Introduction

For the past few years I've been wondering what to do with this old guitar. It was left to me amongst a collection of other instruments when a good friend, Colin, passed away over 10 years ago. The other instruments, a Fender Stratocaster, a Yahama 12 string acoustic, and a Crafter Mandolin were all in great condition when I was left them, but this thing had been left to rot in the loft years before I was given it. When it came time to clear the loft due to moving flats, the KD-28 was taken into work, stored and forgotten about.

I've always been told that this particular guitar was a cheapo plywood box, and that it'd be impossible to learn to play guitar on, so I've always ignored it, and have subsequently concentrated on learning to play Mandolin. The neck is badly bowed and warped, the fretboard is starting to lift off, and the frets are worn out. A quick google showed that I could replace this guitar with one in perfect nick for about £30. There really isn't any point in spending the time and money to do this thing up... Or is there?

A few more hours googling, showed that the neck could possibly be straightened using heat applied by a household iron, and by building a simple jig. All things that I can do myself with a little help from google and various guitar repair websites. Time for a closer inspection of the guitar methinks.

OK, the neck is as knackered as I remember it, and the fretboard is starting to lift halfway down the neck... Surely, that'll just make it easier to remove, right? The main body looks in good condition apart from the missing pickguard. The lacquer is in reasonable condition apart from a few dings here and there, and apart from the top starting to lift around the sound hole, it seems to be structurally sound.

After thinking it over, I decided, what the hell, what have a got to lose by attempting to restore this old guitar...

The plan so far is to strip it down to ascertain the level of damage, remove the neck, remove the fretboard & truss rod, knock up a jig and attempt to straighten the neck using heat treatment. I've no idea if any of this will work, but as this thing is firewood in its present condition, I've nothing to lose by having a go. At very worst I'd have learnt a few things in the process that'll help me take proper care of my other instruments.