0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello and welcome to The Reassembler, with me, James May.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07It's a show where we put things back together again.
0:00:09 > 0:00:10That's it.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14That's not a familiar bit.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18'It is only when these objects are laid out in hundreds of bits
0:00:18 > 0:00:20'and then slowly reassembled...'
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Done, done, done, done, done.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25'..that you can truly understand and appreciate how they work...'
0:00:25 > 0:00:26Eeugh.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29'..and just how ingenious they are.'
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Deep joy.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33'And if painstakingly putting hundreds of pieces
0:00:33 > 0:00:35'back together again...'
0:00:35 > 0:00:36Oh, God, it's electrics.
0:00:36 > 0:00:37'..wasn't hard enough...'
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Fantastic, we've used all the bits.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41'..I then have to find out...'
0:00:41 > 0:00:43Ho, yes!
0:00:43 > 0:00:44'..if they'll work.'
0:00:45 > 0:00:47It's all come apart.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54This time, we're delving deep into the bowels of rock,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57and we'll be reassembling something that changed the world
0:00:57 > 0:01:00for the better and stopped an army of ukulele players
0:01:00 > 0:01:04and harpists topping the charts for the last 60 years.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09Now, today on the table, we have the 147 components
0:01:09 > 0:01:11that make up an electric guitar.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13And as long as they stay there like that,
0:01:13 > 0:01:15laid out beautifully,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19there is no danger that anybody will attempt to play Stairway To Heaven.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23However, I am going to put it back together and take the risk.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26And we will start, even though this should normally happen
0:01:26 > 0:01:29in the middle of the performance, by taking it to the bridge.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32This is the bridge plate, there.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36That is the trem block, securing screws.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39All this will go together into a rather pleasing
0:01:39 > 0:01:42and shiny subassembly.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Now as usual on this show,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51I don't have an exploded diagram
0:01:51 > 0:01:53for the electric guitar, although I do know roughly
0:01:53 > 0:01:55what one looks like and how it works.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59So, this is the bridge, the strings go over the bridge.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01This is the trem block, which mounts underneath,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04and is connected to the lever that you can pull to make it go
0:02:04 > 0:02:05"waah, waah, waah."
0:02:05 > 0:02:10And these saddles allow you to minutely adjust
0:02:10 > 0:02:13the position of the strings relative to the neck,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16because the neck has a slight curve in it, so the strings in the middle
0:02:16 > 0:02:20have to be slightly higher than the strings on either side.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25This is a...screw-and-forget sort of operation.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27But I think once I've screwed this together,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29it won't be unscrewed again
0:02:29 > 0:02:31until the guitar is completely disassembled.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37I'm going to tell you something absolutely fascinating,
0:02:37 > 0:02:38really fascinating.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40This is a Japanese-made guitar.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45It's a replica of a Fender, but it's made by a Japanese company.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49And these, you would say, are Philips screws, agreed?
0:02:49 > 0:02:52Because they've got a crosshead in, but they're not posidrive
0:02:52 > 0:02:55cos they haven't got the little indentations between the slots.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59However, if you look very closely, you will see...
0:02:59 > 0:03:00Look at the top there.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Can you see there is a very, very tiny centre punch mark?
0:03:07 > 0:03:09You can see that.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11That means that isn't a Philips patent screw,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15it means it's JIS, or Japanese Industry Standard,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19and it's an important difference because the Philips screwdriver
0:03:19 > 0:03:22was invented primarily for the American automotive
0:03:22 > 0:03:23manufacturing industry.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27And the point of it is that the shape is designed such that
0:03:27 > 0:03:30the operator didn't have to worry about exactly how tight he did
0:03:30 > 0:03:33the screw up - this tool could be powered and it would automatically
0:03:33 > 0:03:35jump out of the screw when the right torque was reached.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Now, the Japanese came up with a slightly different patent,
0:03:38 > 0:03:42which means that if you use a Philips headed screwdriver,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45such as this one, in a Japanese Industry Standard screw,
0:03:45 > 0:03:46you will largely get away with it,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48but you will also tend to chew it up.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52Because the profile of the slot is slightly different.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Japanese Industry Standard screwdrivers are actually
0:03:55 > 0:03:57surprisingly difficult to get hold of in Europe,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00but - and how surprised will you be at this -
0:04:00 > 0:04:04I have...three of them here in my tool box
0:04:04 > 0:04:08because I've spent quite a bit of my sad spare time
0:04:08 > 0:04:13fiddling around with small Japanese motorcycles from the early 1960s.
0:04:13 > 0:04:14Yeah, this is...
0:04:14 > 0:04:17It's not gripping, I'll grant you that.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Maybe you should watch a pleasant bit of archive
0:04:19 > 0:04:21while I just finish this section off.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23Here it comes.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26The electric guitar was originally spawned out of Hawaiian music.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Good old song of the island.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31But it soon became the instrument
0:04:31 > 0:04:33that forced rock and roll onto the world.
0:04:33 > 0:04:34# Deep down in Louisiana... #
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Chuck Berry led the way with his leg-trembling,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39dance-inducing string plucking.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44And soon, a whole generation of kids were unable to control themselves.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Back in the workshop, however, my own rock dreams were floundering.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Welcome back from the archive trip.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54You'll see that I'm actually taking it apart again because
0:04:54 > 0:04:56I allowed my concentration to slip.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59The first and last saddles have the shorter grub screws -
0:04:59 > 0:05:03I put one of the long grub screw saddles in.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05So here we are, back to the beginning.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09That one's short, grub screws, short spring.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Medium spring.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Eh-eh. Eh-eh.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Becca, will you leave my tool box alone?
0:05:28 > 0:05:33So we have the trem block, the bridge plate, the saddles,
0:05:33 > 0:05:37and the adjusting screws, and the springs.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40See?
0:05:40 > 0:05:42It's nice. Like it.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Right, these are the pick-ups,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47the thing that make this an electric guitar rather than just
0:05:47 > 0:05:49an acoustic guitar.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52And obviously, some screws and springs.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54And these mount,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57not onto the body of the guitar, as you might imagine,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59but on to this, the scratch plate,
0:05:59 > 0:06:04along with some other things that we'll be getting later.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05Now, the pick-ups,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07they are a series of magnets
0:06:07 > 0:06:10with copper wire wound around them.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13I can demonstrate that they're magnets because, you know,
0:06:13 > 0:06:15that screw sticks to it.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17And you might remember from physics,
0:06:17 > 0:06:21if you ever paid attention, that if you move a wire in a magnetic
0:06:21 > 0:06:24field in a coil, you will get a current, an EMF.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27And this is really how the guitar works.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29The string vibrates
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and generates a very tiny current inside the coil.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36And the size of that current is dependent on the amplitude
0:06:36 > 0:06:38of the strings vibrating - how far it moves -
0:06:38 > 0:06:40and the frequency - how quickly it's moving.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43And that is then effectively producing an electric note,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46which is amplified by the big stack of Marshalls.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49Other types of amplifier are available.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52And then that comes out as Motorhead, or whatever.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55And I've got a spare coil here,
0:06:55 > 0:06:56so that I can show you.
0:06:56 > 0:07:02If I peel off the protective tape, you will see the copper coils.
0:07:02 > 0:07:08There are something like 6,000 turns of very fine copper wire on there.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10In fact, the total length of the copper wire
0:07:10 > 0:07:15in the three pick-ups is about - I did this calculation earlier on -
0:07:15 > 0:07:19it's about 2.6km of wire.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23So if you joined the three wires end-to-end and stretch them out,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26you'd be able to fill three double-decker buses
0:07:26 > 0:07:28the size of a swimming pool and the area of Wales,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30which would be visible from outer space.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37We can't use that one cos I've effectively ruined it doing that.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39'Luckily that was a demonstration pick-up,
0:07:39 > 0:07:44'and I do still have the three pick-ups from our actual guitar.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47'Watching someone attach pick-ups to a scratch plate is
0:07:47 > 0:07:50'like waiting for the end of a Mark Knopfler guitar solo,
0:07:50 > 0:07:51'so let's not.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58'After an hour and 40 minutes of exhilarating reassembly,
0:07:58 > 0:08:00'we have attached the bridge plate
0:08:00 > 0:08:04'and the string saddles to the trem block and the pick-ups are in place.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07'Now I need the potentiometers, the pots.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10'These will control the guitar's tone and volume.'
0:08:12 > 0:08:15I'm not going to take the knobs because pushing the knobs on
0:08:15 > 0:08:18would be a rather joyous moment that we should save until the end.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27So let's take the switch assembly out, and contemplate it.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31And then... Right, we've got to line everything up here.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33So the switch,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37the tone pick-up control switch, will go through there.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41And then volume through there.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45And...put a couple of these shallow nuts on loosely,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49and then we know it can't fall apart - then we can wave it around.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Right, now, we're going to have to do some soldering somewhere
0:08:52 > 0:08:54under here, let me just see if I can work this out.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55So that's...
0:08:58 > 0:09:00..volume.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06Tone and tone. So tone would... Oh, God, it's electrics.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Right, the...the pick-up switch
0:09:09 > 0:09:13is a three-way,
0:09:13 > 0:09:17five-place switch.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20'Which is a good thing because the three-way,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23'five-place switch is my favourite kind of switch.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25'But it's a bit of a sod to solder.'
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Soldering is one of those things that is technically impossible
0:09:29 > 0:09:32for one person to do, because anybody who does it
0:09:32 > 0:09:35regularly will tell you, you actually need three arms to solder.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40But what I do have that helps me a bit is this soldering help kit.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43It has a nice pair of reverse-action tweezers
0:09:43 > 0:09:47to hold the wires in fiddly places.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49You've got to be very careful, as you solder on to the back
0:09:49 > 0:09:52of something like that, not to hold the soldering iron there
0:09:52 > 0:09:55for any longer than you absolutely have to - a few seconds, ideally,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57at the most in fact -
0:09:57 > 0:09:59because otherwise, you will heat that component up,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01and then you could do some damage inside.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04There is, for example, a plastic piece in the middle
0:10:04 > 0:10:06that it rotates around. If you got that too hot,
0:10:06 > 0:10:09it would melt slightly, and then the whole thing would jam up.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15I've got to be honest, I don't particularly like soldering.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18I like it when it works. But when it doesn't, I hate it.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24I am going to use my tweezers
0:10:24 > 0:10:28cos it should mean that you can see what's happening better.
0:10:32 > 0:10:33Oh, that's not bad.
0:10:36 > 0:10:37That's all right.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40There you go, there's the scratch plate complete.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Just got two wires left to join on to the jack plug socket,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47and we'll put the knobs on. But we'll do that later cos that's nice.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49Right. Tea.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Right, we will take obviously the most significant bit,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01move it very carefully, the body.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Front. Back.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12Right, because this is a valuable thing and very shiny,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15I always carry a pillowcase around with me.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Whose pillowcase is this? That's disgusting.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20PRODUCER LAUGHS I should correct that,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24I always carry an old pillowcase around with me.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27I think it's probably neater to put in the bridge plate.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34And put in the screws.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36What music would you like to accompany
0:11:36 > 0:11:38this bit of screwing the plate down?
0:11:38 > 0:11:43Er, I think Bach's Chorale Prelude Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme.
0:11:43 > 0:11:44Played on the organ.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48ORGAN MUSIC PLAYS
0:11:52 > 0:11:54The great thing about the guitar is that it's portable,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58obviously, it's - even if you needed a small amplifier - it's reasonably
0:11:58 > 0:12:01self-contained, you can play the whole music on the one instrument.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04The downside of it is
0:12:04 > 0:12:06it's one of tho... They're a bit like drum kits in a way,
0:12:06 > 0:12:07a lot of people...
0:12:09 > 0:12:12..say they're a drummer, but what they really are
0:12:12 > 0:12:17is a drum-kit owner, which is not the same thing.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20In the way that if I bought a Formula One car,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24I wouldn't be a Formula One driver, I would be a man who happens
0:12:24 > 0:12:27to own an old Formula One car. It's a different thing.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31I have put all of the screws into the bridge plate,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34which aren't tight. They are...they're nipped up,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37but they allow a small amount of movement in there,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40which it needs to have obviously to produce the tremolo effect.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43'Now I'm attaching the springs to the trem claw.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46'This can be adjusted depending on playing style.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48'And when the whammy bar is used,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51'the springs ensure that the bridge returns to the correct position,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54'when that Carlos Santana moment has passed.'
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Right, so that, I would say,
0:12:57 > 0:12:58looks quite promising.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00It still looks like a guitar,
0:13:00 > 0:13:02so I don't think I've messed anything up, particularly.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Erm...
0:13:05 > 0:13:07We have a choice now - we can put the neck on,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09which makes it a bit more unwieldy,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12or we can put the scratch plate on
0:13:12 > 0:13:15and do the last bit of wiring, but that makes it a bit more vulnerable.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18I think once the neck is on, it becomes a little bit
0:13:18 > 0:13:22Laurel and Hardy walking around with a long plank of wood type thing.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24You know, I'll say, "And over here we see..."
0:13:24 > 0:13:26And then the cameraman's teeth are gone.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28And then I can say, "If you look at that end," you know,
0:13:28 > 0:13:30and then Rebecca's face is all smashed in.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Let's put the scratch plate on and do a bit of wiring.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35There, that's going to go there.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39And those wires are going to pass through that hole
0:13:39 > 0:13:42and be soldered onto the jack plug socket.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46And this wire, which is the other end of the earthing bit
0:13:46 > 0:13:50from the trem bar arrangement,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53has to be soldered onto... Let's have a think about that.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56I'm guessing it would go on the volume pot.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58That means I've gotta do it like...
0:13:58 > 0:13:59Oh, oh, I hate this.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03Hate soldering.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09OK. "That'll do," comes the cry of the perfectionist down the ages.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13So, what we can now do, we can feed the wires
0:14:13 > 0:14:17through the hole to go onto the...the jack socket.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21The thing that connects the essentially private
0:14:21 > 0:14:24electromagnetic activity of the guitar
0:14:24 > 0:14:27with the amplified world of rock and roll,
0:14:27 > 0:14:33making sure not to disturb any of that other
0:14:33 > 0:14:36extremely fragile soldering.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39We should be able to drop that into position.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Otherwise, have to go through the channel in the middle,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45which they're not quite doing.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49Need a benign poking device.
0:14:49 > 0:14:50Big fat screwdriver.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55METALLIC DING Sorry.
0:14:57 > 0:14:58There.
0:15:01 > 0:15:02That's ready to screw together.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07'Before I quite literally screw this up, let me remind you
0:15:07 > 0:15:10'that in the past three hours and 45 minutes,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13'we have built up the scratch plate, attached the volume and tone pots,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15'the trem block, the trem claw and springs,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18'and prepared the jack socket for its cover.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20'And I've done a lot of soldering.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22'Once I've attached the scratch plate,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25'it should all begin to look a lot more guitar-y.'
0:15:28 > 0:15:31What I quite like about a moment like this
0:15:31 > 0:15:36in the reassembly of a thing is that something that's been...
0:15:37 > 0:15:39..flapping about in a rather annoying way,
0:15:39 > 0:15:44and in a way that offends my slight sense of order in the universe,
0:15:44 > 0:15:48will suddenly become tight and taught and rattle-free
0:15:48 > 0:15:52and, you know, it will assume some permanence.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55There's all that wiry stuff underneath, which could become
0:15:55 > 0:15:59tangled and broken and trapped, terrible things like that.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03I also have a bit of a phobia about wires - I can't stand
0:16:03 > 0:16:06looking behind my desk where all the bits from the computer go.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08Got this massive pile of wires. And whatever you do, they always
0:16:08 > 0:16:12end up all knotted up and it ju...it makes me feel...
0:16:12 > 0:16:15I get a sort of strange pain in my teeth
0:16:15 > 0:16:16when I look at things like that.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Oh, God, horrible.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Here's an interesting screwdriver fact for people
0:16:23 > 0:16:25who are interested in screwdrivers.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27It's generally thought that you have
0:16:27 > 0:16:29a very long handled screwdriver like this
0:16:29 > 0:16:33because you are doing something in an inaccessible place,
0:16:33 > 0:16:37such as getting to the adjustment screws on the carburettor
0:16:37 > 0:16:40of a complicated motorcycle or a deeply buried car engine,
0:16:40 > 0:16:42and they are very good for that.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46But there's another reason for using a long screwdriver if you can,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48which is that, obviously,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51the purchase of the screwdriver tip on the screw
0:16:51 > 0:16:54depends on it being exactly square.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56And the longer the screwdriver,
0:16:56 > 0:16:58the more chance you have of
0:16:58 > 0:17:01getting it properly lined up and exactly right.
0:17:01 > 0:17:02If you use a very stubby screwdriver,
0:17:02 > 0:17:03it's very difficult to tell
0:17:03 > 0:17:05if you're holding it at an angle.
0:17:05 > 0:17:06If you have a very long one,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08you know immediately,
0:17:08 > 0:17:11which means you get better purchase on the screw and you stand
0:17:11 > 0:17:14more chance of undoing a stubborn one with a long screwdriver.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17So end of interesting screwdriver facts.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23It's interesting that there is a tradition amongst
0:17:23 > 0:17:26adolescent boys in particular of playing air guitar,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28but you can't really do air reassembly, can you?
0:17:28 > 0:17:30No-one ever walks round going...
0:17:32 > 0:17:33Like that.
0:17:35 > 0:17:36Come with me.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39'After collecting more bits, I screw in the strap buttons
0:17:39 > 0:17:41'and put on the selector switch cap.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44'I can then consider the volume and tone knobs.'
0:17:44 > 0:17:50So when you're playing your guitar, you want to know they're on minimum.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54Then I think the other word should be parallel
0:17:54 > 0:17:58with that word when they are also fully anticlockwise.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Any objections?
0:18:01 > 0:18:04Apart from, "It really doesn't matter, get on with it."
0:18:04 > 0:18:08Right, now we're going to attach the machine heads...
0:18:08 > 0:18:09These are the things
0:18:09 > 0:18:12that will tension the strings while you tune it.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16..with tiny, tiny, tiny little screws.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22And we need the neck...machine heads.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Two of them, there's one, have an extra bit on the end.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30That one has an extra bit on the end.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33And you will see why
0:18:33 > 0:18:37as I put them into the back of the neck
0:18:37 > 0:18:38and locate them.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40They've each got a little pin on.
0:18:40 > 0:18:41There's a little hole,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44a series of little holes there that locate those,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47and then little holes where the screws go in
0:18:47 > 0:18:49to join them all together.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51So there's a sort of stand-alone screw in the end one,
0:18:51 > 0:18:55and then every other screw secures two.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Having to use the greatest screwdriver in the world cos
0:18:58 > 0:19:03it's the only one I have with a tip even vaguely close to that size.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11That's very guitar-y, isn't it, having those there?
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Finally, before we actually attach the neck to the body,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18there's a metal bar running down inside -
0:19:18 > 0:19:20you might just be able to see the end of it in there -
0:19:20 > 0:19:22that's called the truss rod.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26And the reason the truss rod is in there is because without it,
0:19:26 > 0:19:31they discovered on early guitars, the neck would eventually bow
0:19:31 > 0:19:35that way because the string tension is significant
0:19:35 > 0:19:37over that length of what is actually
0:19:37 > 0:19:39not a particularly fat piece of wood.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42So the truss rod working between there and down here
0:19:42 > 0:19:46can curve the neck the other way to counteract
0:19:46 > 0:19:49the pull of the strings, which would tend to curve it back this way.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54Now, a lot of guitarists say the very faintest of bows that way
0:19:54 > 0:19:56is desirable.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59'And this is a very desirable guitar.'
0:19:59 > 0:20:03By the late '70s, people were getting increasingly dissatisfied
0:20:03 > 0:20:05with the quality of the new guitars.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Musicians yearned for the classic models of the '50s and '60s.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13It was Japan that took the lead by mass-producing exact replicas
0:20:13 > 0:20:17of iconic guitars and selling them for half the price of the originals.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20The guitar industry was up in arms and took the Japanese to court,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23leading to the nickname The Lawsuit Guitars.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25But this only spurred on demand for these rebellious
0:20:25 > 0:20:28and affordable instruments.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32'Now to make this actually look like a guitar as I attach the neck.'
0:20:32 > 0:20:36These four screws and this plate will join the two halves
0:20:36 > 0:20:39of the guitar that we have at the moment to make a complete guitar.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42This is a very, very exciting and important moment.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Now, to think about the best way of doing this,
0:20:53 > 0:20:55cos there are opportunities for dropping everything.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09That's quite a tight fit, but it's still slightly nerve-racking
0:21:09 > 0:21:12because there's nothing actually holding it together, yet.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18What I'm holding in my hands...
0:21:20 > 0:21:23..is the affordable and believable dream
0:21:23 > 0:21:28and desperate hope of a billion teenagers all over the world.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33It was the possibility of an escape from drudgery.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36And so many people buy these and hang them on their bedroom walls
0:21:36 > 0:21:39and learn to play them until their fingers bleed and all that stuff...
0:21:41 > 0:21:45..in the hope and belief that it will be their salvation.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Let's put some strings on it.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Five hours and 12 minutes in, and I have assembled the bridge,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04attached the pick-ups, the scratch plate and put on the neck.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06It finally looks like a guitar.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Now to turn this from a block of wood and wires
0:22:09 > 0:22:11into the devil's axe.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13It's time for the strings.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16E.
0:22:16 > 0:22:17A.
0:22:19 > 0:22:20D.
0:22:21 > 0:22:22G.
0:22:24 > 0:22:25B.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29E. Should I have sung that?
0:22:32 > 0:22:37Now I've got to be brutally honest, I've never done this before.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40I've partly built a harpsichord, but I've not done this.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43But I think I know the basics, so...
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Like that it flies off and hits you directly in the plums.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50PRODUCER LAUGHS
0:22:50 > 0:22:53I didn't think it was funny.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56So the string goes in from the back.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Through the trem block.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05And I feel that that has located correctly.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08And it goes up there, through that sort of...
0:23:08 > 0:23:11the other bridge, if you like, which is called the nut.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14So I would cut it off there.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19Should really put your fingers over the end
0:23:19 > 0:23:20when you do that sort of thing.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24I just sort of harboured a vain hope that it would hit
0:23:24 > 0:23:26the executive producer in the face.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30There's a string on the guitar, it's coming alive.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33HE STRUMS
0:23:38 > 0:23:44What this is, I'm doing now, is sort of Pythagorean, really.
0:23:44 > 0:23:49This is where we get our ideas about the numerical relationships
0:23:49 > 0:23:52between pitches, from Pythagoras experimenting with the length
0:23:52 > 0:23:56of a...of a taut string.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00And how dividing it up, by effectively having a moving bridge
0:24:00 > 0:24:03along its length, affected the pitch.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07And that's how we ended up in the Middle Ages with rather academic and
0:24:07 > 0:24:12intellectual theories of consonance and dissonance based on numbers.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14It was only really in the Renaissance,
0:24:14 > 0:24:18in the English Musical Renaissance, which is where it really started,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20that people decided that actually
0:24:20 > 0:24:24other intervals were OK because they sounded nice, namely the third,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27major and minor third, which is the basis of tonality
0:24:27 > 0:24:29as we understand it in the modern world.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31I just turned the wrong one.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Because I'm dribbling on.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Anyway, there was one, I can't remember which one said it,
0:24:37 > 0:24:39might've been one of the anonymous scholars,
0:24:39 > 0:24:41said the more trebles...the more thirds that a man sings
0:24:41 > 0:24:43in the treble, the merrier it is.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Shall we talk a little bit about strings?
0:24:55 > 0:24:56Which in the early days
0:24:56 > 0:25:00of stringed musical instruments were made out of,
0:25:00 > 0:25:02well, what used to be called cat gut
0:25:02 > 0:25:03but wasn't actually made from cats,
0:25:03 > 0:25:05it was usually made from sheep.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10It was the entrails and viscera twisted together
0:25:10 > 0:25:12and strung out.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16And some people who are obsessed with authentic Baroque performance,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20for example, will still buy or make gut strings,
0:25:20 > 0:25:22especially the Germans, they think they're zergut.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24Ha-ha.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29But that was replaced by nylon because nylon is easier to make,
0:25:29 > 0:25:30cheaper and is more consistent.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33But of course, nylon wouldn't work with an electric guitar,
0:25:33 > 0:25:35you needed steel strings. So these strings are steel.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38The bottom three are a steel core wanged,
0:25:38 > 0:25:44whereas the top three - G, B and E - are plain steel.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49I enjoyed doing that, I found that deeply satisfying.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51I'm in a place of great calm now.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Not normally associated with electric guitars, to be honest.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59So let's screw in the trem bar, put on the strap,
0:25:59 > 0:26:04and then we've just got to find an amp.
0:26:04 > 0:26:05Strap.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08Lead.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Bar.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Does anybody else of a certain age remember
0:26:15 > 0:26:19that Robert Fripp, of King Crimson and Frippertronics fame,
0:26:19 > 0:26:21people always said of him,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23"Well, you know he sits down to play his electric guitar."
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Do you remember people saying that?
0:26:25 > 0:26:27Cos he did, he used to sit on a stool and play it.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Well, I've sat down on a stool and reassembled one.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Which is sort of uncool but very cool at the same time.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37This is prog reassembly.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42If you remember, we put the...
0:26:42 > 0:26:44The trem bar itself
0:26:44 > 0:26:46is on the back of the bridge plate, inside the body.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49And then behind there were the springs that we attached
0:26:49 > 0:26:52to a mounting plate, solidly screwed to this.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55What that means is, when you do that with the bar,
0:26:55 > 0:26:59you're stretching and relaxing the springs, minutely.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01I mean it is an imperceptible movement,
0:27:01 > 0:27:02you wouldn't be able to see it.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05But that gives you that little "waah, waah, waah" effect.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08If you really push on it, you can really bend...
0:27:08 > 0:27:10bend your chord, or whatever.
0:27:10 > 0:27:11The lead.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15That says so much about the second half of the 20th century.
0:27:15 > 0:27:20The jack plug going into an electric guitar. Bang.
0:27:20 > 0:27:21The kids are all right.
0:27:21 > 0:27:26Right, there is one of the 147 pieces of the electric guitar left.
0:27:27 > 0:27:28I shall go and get it.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35That's the final bit gone, the table is clear,
0:27:35 > 0:27:36our mission is accomplished.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Could we have an amplifier, please?
0:27:39 > 0:27:44'I've just finished reassembling the 1984 affordable Japanese copy
0:27:44 > 0:27:46'of the classic electric guitar,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48'which has taken me six hours and 11 minutes.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50'I have built Lucifer's lute
0:27:50 > 0:27:54'up from its 147 individual parts, carefully and lovingly.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59'Now it is time to wake up the rock gods and see if this bad boy works.'
0:27:59 > 0:28:02So this is exactly what The Reassembler is all about -
0:28:02 > 0:28:06147 parts, including the plectrum,
0:28:06 > 0:28:08useless as they are as components,
0:28:08 > 0:28:12now rejoined and reborn
0:28:12 > 0:28:15as the complete electric guitar.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18OK, the amp is warmed up.
0:28:52 > 0:28:53Cheers, Malcolm.