Work Page 7-26
1920's Slingerland Guitar Banjo
Tear down - inspect
Make estimate on returning it to playing status.
Make estimate on returning it to playing status.
This instrument has seen hard times, and attempts at repair that failed along with modifications and missing hardware.
The neck has a severe upbow under tension causing an action too high for playing.
At first glance :
Tuners are mismatched - need replacement
Head is damaged, bridge (non-original) glued to the head.
Metal shimming in the heel
Missing some shoes and hook sets.
Wrong screw in neck yoke (cross threaded)
Heel is held together with 2 screws horizontally that screw into imbedded collars
(That operation was successful)
Dowel has wood putty all around it and attempt was made to reshape the heel angle with wood putty, and the dowel is loose and pulled forward 1/4"
So first I will disassemble it to see if dowel tenon is unbroken and remove all wood putty to prepare it for wood veneer to be added tot he areas where it was removed.
Then, I will speak with the owner because we have to decide how far to take it to make it at least play out properly.
The neck has a severe upbow under tension causing an action too high for playing.
At first glance :
Tuners are mismatched - need replacement
Head is damaged, bridge (non-original) glued to the head.
Metal shimming in the heel
Missing some shoes and hook sets.
Wrong screw in neck yoke (cross threaded)
Heel is held together with 2 screws horizontally that screw into imbedded collars
(That operation was successful)
Dowel has wood putty all around it and attempt was made to reshape the heel angle with wood putty, and the dowel is loose and pulled forward 1/4"
So first I will disassemble it to see if dowel tenon is unbroken and remove all wood putty to prepare it for wood veneer to be added tot he areas where it was removed.
Then, I will speak with the owner because we have to decide how far to take it to make it at least play out properly.
Probably the way a back plate was attached. Shoe gone.
That screw is jammed tight, cross threaded.
Neck set too low, head is higher than fingerboard.
That is where the tuner hole was altered.
Got the pin out and shims.
One more shim to go.
Pearwood degraded and cracking, needs sealing or new fingerboard.
This is how far the dowel is out of its hole.
After screw removal now you can see the cracks.
Forstner bit to get all the glue out, it was not done well.
Delamination's to be sealed.
More putty/glue residue.
Looks like a blind man's tackle box.
Missing hooks and shoes shown as I go along.
Bridge is glued to head, will not be re-used.
All of this needs to be addressed.
As dowel released, more tries to gain the action back.
Holes altered on side that tuners are upside down.
Bow can still be seen without strings.
Wood putty, all will go bye bye.
Chiseling the putty out.
This was actually a solid fix for a no glue fix.
Not much heat to get it on out.
Using my burr to clean the wood putty.
Rim stripped for inspection.
Dowel and heel cleaned.
Now I will start searching bins for the missing hardware.
I will suggest a few things as far as the work goes.
First an attempt to heat press the neck. Since it is laminated it is a toss-up as to how effective that is.
If it works, then compression fretting with modern fret wire, sealing all loose laminations, seal fingerboard, install new binding/ side marker dots.
Rebuild the heel to correct angle, reset the dowel, glue the heel properly, plug the holes where the screws were. Refinish the neck.
The rim is straight-forward. Strip/sand. Seal delamination's, refinish.
Clean all hardware, add missing hardware.
Replace skin head with plastic head, or face the needs that having a skin head requires.
Set up on light gauge strings.
I will suggest a few things as far as the work goes.
First an attempt to heat press the neck. Since it is laminated it is a toss-up as to how effective that is.
If it works, then compression fretting with modern fret wire, sealing all loose laminations, seal fingerboard, install new binding/ side marker dots.
Rebuild the heel to correct angle, reset the dowel, glue the heel properly, plug the holes where the screws were. Refinish the neck.
The rim is straight-forward. Strip/sand. Seal delamination's, refinish.
Clean all hardware, add missing hardware.
Replace skin head with plastic head, or face the needs that having a skin head requires.
Set up on light gauge strings.
MORE TO FOLLOW