FYI: You can find a cheap spectrophotometer on Ebay for around $30, You can buy a super high quality used spectrophotometer that is ordinarily very expensive for around 30 bucks as well. These devices are exactly what body shops and printing companies use to perfectly match the exact color, then you can have the exact match paint overnighted to you. I used to work in the printing industry and hardly anyone realizes that these types of tools exist. I have learned so much for your channel, and I am glad to give something small back.
Tao Tuhao true, however it’s never going to be a perfect match, and if you don’t have a color mixing station like auto body shops have to adjust the color, it’s pretty useless.
@@samueltaylor4989 Absolutely, but you can actually order a specific color based on the CMYK values. However, texture matching is certainly more of a challenge and in this case the color is somewhat metallic so the exact match will be difficult, even when you have industrial grade equipment . Speaking from experience , you can get extremely close.
@@samueltaylor4989 My local paint shop will measure and mix for you, only issue is the minimum size and price, but if the customer feels strongly about it it'd be well worth the effort.
Man I wish there were more repair people with your skill set around. You take pride in your work and show respect for each instrument. I hope you're teaching the next gen.
@@SilentHouseStudios didn't know that. Don't have a lot of friends do their own work. I started learning in the 80s in Austin, still learning. A LOT of do-it-your-self-ers back then, as well as Austin spawned several world-class luthiers.
@@camilo1455 that's really cool. I apprenticed with a violin luthier in highschool but his shop didn't stay open long and I never really made it back into that field of work. But I still play music and I love treating my instruments with special attention.
2:41 - $50 says its BONDO. I know guys who use it to “fix” EVERYTHING. Cars, boats, interior walls, skateboard decks, gun racks...you name it. It’s basically just moldable Duct Tape.
"NOT REPAIR FRIENDLY"...Man, that could/should be etched into this old warhorse's headstock [ I'm now also seriously considering this as my own tombstone etching - "He simply wasn't repair friendly". ]. Your ability to "hold your tongue" while critiquing the previous repair person's work is exemplary...truly. As always, every dang guitar leaves your shop sighing in ecstatic relief, singing better than before, and most likely checking herself out in every available mirror - "Uuumm, lookin' good, gorgeous gal...lookin' real good". Thanks again...keep posting, please.
looks like b5 blue it's a plymouth car color when I need a match I go to an auto body supply store they will take a picture of your color and computer match it and put it in a spray can
That's asking for a poor color match. Too many variables that have to be taken into consideration. You'd be better off with taking whatever object you need to paint match outside and looking at it and color swatches under the natural light of the sun.
Roger J - try that computer color matching service on something that doesn’t matter too much, you will be surprised at how good it is. I was skeptical too but I gave it a shot. I’ve used it a couple of times now and it’s been spot on and well worth the trouble if your project has to be right. My local paint supply has a system that not only reads the color with a camera but dispenses the tint into the base as well, I think some only analyze the color and print the mix instructions. There may be a difference.
In addition to the great work that you consistently perform I respect that you chose not to disparage the work that was previously done on this guitar. There is an individual on RU-vid who spends more time being critical of the instruments and the manufacturers than he does working, while the quality of his work is usually below expectations. I really appreciate that you spend your time (and ours) concentrating on problem solving instead of idle criticism.
But this work was a straight up disaster. Its a bit different than nitpicking. This work was unacceptable by any standard. We need to hold bad luthiers accountable.
@@charvelgtrs The best way to hold poor practitioners of any trade accountable is not to shame them; it’s to withhold bringing them our work until they correct their ways or go out of business. Good or bad work speaks for itself.
Your talent makes people happy that means no matter how tough the job you are making impossible dreams come true and that’s good! Thanks for sharing your professionalism with USA
As a pro mechanic, and hobbiest wood worker, I'm always amazed at the tools that luthiers DON'T have! Fer instance, a 1/4" drive hex bit, flex socket set... would've taken you about 2 minutes to demount/remount the neck. Lol Nice work nonetheless! 👏
I have found that the nail polish store has almost every color of guitar touch-up paint will ever need and as a bonus 99% of nail polish is nitrocellulose lacquer. But as usual your work is spectacular and I appreciate you sharing.
They make a flexible extension for going around corners. 1/4" is the size I have. Works like a charm. Get one for those tight jobs. Or use a long extension thru the hole for the pick up jack and a ball headed Allen to turn the furniture bolt. Also, for wood saturation, you can get a product called Git Rot from any boating store. I got mine from West Marine here on LI, NY. It's a 2 part epoxy that the wood will soak up like a sponge. Get it and keep it on the shelf. It has many uses.
I have had success color matching by having my local auto paint supply mix up a water based duplicate. A clear topcoat is required. I am amazed at the accuracy they achieve.
I love it when people like you show the rest of us that it is possible to repair and restore old guitars, let 'em be cheapos. Every guitar needs to be played, they are too precious to get reduced to a wallhanger.
DEFINITELY needed to lighten that color up ALLOT MORE . SO GOOD AT WHAT YOU DO! The one area you need some work is definitely the painting or all the finishing work, because if you put the time and care into the finishing work that you put into all the repair, fret ,bridge, just all your wood and other work, you would bye 100% the best out there
Absolutely. There are so many hacks out there that don't have a problem handing you an instrument that they've actually damaged more than they've "repaired".
"a 1/4"-20 furniture-style bolt" Funny because I was installing stainless steel 1/4"-20 machine screws (with those lovely robertson 3 heads) at a friend/client's house today, for a tabletop I built him.
Some of those metallic style paints can be matched with nail varnish. There's an enormous range of colours and finish types. Just right for 'dabbing in'.
I like a bolt-on neck. You're absolutely right about that one being a pain. There has to be a clever workaround for that problem. It's still better than playing with a set neck. (IMHO)
An automotive paint shop could match that color pretty close. It may not have been in the budget but it wouldn't be too expensive to mix up just a little bit.
OK, before I watch the rest of this. I agree with the neck needen to be raised. I would take the neck off, glue on some extra wood material, and then shape it to fit the curved top all the while raising it to get the desired string height. I hope that's what you are going to do as well...Let's watch and learn...continue...Oh, yeah, taking from the heal to change the angle. Great stuff..adding the shims fills the space. Awesome...my way was much harder. Thanks, this was a great demonstration.
Next time you have to deal with screws like that simply get a 1/4 drive ratchet set and 1/4 drive hex bit set. If you can't find the correct length extension you can simply cut one off and grind a new square on the end to fit your application.
Your fellow Canuck, Luthier John Carruthers, welded a screw driver tip onto a long extension to reach the neck block for those Kung Fu neck resets. He goes right thru the hole for the end pin in the tail block. I've used it in his shop chucked into a screw gun. love your vids...
Great craftsman! As somebody said below, use 1/4" ratchet w/ extensions for the hex head (allen screws). Why do people give a thumbs down??? Patience of a saint! If that was my guitar, i would have smashed it in a million pieces!
Use a 1\4 inch drive ratchet for the Allen head bolts there is all different size extensions for length . I'm an automotive mechanic and nothing is user-friendly especially on the new cars lol
Was gonna say I have that ratcheting device he mentioned - 1/4" drive, long-handled ratchet, extensions & Allen heads on the "sockets" ...indispensable!
Gold Tone sells a zero fret nut. A truly wonderful device. I had them install one on my 1953 model 1354 Silvertone (Kay) archtop. Brightened the tone and really brought out the fullness these old Kay's are capable of when properly set up. Thanks for these videos. A great source of information. Very generous.
It would be so, so, so freaking cool to see the authentic reactions of these customers once they received their previously destroyed guitar brought back to them in sometimes a "better than new" state. Thanks for the upload, man! You are amazing! Later... (just subscribed)
Looks very similar to the Kiesel pearl blue color but I’m sure in person it’s just slightly different. I’m want to get into repairs like this but man after watching there is a lot I don’t know haha. I did paint at a custom shop for years and a lot of neck work with fret dressing, setup work, as well as oil finishing guitars. This is inspirational for sure
Great workmanship. Patients and perseverance is the way to go to achieve good end results. Love seeing your very informative videos. Going to attempt a neck reset on an old guitar. Don't know what company made it but it is called Prestige... not the company from out West. This one was around quite a few years before they got started. Thanks for sharing your marvelous talent.
I have seen the removal of the neck bolts by going through the end block at the butt end of the instrument. A very long extension or several ganged together stuck through that hole that the end pin goes in and a Allen socket added as the extension gets in the body. I’m sure there was a custom tool at Kay to do this at manufacture.
I just bought a fret leveling kit to address a high fret on my Strat. Every time I bend a string at that, fret, the note chokes out at anything above a half step. There's also fret buzzing on the 3 wound strings right at that some fret. So I'm pretty sure it's high and I've only owned a guitar and been learning to play for 2.5 months. But anybody with some sense could deduce that the problem was a high fret. A little internet research confirmed it so I'm going to level it myself. The action is also higher than it should be to compensate for that fret. Wooohooooo! 🤣😁
That tailpiece looks like a Harmony. I have an H 72 from the 60s, and it has the same tailpiece. Of course, it may have been adapted from a Harmony, or Harmony and Kay may have bought from the same manufacturer. The paint looks like a Dodge auto paint colour - I used a similar paint on an old archtop that I gave away. The P90 looks altogether proper on there.
That might be the most kick as guitar I’ve ever heard. It’s got such a biting, grimy, John Lee Hooker type sound. I would love to hear some straight delta semi-electric blues on it.
Great idea on the spruce shims. I have an older kay on the bench (for far too long). Previous neck reset done with gorilla glue, off angle to the body and action way to high. I ended up cutting it off and I have futzed with trying to carve a replacement support under the fingerboard extension but have not been able to do a good job. The shim idea maybe the way to go. As big a PITA as yours was, I would kill to have a pickup hole to work with as I plan to convert it to a bolt on neck. A favor to a friend is turning into a taxing situation for our relationship. Taking way to long. :) Thanks for the great video
Another great job. You know that many Luthiers get a steel rod welded up with an allan key on the end and do the screw removal and tightening from the tail piece end pin hole? It is one LONG tool! Frank Ford has something I think ion his photoessays.
Hi, admire your skill, I have an old Kay also, and Airline, too, though I would like to make some suggestions. First, replace those idiot socket head screws with bolts and a washer that would spread out the force. Easier to work with, too, just use a 1/4" ratchet and extensions with correct socket. 2nd. Fill the necks dovetail voids ( huge flippin holes!)with some good epoxy so the dovetail and butt is strengthened. 3rd. Make new holes for the screws while you are at it, fill with a hardwood dowel and epoxy. 4th. Testors has metallic paints that would be perfect for color matching, mix and match. 5th. There are 1/64" and 1/32" plywoods made by midwest hobbies that would be perfect for shimming. A wedge will have a narrow point of contact. Better to have a larger flat support. Hope this helps. Best wishes.
Those suggestions would be excellent for someone who doesn't have to make a profit from work like this. Total time allotted here = 3 hours total or I'm working for free. If I have to drive to the hobby shop and buy every metallic blue to mix, this guitar goes right in the garbage, because nobody can afford that. I did fill out the dovetail mortise for close contact and used wave washers for constant tension in the event of seasonal changes. Tapered wedges made sense because the extension is concave and only the outside 1/4" contacts the top.
That is general motors Malibu blue metallic. Duplicolor spray cans at oriellys, it’s lacquer based. (There is a non metallic flavor too, it’s hard to tell from the video)
Harbor freight has a tiny ratchet that comes with different attachments ,if its a allen screw head you can fit it to it may have to cut angle of allen off so its straight ,would save alot of time and aggravation ,I use it for doing electrical projects in tight spaces also have a right angle ratchet saves so much time
I have a late '50's Kay plywood archtop (burst and tiger stripe). The factory neck contacts the top for a couple of frets and then floats in air over the arch. They make great Rock n Roll guitars. I like the paint job on this one : -) Long reach ball end allen's with a ratchet next time. A lot easier : -)
You can use a socket wrench with an extension end a L wrench adapter for the neckbolts. It would work easy peasy, I use then all the time on parts for my car but they would 100%work for what you need
that's nice, a P90..cool. Razor Tribute TSB-91 Dog Ear Electric Guitar Pickup. I have had a few of these and they do have crappy necks. I have an Ibanez J 200 copy that needs just a bit of work to be a great acoustic. It stays in tune well but at some time it didn't because some one got the neck where they wanted to and then shot hot glue down in the truss rod hole at the head stock. I assume to keep it from moving. now the action is stuck a bit to high. the bridge has a hair line crack in it. It is beautiful with an abalone in lay.
That appears to be Lake Placid Blue aka Pelham Blue aka Duplicolor Bahama Blue. Pick it up in a rattle can at the auto shop for 8 bucks. Metallic custom colors are hard to match or even overspray as they're translucent. Maybe model paint in a few popular shades would be good for touch ups. In fact, I think these shades also come in chip filing sticks from auto suppliers too.
@@twoodfrd Edit 2: I'm removing any contrition here. I've checked my sources (including... experience?) and I don't think I'm wrong. One of us is on the wrong side of the Dunning-Kruger curve. Lighting, cameras, phone screens not withstanding, that looks to be at least "even close" to that super popular metallic blue shade. Having used duplicolor rattle cans to recreate retro custom color paint jobs I can say it's a convincing effect. Whether that's useful information from a touch up perspective, maybe, maybe not. So, I'll leave that comment up there for the edification of anyone who gets advice from yt comments.
A "ball end" hex wrench would have been helpful for removing the neck-heel bolt. Allows you to get a good fit into the socket head of the bolt without having to be absolutely dead-nuts perfectly inline/ perpendicular to it. Putting a ball-end hex bit on a flexible extension would be even better. You can make a regular hex wrench into a ball-end wrench with a bench grinder and/or Dremel tool.... (Also, hey, it's Canada; what, no square-drive Robertson bolt? The hex bolt is probably a better choice for this purpose anyway.)
I have an old Gibson acoustic that was my dad's. I'm 61, which sounds weird when I read it so it's close to if not more than 50 years old. My mom got it with S&H Greenstamps :) so it's probably not a high end guitar. I've thought about attempting a restoration, which is how I found your channel. 2 minutes into this video I decided there isn't a snowballs chance in hell that I'm going to tackle that project. I'd rather pay a pro to do the work but how do I know I won't get the kind of work that this one showed up with.
I absolutely think you're right, Richard. If I ever get one like this, I think maybe take it to a good auto paint shop and see how close they can come and if they'll mix me up a small amount.
