ok, so i've decided the neck on this guitar is very healthy. it's pointing at about a 30 degree angle downwards, which is surprising given the issues with the bridge. but, it might mean the truss was pulled all the way down. i suspect i'll have to adjust it, but that's ok - i just didn't want to have to reset it.

i'll need to get strings on, first.

regarding the bridge and how the guitar was/is made, somebody on one of the forums suggested i shine on a flashlight through the holes to determine what's in there, and the results are kind of inconclusive - the action holes look like solid top (although the wood grain is still moving in the wrong direction), whereas the string holes have clear layers (two for a reinforced bridge plate and two for the top, itself). on top of that, the age of the wood is visibly different.

so, it seems like somebody tried to reinforce the plate from the bottom and may have done some surgery to the top, although it's hard to tell. that means i want to avoid shaving it further, and rather want to continue with the reinforcement as best as possible.

i want this to be an acoustic guitar for recording, but i need to convince myself it can handle the tension, first. so, i'm going to start by stringing it with ball wound classical strings and see what happens. can i even hit that 21st fret? if it holds tune and plays well, i'll have to decide whether i want to keep it as a classical or move to the next higher tension, which is probably some heritage-designed steel string guitars that run a little less than 100 lb. and, if that's not good enough, i can look at silk & bronze, if i think it's workable.

so, i'm going to need the following:

- two c-clamps

- a small sanding block

- some title bond wood glue

- some ball end classical strings

unfortunately, i need a nap.

this is a landscape shot of the ottawa river, standing from the confederation alexandra bridge - gatineau is on the right and ottawa is on the left. it took me a minute to be sure about that, but i was able to cross reference it fairly well on google maps:

as she would have taken this picture in early 2004 (i have a set of doubles she gave me), it is probably a more appropriate front cover for the art show demo.

she used to climb that old rickety bridge like it was monkey bars, to try to get up to catch the view. it drove me nuts. that picture was probably taken climbed up the middle of the bridge a good ways...

this was taken in the lower mainland of bc, somewhere up the strip between osoyoos and penticton. i want to say penticton...

we were fighting over something (i don't remember what), and it started just pouring, so we had to stop and immediately seek shelter. we met working as employees in a coffee shop, so we had this kind of weird instinct to cooperate in strangely effective ways, and that just completely overpowered. when the downpour had subsided, this just absolutely vivid and surreal double rainbow popped into the atmosphere in front of us - and it was so close that it felt like you could reach out and touch it (although, of course, you could not). she's kind of a primitive, pagan irish girl at heart; that meant something to her that i can only analyze metaphorically, in terms of rebirths and new beginnings. 

the picture only captures the moment vaguely. if this was done right, it would be dripping with paint, like something out of what dreams may come, or perhaps pleasantville. but, it's a nice shot, nonetheless.

i wish i had something better and am going to ask her a second time...

i couldn't sleep this morning because it was so dry and dusty (and smoky) in here that my body just wouldn't let me go. i can't sleep in dry, dirty air like that - i need clean and most.

tonight, i need to determine what i'm doing with that neck...

but, i took the opportunity to sort through some period 3 era pictures when i woke up. that cover art with the statue of liberty is sort of neat, but it's not permanent. i sent sarah a text asking her to contribute, but she hasn't responded. she responds sometimes...and, it's always clear that she sees me as an ex-boyfriend, rather than as a friend. that wasn't always true, but you can only bring a horse to water.

anyways, i found a few shots for use with cover art.

i've tried to avoid posting pictures of sarah, but at this point it doesn't matter anymore, and i don't really know how to post this and manage to remove her from it - it seems impossible.

you probably wouldn't be able to recognize her today from 20 year old photos, and that's really been my main concern in not posting them.

so, this is a picture taken right before we left for bc. this was a total ambush - i had no idea it was coming. her intent (as explained by her), was to catch me hunched over and kiss me on the lips. so, the photo was intended to be of me leaned over the guitar, and her leaned over me; as she was kissing me, i was kissing my guitar. a love triangle, of sorts. it was a reflection of her insecurity around where my affections truly lay, as she frequently accused me of expressing and investing more passion and emotion into the guitar. why can't i play her like i play that guitar? well...she wouldn't stay in tune, to begin with....

but, i sat up when she embraced me (i had no idea what she was doing...) and sort of ruined the shot.

i think this is a good back cover for the acoustic project and am going to file it away for that purpose:

there would appear to be two pieces under the body in this place - one is the backplate, and the second seems to be a brace for it. they're both relatively thick pieces of wood.

besides the repeated bad bridge repairs, the guitar is in good shape, and i don't have reason to think it's weak under there:

those grooves are where the wood came off, and what i'm trying to figure out is if i want to scrape that layer off (to keep the action low) or try to keep it as close to how it is as possible.

the wood fibers are still on the bridge, and i've been careful not to remove then.

you can see the extra hole for the action.

ok, so i posted the pictures in a few places, and the consensus is that the top is plywood, which runs counter to the information on the internet about the model. i guess you've got three options, then:

1) the information is wrong

2) the top was replaced

3) it's some kind of weird hybrid

the usual markers for a solid body guitar hold, but...if you rip the top off and it's plywood, then it's plywood, whatever the documentation says.

so, is this worth fixing? well, i couldn't get it in tune, and when i tried the action was very high.

so, let me check the neck as best i can. if the neck looks good, i'll bother. if not, i'll just keep the case. maybe i'll put it up on ebay or something...

i don't know what it's going to sound like, but i know it's not worth bothering with if i can't play it.

so, i'm looking at the part of the guitar i sanded down closely and there's something rather amiss about it.

this is a solid spruce top with the wood grain running parallel to the strings. but, the wood underneath the bridge appears to be running in the other direction. further, if you look closely at the region that ripped off, it seems like there is wood underneath it - and it seems like it's running in the right direction.

i strongly suspect that somebody placed some kind of particle board underneath the bridge.

but, it opens up the question - why?

the most obvious reason is that it needed some support, because there was a crack under it. the less obvious reason would be to raise the action, or otherwise "protect" the finish.

so, this is a difficult choice. if i want to do this right, i want to rip the particle board out. but, i risk exposing whatever the particle board was intended to support.

i want to see if i can find an example. but, the wood looks weird...

the flip side is that if there is a particle board underneath, and it was there to protect the original finish, i guess it did it's job, right? it would mean the wood i pulled up was meant to be damaged.

but, that's only important if the glue job is shoddy, and we're not making that mistake again. if i can get to the actual wood, and it doesn't need the support, i'd rather do that.

i just don't know how to prove it's an addition - and i fear the consequences of my intuition being wrong.

i should also make sure the neck is straight before i do anything else to it.

i need to eat first.

ok, so i wanted to make sure i could get the bridge back on flush before i went and bought some c-clamps.

i actually carved out a slightly larger than necessary space with an exacto knife, at the expense of the finish, because the finish doesn't matter if i can't get it in tune. hey, it's worthless as it is, and if this works, i'm never selling it. it's just a little evidence i spent some time on it - i'll wear the break on the finish as a badge of honour. it's minor...and, there's no use in being dishonest about it.

the bridge has been a little more stubborn, but i was able to get enough glue off of it with a nail filer that i'm confident i should be able to get it flush.

i'll work at it a little more after i eat.

the c-clamps are going to cost me about $30 but i should be able to get them tomorrow at home depot. we'll have to see if they have the right kind of glue.

this is this guitar's last chance - it's been reglued repeatedly, so i'm going to do it right and if it fails i'll just keep the case for something else. i can use clamps and glue for something else, too - those aren't throwaway items.

let's do a total update first before i buy anything else.

already purchased:

- one person coffee maker

- backup fan

- big bookcase

- new broom

- new computer keyboard

- 4 gb backup ram for 32-bit pc, 1 gb backup ram for 16-bit pc, 2 gb of ram for 90s laptop

- micro orange crush 3w amp

- vox ac30 headphone plug

- all four tanktops (one blue, two pink, one purple)

- behringer umx61midi controller

- fender squire mini strat

- micro cassette recorder 

- wood flute

- sennheiser replacement headphones

- marantz microphone

- 1 of 3 gig bags

- bottom of the vox combo

- soldering iron

- mini xylophone

- mic stand

- takeharu guitar (w/ case)

- no-name mini classical guitar (w/ case for epiphone electro-acoustic)

- a stack of old books

and this is what is coming:

- pignose (not now though, later) *

- midi guitar*

- 21 fret classical*

- 2 of 3 gig bags

- hannah montana guitar

- audio to midi converter (with extra cord)

- ancestry dna test

*not yet purchased

and, here's where i'm at with this, now:

main guitars:

- custom built prs style guitar with coronet batwing neck, epiphone branding and two open coil independent humbuckers  <----lead/jazz guitar with heavy strings

- slightly small epiphone sg with two humbuckers  <---rhythm/punk guitar with slightly less heavy strings

side guitars:

- ibanez rx40 fat strat copy. ibanez has been around a long time, and they've built lots of guitars, but i've always seen them as primarily a manufacturer of strat copies - almost all of their guitars are built like strats (and the ones that aren't are built like prses). i have yet to fix the wiring, but i just bought a soldering iron. <-----was intended to be a lead/blues guitar with skinny strings. now, it will probably be used more for rhythm/blues parts.

- mini squier sss strat.  <----- this will become the lead/blues guitar

- mini hohner classical  <--- i've recorded classically stuff on this

- full size epiphone electro-acoustic <------this is my one electro-acoustic

- hannah montana washburn mini telecaster copy <---lead/electro-classical guitar. i will largely use this for finger picking, although you heard the classic blues tone that guy got out of it.

- audio to midi converter to plug into hardware synths <-----for live tracking into midi. i will use this quite a lot, trust me - both for period 3 & period 4.

- fixable takeharu acoustic guitar? <---if i can fix this, it will no doubt be my go-to acoustic

- second mini classical of unknown quality <---can i get $20 for this?

what's missing?

guitars to find:

- i'm still looking at a midi guitar for polyphony, but it's a weird controller that you can't bend on, so you sort of need both

- i'm looking for a basic paul shape, to put p90s in it. must be a super cheap pawn shop purchase. <----amplified rhythm parts

- a jazzmaster or jaguar shaped guitar with jazzmaster pickups. idea probably put aside for now. <---effects work

- a couple of cheap electrics for weird tunings, etc.

- i've officially given up on the electro-acoustic on ebay, but if i'm going to spend $200 on a chinese electro-acoustic to convert into a classical, does it make more sense to get the ibanez for $350? or to wait?

- if i can find a cheap 12-strong acoustic, i'll grab it, too.

- i was looking at an electric mandolin, but it's probably dropped for now.

i'm still looking at replacement items, starting back up in 1997...

those are the best guitars - the worthless ones that sound awesome.

so, the guitar is actually probably worthless because it's essentially been ruined.

but, i bet it'll sound great.

give me your weird guitars!

so, i opened up about an 1/8th inch at the top of the bridge space on the body so that i can glue the bridge on flush to the straight wood.

i wonder if he actually got it refinished, in the process, because is it not weird for me to find this on a 50 year old guitar? unless, i guess, it's been like that for decades. but, it's possible that the guy that refinished it went over an 1/8th an inch, and then couldn't glue the bridge back on. oops.

but, i'm going to need to get some acetone or something as well, because there's gumps of what actually looks like three types of glue - crazy glue, yellow wood glue and white glue - on both pieces, and i'm never going to succeed in scraping it off.

my best guess is that the white glue failed, so they moved to crazy glue. lol.

hey.

this is the place for weird guitars.

if i can fix this, it will live out it's years with some other weird guitars, and we can all be weird together.

if you have  a weird guitar for cheap that needs to find it's clan, send me an email: death.to.koalas@gmail.com.

what are these guitars worth?

we live in a market economy, which means information exchanged within it is imperfect, because markets are highly inefficient as a way to set prices - they're really the worst conceivable way to set prices. these were essentially custom-built guitars made by a famous composer/guitarist in japan in the 70s to emulate famous american guitars from the 60s. they were expertly crafted guitars made of good wood and custom-built to meet high-end specs - much like the lawsuit guitars of the era. so, in a real sense, these are the japanese equivalents of a jimmy page signature les paul, or an srv signature stratocaster - and japanese guitarists will recognize this name very quickly, even if north americans have never heard of him. you could not have a reversed scenario, because america is the hegemon, and there would be no famous american guitarists that the japanese are unaware of.

so, if americans had the information that the japanese have, they would price these guitars very high, as they would be seen as high end replicas of the american models they're emulating. they are copies, but they're good copies. unfortunately, because very few were made, americans do not have that information, and are left to rely on stereotypes about "japanese guitars", instead.

to put it tersely, these guitars are frequently absurdly underpriced, because americans harbour a peculiar sort of racism about japanese instruments.

you'll see that here - they come in at very high numbers, by people that understand what they have. it seems like they seem to come down, though, as the market doesn't recognize the quality.

so, they're frequently underpriced....but you can see what people think they ought to be worth.

https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=takeharu

yeah, so the bridge was initially lifting because the finish wasn't cut perfectly, which seems to be a common problem. so, the glue couldn't adhere to the bridge.

whomever tried to fix didn't seem to realize that, and just tried to lock it into place with crazy glue. i don't think they clamped it, and they seem to have been conservative with the glue; in hindsight, that's a good thing, as it would have been impossible to get off had they dabbed enough glue in. like, they just put two or three blobs...

the result is somewhat of a mess, but i think i should be able to clean it where i need it.

so, i need to buy glue and clamps.....let's see if i can do it for less than $30....

so, i didn't want to buy some clamps before i could get it off first...

i used a butcher's knife and the stove, but i was able to get it off with minimal wood loss. there is some damage, but i think it was 98% already there. and, i'm going to try to salvage the bridge, but i might have to replace it.

i think it's as clean as it could have been given the type of glue used to keep it together.

so, i have to sand it down, level it out, but some clamps and some glue to keep it back in place.

the guitar seems to otherwise be in great shape. really. it was just a bad job on the bridge replacement. so, let me save this...

i need to be clear: i'm not a luthier. it's not going to be sellable, in the end - it will have some chips on it. but, i'm more concerned about what it sounds like, and if i can salvage a solid top guitar for recording, i surely must.

a little bit of character from my own hands is really a benefit, in the end.

and, yes - this is a solid top guitar. it's solid spruce. it seems to be a solid back, s well; i'm pretty sure it's mahogany.

so, i was going to do some things today, but i woke up late, so let's skip a day and get back to it tomorrow, instead. 

the fridge is better, and i'm going to hope it's good enough. one more major scrub, and then i'll start trying to put it back together.

i took a closer look at the guitar and i don't want to rip it off. i actually tried to chisel some of the glue out, but what i need to do is try to melt it off - which i'm trying to avoid. this is a solid top guitar, i don't want to use a hairdryer on it, but i need to heat the glue up to loosen it...

so, this old thing was so detuned...

i tuned it by ear last night and took it way up, only to realize this morning that:

- it was still in tune. sort of. the five fret (except that weird g/b) test worked, but you played a chord and it was nowhere close

- i had tuned it an octave down

- the glue job on the bridge was awful and it's going to go if it stays tense, which is no doubt why it was tuned down

so, it was in tune. but an octave down...and you can't do that on a guitar and expect it to stay in tune. it's all relative - chords don't just transpose down like that. you can maybe take it up or down two or three steps before the intonation gets fucked.

i took it up another octave, and it wouldn't hold tune, but i wouldn't expect it to given the bridge. and, the more i tuned it up, the more obvious it was that the bridge was going to snap off...

the person seems to have used crazy glue rather than wood glue, and probably did not clamp the guitar. it's not going to hold tune unless i'm able to take the bridge off and put it back on properly myself.

so, i've actually overtuned it with the hopes that it will ease, but i'm concerned that it's going to take part of the wood off with it.

do not put crazy glue on a guitar - that is dumb.

....but, if i can get it off clean and sand it down, i can probably salvage it - with the original bridge.

see, i've read up on this a little now, and these action screws don't exist anymore because they create tuning problems. but, i don't care - i want the original hardware on here, and i'll make it stay in tune by playing it.

a fifty year old guitar with a battered bridge like this isn't going to stay in tune unless you play it every day for a month.

so, that's step one - let's get the bridge off. then, let's check the neck properly. and let's get the bridge back on with a new set of strings.

on second thought, if i'm redoing the bridge anyways, i should keep it as an acoustic guitar and plan to do the acoustic project with it. i mean, it's a solid top guitar - that's potentially a ridiculous upgrade.

so, i eyed the neck on it and it really looks fine...

i took the plunge and tightened the strings and...

...it doesn't hold tune, but it's a 50 year old guitar that i suspect has barely been played at all, and appears to have been restringed with old strings.

i'm going to get some nylon strings for it tomorrow,

i actually think it's fine - it's just old and has barely been played. it should stay in tune when i play it more....

...but i'm concerned about the bridge being weak, so we're going to turn it into a classical guitar, first.