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December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | Well I guess it's what I get for buying my first non O in a couple of years...
I just received an Eastman Archtop that I bought off eBay.
Auction link
When I opened the case, the pickguard along with the pickup are detached from the guitar. There is a small block of wood still attached to the top of the guitar next to the fretboard. The pickguard should be attached to this small block and another small plastic piece under the pickguard that is held on by a metal rod attached to the body - it's hard to describe, but it makes sense when you look at the auction pics.
Otherwise the guitar is beautiful! I just hope this is an easy fix. Does anybody have suggestions on how to fix this? What glue should I use to attach the plastic pickguard to the wood block and the plastic piece?
Any help is greatly appreciated! |
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November 2004
Posts: 4413
| Is there any sign that it was ever glued? Quite often the wooden block is there just to keep the guard level - all the holding is done by the metal bar. How many screws are there attaching the bar to the guard and the bar to the body?
It looks like a beautiful guitar - how does it sound acoustically?
Difficult to tell from the pics - what's the depth? 3" - 3 1/4"? |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Nice Guitar, Dizzy
You're in good company....
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December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | Schroder,
There is a thin layer of wood on the back of the pickguard where it was glued.
The depth is 3 inches. It sounds surprisingly nice and warm acoustically although it’s a bit hard to play with the pickguard flopping around.
The guitar was poorly packed, definitely not an alpep approved packing job! |
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Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | Wow Jeff! That's cool! I had no idea. RT sure knows how to pick guitars! |
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November 2004
Posts: 4413
| Sounds like a job for superglue then.
What strings are you going to put on it? There's a real trend these days to put bronze acoustic strings on and play with a very clean tone. Personally I like big fat flatwounds, but they're not everybody's cup of tea. Archtop, flatwounds, Twin Reverb with just enough drive that you can go from clean to dirty on the guitar's volume control - heaven. :D |
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December 2003
Posts: 13997
Location: Upper Left USA | For the best adherance with wood veneer to plastic I rough the plastic with 220 or rougher and use Gorrilla Glue .
I am not sure how much area you need to cover but this is an expanding foam type of adhesive. Any over flow can be trimmed. |
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December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | Thanks! I think I'll try the gorilla glue - the surfaces are small - wood is about 1/4" x 1 1/4" the plastic piece is about 1/4" x 3/8".
I'm going to have to do some experimenting with strings. I was thinking of trying some Thomastik Flatwounds. This is the first archtop I've owned. I haven't even plugged it in yet, since the pickup and pickguard are flopping around! |
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November 2004
Posts: 4413
| I'm guessing it's around half inch by a quarter. Very small area - probably why it broke off so easy. It's just the way they are - the Epiphone way of 2 small screws into the side of neck through a narrow return on the guard is much better, but they're a PITA to put back in if you're dumb enough to take them out to see what the guitar looks like without a guard. Not that I'd do anything so stupid. |
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December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | If the pickup wasn't attached to it, I'd probably just leave the pickguard off! |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | go light....VERY LIGHT on the Gorilla glue... and you might want to moisten the the wood surface prior to applying the glue itself. |
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Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | looks like a benedetto copy |
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December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | Light glue, damp wood, got it.
Thanks for the tips Jeff. |
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October 2006
Posts: 5576
Location: big island | just used gorilla glue for the first time on an old sonny d ukulele bridge yesterday. jeff is right. moisten one surface with water and then put the glue very sparingly on the other surface. it will foam up a bit. don't get it on your hands. if you do, WD-40 will help remove it. experience talking. |
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Posts: 13997
Location: Upper Left USA | Kinda like bringing a big-boned date to an all you can eat Buffet...
...you wanna make you can make it out the door as well. Or not.
It expands with mental-strong determination when it hits moisture. Keep it compressed and don't use too much.
It is a relative to the spray foam you use home construction. |
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Posts: 2804
Location: ranson,wva | i glued a severd headstock with gorillia glue a few months back...goood strong stuff, just listen to that the guys allready said......jason |
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December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | Thanks for all the advice, I'm going to pick up some Gorilla Glue tomorrow. I'll let you know how it works out. |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | Thanks to everybody for the advice! The gorilla glue worked like a champ!
I finally got to plug it in. I love this guitar! It sounds great. it sounds and plays different from anything else I have, which is just what I was looking for - a new flavor of ice cream!
Thanks Again! |
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OT - fixing a detached pickguard on archtop - help!
