I got one off Ebay recently and the neck and bridge show signs of being over-stressed. The stings are not parallel to the fretboard (the fretboard slopes away from the strings) and the bridge looks like it is pulling up. The top of the guitar is "unflat" and I am guessing it is due to years of heavy strings. Luckily I did not spend much money on this instrument, but can it be fixed? Is it even worth fixing? It is still playable.

With strings guaged .053, .042, .032, .024W, .020P, .016P, the strings seemed too tight, so I tuned down to FACFAC. I would prefer to be in G tuning, so how much lighter do I need to go?

Any thoughts and experience would be greatly apprechiated!

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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

How do you do that?? It probably has hide glue, if so use a heat lamp ,try not to scorch the finish, wave thelamp over the area not too close. All of this may not work ,but think of the fun you can have if it does.

To make the top flat again, take the strings off, get a towel put it inside ,soak it with water, let it soak awhile, the idea is to get the wood wet, use C clamps , board inside ,one outside, clamp and let dry ,you may want to use a light bulb inside to help it dry flat. Some may think this is a little radicle ,but it works.

Using a tailpiece the pull will be from end to end ,not on the bridge, Hey I pulled the bridge off on a guitar I was using like that.

Whatever you decide to do , I wish you good luck.

Steve if the bridge is indeed lifting it can be rmoved with heat, cleaned up and reglued. You can use a small mirror to check for any loose braces and these can be reglued. You might check out www.FRETS.com on these subjects or take it to a local repairman.
The neck joint should be checked also.

Although it's pretty hard to find much information about Oahu guitars, there is a web site worth checkin gout: http://www.toad.net/~harpe/oahu.htm

[This message was edited by Russ Young on 29 December 2002 at 11:56 AM.]

You can learn a lot from the local librarirs. Thats how I found out how my guitar neck was fastened , how to remove it , put it back together, do this first and if you`re any kind of craftsman, you can fix your guitar,

The one I overhauled was very old , cheaply made , I got it fixed but it`s not much . I just use it as a wall hanger.

That is usuallt my luck picking up a bargain old guitar . You would be much better off to go to your local music store, or Elderly catalog, Musicians Friend catalog and buying one new , at least you can start playing immediatley not having to rebuild it.

I think I'll experiment with lighter strings first.

Since the guitar didn't set me back too much, I am curious about re-setting the neck, or bridge. The tailpiece sounds like a good idea too.