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  #1  
Old 01-19-2017, 08:35 AM
Thoragaverung Thoragaverung is offline
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Default Kalamazoo KG-14 owners: need a favor so I can do my stupid luthier trick of the week

Hey,

Being a big Dellta Blues fan, I've always wanted a KG14 but can't afford one.

I have an Epiphone EL-00 that's pretty close, it's got a solid top and the scale length is right, it makes a great trunk guitar.

It occurred to me the 2 guitars look so similar, it might be possible to dress up the Epiphone to look like the Kalamazoo:



So I'm going to modify the headstock, change out the tuners, and paint Kalamazoo where it says Epiphone now. I'll probably soup up the guitar too, put in a bone saddle and shave the braces. It's not a bad guitar now, but it could be better. And it has electronics, which will stay (as will the factory label: I'm not a counterfeiter).

Here's the favor: Can somebody who has a KG14 measure from the nut to the tip of the headstock, and tell me that dimension? Also, if you want to be really an ace, tell me the angle the top of the headstock is cut at. I'd like to make it as close as I can.

I'll post pics as I go.

Thanks!
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Old 01-19-2017, 01:29 PM
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blindboyjimi blindboyjimi is offline
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I'm not quite sure what you are doing? Are you cutting of the Epiphone headstock to make one that looks like a KG-14? Do you know that the early Kalamazoo guitars had a flat headstock and the mid years were pointed as your picture and the later ones looked like your Epiphone. My 1936 is is quite nice shape but is only worth $1500 +\- . Mine is pointed as your picture is shown and is 7" from the inside of the nut (end of fretboard) to the tip of the point. I have no way to measure the angle. Here is a picture from tpbili of the different Kalamazoo/Gibson headstocks.


Last edited by blindboyjimi; 01-19-2017 at 02:04 PM.
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Old 01-19-2017, 02:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoragaverung View Post
...I've always wanted a KG14 but can't afford one.
...
I'm going to modify the headstock, change out the tuners, and paint Kalamazoo where it says Epiphone ...
Quote:
...electronics, which will stay (as will the factory label: I'm not a counterfeiter).
I don't think it's counterfeiting because you aren't trying to mislead anyone who looks closer but why try to make a guitar have a Kalamazoo label just to look (to others) like one you said you cannot afford? Seems like a whole lot of effort to pretend you have a Kalamazoo.

This whole topic seems bizarre to me.

Also, living in Minnesota probably isn't real conducive to having a solid top "trunk" guitar.
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Old 01-19-2017, 02:50 PM
Thoragaverung Thoragaverung is offline
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Yup Fazool, it's a stupid luthier trick. A lot of effort for a guitar that kindasortanotreally looks like a guitar that mightabeen played by Robert Johnson.

It doesn't stay in the trunk on days that go below freezing or above 80. Hasn't been in the car since November in fact.

In summer I keep the car parked on the nice cool lower level of the parking ramp at work and play and whoop and holler out behind the garage while sitting on a big old landscaping boulder instead of eating lunch. The only people to bug me are the smokers who come back there looking for a private place to hide their shame and the occasional power walker.

Thanks to BlindboyJimi for the word on the measurements and pics. Maybe I'll do the rounded triangle...
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Last edited by Thoragaverung; 01-19-2017 at 03:02 PM.
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Old 01-19-2017, 06:42 PM
Thoragaverung Thoragaverung is offline
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Alea jacta est....

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Old 01-19-2017, 07:21 PM
murrmac123 murrmac123 is offline
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Quote:
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Alea jacta est....
Your command of Latin redeems you ... for now at least ...
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Old 01-20-2017, 08:37 PM
Thoragaverung Thoragaverung is offline
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More stupid luthier tricks. Kalamazoos had 3-on-a-plate tuning machines, and the Epiphone had single closed back Gotoh's. In order to install the 3-on-a-plate style on the Epiphone, I need to re-drill the middle hole in a slightly different place. So, step one is to glue plugs in the old hole. Fortunately the headstock is painted black so when it's done the plugs should be invisible.



Next, when I took out the old plastic saddle, the vibration sensor for the electronics came out... it's actually a wire with braided copper wrapped around it. It's a little spongy when I pinch it. Now that's going to absorb sound energy/vibration, no matter how you dice it, and the last thing you want is anything between the saddle and the bridge absorbing energy. So I took the electronics clean out of the Epiphone. Amplifying a mediocre guitar is not as good as having a guitar that sounds really nice in the first place. The rest of the works came out easily, it was all held in with tarry doublestick tape and velcro... which, in the resonating cavity, probably also robbed the guitar of some tonal richness. With a good bone saddle riding tight up against the bridge the guitar should have a lot more clarity and volume.
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Old 01-22-2017, 11:48 AM
Thoragaverung Thoragaverung is offline
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Stupidity continues. I decided last night to plug the rest of the holes so I could relocate the tuners a wee bit higher; plugged last night, drilled this morning.



Then, I knocked out a bone saddle replacement using the original plastic one as a template. The key machine works great for this, not only because it replicates the contours of the original blank exactly but because it acts as a nice saddle vice while I file in the compensations.



I'll probably get the headstock sanded and painted later today.
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Old 01-22-2017, 07:13 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoragaverung View Post
Alea jacta est....

I may be remembering wrong, but my KG-14's headstock isn't nearly as sharp as this. I'll measure it tomorrow and report if you're still interested.
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Old 01-23-2017, 05:24 AM
Thoragaverung Thoragaverung is offline
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Originally Posted by rogthefrog View Post
I may be remembering wrong, but my KG-14's headstock isn't nearly as sharp as this. I'll measure it tomorrow and report if you're still interested.
Sure, if a minor tweak is needed I can alter things.. I still haven't painted it successfully. I don't know what Epiphone used to sheath the headstock-- some kind of plastic-- but it didn't take paint well yesterday and I'm going to need to sand it all again and use a primer tonight after work anyway.
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Old 01-24-2017, 01:04 AM
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Ha, here's why it didn't look right to me. There seem to me two different headstock styles!



Here are measurements in case they're helpful anyway:







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Old 01-24-2017, 05:10 AM
Thoragaverung Thoragaverung is offline
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Thanks Rog! Man, there was a lot of variation in headstock styles on those things over the years.
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Old 01-24-2017, 07:14 PM
rockabilly69 rockabilly69 is offline
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http://www.richardsguitars.com.au/?page_id=4194

this link is detailed in showing the shape that you're going for. You've got quite a bit of stupid luthier trick shaping to do
Scroll down a bit to see a finished headstock!!!
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Old 01-30-2017, 06:27 PM
Thoragaverung Thoragaverung is offline
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Done.

Sounds great too. The bone saddle and tusq nut both improved tone and clarity and volume, also I'm thinking getting that squishy wire out from under the original saddle helped. Nice piece of kit now, yeah yeah.
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