臥虎藏龍(二)戴文安教你結他DIY

文化工作經理職系真是一個臥虎藏龍的職系。同事當中有不少是出色的藝術家，又或是其他範疇的猛人。繼上次介紹過詩人Arthur LEUNG 及小說作家小禾(Laura LAM) 之後，今次誠邀另一位同事戴文安 (Alex)，和我們分享一點有關結他的心得。

香港歷史博物館的副經理(場地運作)戴文安 (Alex)，原來是一名電結他的修理及裝嵌專家，於結他修理及裝嵌已經有幾十年經驗，實在係一位大師傅。在香港夾band有一定日子的朋友都會認識佢，由此可知Alex的江湖地位啦。此外，原來家駒已贈給Anodize的Jimmy那支白色Fender Stratocaster，其中的Pick-up部分也是出自Alex之手。

Alex能夠懂得修理及改裝結他，完全是自學而成。透過買參考書自學增值，兼親身買Parts及落手落腳學以致用 (就好似武俠小說啲主角一樣)，橫練得一身看家本領。今次他會分享一下一些結他改良的心得。

另外他有一點結他保養秘技推介給大家參考一下:
1. 唔好用家庭清潔劑抹結他柄，應該用「檸檬油」最合適。
2. 結他頸一定會「彎」，間唔中要留意下，再係Truss Rod度校番正。

你試過將一個入門級的結他，改裝成專業級的結他嗎? 想睇下佢點樣好似變魔術一樣，將一個入門級的結他，變成一件 "自家製" 的藝術品；一個充滿個人風格的結他 ? 請細閱由Alex 提供的參考及一篇結他改裝的過程的分享，感受一下佢對自己的專業的熱誠啦。

Have you tried to upgrade a Student Guitar to a Decent Piece of Equipment? 

1. This is all about upgrading a student guitar to a decent piece of equipment. What you see is a new Epiphone entry level guitar that cost something like HK$480 back in 2008 from a Tom Lee clearance sale, loaded with a standard Tune-a-matic bridge and tailpiece.

 2. Original stud mounted hardware with bridge and tailpiece removed, shinny chrome plated, standard design, OK quality, boring!

3. I was given to know that some so called repair man in town doesn’t know how to handle studs removing task, unbelievable!

4. Stud puller in action, one out, three more to go.

5. The post of this Kahler is thicker than the original chrome plated one, a direct replacement is not possible, this project is getting tricky

6. All studs removed

7. I found this Kahler from a pile of trash like gadgets in another Tom Lee clearance sales 25 years ago, the essential springs at the back are missing, naturally none of the Tom Lee staff know what it was and they label it for $100 as is, I bet they don't know jack about this piece of metal and simply mark the price by its weight out of speculation, (a good Kahler set in similar condition cost something like Canadian $200 in Toronto back in 1986)

8. Thanks to some strangers from a hardware factory in Tsuen Wan, they custom made these two little short springs for me according to my descriptions without charge for such a small job, so I bought them afternoon tea instead, good memories from nice people, those were the days.

9. Dirt cheap molded plastic nut, very vital reason why a guitar sound badly and not able to stay in tune, I shall do something about it later.

 10. Side view of the fret-wire, see the crowning are done pretty OK but don't expect top notch craftsmanship from a student grade guitar.

11. The 12th fret measures 12-3/8” from nut edge, which is the very centre of the instrument.

12. From the measures of 12th fret, I can determine the proper position for the bridge, see the saddles line up with the pencil line, which also measure 12-3/8” from the 12th fret, making this a 24-3/4” scale length guitar, in line with Gibson tradition.

13. Side view of the Kahler, don't forget the Kahler was made more than 26 years ago, the ball bearing saddles still working perfectly well.

14. Ready to go.

15. Neck pickup is a DiMarzio PAF, Bridge pickup came from an old Gibson L6S, same guitar series that Mike Oldfield used in his masterpiece “Tubular Bells”, theme from the movie “Exorcist”, I sprayed the badly corroded metal cover red and put up the decal when I was young, I mean last century, when I was into vivid colour.