1989 Takamine ef 340s

Brand: Takamine
Model: EF-340s
Year made: 1989
Body Material: Spruce, Mahogany
Finish: Poly
Neck: Set neck
Radius: 12
Neck Material: Mahogany ?
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Fret wire:
Fret Number: 21
Scale: 25.5
Pickups: Takamine TC electronics

This guitar had a cheap nut that the customer wanted to replace

The slots in the nut were not angled down to give it the correct downward angle.

This guitar has definitely been played and loved you can see the finger groves starting to were into the fretboard.

The first few frets have a decent amount of were on the fretboard.

Before cleaning and conditioning the fretboard.

After cleaning and conditioning.

Before conditioning the bridge .

After conditioning the bridge.

All the gunk that came off the fretboard when i cleaned it.

I checked the fretboard for high and low frets and after seeing the condition of the frets and there heights the customer decided to have the frets leveled crowned and polished.

Since This one was getting a fret level so i made sure the fretboard was as straight as possible.

taping off the board so i can work easier and faster while completing the full level, crown and polish.

After some leveling you can see low frets and divots in the frets.

Getting the frets fully leveled.

I use my three sided file to get the crowns back into the frets. I've used a good assortment of crowning files and i like the old school triangle file the best.

Leaving just a sliver of marker on the tops to let me know I've got it crowned properly.

Before i dress the fret ends. you can see the square factory edge on the frets leaving just a slight ruff feel on the fingers.

After dressing the frets you can see how the ends are rounded over and much smoother.

My assortment of polishing tools. I start with fret erasers and finish it up with micro polishing cloths to get a mirror finish.

The polished frets.

Lubricated all the tuners.

I run them back and forth to work the lubrication into the gears.

Cutting the new saddle to the correct length. This guitar has a piezo so a shorter saddle was required.

Thicknessing the saddle.

Cleaning up the edges.

The new saddle in place and sanded down to the final height.

I had to thickness a new nut and realized that i had the perfect sized piece of bamboo.

I made a jig to sand the nut and keep it perfectly level.

Sanding the nut

now that its perfectly level with the jig i know its the correct thickness.

Perfect fit now to polish and clean it up.

After rounding the edges and polishing the nut i glued it in place.

Cutting the nut slots to the correct height.

I lowered the action as low as possible . The low E ended up right at 5/64th at the 12th fret and the high e right at 4/64ths.

This guitar sounds and plays great.

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