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ce. 1960 Rickenbacker 105 Work progress for S. Ochoa Tidying Up the Original Hardshell Case |
The case is in very good condition, with marks of warm "Soul" (we call it 'Mana' here in Hawaii) from doing it's job on a long journey. Upon inspecting the case interior, the assessory compartment walls were found to be a bit loose as is common with old cases that relied on brads and glue that wasn't pressed into the felt. With age the brads get loose and the old glue dries out and loosens it grip on the plush lining's flocking which also loosens with age. Also notice the spot where the Steel Guitar wore a hole in the plush lining, and the hinge flap has a worn-off spot. So I removed the compartment walls for regluing their plush lining down and regluing the walls back into the case after tightening the brad holes with toothpicks so the brads would hold well when reassembled. I also patched the plush lining's two worn-through spots with plush lining remnants taken from an old unserviceable case in my shop. Shown below are the two worn spots of the plush felt. |
The assessory compartment's longer wall glued and clamped. Notice the worn spot has been trimmed to a geometric pattern easier to duplicate with the plug pieces shown waiting on the bench to be cut. |
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Assessory compartment walls removed. End-plate shown here clamped up for glue drying. When glue is applied to instrument case repairs (and most of the time with instrument repairs), it should be applied with a good selection of quality artists brushes, to have exacting control of the glue applications. |
The assessory compartment' walls have been reinstalled and weight pressure applied here vertically and clamps applied horzontally, to tighten the joints and drive the glue down into the plush lining's flocking and fabric, which will hold much tighter and thus help prevent the brads from getting loose in their holes over time. Also notice that a patch has been installed in the worn-off spot and is being dried by a heat gun. |
To the left of the green cigarette lighter is a brass wire brush. It is used to comb the flocking back away from the plush lining's patch seams until the joints dry enough to accept a bead of glue that the felt will be combed back upon to help hide the patch seams as much as possible with the amount of flocking left around the joints. You can see the flocking combed back away from the joints in this pic. The radio / CD player's name is Hank. He's my remote to the 400 watt PA system / music stereo embedded in the bench's shelves cabinet. Junior Brown played to last night's work ....to "get / keep my mind right" . Hank is always peeking around at my work to make sure my mind and the work is right. |
A closer look at the bigger plush lining patch drying from the heat gun. The heat gun is sitting on top of a doubled manila folder to protect the felt and it's hide glue from the gun's warm air. Hide glue will soften from heat as it's supposed to for instrument repair, ....so keep heat away from things it's not being used on. |
Both patches have dried but with their flocking still combed back awaiting the seam camouflage glue. Hank approves. |
All of the above work was allowed to dry overnight. Today (3-25-08) I will finish up the outside of the case and hopefully get it all packed up and ready for shipment. |
