1972 Martin D-28

Ouch! This otherwise pristine Martin took a little hit to the ribs. What makes this job tricky is how the two edges of the crack are overlapping.

I'll need to carefully apply pressure from the inside to pop it back out. The idea is to examine the order of the damage. By properly reversing this series of events, one can hope to revert the surface to its original shape. Any stray fiber that may snag would spoil the clean surface, and thus any chance at flawless finish. 

After the cracks are nicely aligned, a couple spruce cleats are fashioned to hold the alignment.

Then, a day or two of finish magic and the old guitar is good as new!

Gibson Dirty Fingers Rewind

I was commissioned to repair this pickup a few weeks back. The original Dirty Fingers pickups were found in Gibson guitars from the late 70's and 80's. They are known for their high output and clarity. This one is part of an original set on the customer's guitar and just went dead one day. Upon inspection, it appeared that both coils were broken, no current could pass through. This is a bit unusual, but is perhaps explained by the extra thin wire these pickups were wound with.  

So, we were looking at a full rewind. After sourcing specs and the proper coil wire, disassembly of the pickup can begin. Here you can see both bobbins, one detached from the base, and the other still attached in my left hand with one of the magnets. These pickups use three ceramic magnets, which is part of what yields the hot output. If you look closely there are two lead wires. Why? This was also one of the earlier "splittable" humbuckers, so you can get that single coil sound!

Removing the old coil means slicing it with a razor blade (careful, now) and tearing it off the bobbin. This feels a little like sacrilege, but it needs to be done. I always try and save original coils, but sometimes it just isn't possible. In this case, that is owing to Gibson's design and the undue stress it places on the coil wire right at the beginning. So, where it snaps is buried deep in the coil; no sense in trying to find it.

I'll correct that issue by drilling a small hole, allowing a more durable lead wire to be inserted for the coil's beginning. 

Here you can see the stub of the lead wire connected to the very thin coil wire.

Once again the bobbins are wound on the old winding machine. This coil will build internal resistance as I wind it. The tightness of the coil and number of winds will obviously affect this. In copying the tension I observed in the original coils, and knowing the spec wind number and resistance targets, I am able to wind pickups as they did in the factory. This is crucial to the sound.

Similarly, the wind direction and magnetic polarities are paramount to proper function. Especially when this pickup is dropped back into the guitar, it must interact with the other pickup just like it used to. Polarity is a tricky business and so I make careful diagrams before things are disassembled. Note: the magnetic polarities are marked North and South, though the center magnet is flipped, making the polarities ambiguous. Admittedly, this too me by surprise!

Now the pickup is wound and ready to be reinstalled!

Plante PD-1 Bass

I was commissioned for a "P" style bass, but scaled down to 93%. It features an alder body, flame maple neck, and ebony fretboard.

Check out the pearl inlays. At the twelfth fret, a pair of roses. More detail to come!

And, of course, the obligatory pearl bear.