1920's Regal parlor: FULL REBUILD from start to finish, follow along

[vintageparlors]

I have indeed and the tracing I took of the Regal's body before taking the guitar apart will serve nicely as my guide should I need to create one for this guitar,

[vintageparlors]

It's time to move onto the top bracing of this Regal 0-size 12-fret. This guitar will be ladder braced but using an updated, modern version rather than repeating the original bracing pattern. There's no way the original bracing, all two of them, would be able to stand up to modern string tension. If you remember one of the earlier photos of the top bracing after the box was opened up, there really wasn't much there to work with at all. Keep in mind that my treatment of the top bracing is the approach I use. My approach does not discount or out value other approaches. It's the approach I've learned works for me.

I buy quarter sawn spruce bracing by the billet and slice each brace to thickness in the shop. At this stage I'm concentrating on brace length and placement. I want the bracing to be long enough to marry with the lining at the edges and I want the placement to be mindful of where tension and stress are likely to impact the structure. I have yet to thickness or shape the bottom of each brace on the belt sander so what you see is how its looks after leaving the saw blade. Bracing is layed out for the photoshoot only and not in it's final position for gluing.

I've cut each brace to length as well as the sound hole supports and reinforcement under the fretboard extension. I can't stress enough how important it is to keep the upper bout of the guitar supported. Between the neck block and the sound hole is where string tension is most damaging to these old parlors. The wood is so thin to begin with so beefing up the bracing to accommodate modern steel strings and adding extra reinforcement under the fretboard extension has become a standard feature on all vintage parlor rebuilds.

The grain of the spruce supports under fretboard extension run in the direction on the guitar top. They will sit tight between the neck block and brace above the sound hole. I'll space these apart from each other to account for the truss rod access later on. The heaviest(thickest) brace is the one above the sound hole. It's job is 100% support as well as afford the truss rod wrench access to the truss rod through a small hole drilled in the center.

I'll spend more time evaluating the condition of the top before making a decision on the size of the bridge plate. When an old, thin top like this one is being prepared for 155# of string tension, my bridge plate size decision is often a balance between tone and long term preservation of the top under tension. I'll make that call shortly as it's time to shape the bracing and get this project onto the next stage.

[vintageparlors]

It's time to shape the braces. We've already cut the braces to length so that "shaping" involves how the bottom of the brace is treated before it's glued to the top. We have two different shapes to make for two different applications.

The top two braces, those on either side of the sound hole are flat on the bottom. I want the top to be flat from the neck block to just past the sound hole. The bottom two braces, those on either side of the bridge, have a 20' radius. A slight radius to the lower half of the top is my choice. There are other options to consider but I've found that a 20' radius works for me and what I do.

Shaping is done on the small 4" belt sander with help from a straightedge and a radius template. I understand that there are other ways to create and measure a flat and radius'd brace bottom but this is way I learned way back and I've just stuck with it. The straightedge I use is a good quality level that's dedicated for the purpose. The radius template I use came with a radius sanding set that I never really took to but still use the bar template for shaping braces and cauls.

The technique for shaping braces on the belt sander can be tedious but it's a tool almost every one has handy and it sure has been a workhorse for me. Making the bottom flat AND SQUARE can be harder than you'd think. If you do use a flat surface to ensure the "flatness" of the brace, don't forget to lay the brace evenly along the edge to make sure it's flush. Once you decide it's flush then turn it around and make sure it's flush on the other side too! This step helps to make sure the brace bottom is not only flat but also square. This you want to know for certain before you consider it done and ready for glue. This same step applies to the radius'd brace bottom as well.

Consistency in the quality of the build is crucial at this stage. The second two photos show the difference between a brace that still needs more work to properly achieve it's 20' radius and one that is done and ready for glue. In fact, the brace will tell whether it's ready for gluing because if it's not ready, and you go to clamp an ill-shaped brace to the top, you'll actually see a tilted or crooked brace under your clamps. So, be careful and patient. The last thing you want is a wavy top due to braces shaped inconsistently (which you'll only see after the top is glued back on the rim).

Once the braces are shaped then they are ready to be glued to the top. Stay tuned and be well

[vintageparlors]

For ladder braced parlors I generally begin around the sound hole and work north. I layout the two lateral braces as well as the sound hole reinforcement and fretboard extension reinforcement and decide which clamping cauls I'll use and where. Everything in this area of the top will sit flat so the cauls I choose are flat and beefy. Photos 1 and 2.

After I've elevated my work surface, I start by lining up the brace just north of the sound hole using a centerline to guide it's placement. The centerline will guide the placement of all four lateral braces with an assist from my little metal square. I've pre-drilled the hole where the hex wrench will access the truss rod and that hole is centered right on top of the centerline. I know where the brace will go, glue the bottom and position the brace with a ratchet clamp to hold down the ends followed by two screw clamps in between. Photos 3 and 4.

With the first brace in position I add in the spruce used as reinforcement under the fretboard extension making sure the I leave enough room for the truss rod in between the two. A nice rectangular caul will sit beneath four screw clamps that secure the spruce to the top. Photos 5, 6 and 7.

Spruce soundhole reinforcement are next. The grain runs with the top and I leave room at the sound hole in case a sound hole pickup makes an appearance sometime in the future. Spruce is glued, cauls are placed and clamps from both within and outside the soundhole follow right after. Photo 8.

The second lateral brace, sitting just south of the sound hole, is the final brace in this set and the last to be flat at the bottom. I align the brace to the centerline just as before and follow same sequence of events as I did for the first lateral brace. Photo 9.

General notes: This bracing configuration gives the upper top strong, sustainable support against the effects of steel string tension coming its way. Glue squeeze out is cleaned as I go. Tapering the brace ends takes place later as does determining the height of each brace.

[srick]

I just want to reiterate how much I’ve been enjoying this thread!

Rick

[jricc]

I'm not a builder, but I find this approach to rebuilding a guitar fascinating. I'll be following along. Thanks for sharing!

[Dave Abrahamson]

I'm l loving this as well.... Can't wait for the videos to come out!😉😊

Thanks again

[vintageparlors]

Thanks to everyone for chiming in. I don't really think about the steps I take to rebuild an old parlor, 'cause I do this everyday, so this is giving me a different perspective on what I do.

Let's finish up this top and glue down the lower top braces. The placement, gluing and clamping sequence for the lower braces doesn't change but lower braces have a radius on the bottom whereas the top braces were flat.

We've already reviewed the shaping technique I use but it's worth mentioning again the importance of using clamping cauls that have the same radius'd as the braces being clamped above them. The PVC clamping cauls come in various lengths so I pull out those sized for 0-size lower bout and bend them into shape using the 20' radius template. Photo 1.

I use the centerline I created and little square to ensure each brace is perpendicular across the guitar body. Ratchet clamps keep them tight to the caul until I can get the screw clamps into position. Photo 2, 3 and 4.

After the lower braces have set I'm ready to glue down the bridge plate. I've decided to use a 2mm sitka spruce bridge plate with a rosewood cap beneath the bridge to catch the ball ends of the strings. The bridge plate grain will run with the guitar top and sit between the lower two braces. The specs for this bridge plate will help to prevent the already-compromised top from caving in/buckling under the stress of modern string tension. Photo 5, otherwise know as: Family of clamps drinking at the waterhole.

The rosewood cap is cut from B-quality headstock overlays that you can buy on eBay and elsewhere pretty cheap. They are the thickness I want and I can get at least two caps from each larger overlay. This cap is only 3" wide despite the photo making it appear much larger. Photo 6.

QUICK TIP: If you use an overlay of any kind on top of your softwood bridge plate, make sure that you size it to accommodate a bridge plate transducer pickup, like K&K Mini, in the future. That means giving a little extra material toward the saddle so that the pads have somewhere to seat completely and firmly.

Next up will be tapering the brace ends and sizing the height of each brace before mating up with the rim for the first time since these features have been upgraded.

.

[vintageparlors]

The final step before gluing the top to the rim is setting the height of each brace and tapering the lateral brace ends. It's difficult to describe, in detail, how to size any particular brace given that each guitar has different issues, needs and cautions. I can say that the debate over brace "mass" (height, width and thickness) is a whole other thread in itself so I'll hold off on that discussion for another time.



FINAL BRACE WORK
Here's the rule of thumb I follow for ladder bracing when setting the height of each brace. The brace closest to the neck block is set the highest insofar as it's job is to stiffen and support the upper top between the sound hole and neck joint. The height of the brace just below the sound hole gets set according to the how much clearance I need for the deep throat clamp to clear this brace when gluing down the bridge. If this brace is not low enough for the clamp to clear it, the clamp will crush the brace in its attempt to achieve pressure at the bridge, or, the clamp will not give the bridge the pressure it needs to stay glued to the top.

The height of the brace just north of the bridge is also guided by clamp clearance needs. Finally, the lateral brace between the bridge and the end block can be as high as the first brace insofar as there is no conflict with clamping AND this brace is key when trying to control the forward sinking/twisting of the bridge under the tension of steel strings.

Tapering the brace ends starts with rough shaping the ends o the 4" belt sander and then final shaping with smaller sanding disc using the Dremel tool. The tips of the taper sit underneath the lining just a bit to provide as much support as they can for the entire width of the top. Photo 1 and 2.

GLUING TOP TO RIM
I always make a practice "fitting" of the top on the rim to make sure everything goes where I want it to go BEFORE I get the glue brush wet. We know from previous discovery that the top and rim were warped and in a sorry state when we started this project. This fact makes me even more cautious about how easy the top and rim will reunite now that all the rebuilding/rebracing is complete.

I start the process by lining up the top at the neck block and end block to see where everything else aligns around the rim. In this case, my concerns were well founded. There's a serious "skew" on the top meeting the rim on the lower treble side. This appears as an excess rim on one side and not enough rim on the other. My attempts at trying to squeeze this misalignment into position isn't working so I'm calling in some help from a longer ratchet clamp to persuade the rim to go where I want it to go. When I reposition a rim like this I want to check to see how the top is reacting in terms of its flatness so there's a straightedge sitting on the top all the time this is happening so I can keep tabs on things. Photo 3.

After I'm happy with how the practice "fitting" ends up, I take everything off and start again but this time with glue. I repeat the steps I just took including the rim "persuasion" and watching the straightedge to make sure the top doesn't go wacky on me. Photo 4.

After the entire top is clamped down and my precision straightedge makes its appearance, I'm very pleased with how the top looks. I focus on what the neck assembly will deal with in terms of transition at the neck block. I'm also looking for how the bridge might sit in its place given that's where the rim needed a nudge. Photo 5.

Nothing gave me cause for concern and I'm ready to sign off the body being together and complete. I must add, however, that the mating of top and rim is not a perfect fit and will require a binding around edge to clean up any "discrepancies".


Next up: top binding

.

[czgunner]

What a great thread. Hope you get a YouTube channel showing this work!

[Dave Abrahamson]

Originally Posted by czgunner

What a great thread. Hope you get a YouTube channel showing this work!

Me too, that would be awesome!😁

[vintageparlors]

After a good dose of messing with old parlor guitars, I figured out that rebuilding individual components and trying to reunite them so that they fit perfectly was never going to happen. Thank goodness for binding to help fix the arguments, in this case, between the rim and the top(or back).

Although the mating of the rebuilt top with the rebuilt rim of our Regal parlor was better than the condition we found it in, it wasn't better enough to go without binding to fix the "discrepancies". Photo 1 shows what we started with. Photo 2 shows what we finished with.

I sourced a cream binding that has a vintage vibe to it. It looks way too "clean" when new but it will fit in nicely with the "barn find" look once we're finished. Photo 3. I get the binding jig from StewMac ready by covering the metal surfaces that meet the body finish with tape to minimize scuffs and scrapes. Photo 4.

I set the height of the cutting bit to rout just a hair below where the binding width is set so that there's something to scrape flush with the top. Photo 5. I start at the neck joint opening and work my way around the rim, adjusting the depth of the cut as I go. Because of how the top is shaped, there will be some areas that achieve the depth I want before other areas so I mark those with a piece of tape so that I don't recess the channel too far into the rim. Photo 6.

After I've routed around the rim to a point where I think I'm close to where I want to be, I take an old file fragment and clean up the two mating surfaces that will become one with the binding. Photo 7. Now I'm ready for a "dry fitting" where I can determine whether the rim is ready to accept the binding all around the top but without glue. Photo 8.

With any loose ends taken care of, I layout my tape, cloth and adhesive to glue the top binding to the rim. I use Duco cement for adhering plastic binding to wood rim as it's readily available, inexpensive and works well for me. Photo 9. I like to start on the treble side of the neck joint and work to the right. I squeeze a thin run of Duco in the channel about three inches just to get the ball rolling. I hold the binding in the channel with one hand and tape the binding down with the other hand. Photo 10.

I work in 4-6 inch increments where I apply the glue, set the binding in the channel and tape it down. Photo 11. To help the binding sit better in the channel at the waist of the guitar, I stretch the binding by gently flexing it in the direction of the waist beforehand. I take special care at the waist to make sure the binding is firmly seated in the channel. I continue around the rim until I'm back up to the bass side of the neck joint. Photo 12.

The good news is that binding will look real nice once the tape is removed, scraped flush with the top and then "aged" to fit in with the vibe of the guitar. The bad news is that the tape, no matter how "low tack" it's advertised to be, will take off some of the original finish. To minimize the bad news, I'll want the tape to sit not a second longer than it has to before removing it. The Duco cement takes only a few minutes to set up and then off it comes.

Next up: Taking care of some misc. loose ends

[vintageparlors]

The new fretboard for the Regal will come from StewMac. StewMac sells fretboards in a number of scale lengths pre-made for common applications like Fender, Martin, Gibson and PRS. Their fretboards come oversized, as a rectangle, so you can can size it and taper it to suit your application. You can get them either pre-slotted (yes, please) or without fret slots. I choose Pau Ferro wood, which I find has a bit more grain density than e.i. rosewood but also takes a finish well.

The scale of the Regal is 24", not something StewMac offers, is something I once had to special order. The 24" scale length, as measured by the distance between the nut and 12th fret X 2, happens to be hidden within a more common scale length that can be purchased without a special order. I can't remember how or when I discovered this but it makes life allot easier and a little less expensive. Let me explain.

The Fender scale length of 25.5" is measured from the nut to the 12th fret. But if you measure from the 1st fret to the 13th fret, the scale length is 24". By removing that portion of the fretboard from the 1st fret to the nut, the 1st fret now becomes the nut. So as long as I remember that the "new" 12th fret was formerly the 13th fret, I now have a 24" scale length fretboard to use on my project.

Photos might help to this illustrate better than I can describe it.
Photo 1 shows the Fender 25.5" fretboard untouched and right out of the box sitting next to our Regal 12-fret neck.
Photo 2 shows the 25.5" and 24" scale length side-by-side using tape to illustrate how the modification works
Photo 3 shows the now 24" scale length sitting on the Regal neck
Photo 4 show the now 24" scale length under the ruler

[vintageparlors]

With the fretboard scale length now configured at 24" the next step is to taper the sides of the fretboard to match the taper of the Regal 12-fret neck. The first thing I do is to determine and mark a centerline down the middle of the rectangular fretboard. It will be from this centerline that measurements of the neck width at the nut and neck width where the neck meets the body will be plotted. Photo 1.

It's easier for my brain to process increments in millimeters so I measure the two points I'll use to dictate the taper and add two millimeters to each. Adding one millimeter on each side of the desired final dimension leaves some room for error in cutting and/or sanding. I've gotten pretty good over the years in transforming a rectangular fretboard into a tapered fretboard without crossing the cut line or losing the true centerline at the same time but better safe than sorry. Photos 2 and 3.

I use a Dremel Model 580 table saw to make the cuts along each tapered edge. This little hobby saw works great and allows for fine cuts without losing tons of material in the process. Once the cuts are made, I end up with a tapered fretboard that still requires sanding on the belt sander to smooth out the rough edges. Photo 4.

Since I've already established the centerline, plotting position markers on the fretboard is pretty straightforward. I mark the middle of the 5th, 7th and 9th frets in pencil followed by a metal pin pointer to help guide the brad point bit. Photo 5.

I'm using 5mm and 4mm MOP dots so I pre-drill the holes using 5mm and 4mm drill bits from a set of brad point bits purchased from StewMac and then clean the area around each hole before applying just a drop of DUCO cement in the hole. Photo 6.

The MOP dots are placed into position and leveled as best as they are able to be leveled. I don't want to hammer the dots into their holes without something between the hammer and the fretboard surface so I use the flat side of my little square to protect the fretboard and give two light taps for each. This method also helps to set the dots level with the fretboard surface at the same time but better safe than sorry. Photo 7.

If I've done a good job the dots are flush with the surface and the only thing left to do is cleanup any glue squeeze out and give the area a light sanding. Photo 8.

The final step in preparing the fretboard for installation will include a pre-finish to the surface of the fretboard and installing the frets.

[Sage Runner]

Nice Work. The stencil on those old Regals are priceless. Can’t wait to hear it’s new Voice!