Another Kline,,Update

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 3 Sep 2015 7:48 am

Finally getting another Kline (these things are hard to come by,,,LOL)! This one is S12 that has been set up as Ex E9,,,,will probably restore it and set up as uni. Should be delivered today,,,

Bruce Derr · Post by **Bruce Derr** » 3 Sep 2015 9:49 am

Good to hear, Sonny. I hope you post some photos.

Jim Pitman · Post by **Jim Pitman** » 4 Sep 2015 4:27 am

I'm jealous.

Ross Shafer · Post by **Ross Shafer** » 4 Sep 2015 5:42 am

yeehaw! Just like Christmas!

bob drawbaugh · Post by **bob drawbaugh** » 5 Sep 2015 8:08 am

I'm jealous too. Sonny where are you finding these little gems? Post pictures when you can.

steve takacs · Post by **steve takacs** » 5 Sep 2015 11:06 am

Any photo there, Sonny? T We'd love to see the Kline. Thx stevet

Jim Pitman · Post by **Jim Pitman** » 6 Sep 2015 5:38 pm

My good friend Gordon Stone owns a Kline U12.
He bought it from another good friend of mine, howard ?
Howard machined out the pick up Cavity so it would except the standard wide mount pick up.
What pickup do you have in your llines?

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 8 Sep 2015 6:15 am

I've got a whole camera full of pics,,,of the "before",,,LOL Right now I have it in a million pieces,,,everything that will separate is separated! The green stain is faded soooo bad,,,,much more obvious when it is apart,,,difference from what was covered and what was not covered,,,,may go back with the green,,,or????? Hope I can put it all back together again,,,LOL!

MANY, MANY THANKS to Dave Zirbel for giving this old man another chance to own a Kline,,,and MANY thanks to Ross Shafer for putting me on to it,,,,I'm forever indebted to both,,,,truly they are forum brothers,,,!!!!

As some of you know,,,my intentions to build a "homemade" Kline,,(before I found this one),,,now that I've taken this one apart,,,I'm starting to see what a foolish idea that was,,,LOL,,,will probably still do it,,,,maybe take a "little" longer. I already had the changer pretty well underway when I found this one.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 8 Sep 2015 2:31 pm

I like Joe's original pickup!

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 9 Sep 2015 5:34 am

Well, I found out something that everyone else probably already knows! After getting all the components off the body, and trying to decide how and what finish I wanted on this guitar (it was a beautiful green stain lacquer under the neck and in protected areas, but a very dull faded, almost olive green in exposed areas) I was talking to a friend who is a "world class" antique furniture restorer. He said it is NOT the color that has faded/changed,,,it is the clear lacquer finish!! He put some kind of magic stripper that he uses, on the guitar, took a putty knife and rolled up a glob of heavy YELLOW gunk about as big around as my finger. Under that was the beautiful green stain! I remember one of Jimmy Day's "blue darlin's" looked almost green (blue and yellow= green),,,and of course a lot of LDG's almost look brown (green and yellow = brown),,,it is all caused by the yellowing, over time of the clear coat.

While green would not be my first choice of colors, and since my goal is to restore this guitar to ORIGINAL,,,I'm going back with this original color, in fact, the stain under the clear coat is in very good condition,,,will just put a new, ("improved") coat of nitrocellulose lacquer over it. Just wish I had taken more pics of the "before" condition. This guitar was by no means in "bad" condition, it was used, and more faded ("yellowed") than what you would notice, 30 plus years of natural air pollution, until you started "removing and looking".

Mike Wheeler · Post by **Mike Wheeler** » 9 Sep 2015 6:41 am

So what exactly was this magic stripper called. Some of us might like to try it.

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 9 Sep 2015 5:30 pm

Mike,,,may not really be "magic",,,,just looked to this DIY'er like it magically lifted the yellowed and aged lacquer and left the original stain intact,,,fairly quickly,,,probably a lacquer thinner type mixture or acetone or ????

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 9 Sep 2015 6:39 pm

Mike Wheeler wrote:So what exactly was this magic stripper called. Some of us might like to try it.

Carol Doda? Guess you need to know San Francisco history to understand that. Google her name. You will be entertained (no live stripping that I know of).

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 9 Sep 2015 6:42 pm

I don't need to google her. I remember her!

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 10 Sep 2015 8:38 am

I hope I didn't give the impression that this guitar was a basket case,,or less than expected,,,,on the contrary, the seller gave a very accurate description, if anything he understated the condition,,,VERY pleased with the whole transaction,,,and thankful I was able to get it! The only reason I'm "restoring" it is,,,same reason I used to restore mid 60s Mustangs,,,they were a classic car and I wanted them to be "new" again,,,,the Kline is a classic that is no longer produced and I want a "new" one,,,or as close as I can make it to new!

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 12 Sep 2015 11:00 am

Hi Sonny,
Glad you got another cool Kline!
I just restrung my Kline S12U and have it dialed in really nicely (I hadn't played it for months, for some dumb reason).
Every S12U pedal and lever combo sounds great (like really in tune)!
It is really pleasing to play, the pedal/lever feel has that "soft yet solid" feel.
I dialed it using two amps with an RV3, and it really sounds great in every register (original single coil Kline pickup, I presume).
I have really enjoyed playing it this past week, soaring all around the neck!... and will use it as my main axe at a show in Montana next week.
I just sent it over there with the band gear, and I am flying over next thurs.
Post a pic! I'll try to, too

Edit:
Hey here is a vid of the Kline I have here, being played by the original owner in a NYC Punk show at CBGB's, back in 1981. The actual color of the body today, is like a chocolate/maroon.
Start at 12min mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ9XxwNnUk8#t=713

Mike Ester · Post by **Mike Ester** » 13 Sep 2015 6:08 pm

Gee, Sonny. You just can't keep away from Klines , can you?

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 16 Sep 2015 9:04 am

Hey Mike,,,,I think anyone who ever played a Kline could never be completely happy with anything else,,,the balanced pulls from the yokes are not that noticeable until you get used to hearing them, then you start hearing the difference,,,or at least I do. It's just the balance of everything.

Got the polished components down to the final hand polish on this restoration,,,waiting for lacquer to set up on the body.

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 16 Sep 2015 9:16 am

Wow Sonny you gotta lotta guts to dissassemble/reassemble a Kline!

Mike Ester · Post by **Mike Ester** » 16 Sep 2015 9:31 am

Pete Burak wrote:Wow Sonny you gotta lotta guts to dissassemble/reassemble a Kline!

Just think of it as 12 separate string pulling machines housed in a single cabinet.

If you can re-assemble one of them, the other 11 will fall right in line.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 16 Sep 2015 9:43 am

I've heard that it's very hard to change the copedent on a Kline, compared to conventional all-pull guitars. True?

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 16 Sep 2015 9:49 am

Based on my personal experience, I would say, Yes.

Is there a trick to getting the hoops (on the end of the pull-rods), off of the changer finger hook???
That alone was tough for me.

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 16 Sep 2015 10:12 am

Looking good Sonny!

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 16 Sep 2015 11:50 am

Hey guys,,,thanks,,but I don't have this thing BACK TOGETHER yet,,,,LOL! b0b,,,I've always said I could work on any guitar,,except a Kline! But,,being that a Kline is without question my guitar of choice, I figured I'd better learn how to work on them. Luckily, I have some very good friends that are a LOT more knowledgeable than I am,,,I can call on if worse comes to worse. I have been told that it is easier to get everything out from underneath to change copedents than it is to try and work in between everything,,,,I'm counting on that being the case. I'll say this, this guitar is probably 30+ years old,,,,I can see NO wear on anything. To me, Joe Kline was (is) a genius, to have stepped out of the box like he did, defied convention, and to see what he came up with,,,amazing!

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 16 Sep 2015 11:56 am

Hey Pete,,,I thought you found yours in a pawn shop or ?? how did you track in down to that vid?