tone Doctor
How do you take the first step in assessing the condition of a vintage guitar bought on the used market? And what initial steps is it safe to take to clean and condition the guitar so it plays nicely and sounds good? This month, Tone Doctor Simon Law roll
And now for something completely different! In recent months I’ve been working mainly on the classic guitars from Fender and Gibson, until today that is. On arriving at Guitarist HQ, I’m presented with this rather tired-looking (but still very charming) Hofner Verithin dating back to around 1961. Not to keep, of course, but just to see what could be done to get this little red beauty back into a good playing condition, and, in the process, assess and administer first aid to an affordable vintage guitar in not-quite-original condition.
First, let’s take a look at the general condition of the guitar and make note of any faults we find. You can adopt this method for any guitar, especially if it has been ‘off the road’ for some time. As this guitar is of a semi-acoustic style with twin pickups and a Bigsby tremolo, these methods can be adopted for other similar guitars. The first thing that strikes me is the condition of the frets and fingerboard. The frets are covered in a green tarnish and the fingerboard is dull and very dry. The machineheads also look rather dry and are stiff-feeling. The pickups and bridge are covered in fine dusty grime, so this all needs addressing.
Before I do anything else or embark upon any tweaks, I plug the guitar into an amp to test the function of the controls and pickups. The input socket is scratchy and crackles continuously, and the volume and tone pots are crackly and very stiff. This is often the case with unloved guitars of this age, but it’s not the end of the world.
Under The Panel
The control panel is normally held on with two tiny slot-head screws. However, in this instance, only one is in place. ‘Where do they go?’, I hear you ask. I remove the single screw, and – very carefully – lift the panel up and out of the guitar. Using a soft paintbrush [1], I carefully brush the dust and grime from the underneath of the pots and switches. I can now check for any faulty connections. Luckily, everything looks okay, so I can get on with cleaning. I place the control panel on a rag and using Deoxit contact cleaner I spray the hole in the pots and also into the slider switches. I can now work the pots round and round, and click the switches back and forth to work the cleaner around. Next, it’s time to refix the panel with its single screw. One thing I will say is never be tempted to use a different or a larger screw – keep your eyes open for the correct type, size and look. Try eBay where you should be able to find most things.
The pots are very stiff on this guitar, so I very carefully unscrew the tiny grub screw holding the knobs on and remove them [2]. Using some 3-in-1 oil, I let a little drip on the shaft of the pot and run down – this will soak down into the pot and loosen things up nicely. I can now carefully refit the knobs, being especially careful not to over-tighten the small grub screws.
Next, I turn my attention to the frets and fingerboard. Before I remove the strings, I need to make a note of where the floating bridge is located. This guitar actually has a replacement bridge fitted; however, it is still a floating variety that will come loose once the string tension is off. Using a tape measure, I measure from the top nut to the 12th fret – this also gives you the distance that the 12th fret should be from the bridge [3]. If all seems fine then we
can temporarily secure the bridge to the body with some low-tack tape [4], which will ensure the bridge stays put while we crack on with the other work and remove the strings.
Once again, I use the soft brush to clean off all the dusty stuff from around the pickups and the other parts that were hard to get to when the strings were attached. We need to mask up the pickups to avoid getting wire wool stuck on them, and once again, the low-tack tape is best for this and is generally best for all guitar work, as it won’t peel the finish off when you remove it.
I also use the same tape to mask up the intricate pearloid inlays on the fingerboard. Using some very fine-grade wire wool, we can polish the frets up to a fine sheen. I can then check for any sharp fret-ends and corners, which can be addressed with a small needle-file or a three-cornered fret file. Using the same wire wool, we can clean the general gunk from the rest of the fingerboard. After that, we can apply some fingerboard oil to return the wood to its former dark glory. Actually, on close inspection, I discover that this guitar has a rather lovely looking piece of Brazilian rosewood for a fingerboard.
Before fitting some new strings, I give the machines a little lubrication – 3-in-1 oil is perfect for these jobs as it’s a light machine-oil. I oil the small open gears on the rear and then put a little drop on the shaft itself so it can soak down into the bushings [5]. I can now carefully fit a new set of strings. This guitar is fitted with a Bigsby Tremolo, so it’s easier to bend the end of the string a little so it hooks onto the small string pegs on the Bigsby itself [6]. This was learned after too many years of the strings falling off just as I start to wind them onto the machinehead. Carefully pull the string tension up to pitch and make sure the Bigsby behaves itself and settles down correctly. There is a spring on the Bigsby that can become dislodged, so watch out. Once the guitar is up to pitch, wobble the tremolo arm a little to settle the mechanics back into place and then retune.
Now we can take a look at the general setup and playing action. My first concern is the neck adjustment. Sighting down the neck, it’s clear this neck has far too much relief to the point of becoming rather banana-like! I remove the three screws from the truss rod cover and, using the correct-fitting hex socket, I try the truss rod. As expected, it is stiff-feeling. I decide to remove the truss rod nut altogether so I can add a few drops of oil to the threads and also to the small washer down inside the truss-rod channel. I refit the nut and try again. Success! It adjusts easily and perfectly now. I adjust the truss rod so there is the smallest amount of relief in the neck when the strings are tuned to full pitch. As
“As this guitar is of a semi-acoustic style with twin pickups and a Bigsby tremolo, these methods can be adopted for other similar guitars”
I’ve explained in past features, this can be easily checked by pressing the low E string down at the 1st fret and then at the 14th fret. You can then sight between the two and look for a tiny gap of 0.5mm or less. Once happy, the truss rod cover can be refitted.
Next, let’s look at the general bridge adjustment. The action is generally high, so I lower the bridge using the two small thumb-wheels either side of the bridge itself. I adjust it low enough to play comfortably (but not so low that it will rattle when hit hard). I check the whole guitar up and down the neck for buzzes and rattles – all good.
Next, I turn my attention to the intonation, because this looks like it could be way out of adjustment. I tune the open string to pitch and then fret a note at the 12th fret: if the note is flat (compared with the pitch of the open string), the saddle needs to move forwards. If it’s sharp, the saddle needs to move backwards away from the 12th fret. One thing I haven’t mentioned before is how I like to make small adjustments for the compensation of larger frets, and so on. Large frets can allow us to press the string and raise the note slightly sharp, so I try and make allowance for this when setting intonation. Try and use the same finger pressure when checking intonation as when you are playing – if you do this, your guitar will sound way more intonated and sweeter-sounding when you play further up the neck.
Next, we can give the guitar a good play and check all functionality of all the cleaned switches, pots and sockets. Now that the pots are oiled they move far easier and smoother with no crackles or pops. The jack socket is also now more positive with no crackles at all. The bridge pickup is a little lower in output than the neck pickup, so I can make a small adjustment here to balance them together.
The general control layout on these early Hofners makes little sense really, but they do sound really, really good. This guitar is fitted with the Verithin’s early single-coil pickups, nicknamed the ‘toaster’ pickups [7] because of their unique look in line with its ’61 origins (humbuckers followed on later versions). Adjustments can be made by slackening two little screws either side of the pickup surround and then you just manipulate the pickup higher or lower to suit. Once it’s there, retighten the screws gently and you’re done. After all the adjustments are made, I give the guitar a nice clean and polish with some dedicated guitar polish. It’s best to use the correct polish so as not to risk damage to the vintage guitar finish.
cleaned Up
This guitar is mostly in original condition, and now that it’s clean and serviced, it sounds really warm, full and round. It also plays surprisingly well. It still has a few tiny issues that we can live with. One is that the binding is starting to come away a little from the body in a place or two. This is down to the shrinkage of the binding due to temperature change – I think it may have lived in a loft for a while… This could be addressed in the future, however, as it’s a fairly costly and involved job, but it can be lived with easily. The other issue is the guitar case itself. It looks like it’s made from a paper-type material that is going rather soft and offers little to no protection for the guitar. It could (possibly) be repaired, but the best thing is to buy an alternative. An original case in this condition adds little or no extra value to the guitar. And, obviously, it’s far more important to keep the instrument nicely protected.