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NOGD

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:02 pm
by k1w1
New old guitar day, this arrived today, 1959 Harmony Jamboree, spruce top birch body and sides. Bit of an unusual look for Harmony, a wide narrow body. I'll reset the neck, clean up some dodgy finish repairs and remove the decals.

ImageIMG_1624 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr

It originally had this crap bridge that was epoxied on so I had it sent to a guitar builder friend in California who replaced it with the bridge above. Did a great job.

ImageJamboree by Laurie Franks, on Flickr

Re: NOGD

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:11 pm
by telefiend
Super cool! I'm assuming the decals aren't original?

Re: NOGD

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:25 pm
by k1w1
No not original but have been on there a long time. This thing was played a lot, neck finish wear, fret wear and fretboard divots so a fret dress after the reset.

Re: NOGD

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:40 pm
by telefiend
Cool stuff. I've always wanted one of these old Harmony guys, ever since I heard the great dry sound Ryan Adams got out of his Buck Owens. The amount of work they often seem to need has put me off, though.

Re: NOGD

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 7:04 pm
by k1w1
90% of the acoustics will need a neck reset. I had Glynn do one on a Harmony H167 years ago and at $350 was not sustainable for all the guitars I have. So I taught myself how to do them and any refinish repairs that are needed. Between my modded coffee machine and Dremel they are getting better every time.

Re: NOGD

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 7:36 pm
by Jay
You should fill the divots as well...

Are you using hide glue or eliphatic?

Re: NOGD

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 7:53 pm
by k1w1
The divots aren't too bad, would normally use rosewood dust and aliphatic as a slurry but these aren't deep. Using fish glues, the Titebond liquid hide glue I was using would go out of spec by the time I got around to using it.

The fish glue can be stored in the fridge and keeps substantially longer. Have a bottle of this

http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Su ... _Glue.html

Re: NOGD

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:11 pm
by Jay
I like the 30 minutes of the fish glue. Never used it but looks promising. You can easily make your own hide glue from bits you buy at the supermarket. I have tried it on an acoustic bridge and it works wonders.

Re: NOGD

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:20 pm
by k1w1
Yeah I did a repair with gelatin from the supermarket, worked great. But the need for heating pots etc was a real hassle. The fish glue has 2 advantages, it tacks immediately and really holds good so your clamp time is 30 minutes and any adjustments are easy, and it binds as good as hide glue.

Re: NOGD

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:49 pm
by Jay
Right, next kingfish I get will be eaten and some converted into glue. Can't be that hard making some glue eh? :)

Re: NOGD

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:05 pm
by k1w1
:lol: I believe it is made from fish bladders so might take a few kingis. Turns out the decal is a hand painting of a phoenix rising, which while well done was not my preference. Scraped it off so some refinish needed.