drathbun

Then the only solution I can think of that is relatively inexpensive, plastic/tulip knobs and lighter than the Grovers is the Gotoh vintage tulip tuners. They come in three varieties and are around $50. Gotoh Vintage Tuners at StewMac

That notched straightedge is for checking a fretboard for straightness. The two sides are for short scale and long scale fretboards.

The Grover Sta-tites are nice, affordable, open-gear alternatives to Waverlys IMO.

There are lots of compelling arguments for NOT using a piezo undersaddle pickup, but these are my top two: 1. They sound like crap 2. They make your guitar when unplugged sound like crap (no contact of bottom of saddle with the bridge slot bottom).

This is a pretty common problem with braided piezo-electric pickups. The piezo doesn't really start to pick up vibrations until about 1/8 of an inch from the end of the braid (where it is crimped). If you put that end right up against the far wall of the saddle slot (the high e string side), the active part of the piezo is still slightly behind the e string towards the b string. The solution I've used in the past was to cut a small slot in the end wall of saddle slot with an exacto, a file, or a dremel just large enough to accept the crimped tail end of the pickup braid. That allows the pickup to slide farther along and get the active part of the pickup under the high e string. The other solution is to cut part of the crimped end of the saddle braid off with a pair of side cutters, but I'd rather not do that and risk damaging the pickup or causing the end of the braid to fray.

I'd expect the pin holes to be chewed up a bit on a guitar as old as that, but what worries me is how that bridge plate is peeling away from the top. That doesn't look good at all! It looks like it requires a skilled luthier to remove that bridge plate and repair the top damage and reapply a new bridge plate.

They is gooder than good my friend. Thanks for trolling.

There ya go! The BK has spoken! An LG3 it be. 🙂

I'm not sure. At the time (nine years ago) I posted this photo on this forum and asked what it was. The consensus was an LG2.

When I was in Florida visiting my Mom in 2010, her neighbor loaned me his guitar while I was down. I was surprised to see it was a Gibson LG2 from 1956 (I think). He had no idea it had any value. It was a lovely instrument. The pickguard is different than the one you have but it could be the same model just from a decade later?

I never noticed this thread either! 😲 Of course, I should never join any club that would have someone like me as a member, but here goes... ... as of November 2018.

That's totally freaking awesome JT!

All I can say is my 1977 Hummingbird was one of the worst acoustic guitars I’ve ever owned - and that includes a Chinese Dean. They were heavily overbraced and dull. If you play it and it sounds light and chimey, then it is a good one. If it goes Thud Thud Thud, leave it be.

Yes. That is precisely what I am saying. Instead of uploading the image to your very limited forum account, upload to Imgur instead and then just paste the copied link into your message here. Works like a charm.

Just a couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were fortunate to obtain tickets for a very intimate performance by the great flamenco guitarist Oscar Lopez in a very small venue south of Calgary. There were only 42 tickets sold and we were basically in a living room with this great artist. Oscar played and chatted and joked with the small gathering and was truly a virtuoso. Later in the second set, he started playing tunes to get the audience singing along like "Hotel California" (in a very flamenco and awesome style). Everyone was clapping and singing when they knew the words (usually in the choruses). He started playing "Don't Let Me Down" by the Beatles and everyone was singing loud DON"T LET ME DOWN!!! DON"T LET ME DOWN!!! But when it got to the verses, everyone dropped out but me and I kept singing full voice "I'm in love for the first time... do do do do... don't ya know its gonna last!!!" Then I realize that no one else is singing and Oscar even stopped singing and nodded to me to continue. So I did.. full voice, with Oscar Lopez accompanying me! OMG. My heart was beating out of my chest. When the song was done, I got a huge (42 person) round of applause and Oscar pointed at me and said "YOU! You should be up here!" and pointed to the microphone. That was awesome and amazing. Even though my voice cracked in the high notes, I sang out with full throated abandon even though I was terrified. After the show we chatted and he posed with us for photos. I asked him about his guitar and it was just a workhorse Almansa classical that he bought in the store where I used to work in Calgary. A magical night seeing a legendary artist and singing with him.

That's awesome Krasi. Is that a Fishman Rare Earth Blend in there? And is that how the guitar was recorded? Also, the reverb on your voice is stellar; not too swampy and just the right amount. Is that a plug in? Enquiring recording minds want to know! Keep playing my friend!

Imgur is so simple and it even has some editing tools so you can upload your photo, crop it, resize it etc. then all you have to do is click on it and you get this menu of choices on the right of your image where you just click "Copy" and get the BBcode URL that you just CTRL-V into your message. You can even select "Thumbnail" and you'll get a small image for people to click to get the larger photo. Fast and simple and free. I just wish the mobile app had the same features as what you see below on the website version.

8 years ago. I don't remember getting a YouTube copyright strike for this either! My Gibson Songwriter... nice guitar.

The trick to being able to play a 12 string is to get one that is setup properly. They are a bit of a bear for techs to get playing with low action, no buzzing and good intonation. It takes some skill and perseverance by a tech to get them tuned (meaning adjusted) perfectly. I've played a couple of Gibson custom shop 12 strings that were adjusted so they play and sound like butter. One was a Songwriter Deluxe 12 string that our L&M tech adjusted for a local performance by the guitarist in Matchbox 20. After the performance, it came back to the store and I got to play it. Wow! The next one was my Hummingbird after Jim did his magic to it. It took him a couple of attempts but now it is effortless to play.

I would never second-guess Dana Bourgeois but to echo BBG, to bring a guitar from unplayable to playable is worth it. An unplayed guitar sounds silent. However if you are talking about a vintage guitar that has higher action but is still in playable condition, then the discussion of the value of a neck reset is a good conversation to have.

I just posted the following on another thread. It is instructions on how to use the Imgur app to post images in this forum. The mobile app does not have the features of the desktop browser website of Imgur. If you are using a desktop computer (Mac, PC or Linux) you can go to your images on the Imgur website and just click on the image you want to post and it will show you the image larger with a range of copyable links on the right side. Just click the BBCode copy button and come in here and press CTRL (or CMD) V for paste. If you are using an iPhone or Android version of Imgur, try the process below. I haven't tried this with Android, just the iPhone app, and it works. Ok. I'm giving this a try on my iPhone. I have the Imgur app. I've gone to my images, tapped on the image I want to post and touch and hold on the image to bring up a menu. Choose "Share" and then "email". This will paste the URL for the image into the body of the email. Copy that URL and paste it here... Okay. I had to cheat. This is the cheat. Do everything I said above but when you paste the URL into the text box here in the forum, you have to edit it a bit. This took me some trial and error. The URL I got from Imgur in my email body for the above image came out like this "http://imgur.com/gallery/abunchofcode" where "abunchofcode" was "kaADKBE". Every image will be different. Do these edits to the URL: 1. Add an "s" to the "http" so it says "https" 2. delete "/gallery" 3. add "i." in front of "imgur.com" 3. add ".jpg" to the end of the bunchofcode So the above example would end up looking like "https://i.imgur.com/abunchofcode.jpg" If you preview the posting with the preview icon just to the right of the "Size" option on the upper option bar of the posting window (fonts, bold, italic etc), you'll get a banner that says "Posted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead." If you touch that banner, it will insert the URL as you edited it and then you can hit "Submit Reply". That's how it worked for me.

Ok. I'm giving this a try on my iPhone. I have the Imgur app. I've gone to my images, tapped on the image I want to post and touch and hold on the image to bring up a menu. Choose "Share" and then "email". This will paste the URL for the image into the body of the email. Copy that URL and paste it here... Okay. I had to cheat. This is the cheat. Do everything I said above but when you paste the URL into the text box here in the forum, you have to edit it a bit. This took me some trial and error. The URL I got from Imgur in my email body for the above image came out like this "http://imgur.com/gallery/abunchofcode" where "abunchofcode" was "kaADKBE". Every image will be different. Do these edits to the URL: 1. Add an "s" to the "http" so it says "https" 2. delete "/gallery" 3. add "i." in front of "imgur.com" 3. add ".jpg" to the end of the bunchofcode So the above example would end up looking like "https://i.imgur.com/abunchofcode.jpg" If you preview the posting with the preview icon just to the right of the "Size" option on the upper option bar of the posting window (fonts, bold, italic etc), you'll get a banner that says "Posted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead." If you touch that banner, it will insert the URL as you edited it and then you can hit "Submit Reply". That's how it worked for me.

Gibson does the "Homecoming" tours every May I think. I'm not sure with the new structure that it will be continuing. My tour was a favour that Jeremy did for me as I was driving through Bozeman just a day before our Long & McQuade official tour (I was selling Gibsons at the time). Jeremy gave me and my wife a personal tour of the factory and it was a special honor. Hehe.. I just made that up. But I will continue the legacy! 😉 Thanks, Kelly!

Yes, I was dumbfounded when my tech said it was shortened at the factory. I've been through the Bozeman facility on a personal tour by Jeremy Morton. I saw, up close, all of the details of the manufacturing of these instruments. The necks, fretboards and fretslots are all cut with CNC machines and have registration holes. The neck angles are done with a precise neck jig and the dovetails are fit with extreme precision by hand and measured to the micron. How a 1mm error in the length of the neck managed to get through to the end of the line is beyond me. Perhaps one of our former Bozeman plant employees here can shed some light on how this was possible. Not that I'm concerned, the instrument, once intonated properly is awesome. I'm a bit perplexed at how the end of the fretboard could be shaved and the nut relocated without setting the intonation at the saddle, but again, the instrument is almost perfect right now. Compared to acoustics, Strats are such great workhorses that you can adjust them almost while you're playing them. My Strat is a 50th Anniversary 2004 American Deluxe with the micro-tilt neck and getting that guitar playing like butter it dead simple by comparison. I consider myself a Gibson guy but I have Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Martin, Godin, Epiphone, Taylor, Yamaha, Fender and Squire as well. Here is Jeremy Morton showing me where he placed a post-it note indicating the back, top and neck were missing on this Gibson acoustic. Good quality control catch! (just teasing - Jeremy is a great guy - not there anymore but still a great guy)😉

Your ears do not deceive you. To this day, Yamaha FG guitars are excellent images. I defy anyone to find a better guitar for the price than a new FG 820. The original, made in Japan, red label FG's are highly collectible. My first REAL guitar was a 1971 FG140 Red Label. I stupidly traded it in on a brand new 1977 Gibson Hummingbird. That bird was a POS and is long gone but I searched for decades until I found something close to my original FG140 and I got a 1968 Yamaha FG150 red label for $130 on eBay about 18 years ago. I did a neck reset, refret and neck reshape myself, replaced the tuners, added a pickup, made a new bone nut and bone saddle and it is an awesome guitar. My wife calls it the "hippie guitar" because it has so much mojo in it. I currently have it in Nashville tuning.