How I almost ruined my Oxnard F55

ClydeTower

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Ok, the title might be a bit exaggerated, but that's how I felt at the time...

A few weeks ago, the unthinkable happened... As I was recording my F55 with a condenser mic, the mic stand fell over and came crashing down on my F55's beautiful sunburst top. I froze for a second, trying to process what had just happen. And when I looked down, I saw it... a huge gash across the upper bout near the pickguard. I was so pissed off with myself as I usually put a sandbag on mic stand's feet, but this time I had neglected to do so... big mistake!

IMG-3579-sm.jpg


I brought my guitar to my luthier to see if there was any chance he could fix it. He looked at me and sighed. The gash was deep, compromising the NCL and sunburst finish. The wood was dented. Bringing it back its original condition would be difficult if not impossible since the damage was right in the middle of the sunburst's transition from light to dark. He was also afraid of sanding through the finish if he attempted to fill the divots with NCL. We contacted CMG to get the specs on the finish. Nowadays, most guitars with NCL finishes are not nitro all the way through. Many manufacturers apply NCL only as a top coat over a poly or pre-cat finish.

So the finishing manager at CMG confirmed that the finish is a conversion varnish base coat with a nitro top coat. Basically the same recipe as Gibson uses to speed up the drying process. The finish is 9 mils thick and color match is Mcfadden EL3128 dark salem.

So, after discussing it, we decided to try to repair the NCL top coat by filling the gash with a special filler compound that dries much faster than NCL and can be sanded down and buffed just like NCL. We knew however this would only make it slightly better. And that's exactly what I got, maybe a 30-40% improvement, but the gash still very visible... and still bugging the hell out of me. I'm pretty anal about this kind of stuff. If I buy a vintage guitar, I love every scratch and dent, its part of the history and character of the guitar. But if I buy a new guitar, perfect in every way, and then put a huge gash in it, its gonna bug me.

So my luthier gave me an idea. Since the damage was near the pickguard, maybe a custom pickguard could be designed to cover up the gash. So I thought about it, and started to draw some designs in Photoshop. I tried to stay within the Guild pg style all while making it so it was just large enough to cover the problem area. I printed the design on paper, cut it out and stuck it to my F55.

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The result was good enough that I decided go on to the next step of physically having a pickguard done. But if I was going to do this, I was going to do this right. So I contacted Taylor Mullins at Holter Pickguards. I had read a lot of positive feedback about Taylor and decided he was the man for the job. He makes custom pickguards out of Chattanooga TN with 100% real celluloid, beveled and polished. We looked at different options, tortoise colors, thicknesses and beveling, but ultimately decide to keep the look as traditional as possible.

So I proceeded to remove the old pickguard carefully using a blow dryer and artists knife. It worked like a charm. I then removed all of the residual glue with lighter fluid (nafta). Gotta admit, the F55 didn't look half bad without the pickguard. :) I mailed Taylor the template for my new pickguard with the old pg to make sure the fit would be perfect.

IMG-4002-sm.jpg


And a few weeks later it arrived. I was really stoked! Applying the new pickguard was as easy as removing the protective backing and sticking it onto the guitar. I made sure that everything was properly lined up.
I gotta say, I'm really happy with the end result. The pg material is of better quality than the original one. And the look, although not the shape of the original pg is quite "Guildish" if I do say so myself. Taylor did a fantastic job and was really a nice guy to collaborate with. I would recommend him without hesitation to anyone who wants a custom pickguard: https://www.facebook.com/holterpickguards/

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So my F55 has been restored to its full glory. Some might argue that changing the pickguard could affect resale value. That may of may not be true... but the gash in my F55's top had already done that. The traditionalist might prefer having the mojo of a gash rather than a custom pg. Me, I prefer looking at my F55 and thinking, I contributed something to that guitar... she's definitely mine now :)

IMG-4277-sm.jpg
 
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Westerly Wood

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nice idea! solved. I would have left the scar.
 

Stuball48

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Great! And I love HallMark endings and you could make a case for Taylor in Chattanooga being a "go to" guy on pickguards.
 

F312

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So, you just stretched the PG a little longer without making it any wider? I must say, I wouldn't suspect anything was altered. Don't forget all the Guild variations of PGs there were. I think this was also a remedy for the gash created in your soul.

Ralph
 

amnicon

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It looks good, but what happens when the next scratch/dent/ding/gouge happens?
 

ClydeTower

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So, you just stretched the PG a little longer without making it any wider? I must say, I wouldn't suspect anything was altered. Don't forget all the Guild variations of PGs there were. I think this was also a remedy for the gash created in your soul.

Ralph

Actually, its also narrower at the waist. When I worked on the design in Photoshop, it looked better that way, but I didn't know if I could do it that way until I removed the old pickguard and saw if the was a tan line. Luckily, since the guitar is not even 1 year old, the top has not had time to change color.

But you're right, I think I fixed my soul as much as I did the top. I feel like my karma has been re-balanced... all is good in the universe :)
 
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Nuuska

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But what about the microphone?

If it was a Shure SM57 or other crap - who cares - but if it was a real, good mic . . . did it have to suffer?

From now on be sure to have one leg of the mic stand point to direction of the mic. Also - unless it is absolutely definitively unavoidably necessary to extend the mic stand boom to full length - DON`T DO IT !!!




p.s. someone might get the impression, that I do not think highly about Shure SM 57 or 58 . . . YES - the are right. BUT! Those mics have their place in universe. Somewhere. After you have used some really good mics - you do know it is like "Sears Special 6-string for 49,99 vs Guild F50R"

American jazz band "Ghost Note" just played at Tampere Jazz Happening yesterday. My friend is house soundman. He called me yesterday telling the band carried their own microphones. About 24 channels - total about 60.000 USD - today he told me, that the mics WERE quite good. . . He did not elaborate about the final sound - and I did not ask - but if there was anything left to desire, it certainly wasn´t the mics.
 

ClydeTower

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But what about the microphone?

If it was a Shure SM57 or other crap - who cares - but if it was a real, good mic . . . did it have to suffer?

From now on be sure to have one leg of the mic stand point to direction of the mic. Also - unless it is absolutely definitively unavoidably necessary to extend the mic stand boom to full length - DON`T DO IT !!!




p.s. someone might get the impression, that I do not think highly about Shure SM 57 or 58 . . . YES - the are right. BUT! Those mics have their place in universe. Somewhere. After you have used some really good mics - you do know it is like "Sears Special 6-string for 49,99 vs Guild F50R"

American jazz band "Ghost Note" just played at Tampere Jazz Happening yesterday. My friend is house soundman. He called me yesterday telling the band carried their own microphones. About 24 channels - total about 60.000 USD - today he told me, that the mics WERE quite good. . . He did not elaborate about the final sound - and I did not ask - but if there was anything left to desire, it certainly wasn´t the mics.


Actually, it was a KEL hm7u condenser mic (I wrote cardioid mic in the OP... I ment condenser!) A great mic for recording vocals and acoustic instruments... also good for smashing your guitar top :)

kel-hm-7u-hm7u-condenser-mic-1-a7d497abc1333eb1fe296c6d8164b467.jpg
 
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chazmo

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Claude, I'm glad you found a way to fix this to your satisfaction. I think the new PG looks fine!

One technique for taking out dents that you didn't mention is to use a hot-tipped instrument to make the wood swell back up and take its shape (mostly) back. I can't remember if some steam is used as well. My luthier did this on an old F-50R soundboard and it worked pretty well with a pretty small dent. I'm not sure if that technique could've matched your burst (mine was natural) or whether it could be used for a gash as deep and wide as yours.

Anyway, great solution. Thanks for sharing.
 

ClydeTower

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Claude, I'm glad you found a way to fix this to your satisfaction. I think the new PG looks fine!

One technique for taking out dents that you didn't mention is to use a hot-tipped instrument to make the wood swell back up and take its shape (mostly) back. I can't remember if some steam is used as well. My luthier did this on an old F-50R soundboard and it worked pretty well with a pretty small dent. I'm not sure if that technique could've matched your burst (mine was natural) or whether it could be used for a gash as deep and wide as yours.

Anyway, great solution. Thanks for sharing.


Yes I've done that trick on very small dents... sometimes it works, other times not so much. In this case, although the picture may not show it, the damage was too severe, down to the wood, the paint was cracked around the edges. I went to 3 luthiers, the 2 first ones didn't even want to try to fix it, said it would be worse if I tried to mess with it, especially being a sunburst.

Best solution I could find. Now I'm gonna steer clear of any mics or falling objects :)
 

dreadnut

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I put a nice scratch in the 'burst top on my DV-52 near the bridge a few years back. Not going to put on a new bridge though, I just decided to quit obsessing over it. And of course, my son owns the guitar now.
 

adorshki

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Best solution I could find. Now I'm gonna steer clear of any mics or falling objects :)

And keep it in its case when its not in your lap.
Although I admit I think that's the first time I've heard of one getting dinged even when it was in your lap...
:friendly_wink:
 

txbumper57

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It looks good, but what happens when the next scratch/dent/ding/gouge happens?

Then it is time for Dual Pickguards, LOL! Nice solution Clyde, Glad it worked out for you and the guitar. It looks great and only someone who is extremely nitpicky about factory specifics would notice the difference in my opinion. Congrats man.

TX
 
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