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 Post subject: Kizan Classical Repair
PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2022 9:28 am 
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Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:24 pm
Posts: 13
First name: Charles
Last Name: Dick
City: Spencerville
State: In
Zip/Postal Code: 46788
Country: United States
Focus: Build
Status: Semi-pro
I received a nice solid wood Japanese Kizan classical which is apparently a fairly rare, but not terribly valuable instrument. The customer brought it in to fix some cracks in the top. When I looked inside the guitar I found 5 or 6 .125"x1.5x3 or 4" pieces of both spruce and plywood plates that I assume were glued in as reinforcements to the top. I've tried to loosen them with a bridge plate removal chisel, but the glue job is superlative. My experience with Japanese instruments is to heat up the glue enough to loosen them will ruin the finish or tear apart the top. I see two alternative--fix the cracks and string it up or replace the top (not cost effective). I've included some pictures which may or may not give an idea of what I'm dealing with. Looking for alternatives I haven't considered.


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PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2022 9:52 am 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 4:02 am
Posts: 3227
Location: The Woodlands, Texas
First name: Barry
Last Name: Daniels
Did you try to heat up the patches before using the bridge removal chisel? That is the way a bridge plate has to be removed. It requires special tools consisting of a thick block of brass or aluminum with a handle that can be heated up and placed inside the guitar against the patch. To prevent damage to the finish you can lay a wet towel on the finished side.



These users thanked the author Barry Daniels for the post: charlesa46741 (Mon May 02, 2022 6:57 pm)
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PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2022 9:55 am 
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Joined: Sun Mar 06, 2011 12:04 am
Posts: 5743
First name: Chris
Last Name: Pile
City: Wichita
State: Kansas
Country: Good old US of A
Focus: Repair
Status: Professional
Wow. Crazy big reinforcements. Since they are over the top, I wonder if they were stuck in there with a glue other than Titebond or hide glue. If it was CA, that would be a permanent frowny face as removal of the plates would probably do more damage. It's a conundrum, and I think your suggestion of simply fixing the cracks from the top might be appropriate in light of price of the instrument.

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These users thanked the author Chris Pile for the post (total 2): Chris Ide (Fri May 13, 2022 7:37 am) • charlesa46741 (Mon May 02, 2022 6:58 pm)
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