Roy Smeck Conversion - any advice?

[duluthdan]

Thinking about hunting down a Roy Smeck conversion candidate.  The good converted ones are hard to find - I've played a few that bordered on dissappointing.  Anyone have advice on finding one, and a stellar suggestions for a top-notch experienced person to tackle a conversion project ?

[Dave F]

Have you tried any of the newer ones? Next time you’re traveling through KY stop by and play my Stage Deluxe Ltd (hog), Stage Deluxe RW and the Jackson Browne (walnut). Didn’t you have a JB a while back?

[duluthdan]

9 hours ago, Dave F said:

Have you tried any of the newer ones? Next time you’re traveling through KY stop by and play my Stage Deluxe Ltd (hog), Stage Deluxe RW and the Jackson Browne (walnut). Didn’t you have a JB a while back?

I had a wonderful Gibson Jackson Browne but stupidly sold it to fund my 2006 Legend. The neck on the JB was a bit flat for my liking - not uncomfortable, but a bit flat, I preferred the full round Legend neck.  I have played the recent reissues, but they did not grab me by the throat, perhaps I need to track down more to try. Powder and I were on a rather tight schedule for our recent trip - otherwise I may well have looked you up to smudge up some of your collection.   I was able to spend some time sampling some rather astoundingly good bourbon there, perhaps a great excuse to include KY on another tour next year- maybe I'll have a converted Smeck in tow on that trip.

[blindboygrunt]

What was the astoundingly good bourbon Dan ?

And then back to the roy smeck......

[duluthdan]

45 minutes ago, blindboygrunt said:

What was the astoundingly good bourbon Dan ?

And then back to the roy smeck......

Woodbridge Reserve. 

[bayoubengal1954]

Hey Dan—

I would contact Steve Swan out on the West Coast. He is quite the Smeck Guy. He sells mostly already converted Smecks but knows all the luthiers who specialize in conversions.

http://www.steveswanguitars.com/guitars/gibson-guitars/

[62burst]

56 minutes ago, blindboygrunt said:

What was the astoundingly good bourbon Dan ?

And then back to the roy smeck......

 

.

Dan- I also had high hopes for the Jackson Browne 12 fret, but couldn't believe that  a guitar that was built to be a modern version of the 1930's Smecks such as those favored by Jackson, would be made with such a thin neck profile. Thankfully, Gibson made 44 12-fret J-45's. . . a little more of a neck carve, a more traditional body depth that still gives it that J-45 strummy punch, with the warmth and comfort of a 12-fretter.

[bayoubengal1954]

This one has not been converted, but I have seen many in that price range that have already been converted.

https://reverb.com/item/21494982-1934-gibson-roy-smeck-stage-deluxe-sunburst

[j45nick]

4 hours ago, bayoubengal1954 said:

Hey Dan—

I would contact Steve Swan out on the West Coast. He is quite the Smeck Guy. He sells mostly already converted Smecks but knows all the luthiers who specialize in conversions.

http://www.steveswanguitars.com/guitars/gibson-guitars/

That guy has some seriously nice guitars at rational prices, particularly his vintage Martins.

[tpbiii]

I have a couple -- 1936 Stage Deluxe and 1935 Radio Grande.  They have quite different histories.  The Stage Deluxe I bought in the 1990s in the early days of ebay -- it once belonged to Garnet Rogers who I have gotten to know since.  The neck has not been cut down -- 2 1/4".  It is not as hard to play as you might think, and my late large handed wife loved it.  I has a huge raw sound if you hammer it, but headroom to the moon.

The other one has a new neck crafted by Randy Wood -- sonically it is in the same class as my 36 AJ, and that is saying a lot.  Here it is before conversion.

Good hunting.

Tom

[Ty D]

On 9/7/2019 at 9:59 PM, duluthdan said:

Thinking about hunting down a Roy Smeck conversion candidate.  The good converted ones are hard to find - I've played a few that bordered on dissappointing.  Anyone have advice on finding one, and a stellar suggestions for a top-notch experienced person to tackle a conversion project ?

Tom Crandall at TR Crandall in NYC has done more conversions of these than anyone else. Have played some in his shop, they were stunning. 

[Picker Fred]

I bought an unconverted Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe about 16 yrs. ago with the idea of converting it, after reading so many reviews of how wonderful they sound.  Finally got around to getting it converted from the original slide to a spanish style (standard) guitar just recently. After doing much research and talking to dozens of people over the years, including Steve Swan, down south of San Francisco, who has a special feel for these guitars, I took it to Alan Perlman in San Francisco for the conversion.  He's done many of those that Steve Swan has sold over the years.  Anyway, Alan is the real deal, and has done over thirty Roy Smeck conversions durning his career, as well as built and repaired guitars for some of the biggest names in the music business.  I got my Roy Smeck back about two months ago and Alan has converted it to perfection, and it sounds absolutely amazing to my ears.  I can't put it down.  He nailed every detail to the exact measurements I'd given him, and made this 1934 antique guitar into a beast of a player, and very easy to play, and a big almost piano-like sound, with rich tone and volume in the lows, mids and highs even with light gauge strings.  I couldn't be happier!  I realize it is hard to predict how such a conversion is going to come out, but I'd recommend anyone considering doing this to have it converted by someone who has done several of them and knows what they are doing. There are many horror stories about bad conversions, and some poor work is very hard to undo.   All I can say is, thank you Alan Perlman for the exquisite care and expertise you took to my Roy Smeck!