MandoAiki - Ed Cunliff Mandolins, Requintos and Guitars

Set-ups, Repairs and Restoration

Even an inexpensive guitar or mandolin can usually be improved with some minor adjustments and set-up. If you’ve purchased a new instrument you may find that while it looks great it feels hard to play. If it’s been around for a while it may not sound as well as it used to. In both cases, a set-up and new strings might improve the situation. Set-ups and general improvement steps can range from cleaning and restringing the guitar or mandolin to a better set of tuning machines or bridge pins.

Guitars and mandolins in need of repair are best taken care of sooner than later. Sometimes it is a matter of fixing something before it gets really bad – a crack with dirt in it is more of a problem to fix than a clean fresh crack. Common repairs in guitars and mandolins include cracks in the body, an unfortunately broken neck or headstock, loose braces or binding. Removal and re-gluing of a loose bridge will bring back lost tone and volume.

My guitar and mandolin restorations for the most part are intended for dad’s or granddad’s old instrument that you want to be able to play again – different from a restoration intended to return an instrument to its original state. It’s not uncommon for the old family guitar to end up in the attic for several years and when it’s brought out it is unplayable. At times the only value in the instrument is the sentiment – and it’s hard to put a price on that. If you want it playable, rather than to hang it on the wall; it may be worth the effort to attempt a resurrection.

See some examples of the guitar and mandolin repair and restoration work (it’s next to impossible to show a set-up, but you sure can hear and feel them):

Repairs:

Tornado Victim Recover
A 1910 Martin mandolin barely made it through the 2011 tornado.

Roger Bliss, in memory
Roger was a good friend, a fine musician and a "noodler" supreme

Faux Resonator?
Time had taken its toll on this false resonator guitar.

One of a Kind
A guitar and mandolin hand-made by a relative.

Hand Made
This beautiful guitar was hand made by Robert Jackson over 15 years ago.

Fret Levels: All the Same?
Two instruments needed fret work. Are they the same?

An Old Solid Top Jazz Guitar
It had a few cracks, poor finish and the neck was loose.

Ouch, My Neck
An acoustic Epiphone guitar that had an unpleasant meeting with a foot

No Hum from this Hummingbird
This particular Hummingbird had a really bad New Year's Eve.

Valgame mi vihuela
This vihuela lost its head in a simple accident.

Family Jazz
A jazz guitar that somewhere along the line had a few rough days.

Espana
Not an expensive instrument but it presented an interesting challenge.