Hofner Archtop F-hole Acoustic 1961 repair.

I've gone some way toward repairing a 1961 Hofner Archtop F-hole acoustic guitar.

Add caption

This guitar belongs to a friend who's brother owned it from new in the early 1960s.

He died prematurely of leukaemia in 1962.

The guitar remains original and largely unplayed. As expected the neck was bowed forward and the heel of the neck joint had separated.

I released the truss rod nut which was seized. Once lubricated I refitted the nut and attempted to adjust the curve out of the neck. Adjusting to he truss rod does not have an effect on the neck curvature which leads me to believe that this was never intended by the manufacturer.

I have glued the neck heel joint and repaired this major fault which has improved the string hight issue.

Generall the guitar is in surprisingly good condition in every other respect. Saddle height adjustment has been corrected, a new set of strings fitted, intonation set up and the old Hofner is OK to play.

New hard case for my Taylor AB1

I've just completed a new hard case for my Taylor AB1. Taylor made a canvas gig bag which came standard with their AB1 acoustic bass. The bag is good quality but it will never be a substitute for a hard case when it comes to protection when travelling.
I retained the red velvet interior from the original bag which meant carefully unpicking the stitching.

I built the case with good quality 4mm 5 ply. I decided to refine the original case proportions by cutting a pattern close to the body of the bass but retaining a relatively simple design. A radius curve around the bout and head stock end.

Once constructed I covered the case in open mesh fibre glass cloth set in PVA Glue. Once that was cured I applied 3 coats of Duratek acrylic paint. This is a high build self priming acrylic top coat used for protecting speaker cabinets. I obtained this imported American product from Livesound in Auckland. I bought the case hardware from a variety of online and retail store outlets.

I found a recycled, black polyethelene plastic strip, sold as garden edging which I cut to my chosen width on a table saw. I then routed a shallow v grove along its length and perforated the length of the grove with hundreds of small holes at 10mm spacings using a drill. once cut to length I fitted the strip around the lid and stitched it into place by drilling through my guide holes through the plastic strip into the case lid. I was then able to sew the strip into place using light nylon braided line with a large packing needle. The effect is very satisfactory visually and structurally. I'm a fan of sewing things together, something I learned from studying ancient artifacts of the pacific.

I added two bulkheads and a hinged plywood lid near the waist to create an enclosure for my tuner and lead

the bulge is an additional ply panel covering a cutaway which accommodates the bass at its deepest point, the saddle bridge. It also adds strength to the lid.

"The Man and his Machine: Neill Duncan, Saxophonist" on National Australian Radio ABC

Neill Duncan. Photo by Joe Glaysher

Please follow this link to listen to Neill Duncan as he talks to Gina McKeon about his Beautiful apocalypse.

Sydney Morning Herald article about Neill Duncan. Article by Lucy Carroll

 Life-changing event: Losing an arm

One armed saxophone player

Neill Duncan is a saxophonist who lost his arm last year due to cancer. He is getting two one armed saxophones made for him and will continue to play. Please Log in to update your video settings

Neill Duncan
A snowy blanket covered Katoomba on the afternoon I found out I had sarcoma, a rare type of cancer, in my left arm. The roads were scattered with abandoned cars. It was apocalyptic, a scene analogous to the past year of my life.
I'm a musician. I support my family with one tool: my saxophone. So discovering I had cancer in my arm - and then having it chopped off - was a very dark time.

Beating the odds: Saxophonist Neill Duncan Photo: Wolter Peeters

It all happened very quickly. After two rounds of chemotherapy at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital I had my amputation the week before Christmas 2012. Strangely enough, I was quite calm about it.

Advertisement

In a funny way it has been a blessing. My wife, Rachel, and our four kids, Ruben, Polly, Pearl and Floyd, have received amazing support from the Blue Mountains community - from having meals dropped on our doorstep to neighbours leaving cash in our mailbox.
Being a jazz saxophone player, losing my arm was very dramatic and affected people deeply, especially Michael Lira, who I play with in the band Darth Vegas. So he tracked down a guy in Amsterdam who adapts wind instruments for people with disabilities.
It has taken a year for instrument maker Maarten Visser to custom build the world's only one-hand tenor sax. He hydraulically moved all the top keys to the bottom so I just use my right hand.
Against all odds, it seems I will play again. I have the same excitement about relearning the instrument as I did when I first picked up a sax 35 years ago.
With a $26,000 price tag it was way out of our budget. Then I started getting phone calls. One was from Support Act, a benevolent society for musicians who come into hard times. They put money towards our mortgage and the new saxophone.
Musicians don't have a safety net. We don't have sick pay or annual leave. I feel incredibly blessed and supported by initiatives, the community and family. It's been a hard road, learning to live with one arm … but having something that might kill me has made me so grateful to be here.
Lucy Carroll

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/lifechanging-event-losing-an-arm-20131231-3046p.html#ixzz2pUOzbVsn

Neill Duncan makes a spectacular comeback!

My Life long friend and musical collaborator has made a spectacular comeback from a life threatening illness.



I could not be more proud of you Neillo.