Saturday morning reclamation project (Nippon Gakki content)

[Mark Geoffriau]

Well, a couple months into my renewed classical guitar hobby, and I've picked up my third sub-$100 guitar. Couldn't help myself.

I spotted this 1965 Yamaha Nippon Gakki No. 100 on craigslist the other day for $70. It looked fairly rough, but my research indicated that it was all solid wood and should be a nice player if cleaned up. I noticed it had a strap button and what looked like a Breast Cancer Awareness sticker on the top, but I figured it would be a good little project. Unfortunately it was over an hour away, but I inquired anyway.

The seller suggested that if I could meet him halfway, he'd drop the price to $40. That sounded like a good deal to me, so I agreed. He mentioned that he had picked it up at a pawn shop and that a previous owner had done some engraving on it. I didn't recall seeing any engraving in the photos, but I figured it was probably a name or initials on the headstock or something like that.

I headed out early this morning and met the seller. It turns out that what I thought was a sticker on the top was actually the aforementioned engraving, complete with filled-in paint. Still, the guitar was solid structurally, and it seemed like a fun project.

I'll be spending a few hours figuring out how to best approach refinishing the top. I'm not sure if it's thick enough to sand down past the engraved ribbon. If not, then I'll have to sand/strip the paint off, then try to fill in the engraved lines, then sand level again.

It'll need a few other things. The saddle has slots filed into it, so that will get replaced with a bone saddle. The nut isn't in great shape either so I may as well replace that. I had heard that these early Nippon Gakki's came with 32mm roller spacing, but these are 35mm, so that will make replacement very easy. Oh, and those strap buttons will be removed.

[Mark Swanson]

I can't be sure of this from your photo, but I am quite familiar with the Yamaha Nippon Gakki steel-strings. they are pretty good guitars...the steel strings do not have solid tops, and I don't think yours has one either. What they use is a much better grade of laminated top than is used these days. they are different, and hard to spot because the inner layer is also spruce, so you have a three-layer top but unlike the ones you see today, it's all spruce layers. You have to know what to look for at the soundhole edge in order to see it, it can be pretty hard if you don't know what to look for.
I don't know if I would dare to sand that top, you could go through the top layer and then you would be up that old creek we all have visited before.

[Mark Geoffriau]

Hmm -- you know, I think you're right. I had not noticed this before, but around the soundhole where it meets the fretboard, the structure is much more apparent. This complicates things.

[Mark Swanson]

Yes, I thought so...you can see the inner layer good at that point because the grain in the inner layer runs at 90 degrees to the grain in the other two layers. This is one of the worst problems with laminated tops as far as strength is concerned. but the Yamaha Nippon Gakki stuff seems to take the years much better than other guitars, and they sound great. The later guitars they made in other places had the luan layer in the middle, it's plainly seen, and they are not as good as the Nippon Gakki ones...that means "made in Japan" by the way...the non-japanese guitars are not as nice.

[Clay Schaeffer]

Maybe you could hide the damage with golpeadors. Or it might make an interesting "black face" project.

[Mark Geoffriau]

I have mostly decided to go for it. It was a $40 experiment, and I won't be happy with it in it's current state. I think I'll try to do some careful measurement of the laminate layers at the soundhole and compare to the dept of the engraving, and see if I can realistically sand the top layer down without encroaching on the middle layer.

Should I be concerned about the depth of rosette? I would hate to successfully sand down past the engraving but damage or lose the rosette entirely.

If that works, then, I'll have to think about refinishing. I guess it's always a good time to learn how to French Polish, right?

Anyone have any thoughts on how to fill the strap button holes, and also the damage to the heel of the neck?

[Bob Gramann]

If you sand off more than a trivial amount, you will be changing the sound of the guitar as well as the stability of the top. I would consider the engraving as part of the history of that guitar and leave it.

[Bill Raymond]

I definitely would not sand the top down. If you wish to eliminate the design, then you might consider inlaying a patch the depth of the top layer over a section of the soundboard that contains the design. You may be able to get a piece of spruce soundboard offcut from someone that would suffice. I'd cut as small an area as possible out of the top layer of the soundboard in an oval or "boat" shape, glue in a matching piece of spruce and level it with the top and refinish. That's a lot of work, though, for a "beater".

[Bill Raymond]

It occurs to me that perhaps I shouldn't have referred to this instrument as a "beater". It also occurs to me that the reason there are notches filed in the bridge saddle may be that the action was too high and a neck reset may be needed, too. If that isn't the case, then so much the better.

[Mark Geoffriau]

Yes, I think my first step is going to be to fit a replacement saddle tonight and string it with some Pro Arte's so that I can get a feel for the current sound and playability...and then make a decision about how to proceed.

[Mark Swanson]

I have to pitch in with another vote to leave the top alone. Sanding it, or even refinishing it can really bring it down, practically ruin it. I'd just leave the design alone, or even inlay something over it like a piece of wood but you don't need to refinish it to do that. Nothing wrong with a breast cancer awareness guitar anyway!

[Mark Geoffriau]

The saddle slot for this thing is tiny. It's taking forever to get the bone saddle down to size. I need a power sander or something.

[Mark Geoffriau]

Got the saddle fitted tonight and strung it with some EJ45 Pro Arte's. Discovered a new problem.

I strung the guitar, let the strings settle some, retuned, and then started to play a little bit. I was quite pleased with the sound. The action was high as I had left the saddle full-height, but it was not unplayable, and had plenty of room to adjust lower. The tone was not overly complex, but still, quite nice and full. Then I glanced back at the bridge and noticed the saddle was leaning forward. I thought, "That can't be right -- I just fitted that saddle very carefully."

When I looked closer, I realized there's a crack in the bridge, and the edge closest to the soundhole is leaning under the pressure of the strings.

So...try to glue and repair this bridge? Buy a replacement bridge and some clamps from StewMac? Or just admit defeat and move on?

[Mark Geoffriau]

I used a craft stick to pry open the crack in the bridge and "painted" as much TiteBond as I could manage into the crack with a fine chisel-tip paintbrush. Then I closed the it back up with the 2 small Irwin quick clamps. I think I got a decent amount of glue in there, because when I clamped it shut there was a nice bead of glue that got squeezed out into the saddle slot. I wiped that clean with a craft stick wrapped in paper towel.

[Mark Swanson]

That should work. I probably would have used CA, but as long as you got the glue in there real good it should hold it. We will see!

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

You might want to lower the saddle before re-stringing. Excessive height will make it more likely to reopen that crack. Also, the replacement bridge from Stew Mac is quite nice.

[Mark Geoffriau]

I'm planning to -- the action was pretty high so I'll be bringing it down a good bit.

[Mark Geoffriau]

That should work. I probably would have used CA, but as long as you got the glue in there real good it should hold it. We will see!

Not the result I was looking for. I removed the clamps today. The crack looked shut tight, but as soon as I applied a bit of pressure, it let go.

Think I can reattempt with CA glue?

[Mark Swanson]

Now you have to deal with any old dried glue that is now in the crack. You won't lose anything by giving the CA glue a try, but try your best to clean the crack of the old glue. Vinegar and water might do the trick, and a good brush once it is softened. The CA glue might hold but if it doesn't you have only lost the effort...otherwise it's time for a new bridge.

[Michael Lewis]

It will be an interesting process to remove that bridge from the laminated top. I would probably take it off with a finger plane, shaving by shaving to avoid damage to the top, or use a router and do it in a few minutes.