This unsolicited repair work reminds me of the time we stole my old lead singer's guitar. It was the only thing his dad ever gave him and some idiot smashed it during an argument. It had been broken for years and he kept it in the back of a cupboard. We had a get together, snuck into his room and swiped it and took it to the guitarist's luthier. Once we explained the situation to him he dove into the project and rebuilt the entire thing. We gave it back to him on his birthday a few weeks later (he never realised it was missing), he cried for ages and hasn't put it down in the 15 years since.
2 things. I would glue up the cracks when I cleated them, reestablishing the top as 1 piece. Also, when establishing a radius for the bridge, short strokes towards and away from the sound hole over where the bridge will be replaced. That is where you are gluing, so that is the shape you need. Going side to side just removes material without shaping to the desired contour. Nice job.
Thanks everyone for such lovely comments, I am so appreciative considering I’m not a repair person and I’ve learned a lot from all of you! He actually really loved it in the end - I mean, it was disgusting... 😂❤️🎸
Yeah its awsome that you can do that stuff I've played guyar for like 8 years and can barely change the strings. Dont get my wrong I'm decent enough at the actual instrument but absolutely hopeless at the maintenance stuff.
Daisy, You did a fantastic job!👌 This is actually the first video of yours that I've seen. Looks like I will be checking out your list of other videos to see what I can see.😉 I have played many instruments over the past 50+ years and always appreciate the younger generations getting involved with instrument building. Thank you.🙂 If you build them you most certainly know how to fix them, even if you are not entirely familiar with particular materials. As you have demonstrated, the process is still the same.🤙
I am exactly the opposite. I “can” repair but can’t built 😅. The main recommendation I would give is to not use the heat gun without covering the rest of the guitar, except the bridge itself because heat will damage the finish. A quick way to isolate is to use cardboard leaving only the bridge cutout open. Cardboard is extremely resistant and doesn’t allow the heat to melt the finish. Some finishes might start creating bubbles almost immediately. Another good tip is to use steel wool on the fretboard to remove the “finger grease”. ;)
Is it ok to rub steel wool against the grain to be more aggresive with the cleaning? I worry that I will damage the fretboard if I use stool wool against ths grain, but going with the grain doesn't seem to take the crud off.
@@brushstroke3733 yes thin steel wool is absolutely fine for rosewood alike fretboards. Don’t forget to clean it well after. A magnet can pick up all the fine dust. Also lemon oil to hydrate every 6 months.
@@NelsonGago Thank you for the assurance and also the tip to use a magnet to pick up any wool shavings I miss when wiping down the guitar and area after. For anyone reading this, you must cover your pickups with tape completely before using steel wool anywhere near an electric guitar, as the shavings from the wool could damage the pickups if they get inside the windings.
I’ve been woodworking, making and repairing guitars for 53 years, and it’s plain to see you have a natural talent! Keep up the great work. Bill from frozen Mn.
Hi Daisy. With a gloss finish on the soundboard it has become quite common now to flood cracks with low viscosity cyanoacrylate glue (very thin superglue) and let it set in its own time. The excess can then be scraped and buffed to approximately match the original finish. Cracks on a soundboard even after this kind of repair will always be slightly visible but the idea, similar to your cleats, is to reinforce to prevent them from growing. The idea with the glue is that it saturates into the fibre of the wood creating a matrix similar to any resin and fibre bond. Its also good to remember that as most glues cure they pull the surfaces together as the solvent cures off. Cool video. I enjoyed this. Hope the owner was pleased :)
I wondered if the mass of the cleats attached to the soundboard might affect the tone or projection. I'm more used to hearing about superglue for this kind of repair.
Wonderful to know that there are young people keeping these old crafts alive. Particularly wonderful to see young women doing this. I'm almost 60 and have been playing guitar for 40 years, but unable to do anything other than re-stringing my acoustic. Fantastic video. Your boyfriend's a lucky guy.
Great video! After my dad passed away in 2018, I still had his guitars. An 08 LP Supreme in nice condition, and his pride and joy $90 Yamaha 1983 FG335ii acoustic that had no less than 5 cracks in the neck, a nice 6" cave-in on the back and frets that looked pretty much like a line of silver paint they were so worn down. After repairing all the cracks and other stuff, I realized that with guitars like that it's either All or nothing. If you replace a few bits here and there but leave others it will have problems. When it's used, over time it wears evenly and still sounds good. So I left the frets, bridge and nut since they all worked well together. Anyway, it plays beautifully now, and it's no wonder why he never bought another acoustic. When I fixed the cracks I used a bit of groud turquoise dust in the glue, so rather than try to hide them I decided to make them stand out. He was never one to baby anything.
I just keep thinking about someone showing they have as much care I have for a personal object as I do, and to express that care with the skill you have clearly demonstrated. It would be so overwhelmingly honorable, I would be brought to tears. Thank you for letting me know this kind of care is really out there!
Girl, I wish I had run across a woman like yourself who put their soul into every guitar they touched when I started playing 50 years ago... With the love and humility you put into your craft you Will Be Guitar Builder Extraordinaire one day...
As someone who plays and restores Saxophones I always have lots of old reeds unfit for further playing. But I use them for cleaning into nooks and crevices of a Saxophones body/mechanism. They are ideal because they are harder than the gunk being removed, but not so hard as to damage the lacquer or plating. It's all about relative hardness. I thought you could do the same with a small piece of wood when cleaning between the frets rather than a steel blade. I merely mention it for what it's worth. Cheers!
Daisy, I recommend that you watch some of Jerry Rosa's TH-cam repair videos. He shows exactly how to do the types of repairs that you did to your partners guitar. I've been repairing musical instruments for over forty years, and I still learn a lot from Jerry. I think that you are a lovely lady, and a beautiful person. Any man would be fortunate to have you as a friend or as a partner. Please do not use a heat gun around any guitar like that, use a small heating iron and apply heat directly to the bridge. Also, scrape any finish that is in the bridge footprint, it will make the bridge stick more securely.
You appear to give the same level of care and attention to the "rebuild" as you do instruments you have crafted from scratch by your hand. That comes from the internal drive which doesn't compromise based on who made the instrument you're working on, and is derived from a core desire to restore and reinstate. Keep going. You're dialed in and an inspiration to many.
What you've done is awesome taking a part of yourself and giving to your love something he treasures I love my guitars and I bet he'll love what you have done
A little of linseed oil on the fretboard, softens up the gunk and is easier to remove, also you can always use 0000 steel wool on those frets. When you glue back the bridge, sometimes it can slip and you end up with a misaligned bridge, (happened to me once) to avoid that, use two wooden dowels on the 1st and 6th string holes on the bridge, once dry, drill them back. Always looking up to your videos. Keep up the good work.
I built my first nut at age 13 in 1969, went on to repairing seriously by the early eighties and built my first guitar from scratch in 2004. It was Mahogonay back and sides, spruce top, Martin plans, a volute andGotoh tuners. Took it to the lunch room at work where a well known guitarist played it and said it was great. High praise. I was just pleased it turned out flawless. It sounds better as years go by. So I know how "chuffed" you felt Daisy. ( Terry from Oz).
Nice work, hope you didn’t actually lose your partner over it. Check out twoodford and his equipment for bridge reattachments, neck resets, with thorough explanations, occasional humour and an amazing array of different guitars. (That’s Ted Woodford in Canada.)
Oh.. And as I read on. Magnets are the way to go for cleats, just cover the ones on top with felt, so you can make adjustments under the surface without scratching the top.
Well done. That method of radius'ing the bridge works well for arch-tops, mandolins, also. The fretboard came out looking pristine! Thanks for sharing this with all of us.
This is so cool, I love working on guitars. The only thing that made me say "Oh" was the adjustable wrench on the tuners. Music Nomad make a tool called "The Octopus" that doesn't risk leaving marks in the metal.
Reminds me of the time my brother had a total engine failure in his car. (connecting rods through the side of the block). I secretly got hold of another engine, stripped it down and rebuilt it, so it was good as new. Then while my brother was away for the weekend, I replaced the engine. Took it for a quick test run and it was running terrific. Parked it up in exactly the same spot so he wouldn't suspect anything. Then on the day of his birthday I gave him a phone call. I asked him to go out to his car and... That's where he interrupted me to say "I haven't got it any more. I scrapped it. It was towed away yesterday"
I am enjoying your videos. The only things that made me nervous about your technique are using a heat gun unless it has a very low setting, because you could totally destroy the finish with a heat gun. I had to clean an even grungier fret board recently and I used a straight edge razor blade with one edge and it worked very well.the other thing that made me nervous was your using the spatula removing the bridge and not putting anything down to protect the surrounding surface. I hope you get in the habit of making lots of videos. Very enjoyable.
Agree with everything you said. There are some interesting techniques used by other guitar repair/restoration YT hosts. Rosa String Works for example does some challenging projects and may provide some useful insight (I'm not affiliated).
[because you could totally destroy the finish with a heat gun. ] Not just the finish, but something even more important: The tone and timbre. When you melt glues, you're at the temperature where the fibrous structure of the wood also changes.
The reason the bridge lifted is probably because there is finish in the glue joint under the edge. It'll probably happen again if you didn't sand and remove it
Great video! Great work. Would like to know if he liked it. Negative points for clickbait title - unless he actually dumped you in which case he's an idiot.
Great job - awesome! If I came home from work one day and my wife had taken my favorite guitar, the one I was given as a gift from my dad on my 15th birthday, a Dixon sunburst acoustic (I've now had it 46 years) and did to it what you did on that one, I would be thrilled. Plus, I did not know until your video that a guitar maker is called a Luthier. Thank you.
To fix cracks. Get watered down superglue and force in to the crack with a suction cup. Also adding a cleat will help. Also when tightening the nut on the tuning pegs you should use a socket instead of an adjustable wrench. Too much of a chance of rounding over the nut or damaging the headstock if the wrench slips.
Hey Daisy, nice video well done👌...I think that every good Luthier/ Guitarbuilder/ Maker has to be a good repairman/ women to. I've graduated in 1997 in Germany as a Luthier ( In German: Zupfinstrumentenmacher. We have a separation between Instruments you pick or Instruments you play with a Bow)....And in these Days it was permitted, after 3 Years of education, to build New Instruments. It was allowed to make Repairs, Parts, and assemble Instruments. You have to practice another 3 Years as a Repair Man/Women to get the Master and after that period of time you can make your Own builds. I've made more than 10k repairs. And every repair Job expanded my knowledge and shows me new ways of getting things " Back on the Track". It´s very satisfying to keep Instruments alive, and if you manage a tricky repair.... 👌Amazing Feeling.. Keep on going with your Videos there are really nice...Make your own experience and do your Thing. Best Regards to England. Nik
@@sacredband9812 Yes you are totally right. As a matter of fact a lot of German Luthiers and Instrument builder have spread there knowledge and craftsmanship over the whole World. Good Example Martin Guitar, Steinway Pianos, Roger Rossmeisel, Arthur Lang, just to name a few of them...Allmost all of them were educated at the Luthier Schools Mittenwald or Marktneukirchen. Best Regards Nik
Amazing video, I'm not a repair person nor a builder but I can recommend one of the most informative, certainly the most entertaining guitar repair channel on TH-cam by Ted Woodford. I'm sure you are already familiar with his content but if not give it a look. From bridge removal and re-glue to nearly all you need to know about bridge and saddle height in a neck reset and so much more. As a side note, there is quite a lot of height left in those frets and anyone would be happy with them especially with the extra height gained as a result of the fretboard rejuvenation. Guitar repair videos just because of the shear volume of old instruments can be made more frequently which will help with the growth of the channel and I, for one, will be looking forward to more...
How unbelievably lucky he is to have someone like you! I had a Washburn (W240 if I remember correctly) 12 string that the bridge lifted, and the top was warped underneath of it. It was my favorite guitar as it had belonged to my mother before me. Alas, my uncle believed he needed it more than I did, and it was never seen again. Your skill is amazing, coupled with the persona you carry and your intellect... just wow.
I’m so glad you started this channel! I’ve only ever done work on electric guitars and I have an acoustic that was left to me by my grandfather when he passed that has a similar bridge issue. This video gave me the confidence to give it a go and see if I can get it back to where it needs to be! Thanks!
If i may recommend a guitar repair/build channel it would be a Rosa Stringworks Workshop. I learned almost all i know from it and the author is such a nice guy. Definitely go check it out. Update - cleats are way to go, but I’d suggest glueing the cracks as well. I.e. pump the wood glue in the crack, clamp the body so the crack closes, then stick the cleats
I would say next time that you remove the lacquer from where the bridge was glued to the soundboard in the first place. Manufacturers don't seem to clean this up much anymore and as a consequence, the glue bond of the bridge is compromised (no wood to wood at the edges) which causes the lifting you saw in the first place. Ted Woodford has some really awesome repair videos too. (TWoodford)
I'm glad he didn't actually dump you. it shows his good sense! It didn't look to me that it needed a refret unless there was play wear on the tops of the frets that I couldn't see. I think you did just fine as a repair person! It takes real guts to tackle a fretboard as nasty as that one!
You’re the second female luthier I have come across in the last week, the other being Rosie (featured on Ben Crowe’s channel). Love your methodical approach to repairs.
You're so right in thinking everything through, logically. The only thing I would do differently is, when scraping the fingerboard, I use a full razor blade rather than an X-acto knife because you get a longer, straight edge against the surface. It's a more consistent flat edge so you won't gouge the wood accidently.
Daisy ,I may never build a guitar,however may be able to repair a few of my sons. As far as the guy leaving ,no worries ,his loss… you are a amazing person ,smart,you’ll do fine !! Ya got my sub.👍😇🇺🇸
You should make a video of the result… What he thought of it… Personally I think he’s the luckiest man in the world to have a girlfriend that’s a guitar luthier… That’s incredible.
I know what you mean when you say you're not a guitar repairer, you're a builder. I'm the same. I build my own and I'm not interested in fixing things on guitars someone else has made, simply because (as you say) you don't know exactly how they've been constructed. But in reality, there is not that much difference in building and repairing. It's mainly the reticence we builders feel towards repairing. I thought you did a top job on that Washburn. What else could have been done better? You did everything in a logical, methodical, reasoned manner with all the correct tools, understanding the issues to fix and how you're going to use the tools to fix them. Spot on! You did things slightly different to how I would have done them, but everyone is different and will do things different ways. I personally would have been tempted to flat off the frets, re-crown and polish them again (you're absolutely right, a re-fret wasn't necessary) given the wear in some of the positions in the frets, But that's another job and another allocation of your time. I think it's in a much better state than it was before (eugh!). I think your partner will be stoked with your work.
As amazing as guitars are, they’re “things.” A girl/woman like you who’s not only interested in guitars but could build a replacement one - whoa! That’s awesome, you’re a keeper!!
Great video! Can totally relate about being a maker not a repairer, but nonetheless you did an awesome job. Would have loved to have seen his reaction when first gazing upon it! 🙂
Your boyfriend is very lucky to have you! Smart, talented , charming and thoughtful! Mr Boyfirnd, this ones a keeper! Oh and you definitely have a new subscriber Daisy!
I've had the good fortune to know half a dozen luthiers socially, apart from those who've worked on my guitars. And the thoughtfulness, the ability to communicate ideas about what makes an instrument sound bright or rich, how to look at the inevitable tradeoffs when making a new bridge and ensuring that it bonds not just mechanically to the top but also sonically, these are a delight to hear about. It's a whole world of meaning. It helps us to remember to slow down and pay attention.
Kinda curious why you didn't just go with some steel wool to clean off the gunk on the fretboard? I've used it a few times on my fretboards and I don't have any issues with its use. So I'd like to know if I shouldn't have.
I use it all the time too but only on rosewood, pau ferro alike fretboards. The only thing you have to be careful is to cover any pickups (in case of an electric) cause the dust will all be attracted by the magnets. I keep a vacuum at hand and keep cleaning as I go along. You can also use a trick of having a magnet close to the cleaning area.
@@NelsonGago for some reason, steel wool isn't as fine where I get them. They're coarser than even loofahs. So there wasn't that worry of stray metal fibers getting into pickups but it is definitely best practice to tape em up for protection like you did.
Yeah, it can’t just be any old steel wool obviously; it has too be very fine. Also, yes very important to tape up electronics, as filings will cause problems.
Just one little comment, don't use an adjustable wrench to tighten bolts, it could slip and round the edges of the bolt. Use a box end wrench. I should have started out by saying I enjoy your videos. There is always something to learn.
His favorite guitar----- It's his favorite for a reason. It's one thing to bring a damaged guitar across the "repaired" finish line, but modifying or making "secret changes" could be a nightmare because he might not like that you did that and then not be able to tell you for fear of an argument. My guitars are my "girlfriend's" and you had better consult me before anything gets changed. I stand up for my women!
I love the vintage tone of a Badger-gap mis-aligned acoustic bridge. Sure it hurts playability, but that's more than made up for by the artistic enhancement of the friction taping to improve the structural integrity.
Daisy, please pay attention to your audio levels. The voice-over parts (the stuff that matters) are barely audible and the "fly-over" audio (the music while you're sanding, filing, luthiering) is deafening.
It is common practice for Music Instrument Shops to outsource specific work to a Luthier i.e. adding a PickUp System (such as a Fishman Blend) to an Acoustic as this will require cutting a hole in the Guitars outer body to accommodate it. As one of Hamburg Germany premier Instrument shops were to discover their chosen luthier can botch this up but fear not they are insured for this as is the Luthier. The example I give here was the addition of a Fishman Presys Blend to a brand new Sigma limited to 60 Worldwide special edition SIGMA SDR41 and where this went wrong, albeit minimal but visible, was one small blemish as a result of the multi-layered lacquer breaking. Sadly for the Luthier, even after consultation with Sigma on the composition of the Lacquer the blemish could not be removed and as a result I was not charged for the Pickup system being added and we agreed on a €300 depreciation to the value of the guitar, this was instead of the other offer by the Luthier to purchase the Guitar from me for what I had recently paid and as he said, he was happy to make that offer as this was one of the best ever sounding and playable Acoustics he had ever had the pleasure of working on, he went further by saying it was even better than his Martin D36.
Fun to watch. Just saw your episode on Andertons. I second the heat gun shielding. I use my Clothes Iron for separating the fret board (upper frets) on the body and bridges. Irons are a good adjustable, flat and steamy source of heat. I use my espresso machine steamer nozzle and a basketball needle attached to surgical tubing through a pinhole on the 14th fret to separate (steam) neck joints.
Well I don't know anything about guitar repair bust since you seem to be open to criticism, here are a few things that would have made the video better. 1. Audio balancing. Your voice was quiet enough that I had to turn my sound up, but as soon as the music started playing I had to turn it back down. 2. Close up shots of the guitar when it was finished. When you're watching these before/after type of vids, you generally want to see the after lol. We really only got a quick snippet as you were closing the case. Something more direct/deliberate would have been better. 3. The more optional, but nice to have thing would have been to see his reaction...Unless of course he doesn't want to be in a vid, then that's fine. Either way, best of luck!
That's awesome. I love how you sanded the bridge using the sandpaper on the soundboard. I'd suggest doing it both ways (up-&-down like in the video, then toward-&-away from the sound hole) to get it as close as possible to the shape of the soundboard. The chalk on the bottom is a good idea, too so you limit any changes in bridge height; there are similar techniques used in metalworking for very-closely mating parts, and for 'flattening' or curving an optical part. Cheers.
I have had to used the spatulas and heat gun on a build I was doing. 😮 I have done more repairs than builds and do find truth in your statement - builds are different than repairs! I enjoy the challenge and rewards of each. Both have a lot of problem solving and learning how to recover from my mistakes. 😂 I enjoy your videos!
Woah! I just did a belly-bulge steam repair on my old Washburn D10 yesterday and gave it a nice setup etc, and just picked it up to test it out and enjoy a random Daisy Tempest video, and it wasn't until the last few shots I noticed the headstock on this one! Almost the exact same guitar! Haha. Likely from the same era as well since the bridge shape is also the same. Mine is all black though. Hope he liked the repair job!
Interested to know more about this. I have a 12 string WD10S that had a fair bulge when I bought it used. I keep it tuned to D standard now. Is this preferable or is E standard ok?
@@gerrykavanagh I won't vaunt myself into the role of "expert" on Daisy's channel, and likely you were asking her and not me anyway, but I would offer that no matter what you do, the bulge is going to affect the relationship between the bridge and the neck. Things like tuning down to a lower key, using lighter gauge strings, making the neck as straight as possible, shaving the saddle within a 64th-inch of its life (someone even came into the shop yesterday with a bulging 12-string and their solution was to only install six of the strings AND tune it down, haha) will all help the situation feel more tolerable, but if you really want to make it right, I would check with a local repair shop to see if they can fix it with steam. Worse case, it may be something more serious like the top coming unglued from a brace or even a broken brace, but I feel like that's less likely. And the person diagnosing it would probably have to be holding the instrument. That being said: if dropping it down a whole step makes it more enjoyable to play and you like it, go with that! Another recommendation if you really want to tune it up to E is to maybe try a set of the same gauge string you're used to but in a silk & steel version. You can still get a good amount of sound out them but much easier on the hands, especially on a 12-string!
Well done there. Good job....... but please don't use an adjustable spanner to tighten the tuning pegs. Get a few sockets. It'll save tears further down the line.
Learned an important lesson about side-loading scalpel blades this past weekend while using the reverse of a #11 to smooth out a pickguard templateーthe blade snapped, went flying, and stuck me 3/4" deep into the middle knuckle of my right index finger, just missing the FDS tendon. Great tools, but best for cutting. Unfortunately, worked so well at what I was doing that I'll probably end up snapping one again, I'll just be wearing gloves next time. 😅
@@HeliBenj Always do. 👍 One close call from a hidden staple bouncing off my spectacles while prying the side off a toy piano, and I've been doubling up goggles + polycarbonate lens eyeglasses ever since.
Don’t know if anyone pointed this out below but I wanted to point out one thing about the bridge. When you took the bridge off their was guitar finish under it. The glue will not stick properly to that finished surface and it is probably why it lifted in the first place, as the finish is in the same spot. I would highly recommend that you tape around the bridge and then remove it so you can sand the finish off without affecting the surrounding area before glueing it back on. You really need that wood to wood contact in order for the bridge to glue down properly. This is a pretty common issue.
I'm pretty sure the area under the bridge was the only unfinished part of the guitar's top? Much more likely that what was there was residual glue from the original build. Besides, Daisy builds her own stunning guitars and has studied this for years- I'm more than sure she knows what she's doing.
i am classical guitarist and do a bit of luthier work. i think your cleats are way bigger than they need to be. if you reglue a crack, most of the time the crack is actually naturally stopped by a brace. however, if not, You can put a much smaller and thinner brace if the grain crosses the grain of the soundboard, maybe 1mm in thickness, 4 to 5 mm side of the diamond. Guitar luthiers tend to overdo it but if you see how they repair violon cracks they use much thinner cleats!
In the violin world of crack repair it goes like this: 1) clean crack 2) glue crack 3) first round of crack fill and scraping 4) glue cleats 5) shape cleats 6) second round of crack fill and scraping (sometimes more) 7) varnish touch up and matching surface texture Best wishes
Magnificent video Daisy! The love and commitment you have to your craft just oozes out of every word spoken. I once restored an old Eko ranger which had similar cracks. I used cyanoacrylate to fill the splits, carefully buffed it & achieved a really nice finish. Please keep the vids coming. x
That was a great video. I really love your approach to the project of not changing the profile of the frets and not using the dremel buffing wheel because you’re not familiar with the fret wire on the board. I’ll bet your partner is really happy with the results. Would like to see a follow up of the reveal.
Good idea to cover the top when applying heat to get the bridge off. Jewellers soldering plate works well with a cut out to fit around the bridge. Or you could use 2 together. They are not expensive to buy. Put tape under the plate to stop it scratching
Nice video and I think it’s sweet you have taken the time to help repair your bf’s guitar. One suggestion I have is to try naphtha for cleaning. It might save you having to scrape the fretboard and thus risk marking the fretboard. Nice job and thanks for sharing.
This is a very minor critique. One thing I noticed during the video was that the sound changed so much. Up and then down in volume. I enjoyed the video and I have had to do much the same type of repair years ago. I had a guitar that I got really cheap. It was in the case, in the rear window of my car, during the summer in Florida. The bridge came off of the sound board and was in a pile on top of the neck. Being a young guy with no knowledge of repair, I put it back on with Elmers Carpenters Glue. It worked fine. I had already scraped off the polyurethane finish someone else had put on it. I finished it with linseed oil. It has a wonderful low tone and I still have it maybe 35 years later. I will subscribe to your channel and learn more about making guitars. Thank you for being willing to share your knowledge. John Beres
You did an amazing job. Was cool seeing you go through your process of thinking. I think building and repair are similar in the fact that you’re creating and or modifying. Both can be frustrating as well haha.
Super cool, channel. Thanks, much and I hope 'getting dumped' was a jest! The guitar itself thanks you! Regarding crack repair, I recently heard of subjecting the instrument to very high humidity for a time to encourage the wood to swell, thereby minimizing the crack and any filling necessary. Then some kind of binding is applied inside to "permanently" secure the repair. I appreciate that you're sharing this wonderfully informative journey as you do.
To clean up a dirty fret board I normally use a cotton facecloth, so it's soft enough not to do damage but has the roughness also to scrub.. I use that with murphy's oil soap.. does a great job.
Fun to watch....reminds me of my brother who never wipes off his guitars after he plays and they all have years of grunge on them....yucch! ( hint I have polishing cloths put in every case and still I often forget to wipe mine down as well! ) I go through mine at least twice a year and clean them up...usually do a thorough cleaning whenever I change the strings. Only remark I have is I wouldn't have used cleats to repair the cracks, superglue and my own shellac is what I usually use and have had good results with. I think a thin strip of hardwood veneer is good for cracks on the back and sides, and probably a thin veneer of Adirondack spruce running with the grain would be better for a soundboard if you don't trust glue and/or shellac. Looks pretty nice tho I hope the owner appreciated the repair and effort! Also I find 0000 grade steel wool cleans up frets and fingerboards quite well. Notice you mentioned autosol which cleans up metal really well too. Lemon oil and Danish oil works well on satin finishes and a carfinish product called Meguiars works really well to remove surface scratches and will polish up most any guitar finish quite well!
Very nicely done, Daisy. For gunk removal you might consider trying the edge of a credit or gift card for scraping prior to using a scapel. Your methods had great results so in the end, it's whatever works best for you. Keep up the great and caring work! Cheers!
I would have been ecstatic if you did that for me and my favorite guitar 🥰 You did an amazing job being that You build and don't repair guitars. You are a pretty amazing woman Daisy!
maybe tape up the fretboard when buffing the frets. Autosol works great on frets but it's an abrasive paste and you don't want that residue on the fretboard. plus, it kind of stinks and if it gets in the wood, it'll stink for a long time :)
I think its funny that everyone is commenting on how they repair instruments which has to be helpful. But to me as just a player though, I hope I would've been extatic if the girl I was with, repaired my clearly broken guitar. And of course only a git would break up with that type of person. And you gotta think though that he took terrible care of the guitar to let it get so bad in the first place. And C'mon man... clean your frets! You did a great job Miss Tempest! Us players need people like you! Thank you
Daisy you are my kind of girl. I just love watching your work. I start doing repairs so I can learn to build which I have built a few little things off and on we talked a couple of guitars. Try to build Mandolins and ukuleles due to health reasons that hadn’t gone so well.
I'm unfamiliar with what you used on the frets, but I am a big big fan of lightly polishing frets with 0000 steel wool, it gets the string marks out without screwing up the height.
Yip, really fine steel wool does the best for me too, highly recommend. Though I would wear a mask to make sure I don't inhale the fine bits that come off when polishing.
Emery cloth is far superior. No metal particles left behind. Especially important with electric guitars, where it will infiltrate pickups and electronic components.
The guitar looks like a Washburn WD10s Exotic. It is hard to tell without seeing the head stock type. Solid wood top. I bought and sold lots of them from Washburn in past years. Nice work on your part. He should be happy to have it repaired finally.
You asked for feedback. Just IMO I would not have risked using a sharp blade to scrape the layer of dirt on the fretboard. Some fretboard oil and steel wool would get it done just fine and also make those frets nice and shinny.
He’s not your partner, you are not a man’s equal.
Lol
and you're not a man
She's clearly better than you at just about everything, so what does that make you?
no maidens?
Never been laid huh? Damn.
This unsolicited repair work reminds me of the time we stole my old lead singer's guitar. It was the only thing his dad ever gave him and some idiot smashed it during an argument. It had been broken for years and he kept it in the back of a cupboard. We had a get together, snuck into his room and swiped it and took it to the guitarist's luthier. Once we explained the situation to him he dove into the project and rebuilt the entire thing. We gave it back to him on his birthday a few weeks later (he never realised it was missing), he cried for ages and hasn't put it down in the 15 years since.
Everyone should be so lucky to have friends as good hearted as yourselves.
Bless each one of you.
Wow that's amazing. Gotta be a Guinness world record if he's been holding it nonstop for 15 years!
🤘😜
@@mr.yellowstrat3352 Agreed, and if he's been playing the whole time he should be an amazing freaking player by now! LOL
Not quite as good friends as you think they clearly did the super glue trick. 🤣🤣🤣
Wonderful story
2 things. I would glue up the cracks when I cleated them, reestablishing the top as 1 piece. Also, when establishing a radius for the bridge, short strokes towards and away from the sound hole over where the bridge will be replaced. That is where you are gluing, so that is the shape you need. Going side to side just removes material without shaping to the desired contour. Nice job.
Glue cracks, get crack wet, use finger to massage glue in crack. The glue will follow the water in the crack.
Thanks everyone for such lovely comments, I am so appreciative considering I’m not a repair person and I’ve learned a lot from all of you! He actually really loved it in the end - I mean, it was disgusting... 😂❤️🎸
Hmu if you and your mate ever split up 😉 there’s no girls in America quite like you lol
Is your boyfriend willing to play it? I'd like to hear it!
wish there was a boyfriend reaction in the end with the guitar reveal
Yeah its awsome that you can do that stuff I've played guyar for like 8 years and can barely change the strings.
Dont get my wrong I'm decent enough at the actual instrument but absolutely hopeless at the maintenance stuff.
Daisy,
You did a fantastic job!👌
This is actually the first video of yours that I've seen. Looks like I will be checking out your list of other videos to see what I can see.😉
I have played many instruments over the past 50+ years and always appreciate the younger generations getting involved with instrument building.
Thank you.🙂
If you build them you most certainly know how to fix them, even if you are not entirely familiar with particular materials. As you have demonstrated, the process is still the same.🤙
I am exactly the opposite. I “can” repair but can’t built 😅. The main recommendation I would give is to not use the heat gun without covering the rest of the guitar, except the bridge itself because heat will damage the finish. A quick way to isolate is to use cardboard leaving only the bridge cutout open. Cardboard is extremely resistant and doesn’t allow the heat to melt the finish. Some finishes might start creating bubbles almost immediately. Another good tip is to use steel wool on the fretboard to remove the “finger grease”. ;)
I’d agree with your suggestions
Is it ok to rub steel wool against the grain to be more aggresive with the cleaning? I worry that I will damage the fretboard if I use stool wool against ths grain, but going with the grain doesn't seem to take the crud off.
@@brushstroke3733 yes thin steel wool is absolutely fine for rosewood alike fretboards. Don’t forget to clean it well after. A magnet can pick up all the fine dust. Also lemon oil to hydrate every 6 months.
@@NelsonGago Thank you for the assurance and also the tip to use a magnet to pick up any wool shavings I miss when wiping down the guitar and area after. For anyone reading this, you must cover your pickups with tape completely before using steel wool anywhere near an electric guitar, as the shavings from the wool could damage the pickups if they get inside the windings.
@@brushstroke3733 yes cover all the pickup area. If it’s an electric bolt on neck I normally remove the neck and put the body away
I’ve been woodworking, making and repairing guitars for 53 years, and it’s plain to see you have a natural talent! Keep up the great work. Bill from frozen Mn.
mn ?
Hi Daisy.
With a gloss finish on the soundboard it has become quite common now to flood cracks with low viscosity cyanoacrylate glue (very thin superglue) and let it set in its own time.
The excess can then be scraped and buffed to approximately match the original finish. Cracks on a soundboard even after this kind of repair will always be slightly visible but the idea, similar to your cleats, is to reinforce to prevent them from growing. The idea with the glue is that it saturates into the fibre of the wood creating a matrix similar to any resin and fibre bond. Its also good to remember that as most glues cure they pull the surfaces together as the solvent cures off.
Cool video. I enjoyed this.
Hope the owner was pleased :)
I wondered if the mass of the cleats attached to the soundboard might affect the tone or projection. I'm more used to hearing about superglue for this kind of repair.
Wonderful to know that there are young people keeping these old crafts alive. Particularly wonderful to see young women doing this. I'm almost 60 and have been playing guitar for 40 years, but unable to do anything other than re-stringing my acoustic. Fantastic video. Your boyfriend's a lucky guy.
The state of that fingerboard. Good lawd. Surprised you didn’t hand your partner their waking papers. 😂
And she's really CUTE, too!
Great video!
After my dad passed away in 2018, I still had his guitars. An 08 LP Supreme in nice condition, and his pride and joy $90 Yamaha 1983 FG335ii acoustic that had no less than 5 cracks in the neck, a nice 6" cave-in on the back and frets that looked pretty much like a line of silver paint they were so worn down.
After repairing all the cracks and other stuff, I realized that with guitars like that it's either All or nothing. If you replace a few bits here and there but leave others it will have problems. When it's used, over time it wears evenly and still sounds good. So I left the frets, bridge and nut since they all worked well together.
Anyway, it plays beautifully now, and it's no wonder why he never bought another acoustic. When I fixed the cracks I used a bit of groud turquoise dust in the glue, so rather than try to hide them I decided to make them stand out. He was never one to baby anything.
Wabi sabi: the beauty of well used, well loved and noticeably repaired things 😀
@@jensbomholt4529 hey, thanks for that! I couldn't remember the term for it. It's a beautiful way of looking at things.
I just keep thinking about someone showing they have as much care I have for a personal object as I do, and to express that care with the skill you have clearly demonstrated. It would be so overwhelmingly honorable, I would be brought to tears. Thank you for letting me know this kind of care is really out there!
He's a blessed man to have such a caring lady
Girl, I wish I had run across a woman like yourself who put their soul into every guitar they touched when I started playing 50 years ago... With the love and humility you put into your craft you Will Be Guitar Builder Extraordinaire one day...
I dare say she already is. only thing now is time to become famous.
@@theeoddname I was to say the same... she already is
As someone who plays and restores Saxophones I always have lots of old reeds unfit for further playing.
But I use them for cleaning into nooks and crevices of a Saxophones body/mechanism. They are ideal because they are harder than the gunk being removed, but not so hard as to damage the lacquer or plating. It's all about relative hardness.
I thought you could do the same with a small piece of wood when cleaning between the frets rather than a steel blade.
I merely mention it for what it's worth.
Cheers!
Daisy, I recommend that you watch some of Jerry Rosa's TH-cam repair videos. He shows exactly how to do the types of repairs that you did to your partners guitar. I've been repairing musical instruments for over forty years, and I still learn a lot from Jerry. I think that you are a lovely lady, and a beautiful person. Any man would be fortunate to have you as a friend or as a partner. Please do not use a heat gun around any guitar like that, use a small heating iron and apply heat directly to the bridge. Also, scrape any finish that is in the bridge footprint, it will make the bridge stick more securely.
You appear to give the same level of care and attention to the "rebuild" as you do instruments you have crafted from scratch by your hand. That comes from the internal drive which doesn't compromise based on who made the instrument you're working on, and is derived from a core desire to restore and reinstate. Keep going. You're dialed in and an inspiration to many.
What you've done is awesome taking a part of yourself and giving to your love something he treasures I love my guitars and I bet he'll love what you have done
Every time he picks it up and makes it sing, he'll think of her.
A little of linseed oil on the fretboard, softens up the gunk and is easier to remove, also you can always use 0000 steel wool on those frets. When you glue back the bridge, sometimes it can slip and you end up with a misaligned bridge, (happened to me once) to avoid that, use two wooden dowels on the 1st and 6th string holes on the bridge, once dry, drill them back. Always looking up to your videos. Keep up the good work.
Better yet, use the 0000 steel wool on the fretboard, then use the oil to condition the wood. Works perfectly.
@@xdoctorblindx Don'y you think the Steel wool is useless in a very dirty fretboard?
I built my first nut at age 13 in 1969, went on to repairing seriously by the early eighties and built my first guitar from scratch in 2004. It was Mahogonay back and sides, spruce top, Martin plans, a volute andGotoh tuners. Took it to the lunch room at work where a well known guitarist played it and said it was great. High praise. I was just pleased it turned out flawless. It sounds better as years go by. So I know how "chuffed" you felt Daisy. ( Terry from Oz).
Thanks for sharing this Terry! Wonderful.
Never thought about repairing requiring different skills/knowledge than building. Good stuff!
Nice work, hope you didn’t actually lose your partner over it.
Check out twoodford and his equipment for bridge reattachments, neck resets, with thorough explanations, occasional humour and an amazing array of different guitars. (That’s Ted Woodford in Canada.)
Ted's videos, skills and humour are absolutely brilliant.
Yes, I recommend that anyone watch a few of his videos. His work is fantastic.
I love Ted, and his work is incredible, but he surely is not as fair as Daisy. I'd wager he'd agree.
I’m addicted to Ted lol
Plus one for Ted! Knowledgeable and skillful; its like dentistry and surgery, even keyhole surgery.
Oh.. And as I read on. Magnets are the way to go for cleats, just cover the ones on top with felt, so you can make adjustments under the surface without scratching the top.
Well done. That method of radius'ing the bridge works well for arch-tops, mandolins, also. The fretboard came out looking pristine!
Thanks for sharing this with all of us.
This is so cool, I love working on guitars.
The only thing that made me say "Oh" was the adjustable wrench on the tuners. Music Nomad make a tool called "The Octopus" that doesn't risk leaving marks in the metal.
I hate adjustable wrenches on anything!!
Your caution care and consideration is admirable
Reminds me of the time my brother had a total engine failure in his car. (connecting rods through the side of the block). I secretly got hold of another engine, stripped it down and rebuilt it, so it was good as new. Then while my brother was away for the weekend, I replaced the engine. Took it for a quick test run and it was running terrific. Parked it up in exactly the same spot so he wouldn't suspect anything. Then on the day of his birthday I gave him a phone call. I asked him to go out to his car and... That's where he interrupted me to say "I haven't got it any more. I scrapped it. It was towed away yesterday"
I am enjoying your videos. The only things that made me nervous about your technique are using a heat gun unless it has a very low setting, because you could totally destroy the finish with a heat gun. I had to clean an even grungier fret board recently and I used a straight edge razor blade with one edge and it worked very well.the other thing that made me nervous was your using the spatula removing the bridge and not putting anything down to protect the surrounding surface. I hope you get in the habit of making lots of videos. Very enjoyable.
Agree with everything you said.
There are some interesting techniques used by other guitar repair/restoration YT hosts. Rosa String Works for example does some challenging projects and may provide some useful insight (I'm not affiliated).
[because you could totally destroy the finish with a heat gun. ]
Not just the finish, but something even more important: The tone and timbre. When you melt glues, you're at the temperature where the fibrous structure of the wood also changes.
Agreed, always heat the knife, not the guitar. Yikes.
The reason the bridge lifted is probably because there is finish in the glue joint under the edge. It'll probably happen again if you didn't sand and remove it
That is exactly right.
I saw someone do a really cool thing for those by-feel-alone cleat glue ups: magnets! One on the top, the other on the cleat.
as a luthier everything you did was spot on, glass slides work well with cleaning grunge from the fretboard and are not aggressive if used lightly
Great video!
Great work.
Would like to know if he liked it.
Negative points for clickbait title - unless he actually dumped you in which case he's an idiot.
@@barnett25
Bullshit, it's never a requirement
Never mess around with a guy's baseball cards, his car, or his guitar.
Your partner is truly lucky to have someone as talented as yourself!
Why
@@14moldyhamsandwichWhy?
That bit about a family of badgers being able to live under the raised bridge got me in stitches. :D
Great job - awesome! If I came home from work one day and my wife had taken my favorite guitar, the one I was given as a gift from my dad on my 15th birthday, a Dixon sunburst acoustic (I've now had it 46 years) and did to it what you did on that one, I would be thrilled. Plus, I did not know until your video that a guitar maker is called a Luthier. Thank you.
To fix cracks. Get watered down superglue and force in to the crack with a suction cup. Also adding a cleat will help. Also when tightening the nut on the tuning pegs you should use a socket instead of an adjustable wrench. Too much of a chance of rounding over the nut or damaging the headstock if the wrench slips.
Wow, You are so kind to do this for him , Hope he knows how lucky he is ( Beauty, talent and skill all in one ).
Hey Daisy, nice video well done👌...I think that every good Luthier/ Guitarbuilder/ Maker has to be a good repairman/ women to. I've graduated in 1997 in Germany as a Luthier ( In German: Zupfinstrumentenmacher. We have a separation between Instruments you pick or Instruments you play with a Bow)....And in these Days it was permitted, after 3 Years of education, to build New Instruments. It was allowed to make Repairs, Parts, and assemble Instruments. You have to practice another 3 Years as a Repair Man/Women to get the Master and after that period of time you can make your Own builds. I've made more than 10k repairs. And every repair Job expanded my knowledge and shows me new ways of getting things " Back on the Track". It´s very satisfying to keep Instruments alive, and if you manage a tricky repair.... 👌Amazing Feeling.. Keep on going with your Videos there are really nice...Make your own experience and do your Thing. Best Regards to England. Nik
Martin Luthier was the first German to break away from the orthodox guitar builders in Rome in 1517. 🎸🎻⛪
@@sacredband9812 Yes you are totally right. As a matter of fact a lot of German Luthiers and Instrument builder have spread there knowledge and craftsmanship over the whole World. Good Example Martin Guitar, Steinway Pianos, Roger Rossmeisel, Arthur Lang, just to name a few of them...Allmost all of them were educated at the Luthier Schools Mittenwald or Marktneukirchen. Best Regards Nik
Great work, I'm really impressed with your work and your videos, calm, straight forward and educational, so glad to see your business is growing.
Amazing video, I'm not a repair person nor a builder but I can recommend one of the most informative, certainly the most entertaining guitar repair channel on TH-cam by Ted Woodford. I'm sure you are already familiar with his content but if not give it a look. From bridge removal and re-glue to nearly all you need to know about bridge and saddle height in a neck reset and so much more. As a side note, there is quite a lot of height left in those frets and anyone would be happy with them especially with the extra height gained as a result of the fretboard rejuvenation.
Guitar repair videos just because of the shear volume of old instruments can be made more frequently which will help with the growth of the channel and I, for one, will be looking forward to more...
+1 for Ted Woodford, he’s brilliant! 👍
Ditto, that dude is amazing and informative and funny.
How unbelievably lucky he is to have someone like you! I had a Washburn (W240 if I remember correctly) 12 string that the bridge lifted, and the top was warped underneath of it. It was my favorite guitar as it had belonged to my mother before me. Alas, my uncle believed he needed it more than I did, and it was never seen again. Your skill is amazing, coupled with the persona you carry and your intellect... just wow.
I’m so glad you started this channel! I’ve only ever done work on electric guitars and I have an acoustic that was left to me by my grandfather when he passed that has a similar bridge issue. This video gave me the confidence to give it a go and see if I can get it back to where it needs to be! Thanks!
Hope you got it fixed up, and you're making it sing.
If i may recommend a guitar repair/build channel it would be a Rosa Stringworks Workshop. I learned almost all i know from it and the author is such a nice guy. Definitely go check it out.
Update - cleats are way to go, but I’d suggest glueing the cracks as well. I.e. pump the wood glue in the crack, clamp the body so the crack closes, then stick the cleats
I would say next time that you remove the lacquer from where the bridge was glued to the soundboard in the first place. Manufacturers don't seem to clean this up much anymore and as a consequence, the glue bond of the bridge is compromised (no wood to wood at the edges) which causes the lifting you saw in the first place.
Ted Woodford has some really awesome repair videos too. (TWoodford)
TWoodford is a master!
@@mrclean111111 I learn so much from his videos.
As is Rosa Stringworks.
I'm glad he didn't actually dump you. it shows his good sense! It didn't look to me that it needed a refret unless there was play wear on the tops of the frets that I couldn't see. I think you did just fine as a repair person! It takes real guts to tackle a fretboard as nasty as that one!
As had been already mentioned, I too recommend Ted Woodford. Nothing phases him. Nice job by the way
You’re the second female luthier I have come across in the last week, the other being Rosie (featured on Ben Crowe’s channel). Love your methodical approach to repairs.
I can recommend twoodfrd's youtube channel.. Excellent builder and repair guy from Canada...
Daisy needs to subscribe to his channel and watch every video he has ever produced. She'll learn so much more than she knows now.
I will third that, Ted is an awesome watch and such a free sharer; if in Canada go visit him for a repair apprenticeship
I was going to say the same, Ted's use of a suction pad to get glue into cracks is something that you could learn from
@@johnthursfield3056 Another great technique of Ted's is to locate and hold a glued cleat in place with strong magnets.
@@Arnd2it Ted is a class act - so classy, in fact, that he wouldn't appreciate the way you've disparaged Daisy's skillset here.
You're so right in thinking everything through, logically. The only thing I would do differently is, when scraping the fingerboard, I use a full razor blade rather than an X-acto knife because you get a longer, straight edge against the surface. It's a more consistent flat edge so you won't gouge the wood accidently.
I hope we get to see the follow up video to this one. Did he love it? I use to have a Washburn acoustic and it was pretty nice but I sold it.
Daisy ,I may never build a guitar,however may be able to repair a few of my sons. As far as the guy leaving ,no worries ,his loss… you are a amazing person ,smart,you’ll do fine !! Ya got my sub.👍😇🇺🇸
You should make a video of the result… What he thought of it… Personally I think he’s the luckiest man in the world to have a girlfriend that’s a guitar luthier… That’s incredible.
I know what you mean when you say you're not a guitar repairer, you're a builder. I'm the same. I build my own and I'm not interested in fixing things on guitars someone else has made, simply because (as you say) you don't know exactly how they've been constructed. But in reality, there is not that much difference in building and repairing. It's mainly the reticence we builders feel towards repairing. I thought you did a top job on that Washburn. What else could have been done better? You did everything in a logical, methodical, reasoned manner with all the correct tools, understanding the issues to fix and how you're going to use the tools to fix them. Spot on! You did things slightly different to how I would have done them, but everyone is different and will do things different ways. I personally would have been tempted to flat off the frets, re-crown and polish them again (you're absolutely right, a re-fret wasn't necessary) given the wear in some of the positions in the frets, But that's another job and another allocation of your time. I think it's in a much better state than it was before (eugh!). I think your partner will be stoked with your work.
As amazing as guitars are, they’re “things.” A girl/woman like you who’s not only interested in guitars but could build a replacement one - whoa! That’s awesome, you’re a keeper!!
So her luthier skills are valuable only in the context of how worthy she is as a partner? Such a typical tonedeaf old white man comment.
I am no repairman nor luthier, but i would have cleaned the area under the bridge too, so it is nice and even withou any bits of glue or laquer
Great video! Can totally relate about being a maker not a repairer, but nonetheless you did an awesome job. Would have loved to have seen his reaction when first gazing upon it! 🙂
Even though you didn't build the guitar you showed it the same respect and love as you do your own builds, that's awesome. Great job!
Just found you today. Really detailed work and super repair!! Like 400 and subbing today!
I’d always use a box spanner rather than an adjustable. Back of the scalpel blade makes a better scraper than the sharp side. Nice job.
Your boyfriend is very lucky to have you! Smart, talented , charming and thoughtful! Mr Boyfirnd, this ones a keeper! Oh and you definitely have a new subscriber Daisy!
Maybe comment on the actual content of the video and not just how "datable" she is?
I've had the good fortune to know half a dozen luthiers socially, apart from those who've worked on my guitars. And the thoughtfulness, the ability to communicate ideas about what makes an instrument sound bright or rich, how to look at the inevitable tradeoffs when making a new bridge and ensuring that it bonds not just mechanically to the top but also sonically, these are a delight to hear about.
It's a whole world of meaning. It helps us to remember to slow down and pay attention.
Kinda curious why you didn't just go with some steel wool to clean off the gunk on the fretboard? I've used it a few times on my fretboards and I don't have any issues with its use. So I'd like to know if I shouldn't have.
I use it all the time too but only on rosewood, pau ferro alike fretboards. The only thing you have to be careful is to cover any pickups (in case of an electric) cause the dust will all be attracted by the magnets. I keep a vacuum at hand and keep cleaning as I go along. You can also use a trick of having a magnet close to the cleaning area.
@@NelsonGago for some reason, steel wool isn't as fine where I get them. They're coarser than even loofahs. So there wasn't that worry of stray metal fibers getting into pickups but it is definitely best practice to tape em up for protection like you did.
Yeah, it can’t just be any old steel wool obviously; it has too be very fine. Also, yes very important to tape up electronics, as filings will cause problems.
Just one little comment, don't use an adjustable wrench to tighten bolts, it could slip and round the edges of the bolt. Use a box end wrench. I should have started out by saying I enjoy your videos. There is always something to learn.
His favorite guitar----- It's his favorite for a reason. It's one thing to bring a damaged guitar across the "repaired" finish line, but modifying or making "secret changes" could be a nightmare because he might not like that you did that and then not be able to tell you for fear of an argument. My guitars are my "girlfriend's" and you had better consult me before anything gets changed. I stand up for my women!
I love the vintage tone of a Badger-gap mis-aligned acoustic bridge. Sure it hurts playability, but that's more than made up for by the artistic enhancement of the friction taping to improve the structural integrity.
Daisy, please pay attention to your audio levels. The voice-over parts (the stuff that matters) are barely audible and the "fly-over" audio (the music while you're sanding, filing, luthiering) is deafening.
It is common practice for Music Instrument Shops to outsource specific work to a Luthier i.e. adding a PickUp System (such as a Fishman Blend) to an Acoustic as this will require cutting a hole in the Guitars outer body to accommodate it. As one of Hamburg Germany premier Instrument shops were to discover their chosen luthier can botch this up but fear not they are insured for this as is the Luthier. The example I give here was the addition of a Fishman Presys Blend to a brand new Sigma limited to 60 Worldwide special edition SIGMA SDR41 and where this went wrong, albeit minimal but visible, was one small blemish as a result of the multi-layered lacquer breaking. Sadly for the Luthier, even after consultation with Sigma on the composition of the Lacquer the blemish could not be removed and as a result I was not charged for the Pickup system being added and we agreed on a €300 depreciation to the value of the guitar, this was instead of the other offer by the Luthier to purchase the Guitar from me for what I had recently paid and as he said, he was happy to make that offer as this was one of the best ever sounding and playable Acoustics he had ever had the pleasure of working on, he went further by saying it was even better than his Martin D36.
Fun to watch. Just saw your episode on Andertons. I second the heat gun shielding. I use my Clothes Iron for separating the fret board (upper frets) on the body and bridges. Irons are a good adjustable, flat and steamy source of heat. I use my espresso machine steamer nozzle and a basketball needle attached to surgical tubing through a pinhole on the 14th fret to separate (steam) neck joints.
Where is the reaction video? Also, that’s very sweet.
Well I don't know anything about guitar repair bust since you seem to be open to criticism, here are a few things that would have made the video better.
1. Audio balancing. Your voice was quiet enough that I had to turn my sound up, but as soon as the music started playing I had to turn it back down.
2. Close up shots of the guitar when it was finished. When you're watching these before/after type of vids, you generally want to see the after lol. We really only got a quick snippet as you were closing the case. Something more direct/deliberate would have been better.
3. The more optional, but nice to have thing would have been to see his reaction...Unless of course he doesn't want to be in a vid, then that's fine.
Either way, best of luck!
That's awesome. I love how you sanded the bridge using the sandpaper on the soundboard. I'd suggest doing it both ways (up-&-down like in the video, then toward-&-away from the sound hole) to get it as close as possible to the shape of the soundboard. The chalk on the bottom is a good idea, too so you limit any changes in bridge height; there are similar techniques used in metalworking for very-closely mating parts, and for 'flattening' or curving an optical part. Cheers.
I have had to used the spatulas and heat gun on a build I was doing. 😮 I have done more repairs than builds and do find truth in your statement - builds are different than repairs! I enjoy the challenge and rewards of each. Both have a lot of problem solving and learning how to recover from my mistakes. 😂 I enjoy your videos!
Daisy scraping with confidence like Baumgartner Restoration does it
Woah! I just did a belly-bulge steam repair on my old Washburn D10 yesterday and gave it a nice setup etc, and just picked it up to test it out and enjoy a random Daisy Tempest video, and it wasn't until the last few shots I noticed the headstock on this one! Almost the exact same guitar! Haha. Likely from the same era as well since the bridge shape is also the same. Mine is all black though. Hope he liked the repair job!
Interested to know more about this. I have a 12 string WD10S that had a fair bulge when I bought it used. I keep it tuned to D standard now. Is this preferable or is E standard ok?
@@gerrykavanagh I won't vaunt myself into the role of "expert" on Daisy's channel, and likely you were asking her and not me anyway, but I would offer that no matter what you do, the bulge is going to affect the relationship between the bridge and the neck. Things like tuning down to a lower key, using lighter gauge strings, making the neck as straight as possible, shaving the saddle within a 64th-inch of its life (someone even came into the shop yesterday with a bulging 12-string and their solution was to only install six of the strings AND tune it down, haha) will all help the situation feel more tolerable, but if you really want to make it right, I would check with a local repair shop to see if they can fix it with steam. Worse case, it may be something more serious like the top coming unglued from a brace or even a broken brace, but I feel like that's less likely. And the person diagnosing it would probably have to be holding the instrument. That being said: if dropping it down a whole step makes it more enjoyable to play and you like it, go with that! Another recommendation if you really want to tune it up to E is to maybe try a set of the same gauge string you're used to but in a silk & steel version. You can still get a good amount of sound out them but much easier on the hands, especially on a 12-string!
I would agree with every fix/clean you made and everything you chose not to alter. Great work!!
Well done there. Good job....... but please don't use an adjustable spanner to tighten the tuning pegs. Get a few sockets. It'll save tears further down the line.
Learned an important lesson about side-loading scalpel blades this past weekend while using the reverse of a #11 to smooth out a pickguard templateーthe blade snapped, went flying, and stuck me 3/4" deep into the middle knuckle of my right index finger, just missing the FDS tendon.
Great tools, but best for cutting. Unfortunately, worked so well at what I was doing that I'll probably end up snapping one again, I'll just be wearing gloves next time. 😅
Please wear glasses if you do that, you’re lucky it didn’t end up in your eye
@@HeliBenj Always do. 👍 One close call from a hidden staple bouncing off my spectacles while prying the side off a toy piano, and I've been doubling up goggles + polycarbonate lens eyeglasses ever since.
Don’t know if anyone pointed this out below but I wanted to point out one thing about the bridge. When you took the bridge off their was guitar finish under it. The glue will not stick properly to that finished surface and it is probably why it lifted in the first place, as the finish is in the same spot. I would highly recommend that you tape around the bridge and then remove it so you can sand the finish off without affecting the surrounding area before glueing it back on. You really need that wood to wood contact in order for the bridge to glue down properly. This is a pretty common issue.
I'm pretty sure the area under the bridge was the only unfinished part of the guitar's top? Much more likely that what was there was residual glue from the original build. Besides, Daisy builds her own stunning guitars and has studied this for years- I'm more than sure she knows what she's doing.
i am classical guitarist and do a bit of luthier work. i think your cleats are way bigger than they need to be. if you reglue a crack, most of the time the crack is actually naturally stopped by a brace. however, if not, You can put a much smaller and thinner brace if the grain crosses the grain of the soundboard, maybe 1mm in thickness, 4 to 5 mm side of the diamond. Guitar luthiers tend to overdo it but if you see how they repair violon cracks they use much thinner cleats!
In the violin world of crack repair it goes like this:
1) clean crack
2) glue crack
3) first round of crack fill and scraping
4) glue cleats
5) shape cleats
6) second round of crack fill and scraping (sometimes more)
7) varnish touch up and matching surface texture
Best wishes
Magnificent video Daisy! The love and commitment you have to your craft just oozes out of every word spoken. I once restored an old Eko ranger which had similar cracks. I used cyanoacrylate to fill the splits, carefully buffed it & achieved a really nice finish. Please keep the vids coming. x
You had me at "small family of badgers".
That was a great video. I really love your approach to the project of not changing the profile of the frets and not using the dremel buffing wheel because you’re not familiar with the fret wire on the board. I’ll bet your partner is really happy with the results. Would like to see a follow up of the reveal.
Good idea to cover the top when applying heat to get the bridge off. Jewellers soldering plate works well with a cut out to fit around the bridge. Or you could use 2 together. They are not expensive to buy. Put tape under the plate to stop it scratching
Nice video and I think it’s sweet you have taken the time to help repair your bf’s guitar. One suggestion I have is to try naphtha for cleaning. It might save you having to scrape the fretboard and thus risk marking the fretboard. Nice job and thanks for sharing.
This is a very minor critique. One thing I noticed during the video was that the sound changed so much. Up and then down in volume. I enjoyed the video and I have had to do much the same type of repair years ago. I had a guitar that I got really cheap. It was in the case, in the rear window of my car, during the summer in Florida. The bridge came off of the sound board and was in a pile on top of the neck. Being a young guy with no knowledge of repair, I put it back on with Elmers Carpenters Glue. It worked fine. I had already scraped off the polyurethane finish someone else had put on it. I finished it with linseed oil. It has a wonderful low tone and I still have it maybe 35 years later. I will subscribe to your channel and learn more about making guitars. Thank you for being willing to share your knowledge. John Beres
You did an amazing job. Was cool seeing you go through your process of thinking. I think building and repair are similar in the fact that you’re creating and or modifying. Both can be frustrating as well haha.
Super cool, channel. Thanks, much and I hope 'getting dumped' was a jest! The guitar itself thanks you! Regarding crack repair, I recently heard of subjecting the instrument to very high humidity for a time to encourage the wood to swell, thereby minimizing the crack and any filling necessary. Then some kind of binding is applied inside to "permanently" secure the repair. I appreciate that you're sharing this wonderfully informative journey as you do.
To clean up a dirty fret board I normally use a cotton facecloth, so it's soft enough not to do damage but has the roughness also to scrub.. I use that with murphy's oil soap.. does a great job.
Fun to watch....reminds me of my brother who never wipes off his guitars after he plays and they all have years of grunge on them....yucch! ( hint I have polishing cloths put in every case and still I often forget to wipe mine down as well! ) I go through mine at least twice a year and clean them up...usually do a thorough cleaning whenever I change the strings. Only remark I have is I wouldn't have used cleats to repair the cracks, superglue and my own shellac is what I usually use and have had good results with. I think a thin strip of hardwood veneer is good for cracks on the back and sides, and probably a thin veneer of Adirondack spruce running with the grain would be better for a soundboard if you don't trust glue and/or shellac. Looks pretty nice tho I hope the owner appreciated the repair and effort! Also I find 0000 grade steel wool cleans up frets and fingerboards quite well. Notice you mentioned autosol which cleans up metal really well too. Lemon oil and Danish oil works well on satin finishes and a carfinish product called Meguiars works really well to remove surface scratches and will polish up most any guitar finish quite well!
Very nicely done, Daisy. For gunk removal you might consider trying the edge of a credit or gift card for scraping prior to using a scapel. Your methods had great results so in the end, it's whatever works best for you. Keep up the great and caring work! Cheers!
this shit use to be so in and its normal she want to finish soon so I think a blade is a proper tool. I use an old and well sharped scraped for this
I would have been ecstatic if you did that for me and my favorite guitar 🥰 You did an amazing job being that You build and don't repair guitars. You are a pretty amazing woman Daisy!
maybe tape up the fretboard when buffing the frets. Autosol works great on frets but it's an abrasive paste and you don't want that residue on the fretboard. plus, it kind of stinks and if it gets in the wood, it'll stink for a long time :)
I’ve just discovered your channel. Very important point about the difference between building and repairing
I think its funny that everyone is commenting on how they repair instruments which has to be helpful. But to me as just a player though, I hope I would've been extatic if the girl I was with, repaired my clearly broken guitar. And of course only a git would break up with that type of person. And you gotta think though that he took terrible care of the guitar to let it get so bad in the first place. And C'mon man... clean your frets!
You did a great job Miss Tempest! Us players need people like you!
Thank you
Daisy you are my kind of girl. I just love watching your work. I start doing repairs so I can learn to build which I have built a few little things off and on we talked a couple of guitars. Try to build Mandolins and ukuleles due to health reasons that hadn’t gone so well.
I'm unfamiliar with what you used on the frets, but I am a big big fan of lightly polishing frets with 0000 steel wool, it gets the string marks out without screwing up the height.
Yip, really fine steel wool does the best for me too, highly recommend. Though I would wear a mask to make sure I don't inhale the fine bits that come off when polishing.
Emery cloth is far superior.
No metal particles left behind.
Especially important with electric guitars, where it will infiltrate pickups and electronic components.
The guitar looks like a Washburn WD10s Exotic. It is hard to tell without seeing the head stock type. Solid wood top. I bought and sold lots of them from Washburn in past years. Nice work on your part. He should be happy to have it repaired finally.
A guitar repairer is called a guitar tech a guitar builder is called a luthier.
So interesting and healing of this video. Good to know these details about repairing a guitar. So nice!
You asked for feedback. Just IMO I would not have risked using a sharp blade to scrape the layer of dirt on the fretboard. Some fretboard oil and steel wool would get it done just fine and also make those frets nice and shinny.