Patching pre-amp hole

[wblock77]

I am wishing to patch a pre-amp side hole with East Indian Rosewood. The hole is big and I want to install the Fishman Aura Onboard preamp in its place (smaller pre-amp and surround). I hate to buy a whole side set just to harvest a 2.5 x 3 inch piece. I don't have any machinery to shave a thick piece down to .09. I have some 1x2x6 pieces that I could glue together but that is some hard stuff to cut. Do any of you know where I might buy a small scrap of .09 without breaking the bank? If not, I'll just buy a set and have some for future use (if that ever happens).

[Fathand]

You could buy a headplate, should be enough for 2 tries. About .10 to .11 thick. $10 or less

https://www.lmii.com/wood-headplates...1st-grade.html

https://www.lmii.com/wood-headplates...2nd-grade.html

OTOH you might consider a contrasting wood as the seams will show and a different wood will look decorative rather than like a repair.

[wblock77]

Originally Posted by Fathand

You could buy a headplate, should be enough for 2 tries. About .10 to .11 thick. $10 or less

https://www.lmii.com/wood-headplates...1st-grade.html

https://www.lmii.com/wood-headplates...2nd-grade.html

OTOH you might consider a contrasting wood as the seams will show and a different wood will look decorative rather than like a repair.

Those are great ideas. Thanks so much for the comment. I will check out the headplates. I was thinking I might try to square off the hole and use an inlay (using binding actually) between the old and new so the seam transition might look like it was a design feature more than a repair remnant.

[JonWint]

Post some photos of hole area. Someone may have a piece with a reasonable grain/color match they could mail you.

[IMG][/IMG]

[wblock77]

Thanks Jon. I wouldn't want to impose on someone to do that. I should probably just buy a side set and then I'll be like you guys with some bench stock. I'm not too worried about people being able to tell where I've been fixing but I want it to look nice. This is the guitar I posted before about it being an Acoustic Les Paul that was in development at Gibson that they ended up not producing. The holes they made are really part of the story. Here is a couple of holes in the tail I am working on. The picture looks a lot worse than in person. I'm pleased so far. All's I've done is plug the holes. I sprayed some lacquer on one of the plugs to see how the color would match. This Rosewood is pretty dark, but my bigger scraps were good for this spot as they had cut some of the tailpiece away. Beefs it up again. Next up sanding, Fill paste and finish. I've been saving my sawdust from cutting the plugs to mix with my fill. Not sure if I should buy the StewMac paste or just mix sawdust with lacquer to fill the gaps. IMG_6872.jpg

[Quickstep192]

I think instead of trying to match the wood in the guitar, I’d try to match the plastic on the Fishman. I’d cut a piece of black plastic to the size of the old pre-amp to cover the hole, then attach the Fishman to that piece of plastic.

A piece of rosewood, no matter how carefully chosen will never really match the guitar. A piece of plastic that’s a close match for the Fishman will look more purposeful.

[wblock77]

Thanks. I'll have to think about it for a bit before I do anything to the guitar. I'll also have to see how well I do with the tail plugs. In the mean time, I made a cover out of some nameplate laminate to temporarily use as my preamp will be here in a couple days. I'll keep my out for some black plastic that could work. The hole is big and this guitar is narrow so it makes it tough.IMG_6874 (1).jpg

[wblock77]

Moderately happy with my progress so far on filling the tail piece holes. I wish the grains would line up better but it's in now. Had to drill out the endpin hole to accept a Fishman Aura jack I bought for it. There's still brown paper in the hole in the pic. Still have to drop fill, wet sand, couple more coats and then wait to do the polish.proto7.jpg

IMG_6884.jpg

[wblock77]

Per your suggestion (thank you), I received my East Indian Rosewood headplate piece in the mail today. It will be perfect and will definitely work. It is about 4 MM, but I will probably sand out some of the thickness. Now, to my questions. I will have to put a slight bend in the plug but don't want to spend the big bucks on a bending iron for this little piece. I built a form out of 2x4 pine with the contour. I was thinking I could fill a big sock with rice and put it in the microwave and then place it and additional weight on top of the wood on top of the form. Do you see any issue with this? Or maybe there is an easier way? I'm also torn between the order of things (cut to size, sand out thickness and bend). I want it long for bending but to size for sanding. My inclination is to cut it to width but leave the long dimension (with the grain). Sand and then bend. Your help is very much appreciated.

[Fathand]

Originally Posted by wblock77

Per your suggestion (thank you), I received my East Indian Rosewood headplate piece in the mail today. It will be perfect and will definitely work. It is about 4 MM, but I will probably sand out some of the thickness. Now, to my questions. I will have to put a slight bend in the plug but don't want to spend the big bucks on a bending iron for this little piece. I built a form out of 2x4 pine with the contour. I was thinking I could fill a big sock with rice and put it in the microwave and then place it and additional weight on top of the wood on top of the form. Do you see any issue with this? Or maybe there is an easier way? I'm also torn between the order of things (cut to size, sand out thickness and bend). I want it long for bending but to size for sanding. My inclination is to cut it to width but leave the long dimension (with the grain). Sand and then bend. Your help is very much appreciated.

Thin your piece of rosewood to desired thickness first, spray with distilled water then wrap with tin foil so steam can't escape. Clamp one end to your form and bend over it with a household iron set close to maximum, maybe 80%. When you hear it bubbling inside it's probably ready to bend, go slow.

You may have to over bend as it is likely to spring back.

Because it is a small piece, I think I would cut to length after bending, as you suggested, so you have something to hold on to.

[wblock77]

I went ahead started. It is going well. The rice socks emit a moist heat and stay hot for quite a while. I have leather belt between the wood and the piece. I removed to reheat them and there was a small layer of moisture on the wood. The two lines are the span of the hole in the guitar. I am thinking you are probably right about it springing back some. I will let it cool overnight and check it out in the AM. I'll probably have to take more off the curved parts on the end to over-curve them. We'll see. So nice to know you are out there and following me fumble through this.

Update: I had to bend again but think I have it pretty well. Now I am sanding the sides of the plug to sneak up on the fit. Attachment 80654

Attachment 80655IMG_6912.jpg

[Taz416]

Hi - Did you brace the patch somehow inside the guitar?

[hubcapsc]

Good thread. Nice work ...





-Mike "57 D-28 ..."