Here is a view of the bottom of the vibrato assembly removed from the guitar but still assembled. The camera's flash is not used here but lighted with the bench work light, so the metal looks darker than it actually is. Look closely and you can see that the spring is actually only half as long as it appears here, while the other half is it's reflection in the shiny chromed bottom plate. A long history of salts from playing hands sweat gets under parts which most Players don't notice and don't disassemble a guitar to periodically clean up and lubricate for inhibiting corrosion. The vibrato will be disassembled and a hand brass wire brush and Dremel wire brush worked upon the penetrating oil it will soak in. Then a light coat of protective oil will be applied to inhibit future corrosion for several years. I think it is good for a Player to disassemble his / her guitar periodically to (1) clean it up and (2) learn it's parts and how they work and (3) evolve their ability to work on their guitars. But each job should be thoroughly read about before trying and reviewed during the work until each job is known by experience. There is a wealth of free guitar repair instructional material on Stewart McDonald's website. |
See Page 5; Top Parts Cont'd >>> |
Before work; Inspection & documentation ~ Page 4; Top Parts ~ |
These webpages are under ongoing construction. |
See Page 5; Top Parts Cont'd >>> |
NOTICE: High resolution pictures are the best way to communicate the details of a guitar and work on it; But keep in mind that the pictures on these webpages are approximately 3 times larger than the actual guitar items, so corrosion, scratches, marrs and even dust will stand out in the camera's flash. My camera was obviously having some trouble with focus and depth of field if I didn't happen to have the camera at a correct range that turned out clear and crisp, ....with pictures posted on this Page 4 thru Page 8, that I couldn't notice until the images were downloaded from the camera. I will retake any blurred pictures that don't reasonably show what the forthcoming text presents. Nothing found and shown through Pages 1 thru 7 so far are out of the ordinary for guitars this old; So far all that has been examined is quite sound. This guitar will clean up nicely. Text will be added to pictures as time allows. Please don't try to interpret images until the text is posted for each one; The high resolution details can be quite deceiving. |
Documenting 'before work' pics gives a rewarding view to compare with after the clean-up work is done. Here we have the vibrato assembly before removal. All metal parts (except electronic) will be soaked in capillary penetrating oil and then either hand rubbed with a well-worn EM pad or with a Dremel wire wheel, as appropriate for each part. |
Here is a view of the bottom of the vibrato assembly removed from the guitar but still assembled. The camera's flash is not used here but lighted with the bench work light, so the metal looks darker than it actually is. Look closely and you can see that the spring is actually only half as long as it appears here, while the other half is it's reflection in the shiny chromed bottom plate. A long history of salts from playing hands sweat gets under parts which most Players don't notice and don't disassemble a guitar to periodically clean up and lubricate for inhibiting corrosion. The vibrato will be disassembled and a hand brass wire brush and Dremel wire brush worked upon the penetrating oil it will soak in. Then a light coat of protective oil will be applied to inhibit future corrosion for several years. I think it is good for a Player to disassemble his / her guitar periodically to (1) clean it up and (2) learn it's parts and how they work and (3) evolve their ability to work on their guitars. But each job should be thoroughly read about before trying and reviewed during the work until each job is known by experience. There is a wealth of free guitar repair instructional material on Stewart McDonald's website. |
Here the flash is used to look down into the interior of the vibrato's top plate. The interior will be wire brushed with a Dremel hole brush and coated with a film of oil to inhibit future corrosion. A great picture to compare 'before' and 'after' pictures of work done and what a Player can expect of his / her own guitar maintenance and work. The top plate of the vibrato holds the strings ball ends. The front edge of the flat bottom of the top plate rocks in a "J" flange on the front edge of the bottom plate, while the spring riding on the bottom plate pushes against the plunger screw's threaded receiver from which the plunger screw's long shaft passes through the bottom plate and it's head secures it to it's hole in the top plate, thus the spring pushes the plunger screw and thus the top piece downward heavier than the strings tension, bottoming out the top plate against the bottom plate so the strings return back to their tuning. The vibrato arm overcomes the spring pressure and rocks the top piece forward in the "J" flange, loosining the strings for vibrato effect. |
Here we can see where hand salts have created electrolysis and left light deposits of aluminum oxide on the aluminum sheet that covers the pickup under it's surrounding bezel. As we will see in the electronics section of these webpages, certain places of electrolysis show us that some previous owner used and amplifier that didn't have a center / neutral ground plug; Amazing what a guitar's condition reveals about some of it's history. Removing deposits like this requiresome finesse since we don't want to get oil or neutralizers down into the pickup. The pickup is riveted to it's base-plate bezel, and the bezel is rivted to the pickguard. |
Welcome to my hotrod music fetish; Come aboard.... |
Spring |
Reflection |
Pictured upside-down here. |
V |
< |
< |
V |
V |
Vibrato spring plunger screw head. |
V |
> |
> |
< |
1965 Silvertone Harmony model S1478 With Original Fibreboard Case |
