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Post by hushnel on Sept 7, 2020 13:52:07 GMT -5
A friend dropped off her vintage Gibson Mandolin for re-stringing and this “Woods Instrument” dread sized guitar that also needed strings along with a complaint that the frets buzz. She has instruments for her and her kids, they all play, brass, Piano, woodwinds and strings. I did the mando first, never strug one up before but wasn’t intimidated. I did watch 5 minutes of youtube to save time figuring out how to access the bridge string anchor.
The guitar had problems, the nut was a mess the strings were buried in the slots, the bridge was worn out plastic. The neck had a pretty bad up bow. Filed down the nut so the slots let the strings breath, cut a new bridge and copied the off sets, the intonation was a pleasant surprise. Turned the truss-rod a little shy of 3/4 turn. The E and A string buzzed at the second fret, checked for level frets, OK then gave it a little time to move. After all the stings were in place and settled down a little, the neck relief was perfect.
I’ll have it a few more days before I see her again, I may have to make a slight adjustment but I think it’s done.
I do have to build another cigarbox tele for a friend who want’s to gift it to a guy who he’s worked with, on and off, for 30 years. Looking for the perfect cigar-box.
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moose0130
Wholenote
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Posts: 155
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Post by moose0130 on Sept 8, 2020 13:01:56 GMT -5
I wish I could find a local luthier near me with your talent and passion.
I have no guitar setup skills at all (and hardly any playing skills as a matter of fact) so look to farm out when a guitar needs some love. Most recent one came back fine but I couldn't help but feel just a bit more care and attention to detail would be have been nice. The guitar does play well but for $90 I would have liked him to spend an extra 5 minutes cleaning the guitar and treating the rosewood neck. It is clearly not a big deal but it is the kind of detail that makes me feel like the person doing the work thinks about the guitar as something special and important to someone. Perhaps I'm being too sentimental about it.
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Post by hushnel on Sept 8, 2020 14:19:16 GMT -5
I’m just lucky in the skill sets I was born with. I have honed them over the years, mostly understanding the material’s characteristics and how to manipulate them. I have a long history of tearing things apart and putting them back together. Even as a Child I could see what the problem was, though I didn’t have the words to explain them. At the age of 4 or 5 I fixed my Aunt’s grandfather clock with a matchbook cover. At my high school graduation party she pulled me aside and told me clock ran for years before it stopped working again.
35 or so years ago I started snatching up old and abused acoustic guitars, often given to me. I’d fix them and give them to organizations like the Sheriffs Boys Ranch, or a friend who needed one. I just liked fixing them and thought it was cool to give them away.
I spent summers between terms working as a carpenter in a cabinet shop. I got a job as a union carpenter when a buddy recommended me to a pre-stress concret company. When I broke my back doing this job Workmans Comp. had me tested at a re-hab facility in an effort to figure out what I could do since the Doc said I was restricted to lifting less than 50lbs. The director of this rehab at Jackson Memorial Hospital, after 7 days of testing, offered me a Job in Bio-Medical Engineering, starting as a Tech-1. For the following 30 years I worked on Ventilators, anesthesia machines and monitoring equipment, never was any device I worked on ever complicit in harming a patients or death. I’ve got a high school diploma and graduated with a freaking 1.6 GPA.
I’m not among the smartest of us but I seem to do OK. Well, Actually I might be, I just don’t use it the same way “o)
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Sept 9, 2020 8:29:26 GMT -5
Mike, you are doing yeoman's work! That is awesome. Helping a person imprrove their relationship with a musical instrument is a hallowed calling. Rock on!
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Post by hushnel on Sept 9, 2020 10:34:53 GMT -5
Thanks Geno. Did I read on a thread that you have a nice variety of rosewood scrap, that you may be able to match a grain? I have a set of plug cutters that make quick work of repairs like this. I have this old mid 80s Guild B-50 that some Bozo drilled a hole in the upper side for a phone plug. I’ld like to plug it and make it vanish. I’ve looked a my pieces of Brazilian but it’s got the crazy grain, make great fingerboards, but nothing on these boards that matches the Guild. Earlier this year I installed a lowerbout strap button transducer rig that works great, I may be able to actually use this beast. I wonder if there is an oxidizing type fluid I can stain the rosewood to more closely match the side wood. I’ve used stuff like this on mahogany. This Sunday a buddy and me are going to the Mt.Dora instrument swapmeet to check it out for setting up in November and possibly selling off some stuff that isn’t finding it’’s way into the rotation and maybe fuel the need for the seasonal gas. I’m looking at classical style parlor guitars recently., but try to find any to check them out around here is a hundred or so miles and bad traffic. Don’t mind the miles but screw traffic. flic.kr/p/HA6jVx |
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Tequila Rob
Wholenote
Posts: 683
Formerly Known As: Guitar Fool
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Post by Tequila Rob on Sept 12, 2020 9:57:06 GMT -5
I wish I could find a local luthier near me with your talent and passion. I have no guitar setup skills at all (and hardly any playing skills as a matter of fact) so look to farm out when a guitar needs some love. Most recent one came back fine but I couldn't help but feel just a bit more care and attention to detail would be have been nice. The guitar does play well but for $90 I would have liked him to spend an extra 5 minutes cleaning the guitar and treating the rosewood neck. It is clearly not a big deal but it is the kind of detail that makes me feel like the person doing the work thinks about the guitar as something special and important to someone. Perhaps I'm being too sentimental about it. I agree...if you paid 90 bills for a set up...a cleaning would have been nice.....every time I replace strings, I give the guitar a good thorough cleaning... I use Dr. Ducks Ax Wax and Gibson guitar polish... I try to keep the rosewood treatments to only once a year as I've read that it can soften the wood too much and loosen the frets...but I still consider myself more of a novice...(compared to the pro's here!), so I could be wrong.. |
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Tequila Rob
Wholenote
Posts: 683
Formerly Known As: Guitar Fool
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Post by Tequila Rob on Sept 12, 2020 10:02:45 GMT -5
35 or so years ago I started snatching up old and abused acoustic guitars, often given to me. I’d fix them and give them to organizations like the Sheriffs Boys Ranch, or a friend who needed one. I just liked fixing them and thought it was cool to give them away. that's great man....from what I've been able to gather from your posts is you've got a nice set up in your man cave...I'm envious... |
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Post by hushnel on Sept 12, 2020 16:12:13 GMT -5
Yeah, the workshop was a selling point, though at the time is was an open concrete block building with two open drive through bays, a metal roof and loft. It’s got nearly 80 feet of bench against two walls. It’s 40 feet by 40 feet. We had to wire it too, it had no power. Shop |
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Post by LTB on Sept 20, 2020 0:43:06 GMT -5
At the age of 4 or 5 I fixed my Aunt’s grandfather clock with a matchbook cover. At my high school graduation party she pulled me aside and told me clock ran for years before it stopped working again. What was wrong with it? |
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Post by hushnel on Sept 21, 2020 14:41:27 GMT -5
To the best of my recollection It was a spring associated with a lever that stoped a gear from slipping back, It may have been associated with the pendulum or weights. I’m don’t know the name of the part. I work on Cuckoo Chickens occasionally and still don’t know the specific name of most of the part. It was a serious luckily event.
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