The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Build and Repair

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 12-23-2014, 02:06 PM
220volt 220volt is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 3,934
Default Beater project - Fender Gemini II

My Fender Gemini II is my first guitar I ever bought with my own money so it has sentimental value and will never leave me. It has great bones and potential but it was gathering dust and not getting any playtime, so I decided to do little project and try to make it sound and play better. A lot better! But mostly I just want to learn more about repairs and maintenance. So here's what I decided to do with it:

Level the frets - DONE
Crown the frets - STILL TO DO
New nut - DONE
Shape the saddle - DONE
Sand the neck and fretboard for smooth playing - DONE
Oil the fingerboard with fretdoctor - DONE
Enlarge the pin holes - DONE
Installed ebony pins - DONE
New strings - DONE

Install soundport -STILL TO DO
Shave top bracing - STILL TO DO
Shave back bracing- STILL TO DO
__________________
My YouTube Channel
Only a life lived for others is a life worth living." - Albert Einstein

Last edited by 220volt; 12-23-2014 at 03:46 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 12-23-2014, 02:19 PM
fazool's Avatar
fazool fazool is online now
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Buffalo, NY
Posts: 16,561
Default

The first I ever bought was an all solid wood Aria SW-8 back in the early 80's.

It was a good started guitar and my first ever guitar purchase.

Decades later, I wanted one for sentimental reasons and like you used it for a repair project.

It turned out OK and I'm glad I have it around as a beater.
__________________
Fazool "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter"

000-15 / GC7 / GA3-12 / SB2-C / SB2-Cp / AVC-11MHx / AC-240
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 12-23-2014, 02:41 PM
220volt 220volt is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 3,934
Default

Enlarged the pin hols so my new ebony pins would fit. I did that with some round files and used very fine sandpaper (800 and then 1200) to smooth everything out. I also went over the bridge with a sandpaper little bit and fed it with fret doctor. New pins fitted perfectly.

Original (plastic pins juts could not hold strings in place properly so they ended up eating away some of the wood. But I fixed that by enlarging the holes anyway



Current
__________________
My YouTube Channel
Only a life lived for others is a life worth living." - Albert Einstein
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 12-23-2014, 02:50 PM
220volt 220volt is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 3,934
Default

Removed old nut and cleaned everything out with some sandpaper and exacto knife. Finish was already chipped by previous tech who installed the replacement nut a while back.


New tusq nut. Shaped and polished. Really happy how it turned out. I really took my time to get the action at the nut just perfect for my style of playing.


I could've taken more of the top off and let more of a string stick out, but bottom of each slot is nicely rounded and smooth, so there's plenty of space for the string so it won't get pinched. It intonates and holds the tune remarkably well so I left it like that.
__________________
My YouTube Channel
Only a life lived for others is a life worth living." - Albert Einstein

Last edited by 220volt; 12-23-2014 at 03:06 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 12-23-2014, 03:05 PM
220volt 220volt is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 3,934
Default

As you can see frets were pretty worn out.


Next I straightened the neck with a truss rod with the strings off so I could see which frets are not leveled, where are the gaps and what needs attention. I then protected the fingerboard with some painters tape. I made sure I go all the way to the fret as possible.


I've used 3M mounting double stick tape and 320 sandpaper and taped it to my level/measuring tool. It works really well. I've learned this trick from Dan Erlewine's DVD about repair and maintenance.
__________________
My YouTube Channel
Only a life lived for others is a life worth living." - Albert Einstein
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 12-23-2014, 03:20 PM
220volt 220volt is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 3,934
Default

Leveling done. I still need to crown the frets. Will do that later on this week.


I used 320 sandpaper to level he frets and then 800 to smooth it out.


At the end, I used 2000 sand paper to polish everything including the fretboard and back of the neck. For smoother playing Then I fed the neck some fretdoctor. It's nice smooth and dark now.

__________________
My YouTube Channel
Only a life lived for others is a life worth living." - Albert Einstein
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 12-23-2014, 03:25 PM
220volt 220volt is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 3,934
Default

I can tell you that guitar already sounds wonderful. It never sounded or played better. It has very clear and fundamental highs and mids. Bass is better but still weak and thumpy. Hoping to address that with bracing and soundhole. I'll post some clips tonight.

Later this week:
Install soundport
Crown the frets
Shave top bracing
Shave back bracing
__________________
My YouTube Channel
Only a life lived for others is a life worth living." - Albert Einstein
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 12-24-2014, 11:04 PM
4SEVEN3 4SEVEN3 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 12
Default

Cool project! I'd like to do something like that at some point!
__________________
John
Fender Strat
Fender CD-140S
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Build and Repair

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:57 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=