (same guitar, 2 pickups).   We decided to just install new tuners at this time.  Glad to find that Grover Sta-Tite tuners install with no major modifications required other than slight reaming to fit the press-in bushings on the face and tightening the fit of the mounting screws.  

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1968 Vox Grand Prix [8.5 lbs] :: quick solder fix

1968 Vox Grand Prix [8.5 lbs] :: quick solder fix.

I had this in the shop two years ago for an overhaul.  You can get more details of the Electronic Odyssey project here.

The guitar was in recently due to an intermittent battery issue.  Note this guitar has multiple onboard effects that require 9V power to pass signal, even when bypassed (see above link for details).  One of the battery lead splices was shorting out and had to be stripped back, soldered and shrink wrapped.  Back in business.

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