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Good luck on your 'new' venture Carl. Repairing instruments and bringing them back to life has been one of my most rewarding experiences in life!
Thanks. I've done all the work on my own and half a dozen friends guitars for quite some time. I also have worked for the local shop on the side here and there, helping out a good friend who was one of two brothers who owned the store. About a month ago he lost the fight with west nile virus. So now instead of just working to fill in while he recovered, I work a lot more. It's a bittersweet pill I've taken. My friend Dave was a great guy and the family business includes his wife and one of his sons, along with his brother, who are all my friends too. Their loss effected the whole community as Dave was involved in so many local activities. So yeah I love working on guitars. But I miss my friend and now I sit at his bench and humbly try to do the best I can to do him justice.

Carl.
 
Hey, did I do the first photo on this page? :grin: First thud box in 40 some years. Not the best of the best, but much nicer than the dried out kindling I had back then. Projects quite well when played grip and dig style.
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Now I've got two guitar projects going!
(and a new bike build on the way too...)
One, I took in a set neck Epiphone LP with a broke headstock/neck and after bonding it back together I've started collecting parts for a "Jimmy Page switch conversion". Which also calls for new pickups since the stock ones were two wire. So all new controls & pickups and I may also try skinning the front of the body in a carbon fiber wrap. I'm planning on push/pull tone pots for the phase switching and miniature switches mounted under the edge of the pick guard for the coil taps. This will be an in "store demo" for the JP conversion at the shop I work at...
Project Two is a new body for my Alvarez Tele, which is cracked down the middle. I have a LP jr body routed for Tele neck and hardware coming. It should turn out cool visually anyway because the Alvarez has a 3 on a side headstock which always looked weird to me on the Tele style body. Pictures soon...

Guitarl.
 
My Alvarez rebodied...
I buried the neck pup under the pickguard, also has a 4 way pickup switch which adds a series wired sound to the 3 original options.
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Carl.
 
Picked up this old Kay and spent a few hours bedding the bridge and getting the action down. Sounds better than I though it would. :cool2:

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Picked up this old Kay and spent a few hours bedding the bridge and getting the action down. Sounds better than I though it would. :cool2:

View attachment 88070
Nice. I like old Kay's, I have a dove copy newer than that. It's a tank but sounds full and with the added piezo and preamp it's even better. I'll have to get a picture...

Carl
 
I used to assemble Fender pattern guitars myself, out of parts. I built a tele type for slide. It uses Guitar Fetish pieces, a paulownia body, low output rail pups. I usually try to use a Fender neck. I like maple board Mexicans a lot.
If I play lead I use a twenty-four inch scale hardtail. Duo Sonics mainly but my favorite is a Musicmaster from the seventies. It has a Bare Knuckle Apache and it has a very specific vocal quality, a little like Eartha Kitt. I really appreciate a guitar that can sing, as I am mostly a vocalist in the Blues genre.
I have a sixties Japanese baritone on the bench right now. It's Hound Dog Taylor inspired. For pickups it has four singles. they seem to be wired in series? Dunno. It needs frets, so it's stalled. Alosinac does my fretwork but it's expensive!
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Some nice guitars on here! Carl that's a nice collection.

I don't have a lot of pics of mine. I play mostly classical but I do have an electric I like to fool around with. 1990 ish Ibanez 550 with some customization. Amp rig is an ADA 200 watt power amp with 2 celestian ADA cabinets. For a pre-amp I use an old Sansui power amp and a Zoom 9002 effects processor.

Here's a short riff with the Ibanez.



I have several classical guitars. This one is my nicest. It's a 2004 Kenny Hill Signature model. It has a solid spruce top on the inside and cedar on the outside with kevlar honeycomb sandwiched in between.

Here's me playing the Kenny Hill. Not one of my best performances. Tough piece of music to play.


Wow~! Chad , this classical piece is crazy good. Remind me never to post one of my guitar playing vids on here. :bigsmile:

Seriously, I remember you said you played the violin, so I get your musical acumen. This classical guitar exhibition has me like... :43::13:

Please don't wear off your amazing finger dexterity by polishing up bike parts!
 
This my $20 find a the a local flea market. She wanted 40 and without me even asking get she came down to 20. For a little kicker that she played bass thru (that's right Bass) it sounds great!!!View attachment 12804 View attachment 12804
Popular amp for small venue jazz guitar players. We had one pass through the music store where I worked part-time. Should have grabbed that one.
 
Beautiful work Carl! Do they sell the hardware in kit form? With strings?
Yes sir. The whole kit and kaboodle. Lark in the Morning <click it:)
I recently picked up a sitar kit at a flea market. It's a lot rougher and has missing parts. Also, the bridge isn't a sitar style bridge so I see no way for it to buzz, but I'll fab new parts and see what I can do with my $12.00 investment...
I'm also working on a burnt Tele. I've seen guys do Strats but no burnt Teles yet. Pictures soon.

Carl.
 
Yes sir. The whole kit and kaboodle. Lark in the Morning <click it:)
I recently picked up a sitar kit at a flea market. It's a lot rougher and has missing parts. Also, the bridge isn't a sitar style bridge so I see no way for it to buzz, but I'll fab new parts and see what I can do with my $12.00 investment...
I'm also working on a burnt Tele. I've seen guys do Strats but no burnt Teles yet. Pictures soon.

Carl.
Burnt Tele you say? I've got a Telecaster style guitar that I made about 15 yrs ago. Brazilian Black Walnut wood, very hard and dense, great 'acoustics' that reflect off that top. I put a Seymour Duncan humbucker in the neck, and straight wired to the jack. No controls in between. Knock-off neck that is unfinished, with a rosewood fret board, jumbo frets.

I want to do something with the body, currently only a lacquer to cover the beautiful dark reddish brown wood. And maybe put in some controls, not sure.

It resides in Arizona, so it will be a Winter project. Maybe I can pick your brain once I get down there and started on it?

I call it the ' Tel-Lee'...
 
... Maybe I can pick your brain
once I get down there and started on it?

I've been collecting wiring diagrams since before the internet. Started with my Grampa writing Fender to get a diagram for his Tele Deluxe. I got lots of tricks for Tele wiring. Check out my favorite magazine, Premier Guitar. Online they've got all the issues and there's a column by Dirk Wacker that's called Mod Garage, just tons of wiring tricks and he does a lot of Teles. There's a rabbit hole to jump into! Also, anybody on Instagram #newrepairdude is guitars I've been working on at the music store...

Carl.
 
I hope readers will indulge me. I am an old man now, too arthritic to play well. I can't sing any more, either. I was mostly self taught. The man who inspired me musically only taught me a few things. They were useful things.
My Aunt (a Swede, model and incredible person) phoned friends in NY to get on the list to a "Women's Lib" rally being held in Vancouver. She took my Mom and they went off. I wanted to go. Bras were going to be burned!
Alas, I was dumped on my Uncle. He was a music business guy (for Epic, if you are into labels). He had a visitor and was against the idea of looking after a little kid. He knew I'd be in the car with my Dad, doing collections or chasing skips, though, so he relented. Also, the guest spoke up, saying my Uncle was already babysitting, so why not? My Ma nearly called the whole thing off when she saw him.
"This is One Penny Lenny" my Uncle told us. I asked about his nickname and he told me he was doomed to poverty because he was a jazz musician. He laughed about it, though. Then he taught me to sing scales, tirelessly explaining and demonstrating. You've got to hit the note and feel it, he insisted, or the song wouldn't work. My Uncle, who already knew everything about music became bored and wandered off to make phone calls. There was a battered acoustic in the living room that Lenny played effortlessly, holding notes he wanted me to sing. "This kid has an ear!" he said to my Uncle, who waved him away.
"Are you allowed to play with guitars?" he asked, after I was able to sing a whole verse "on the dot". I felt sure that I was, although I'd been warned off the resident many times. "Not that one" I said.
"That's okay, acoustics are fragile. We are going to play with an electric". Lenny said, with a smile. "You can help me. I just got a new one." he said and bustled away to the guest room. He returned with a cardboard carton and set up on the kitchen table.
"This is a Fender Broadcaster". he said, grinning happily. "I just paid about two month's rent for it." I was surprised it wasn't new. We are going to make it better than new, Lenny assured me. He sent me to the garage to fetch tools. This, I knew was definitely not allowed. I'd been underfoot when this building was reinforced. I used the hidden key no one knew about. To my surprise, every inch of floor space was taken up with motorcycles. To get to the tool chest I had to step around them.
The big red chest had had it's wheels removed and new art was stenciled onto it. It was locked too, with a big padlock and chain. I was curious about this because there were already locks on the drawers. My Dad had kept it locked. He'd taped a spare key to the bottom, like the liquor cabinet and the desk. I'd found it and examined his tools of the trade, as they were called. I'd even tried some quick draws but I almost dropped it and I was afraid it would go off, alerting my Mom. I'd heard her say she'd never allow one in the house.
I located my Uncle's BSA by it's tank badge and unrolled his road kit, another mortal sin.
When I got back to the kitchen my Uncle was there, silent and stoney faced like a smaller version of my Dad. Lenny was quiet too. After a minute I just shrugged and showed the screwdriver I'd stolen. If my Uncle's eyes had begun to glitter, like my Dad sometimes did, I'd have fled. I stared back, having been recently taught to maintain eye contact, no matter what, by his wife. It was an important social skill for a young man, she said.
My fault, Lenny tried to say. My Uncle ignored him. I waited. I wasn't afraid of my Uncle. I'd seen my Dad playfully pick him up by his neck. Also, he wasn't grim and humorless, not usually. Eventually he shrugged. Your Dad is coming home eventually and he'll have to be told, he said.
We spent the rest of the evening watching Lenny tear down his guitar, explaining every minute action. He polished the frets and levelled them, he shimmed the neck and took the cover and windings off a pickup. Then, he edited the wiring, explaining the historical significance of the existing scheme and joking about bass players. I didn't pay much attention, I had other concerns.
When my Dad did arrive, I was asleep on the couch. He's a good kid, I heard him say and I thought I was in the clear. Soon after, I met another Uncle who took me to the gym where I learned to box. It was a tremendous beating but I'd learned scales and could hear them in my head instead of the slap of leather. I became quite silent and my Mom protested constantly. The lessons continued, every second day for weeks. One day my Dad brought a guitar home. I recognized it and knew poor Lenny had lost ground in his financials. I left it alone although my Mother urged me to accept it. I felt it was a trap. Then it went away and I didn't touch a guitar or sing for years. I guess that's the story of my first guitar.
Ten years ago my wife heard me humming scales and dragged me in to see a doctor. They saved me. Music, when I attempt it, is therapy now. I guess it always was?
 
Have I posted my Tele Tanker?
Jerry can Tele I built.
Good for rockabilly or metal, has an overwound Tele single coil in the bridge with a reverse slant. Early Esquire style tone switching with the 3way. Acorn nut behind the bridge macro adjusts neck angle. I'm bringing it to the shop tomorrow and putting it up for sale.
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Carl.

Sent from across the universe using Tapatalk
 
Have I posted my Tele Tanker?
Jerry can Tele I built.
Good for rockabilly or metal, has an overwound Tele single coil in the bridge with a reverse slant. Early Esquire style tone switching with the 3way. Acorn nut behind the bridge macro adjusts neck angle. I'm bringing it to the shop tomorrow and putting it up for sale.
3f3b18ef9f0295fdc2908d574ecf4c78.jpg

Carl.

Sent from across the universe using Tapatalk


It looks like a Gas.
I'd bet you tOILed on it a quite a while.
The GasterCaster! Cool!
 
That's killer! Makes me wonder how a Dobro resonator would work on there. Does it make much sound unpluged? Would love to try that one.
It's heavy. Good for one song and then ya gotta put it down. It's got a 4" hole on the bottom below the controls and I did all the work on it thru that hole. There's a piece of poplar running the length inside and the neck bolts to it. The acorn nut behind the bridge adjust the angle of the neck by moving the poplar beam, my own design. It's got a hot Tele style pickup in a Tele bridge with a reverse angle and the switching controls tone options like the 50's Esquire. There's also a Strat jack plate in the lower side. So it's electric and sounds like an electric. Good hardware, good components but very little resonance so no real acoustic sound.

Wanna make something sound like a dobro for slide? Make a cigarbox guitar with a metal lunchbox. I have a Yogi Bear lunchbox I'll be building soon, I've done a DickTracy and a Kiss lunchbox. They sound just like resonators with all the rattle and vibe of a cheap Regal...

Carl.
 
Lots of nice stuff in here.
I'm really just getting started playing, and have already become a bit enamored with the instruments.

Got the Surfcaster first. And although I have an interest in playing it, probably more of an investment. Like an inexpensive piece of art.
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Then I found something more my speed that I thought would be easier for me to learn on. Was thinkin about a parlor guitar. But then I found this Yamaha G-85A classical guitar. Even better with the plastic strings Cheap enough and dinged up enough that I'm not afraid of damaging it myself. Gotta get some new strings.
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Then I got this madolin on clearance at the pawn shop for fifty bucks. Probably take me ages to learn how to play it. But I thought it was pretty cool.
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And now I find out that about 80 years ago there was a new instrument invented. A baritone ukulele, that is big for a ukulele at about 30 inches. And tuned D-G-B-E like the bottom four strings on a guitar. Perfect portable training string instrument I'm hoping.
I think I gotta have one. Maybe one with a wide neck.
 

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