Penco A-20 12 String with Belly Bulge - Bridge Doctor Fix!
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- Опубліковано 1 сер 2024
- In this video I take a 70's Japanese Penco A-20 12 string guitar that had serious belly bulge. I was able to flatten the top with clamps and hopefully do a permanent fix with a Bridge Doctor (see link below).
0:00 Introduction and Description of the Penco A-20
1:34 Close up of Penco A-20 features
2:47 Bridge Doctor Install
12:14 Strap Button Installation
14:43 Let’s Play Some Guitar! Hear what it sounds like…
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Nice work 👍🏼
Thank you! Cheers!
You did a good job resurrecting this guitar. I have a soft spot for Pencos, Morrises, Fannins, C.F. Mountains, etc. They were the first affordable decent guitars that many of us had. I have a Bridge Doctor in my D-28 and am installing one in a Giannini Craviola 12 that has a belly bad enough to affect playing. I think that if you heat the top a bit with a lamp before installation of the bridge doctor, the belly will go away with less stress.
That adjustable bridge has to go! An insert and intonated bone saddle will make it play like a much more expensive guitar.
I thought the adjustable bridge was unusual. But it seemed to be fine. But I agree that something more solid would be better. I like the idea of using a heat lamp on that to help soften things up a little. Thanks for your comments!
@@fishpotpete A lot of manufacturers fell in love with height adjustable bridges on acoustics back then. Harptone, Penco, Giannini, Alvarez. It is a tone killer and I have never seen a guitar that didn’t improve when a rosewood insert and bone saddle was installed.
I look for damaged guitars of this type, fix them, and gift them to people learning to play guitar. I especially like Marlboro Points Guitars, much beloved as beer/campfire guitars. I just gave one to a friend’s son, who is coming along fine as a player. They did not have the adjustable bridge.
The instructions say to place the bullet shaped part of the rod against the heel block. In any case I think I might try your way because the cupped cap screw would line up as you did it and he rod would register against the heel block. I had a hell of a time keeping the rod square against the block. Anywho, thanks for your thoughtful video.
Actually, instructions say to have the tapered end towards soundhole not endblock.
Thanks for this great video! The 12 string turned out really nice. Did you ever have to adjust the set screw on the Bridge Doctor?
I like the Bridge Doctor and have put it on a few guitars. One guitar was actually a 3/4 size Japanese 'Hummingbird,' and I had to shave the block down (as mentioned in the comments) as well as replacing the nylon part and screw with a custom piece (shorter dowel rod, hollowed out and sanded down a bit on the circumference to give the bridge pins room) and a long wood screw. It did a great job for that little guitar, and the Alvarez 12 string I used it on more recently really had a flattened belly too. Thanks again for this video!
It seems to still be working fine. My son has it now and last time I played it (2 months ago?), it was still fine.
Did you feel that the tone improved after the bridge doctor? I have an 80s ibanez 12 string with the same problem but the action is still ok at the moment.
Sorry for the delay, I just saw your comment. I don't think the tone changed significantly. After I did the fix and started actually playing it, I noticed this had an exceptionally nice low end... Your question makes me wonder if the bridge doctor helped with that? It might be worth an experiment down the road. As far as your Ibanez is concerned, it might be worth the money to try it. It's not an extremely intrusive install (aside from drilling holes in your bridge ;-)
@@fishpotpete thanks for the reply. I'll do a before and after sound comparison to hear the difference! That seems to be the most objective way to compare.
Does putting a bridge doctor on a new 12 string help prevent the bridge from lifting or is it unnecessary?
I don't think I'd put one on a new (or any) guitar that's not showing signs of bulge. BTW, virtually all acoustics have a very slight amount of bulge - so if you put a straight edge on it and it doesn't sit perfectly flat, don't get too worried unless it's getting worse over time.
Did you have to shave any off the nylon spacer when you had to fit the D & G pegs?
I could see it through the peg holes, but it didn't seem to affect the holding ability of the pins. It's still holding up fine!
@@fishpotpete morning. I ordered the same bridge doctor as you & it arrived yesterday. However the Yamaha APX4 12A I intend to repair is too shallow to take the main block. My intention is to sand it down either at the bottom or the top. I take it that there needs to be a gap under this to allow it to move. Would you go top or bottom in your experience?
@@magicbike68 I just looked at a few pictures of those. I see what you're saying. I"d probably focus on taking down the top (nylon rod and wood "finger" that sticks up). You can probably take some off the bottom block as well - But I don't know how much you could safely shave off before the block structure gives up when you tighten down the long rod. Maybe 1/8"? I wouldn't go to 1/4" off the bottom.
Hi , I realise I'm a year late or so but I've just bought a jld bridge system and was trying to fit it to a 12 string guitar. I ran into the problem of trying to avoid the 2nd row of bridge pins. I noticed in your video that you must have moved the nylon fixing post back to suit your needs and I had arrived at the same solution. My problem is how do remove it from it's original location. I'm concerned about damaging the thread in the nylon that is needed to fix it underneath the bridge. I js already spoiled 2 electrical screwdrivers by stripping off the insulation to enable them to get deep enough ( Phillip's and traditional slot) but I cant feel anything in the head of the screw. How did you get it off?
BTW that Penco looks to be an exact copy of what I'm working on. Not a Yamaha but a Suzuki WT100. Same headstock, open tuners, adjustable bridge, binding etc.
Cheers
Trevor B N Ireland
I'm having trouble visualizing your dilemma. Are you talking about the screw that that goes through the bridge? I'd love to help, but I'm not sure what the situation is. If you're worried about the nylon rod, you can always rethread in a slightly larger screw. But you indicated you had the bridge "system" and that looked different.
I know this is a little late, but there is a Bridge Doctor kit that includes brass bridge pins, and one of the pins is used to screw it to the block inside. Thus eliminating the need to drill another hole in the bridge. It's a clever solution to your problem. I have the same issue on my 12 string and tthis is the kit i ordered to do the repair.
Am I the only one to have caught this? You inserted and installed the the dowl post backwards! You said the tapered end was supposed to press against the end block of the guitar! Ooops.
You're right. But functionally, it doesn't appear to make any difference. I did it that way to make sure the dowel wasn't sitting half way on the lip of the round hole in the tail block. The taper forced the end into the hole and help add a little bit more tension on the dowel... but again, I don't think it would have really made any difference. The guitar is still holding up great! But you get points for catching it! Thanks for bringing it up 🙂
@@fishpotpete I understand, and was just noting what I saw. However, upon further investigation, you installed it correctly according to their website. So, my apologies! Dan Erlywine installed it backwards on his video repair. Oops.
I am doing the same repair on a Ventura Bruno 12 string with a serious belly bulge issue. I also need to re-glue one of the braces that separated from the top due to the bulge. I have removed the bridge and it is prepped and ready to be re-glued. I have also prepped the inside of the guitar for the brace to be glued. However I want to fix the bulge the same way as you did with the clamps.It's that serious a belly bulge! I also need to glue the loose brace. My question is, should I relieve the bulge with the clamps first, or glue the brace first, then apply the clamps after the brace repair? If I glue the brace first, do I run the risk of it separating again when I apply the clamps for the bulge repair due to the shifting of the guitar top when clamped and downward force is applied? I think that will happen because something needs to give in order to get the relief. needed for the top.
I would re-glue the bridge after the brace repair and bulge repair obviously. I will also be using the Bridge Doctor kit with the brass screw in bridge pin. This would eliminate the need for me to have to drill another hole in the already crowded bridge. Any help you can provide will be great.
I'd probably want to take care of the bulge first. Like you say, if you do the brace before the bulge, then you're kind of bracing to keep the bulge there! Regluing the brace after you've flatten the top might work real well. As you clamp it, you fighting one less brace that might make it harder to get the top back down. Plus, it could be that when the brace came loose in the first place, it made it easier for the top to bulge.
I'm not sure I really provide much advice on this one... Sounds like an interesting project!
Hey, quick question, does the bridge on your Ventura have screws to help secure like my Penco did? I've been noticing that on a lot of 12 strings.
@@fishpotpete yes. It has the 2 screw down bridge with the adjustable bridge saddle. It is also glued down.
I went with fixing the bulge first. I run the risk of breaking the glue joint on the brace if i do the bulge repair second i reasoned. It is a serious bulge. But ive got i t clamped now. The Ventura is a copy of the Gibson Hummingbird, and was the lawsuit guitar. It is a beautiful guitar. Im going to use the bridge doctor too. I used the Bridge Doctor on a Conn 6 string repair i did which had a slight bulge. But I noticed it killed the tone of the guitar which was great befor i installed it. Did you notice it had a negative effect on tone? Just wondering. Thanks for getting back to me.
@@fishpotpete The Japanese used the screw down bridges alot and most were glued as well.
@@stephencastro1437 I didn't notice any drastic change in the tone. But since it was in pretty bad shape when I bought it, I started working on it right away. I didn't have a very good starting sound in my head. But now it sounds nice and has a full sound (more than my Seagull 12 string did). In fact, the Penco tone sounded so much better than my Seagull I ended up selling the Seagull and getting a used Mexican Taylor 12 string. That $60 Penco ended up costing me about $650 for the Taylor :-).
@@fishpotpete I asked because on another acoustic where I reglued the bridge, I also installe the bridge Doctor.I wanted the install to aid in preventing this from happening agai and it was my first bridge repair. I just installed the BD a couple of days ago, the re-glue was last month. It is a Conn F200. and after the bridge re-glue sounded incredible. Punchy, articulate, resonate, not what I expected from a laminate. I was really surprised. 2 days ago I installed the BD, ans all those qualities are gon now. It is dull, muffled and not what I had expected as I heard it was supposed to enhance the tone.
I'm wondering if it is too tightly adjusted as I haven't seen any instructions on how much adjustment is needed. I may just remove it and let it be. There wasn't a big bulge there and as you know a little bulge is normal. I will see. Anyway I liked your videos and saw you did a similar repairs. I'm not a pprofessinal repairman or Luthier. Ive built guitars for years and done repairs, etc. so I continue to learn. Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts, and You have a great channel here.