Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Nice! This would be a nice finish:

Super job and explanation as always Paul!

Of all the threads on the Forum, I think these restoration ones are my favorites.
By what work I have seen that you have done in the past, I'm sure that it will be fantastic!
The knowledge we all gain from these "lessons" makes us realize that almost any guitar can be brought back to life in the right hands.

Something tells me that I'm going to wish that I had kept this Capri for myself, had Paul restore it and maybe instead sold him a '98 330 with minor finish checks......

Paul, Thanks for sharing with us the pix and the details. I love the detailed explanations you put forth.

Next installment: replacing the back.

As I mentioned above, injudicious (love that word--it means "careless" but sounds more impressive) sanding had made a mess of the back, as the topmost layer of veneer had rounded the two cutaway tips and exposed the much darker crossply layer underneath. I suppose I could have cut the veneer away and re-veneered it, but I chose to cut the back away entirely and replace it with new plywood, then veneer the plywood, as the maple plywood I was able to get was too light in color and too plain-figured.

I removed the badly-disfigured binding with a small and very sharp wood chisel, onch by painful inch. I tossed the bits of celluloid into a pint can of ethylene dichloride, to make binging "mud", the glue that I use to re-bind this and other project guitars. The factory and many luthiers use acetone instead of EDC, but years ago I found out that EDC penetrates and melts better and holds much stronger than acetone-based "mud". It's much more aggressive and sets up faster.

Here's the guitar, set up in one of my mills, ready to trim away the plywood back:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/clamped.jpg

It's propped on the mill table with two strips of 19mm poplar, so the fretboard is clear of the mill table. Next, I check it for level (it was within .010"--close enough) and proceed to machine away the edge of the plywood until I hit "air" (mill past the glue joint). I do this all the way around the guitar, and also concentrate upon the neck pocket, which I want to expose and render absolutely level and flat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/ohno1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/neckpocket.jpg

When I've gone all around the perimeter of the guitar and trimmed away all the plywood over the neck joint, the back is lifted off to reveal the very simple internal structure:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/inside.jpg

Here are two shots showing the internal structure, which is quite rough-cut and has a hand-hewn look. It's simple--a diagonal cross-brace, which is not attached to back or front, but floats; and a tailblock to reinforce the bottom and provide an anchoring place for the strap button.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/structure.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/structure2.jpg

Note that the insides of the cutaways and the very bottom of the guitar, because of the unique construction method, are endgrain and quite susceptible to splitting and cracking. This guitar exhibits none of these defects, though--it is as solid as the day it was minted!

Next, the guitar's outline was traced onto a new piece of 1/4" maple-faced plywood, which was cut and sanded on a disc and spindle sander to slightly smaller than the guitar--about .030" all around. After gluing, the plywood's edge was routed for the new binding channel.

Here's the body resting on my work table (on those poplar strips again), wetted with yellow glue, with the new back in the background.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/backready.jpg

You will note that I haven't attempted to strip the old finish yet--that will come after the back is glued and routed. Next, the back is weighted with two 50 pound weights and clamped wherever it's needed. Excess glue is removed with a damp cloth.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/weight.jpg

Here's the guitar with its new back:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/backdone.jpg

And a detail shot of the binding channels in front and back edges:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/edges.jpg

Now it's time to strip and sand the old nitro off:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/stripper.jpg

And a few shots of the body after sanding:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/det2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/frontsanded.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960%20365%20CAPRI/finfret.jpg

Oddly, the binding channels are slightly wider than 1/4" and slightly deeper than 1/16", so standard binding will not fit. I ordered oversized celluloid from one of a very few supply houses that still stocks it in the USA. It will be cut down and scraped once in place.

I also will be veneering the front and back in a very nice birdseye maple, with a wonderfully deep and glamorous figure. I've got a few more surprises in store to turn this guitar into a spectacular showpiece. Again, stay tuned!

My God!! This is amazing stuff! Ever thought about a career in pathology, Paul? Talk about exposing the innards!!

That or a reconstructive surgeon......

Hey Paul - I reckon you should put a book together or something, documenting the stages of all your great projects. It would be of invaluable use to luthiers/restorers and would be fascinating reading for us mere mortals.

Fantastic stuff--certainly a view of Rickenbackers that most of us never get to see!

Paul, if you wrote a book I'd buy two--one for me, and one for a friend who is a luthier....

Paul, awesome look inside! If you wrote a book, you'd have no time for the 25 hours worth of stuff you ALREADY do in a day!

Er, I would've posted more last night, but I had band practice...

Another amazing transformation in progress!

I'm guessing that Rickenbacker started using the X-bracing for these guitars in '61 or '62. Anyone know for sure?

Probably with the thin-body introduction.....

Band practice? Are you firing up again, Paul? Or was it bandsaw or rubber band...