Bernd 's Klira Patricia 196X jazz box renovation project
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Bernd writes to tell us about his renovation project as follows:
I am Bernd from Straubing in Bavaria, Germany. I found a 196X Klira
Patricia Archtop at an auction and decided to "restore" it to a blue
Jazz-Machine with abalone-celluloid inlays.
Some people think, those old Kliras (and Lindbergs and Triumphators)
should stay in the cellar - others think, they have some worth. As I
didn't have such a Jazz-Box, I was ready to invest a few Euros and some elbow grease. The lacquer and the whole finish was very bad, and it
seems to have been in a very humid environment for a few years. But the
neck was straight and the frets were OK.
The headstock inlay was already dissolving - what looks like a kind of
pearl inlay was in fact some kind of laquer, also in a very bad shape.
The guitar looks much better on the images, as it was in reality.
Problem: I don't have a workshop, don't have any woodworking tools and I don't have any woodworking experience ...
So I stripped her and gave her some new abalone-celluloid inlays and also an abalone headstock and some "new clothes" - a RAL 5005 stain.
Added a little make-up - two sheets of teak oil (I will add some more in the future ...) and some Grover like tuners from a Guild F130, a Gretsch bridge and her old tailpiece.
Now she sounds very loud and clear ... Great tone ...
As she is a modern girl now, she gets some electronics - a Schaller Vintage 44 floating single coil and a volume and tone control. With a Yamaha THR 10c, she sounds absolutely stunning.
OK. This is in no way a perfect restoration. I did a lot of mistakes and everbody who takes a closer (and even a not so close) look will find some. But I like her, wife and daughter like her, people like her and she has great sound ...
Already looking for the next old guitar ...
Bernd
Many thanks to Bernd for sharing his guitar renovation project with us. I'd like to congratulate him on tastefully bringing an old guitar that has seen better days back to life. - GLW
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brilliant!
ReplyDeleteJust for the sake of balance, I'm gonna say - this is not brilliant, and it's not a restoration, it's the kind of unpleasant modification of a vintage guitar that was in fine original shape that should have died out in the 1970s.
ReplyDelete"Already looking for the next old guitar ... "
Please for the love of god, no.