Rescue from the Luthier from Hell

[62burst]

Some time ago, I had gotten an old Gibson flat top from the family of the second owner in Staten Island, NY. It's condition, mostly originality (modification) issues, suggested this guitar would never be of any collector value. But the good things heard about 1940's maple J-45's had me curious, so taking it to a highly regarded vintage Gibson expert would at least give the guitar a fighting chance to sound it's best. So away the guitar went, to a luthier in the southeast U.S. An aging old school guitar fixer who will complete no guitar before it's time.

 

Without trying to press, one year passes. Getting apprehensive at the 14 month mark, then a year and a half. Polite phone calls were made only every two months. Expect to get the answering machine. Finally, a completion date by Christmas was given. Being told it was ready, the bill was paid, and to move things along, a completion bonus was included to help see that the guitar got on it's way before the Christmas rush. Check was cashed- no guitar was sent. Weeks turn to months. More talking to the answering machine. The local police in his town were spoken with on a few occasions, but the suggestion was for me to expect to travel for a court date. Ultimately, a local (to him) lawyer was contacted to speak with the luthier, and for the paltry fee (country lawyer) of $75(!), the guitar was heading back home, after almost two years. Life is short.

 

Thankfully, original burst, belly down bridge replaced with slightly oversized rectangle bridge, original pickguard was found in previous owner's filing cabinet, and reinstalled on the guitar. Never had a neck reset, zero cracks:

 

 

 

The maple J-45's suffered from finish delamination. Here was one owner's solution:

 

 

Nick Lucas-style inlays, done a long time ago:

 

 

Five piece neck, "Kluson Mfg Chicago ILL Pat" tuners with the black Bakelite buttons:

 

 

 

A comparisement with (firstly) a mahogany-topped '44 J-45, a 1946 Southern Jumbo, and the Lucas-inlaid maple:

playing an intro done for a friend's song, and at the end, a tip of the hat to the demos of former Music Villa comparator extraordinaire Tony Polecastro:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v45ZIb83GWs&feature=youtu.be

[Buc McMaster]

Well you certainly have more patience than I, sir! Perhaps you might alert folks to this sad sack, no-count luthier so they might avoid a similar situation. Glad it did finally work out in the end. Is the bound neck and headstock factory? That maple seems to have more "woof" that the other two.........sounds very full, with maybe more volume as well.

[Dave F]

Glad it made it back. I think I like it's tone best among the three.

 

I had a similar luthier experience with an old Gretsch. Took about a year and a half to get it back, the work was so horrible I had to take to another luthier to fix his work. I had it in my hands about two months ago but decided to have some additional work done.

 

 

 

[MorrisrownSal]

I get angry when I read these posts. Angry at the luthier or contractor taking advantage...

For what it's worth, those needing meaty work done to special guitars, look hard at Brothers Music in Wind Gap PA. Those guys worked at Martin, and have a steady flow of vintage heirlooms sent to them from all over to get fixed up. They know their stuff, and they'll tell you how long a wait it is and stick to it.

[scriv58]

it was a near heartstopper in the video when he caught the guitar that he had just put down..."whew" was his perfect punctuation

[Joe M]

Wow, to me, no comparison, the maple guitar sounded way better than the other two.

[BigDawg007]

Wow, to me, no comparison, the maple guitar sounded way better than the other two.

 

 

I actually liked the Maple as well.

 

Getting work done on guitars is fearful. You gotta get the right dude. I've been there. Trust me. Hope the best for you.

[MissouriPicker]

First of all, I'd be real irritable if I had to wait that long on a guitar and especially since the waiting continued even after the luthier was paid........Anyway, the video is excellent. To me the old gal sounds superb. She hasn't lost a step to the new kids on the block.

[Jalex]

Maple sounded best to me. Sad what you had to go through the to get it back though.

[BluesKing777]

So, all that time to just change the bridge?

 

Well, I think it sounds like it could be a nice fingerpicker with the bright but full projection in the video!

 

 

I have an angel just down the road as my guitar man - as the crow flies, I could get there on my pushbike quicker than the long way round on the road. I appreciate it even more how very, very good he is, after a few stupid ones I had been to over the years. My little Mesa tube amp was the worst time - was gone for lost months and months, and after all the calls, came back with the same crackle.

And then, my Telecaster! Needed urgent help before the weekend round of gigs at the time - crackles and shorts. Guy 'fixed' it - first strum at the gig, crackle, crackle... NOW I put up with it like that for a LONG while because of a lack of funds. So years later when I found my current guitar tech, for my Dobro at first, I handed him the Tele - when I picked it up, it was actually BETTER than when I bought it. He said the original parts and wiring were still in it and needed replacing. Huh? The other guy was paid for pots and wiring of all volume and tone controls and jack plug.........

 

My guy replaced it all with original Fender parts.

 

I might call him just to say hello and try not to tell him I love him..

 

 

BluesKing777.

[duluthdan]

62 - that Maple is a keeper for sure. Who has that 46 SJ ? That sounded very good too. Hell, they all did - but yep, that Maple sounded the best to me in that tape.

[62burst]

62 - that Maple is a keeper for sure. Who has that 46 SJ ? That sounded very good too. Hell, they all did - but yep, that Maple sounded the best to me in that tape.

 

Dan- the '46 SJ was another leap of faith on a reduced price, neglected Gibson that I found impossible to resist. You may recall there was a thread here on the forum over a year ago when someone in Nova Scotia passed along the link to it when it was on Kajiji, Canada's equivalent of CraigsList. It had a huge crack on the back that Brothers Music repaired so nicely, it's barely noticeable now. A light guitar with the big C neck. Very dry, balanced tone.

[Martin 1940D28]

I could easily live with any one or all of them.

[62burst]

Well you certainly have more patience than I, sir! Perhaps you might alert folks to this sad sack, no-count luthier so they might avoid a similar situation. Glad it did finally work out in the end. Is the bound neck and headstock factory? That maple seems to have more "woof" that the other two.........sounds very full, with maybe more volume as well.

 

Sorry, Buc- didn't see your question- Bound neck seems to be an addition- headstock scroll inlay, as well, although original gold script logo is slightly visible in places.

 

 

Btw- I tried to message EuroAussie to thank him for introducing the great word "comparisement" into the forum vernacular, but it looks like his inbox is full.

[aliasphobias]

Nice 'comparisement" 62b that SJ comes through real well. Not a dud in that bunch!

 

A happy ending! Like, Buc I am for outing the scoundrels. I have a similar tale and that is when I started (slowly) working on my own guitars.

[mountainpicker]

I liked the maple one best of all too. Sheesh, somewhere along the way maple sure got a bad rap when it comes to guitars. I own two and they both impress the he!! out of me.

[JuanCarlosVejar]

Wow, to me, no comparison, the maple guitar sounded way better than the other two.

I agree with Joe M.

The maple destroyed the other 2.

 

 

As a maple lover ...Wow that guitar is pure GOLD !!!

 

 

Brazilian ...Schmazilian

 

 

 

 

JC

[bayoubengal1954]

I can't believe you had to go through all that to get the guitar back. Glad that's over for you. Each guitar had its own great sound to my ears. If I had to answer, for my taste it was toss up between the SJ and your "finally" reacquired maple. The strings all sounded new to me. Enjoy!

[E-minor7]

Glad to see this guitar finally opens a thread of its own. Forget about conventional collectors value, , , it's a jewel.

 

Looks and sounds awesome and really fills its space on this earth.

 

These by time highly individualized'n'frankensteined creatures such as 45Nick's old modified J-45 and my own re-necked 1966 Country Western are fantastic.

 

That is of course only if the sonic qualities remained intact or improved over the years. Close to saying that nothing beats them.

 

Be glad, Burst, , , it was worth all the probs and patience. Well, you seem to be ^

 

 

 

 

 

[zombywoof]

Good News and glad to hear it all somehow came together. Is this the guitar that you and I talked about a couple of time? I can't seem to recall. As you know my Banner J-50 sat in the shop fr a full year during restoration. The shop is pretty much just a shed next to the guy's house. But in the end I had no complaints about the work. The guy is a wizard.

[62burst]

First off, it has been a total surprise to hear all of those who favored the maple J-45 as much as they did. Reassuring, too. since the guitar was sold as a "project guitar". Like situations that consummate Frugal Guitarist Zombywoof has admitted to having done before (yes, 'Woof, this is the guitar we'd spoken about), the work put into the guitar has eclipsed it's purchase price. Yes, BK777, all of this trouble to get a guitar back from just having a period correct bridge installed. The rescue mission overshadowed any other work that needed to be done. Once home, the guitar then went to a local luthier for a re-fret, bone nut, and set up. Also on the tally was the original purchase trip to NY, shipping to the LFH 'down south & back, legal, etc. One of those cases of the journey being as important as the destination.

 

There is so much more to the story. As far as outing the luthier who banked the check, and would not return the guitar until given legal incentive- there was much talk with many prominent people in the business of old guitars, and folk from the forums, have related similar experiences with this person, with the phrase "I just want my guitar back" (regardless of repair) being a common theme. The person used to do many Roy Smeck conversions, as well as cross-brace conversions of Gibson (Kalamazoo) off-brands.

 

 

Yes, Bayoubengal, as noted in the Youtube info, strings were all 4 wks-old, DR Sunbeam PB 12-54's. As Russ Barenberg had mentioned, he just liked the way that the old maple ones record, and maybe the lam back/sides are less prone to feedback on stage(?). Perhaps a future demo/comparo of the all-mahogany Banner to show more of it's strong suit is in order.

 

Emin7- thx for the encouragement to share this guitar in the forum. The thread is as just much about embracing guitars whose former owners wanted to personalize, but then those guitars may have been cast aside as they were no longer bright, shiny, and desirable . But they can still make music happen.