DIY top replacement (started off intending to be a neck reset) * Now finished and playable again :)

WezV

you always need more clamps than you think, but that's looking pretty good

make sure to give it a good tap in the bridge area when you take the clamps off - you may find you suddenly have quite a musical box 

WezV

have you considered how you are gluing the fretboard back on yet

big elastic bands, inner tubes or ropes work pretty well, but you will need a clamp inside over the body extension

http://leafcutterjohn.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/gluing-fretboard-to-neck.jpg

these stew-mac kit instructions have some good tips for putting together an acoustic with the minimum of tools

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/i-5295/i-5295.pdf

DartmoorHedgehog

Thanks @WezV.  Plenty of inner tubes, cable ties and various other potential fretboard-clamping stuff around here

I do need to make, borrow or buy a long-reach clamp to stick the bridge on though...

I'm hoping to get the overlap trimmed down by the end of the weekend so it's ready for the binding.  Think I'll do the staining before the binding so I don't have problems with any glue soaking in and stopping the stain taking.  Then stick the fretboard and bridge on and do the final finishing.  Might need a taller saddle, but we'll see when it's all together.

DartmoorHedgehog

What would be best to stick the truss rod back in with?  Some sort of epoxy?  It was pretty hard to get out - very well stuck.

WezV

its one of the aluminium channel ones isn't it.  Tape over the open edge  then a few small drops of epoxy on each side well away from the adjustment nut

DartmoorHedgehog

Thanks.

DartmoorHedgehog

Clamps are off and it looks to be stuck nice and solidly all the way round - whew

Been playing a festival gig this afternoon (sounds grander than it is!) and out with the family tomorrow, but I should get some time over the rest of the weekend to cut back the overhang and maybe start the staining.

DartmoorHedgehog

Right, went a bit berserk after I'd filed back the overhang on Sunday and sanded off all the varnish from the whole body.  Took me nearly six hours, but I reckon it'll be worth it in the end to give a nice even finish rather than trying to join old and new (plus I wanted to do it satin in stead of gloss).  At least it was nice and sunny so I could do it outside

Did the staining on the top this evening - decided on about 3:1 water:ink mixture to give a nice deep colour.  Pics were taken with the ink still wet.  I think I'll stain the sides with neat ink so they're very dark, almost black.  It's not very nice looking wood and I rubbed through the top layer of ply in a couple of places (it's extremely thin) so it'll look better with a heavy stain, plus there will be the bonus that any inaccuracies with my binding will be less obvious than if I'd left the sides light.  I'll leave the back natural though, it's much nicer-looking and has a strip of inlay down the middle.

Andyjr1515

That's going to look really classy, @dartmoorhedgehog

DartmoorHedgehog

Thanks Andy.  I think when I sand the top a bit it'll make the grain a bit more visible - should look good I reckon.  I put a coat of neat ink on the sides before I left for work this morning, and it's not looking as dark as it did on the spruce - in fact the neat ink looks about the same shade as the 3:1 diluted stuff on the top.  I think I'm going to need another coat or two to get the "almost black" effect - but I've got plenty of ink left.

speshul91

love the colour, thats some really good work there 

DartmoorHedgehog

Thanks, it's probably not to everybody's taste but I like a nice dark purple (bit of a sad old goth!)

speshul91

DartmoorHedgehog;590896" said:

Thanks, it's probably not to everybody's taste but I like a nice dark purple (bit of a sad old goth!)

Nothing wrong with that, when I'm on my pc Mrs speshul has to remind me not everyone in the house is a metalhead

DartmoorHedgehog

Another quick update...

I've stained the sides very dark with a few coats of neat ink and put a quick layer of varnish on it - colour looks really nice.  Top is left unvarnished until I stick the bridge on (the "proper" way is apparently to finish it then scrape out an area for the bridge, but I reckon it'll be far less faff to mask the bridge and varnish round it).

The truss rod is stuck back in with a few blobs of epoxy.

And I've just put the binding on, which isn't looking at all bad considering I tidied the channel up freehand with a dremel (no router).  Few small gaps need filling, but with the dark sides I'll get away with black filler and it shouldn't be too visible (I hope).  Here's a couple of pics of it mummified in elastic bands.

Andyjr1515

That's looking nice @DartmoorHedgehog  

DartmoorHedgehog

Thanks Andy, feels like the end is in sight now

DartmoorHedgehog

Almost there now I think!

Binding is scraped back.

Slight cock-up in that I thought it was a good idea to make some black filler out of wood glue and powder paint.  Worked fine, but ate through the coat of varnish I'd put on the sides so I had to sand it right back to wood in places to get the black marks off.  Arse

But I've patched it up again with more ink and varnish and I think I've got away with it.

I made a tool for clamping the bridge out of a scrap of steel and a few bolts.  My bridge has a couple of small bolts through it as locating pins, so I could use those holes to hold the clamp, then a couple of threaded holes at the ends with bolts to hold the ends (ears? wings?) of the bridge down.  Worked pretty well and avoided having to find some long clamps to go in through the sound hole.

Fretboard is also glued and clamped back on.

I think I'll be able to get it playable with the existing saddle, but the bridge will be right at its extreme high adjustment as I'd cut the saddle down very low in the past when the guitar was starting to sag.  I'll get a new saddle later and leave it a bit taller.

It's looking like I may even just have it ready for the recording session next weekend - which is either very good timing or leaving things a bit late, depending on how you look at it

DartmoorHedgehog

Wahey, it works

Had to use a new saddle, but otherwise it seems very stable and no nasty noises tuning up to full pitch.  It's much less bassy than before, which I suppose means the new top isn't as resonant, but it was far too boomy before IMO so I actually think I prefer the brighter sound.

Not sure whether to decorate the sound hole or not, but at the moment I think it looks right just plain.

Here's a couple of "finished" pics (unfortunately the sun refused to come out this morning)

BigMonka

Top marks Mr Hedgehog, the new top looks fantastic! A really interesting colour and making an unplayable guitar playable is a great achievement :-)

DartmoorHedgehog

Thanks @BigMonka.  The only bit I'm not really completely happy about is the bit of filler between the binding and the sides (because I haven't got a router so the channel is not quite straight).  The filler I made from glue and paint really didn't work well and looks quite messy close up, so I may sort that out with some better stuff later if I can be bothered, but for now it's fine.  The neck feels fantastic with a very thin seal of wiped-on satin varnish.

I think it may be better with heavier strings now it's strong enough to take the tension.  I've always used super-light strings on it (d'Addario 9-45) but now the strings are at a sensible height above the board it feels much easier to play - I'll probably try a heavier set next time, but it still sounds good with the light strings.