Hummingbird Studio nut and staining issues ?

[Stevie22]

Hi everyone, became a proud owner of a Hummingbird Studio Walnut last week. The guy pointed out to me that there’s staining problems on it, the saddle has some staining that’s slightly leaked over onto the finish of the body of the guitar, he told me that before i purchased it, and he did seem genuine.
 

Is this just a thing with Gibson sometimes with the fact these are hand crafted , I don’t mind it brings character to the guitar, but would mind if there’d been extra work carried out for some reason. 

Also changed the strings yesterday,  when removing all of the strings to apply lemon oil the nut dropped off. 
 

Are the nuts removable? Or supposed to be glued ?

The bridge pins weren’t a snug fit either, they kept popping out when trying to wind the strings on, is this usual ? 
 

 

 

[zombywoof]

If you read this forum long enough you will know that minor finishing blips, a bit of glue squeeze out and such are not totally unheard of.  While the guitars themselves are no longer built by hand there is still enough human involvement to result in hiccups as well as nuanced differences in sound.   What you are describing might just be some dried polish that was not fully buffed out or a bit of glue which seeped out from under the bridge.  

With the bridge pins their popping out on a new guitar my best guess is you are not stringing the guitar with the ball ends properly seated under the bridge plate.  I bend the ball end of the strings a bit before slapping them on the guitar to make sure they are not pulling up on the pins.  As to the nut I do not have a clue how Bozeman anchors them.  Generally, a drop of glue is used so enough to secure them in place but not so much as to make them a pain to remove.

Edited August 15, 2022 by zombywoof

[kidblast]

4 hours ago, Stevie22 said:

Hi everyone, became a proud owner of a Hummingbird Studio Walnut last week. The guy pointed out to me that there’s staining problems on it, the saddle has some staining that’s slightly leaked over onto the finish of the body of the guitar, he told me that before i purchased it, and he did seem genuine.
 

Is this just a thing with Gibson sometimes with the fact these are hand crafted , I don’t mind it brings character to the guitar, but would mind if there’d been extra work carried out for some reason. 

Also changed the strings yesterday,  when removing all of the strings to apply lemon oil the nut dropped off. 
 

Are the nuts removable? Or supposed to be glued ?

The bridge pins weren’t a snug fit either, they kept popping out when trying to wind the strings on, is this usual ? 
 

 

 

Like Zomby says  finish issues are not out of reach for Gibson   Lots of quirks with Nitro, but the stain on the brdige seeping into the finish is one I personally have yet to hear about (hey I only know what I know)  Posting a photo would be the thing.  A lot of us use sites like imugr to post pics

the nut should not be glued down to be set in there permanently   A drop or two of a light super glue (one drop on each end) will seat it so it stays put on a string change, and will easily be removed if you ever need to change the nut.   Just don't heap on the glue, you don't want that attached forever.

The bridge pins were not seated right on the last string change,  There's a tone of How To's on YouTube if you are new  at this.  There IS a right way to do this.  Some of the Taylor videos are among the better ones.

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by kidblast

[fortyearspickn]

Echoing the Experts: 

Ball end of string should be snug against the bridge plate under bridge, and resting snug against the pin - not sitting on or near the end of it - that'll pop it out. ("You'll put an eye out...")    

'Saddle has some staining that is bleeding onto the finish of the body'?    The saddle is that white plastic looking thing that the strings rest on and sits in a slot in the bridge. Normally, neither the saddle nor the bridge are stained or painted  or have any nitro 'sealer' on them.   So  - the saddle doesn't come in contact with the body/face of the guitar.  If you meant the bridge is bleeding - as ZmbyWf  wrote -  it could be a drop of glue that squeezed out.  But the only 'stain' is on the face of the body.  

As far as the nut falling off ...  that's a QC issue for sure.  As KBlast wrote - 2 of the smallest drops of glue you can squeeze out. Slightly/lightly 'clamp' it with your fingers - snug against the both sides it needs to be flush against.  You should be able to bring it in to the place you purchased it and have them do that for you.  Maybe call ahead since we are in a time of staffing shortages and their 'Guitar Tech' may be backed up.  G'Luck.  Welcome to the Forum.  The H'Bird is one of the best choices you could have ever made ! 

[Murph]

27 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said:

  The H'Bird is one of the best choices you could have ever made ! 

Yep.

A walnut Hummingbird would be mighty fine.

My walnut J-15 is a monster.

[Stevie22]

On 8/15/2022 at 2:04 PM, zombywoof said:

If you read this forum long enough you will know that minor finishing blips, a bit of glue squeeze out and such are not totally unheard of.  While the guitars themselves are no longer built by hand there is still enough human involvement to result in hiccups as well as nuanced differences in sound.   What you are describing might just be some dried polish that was not fully buffed out or a bit of glue which seeped out from under the bridge.  

With the bridge pins their popping out on a new guitar my best guess is you are not stringing the guitar with the ball ends properly seated under the bridge plate.  I bend the ball end of the strings a bit before slapping them on the guitar to make sure they are not pulling up on the pins.  As to the nut I do not have a clue how Bozeman anchors them.  Generally, a drop of glue is used so enough to secure them in place but not so much as to make them a pain to remove.

Thanks for the reply. 

[Stevie22]

On 8/15/2022 at 2:30 PM, kidblast said:

Like Zomby says  finish issues are not out of reach for Gibson   Lots of quirks with Nitro, but the stain on the brdige seeping into the finish is one I personally have yet to hear about (hey I only know what I know)  Posting a photo would be the thing.  A lot of us use sites like imugr to post pics

the nut should not be glued down to be set in there permanently   A drop or two of a light super glue (one drop on each end) will seat it so it stays put on a string change, and will easily be removed if you ever need to change the nut.   Just don't heap on the glue, you don't want that attached forever.

The bridge pins were not seated right on the last string change,  There's a tone of How To's on YouTube if you are new  at this.  There IS a right way to do this.  Some of the Taylor videos are among the better ones.

 

 

 

Hi thanks for your reply, I’ll add a photo for you, although when studying other bridges on the same guitar if may have been stained separate, I’m hoping it’s not going to be though as the guy was less genuine than I thought. 
 

just tried to add photos, and this site won’t allow it due to the size cap of the file size, any way i can get them to you ? 

 

[kidblast]

17 minutes ago, Stevie22 said:

Hi thanks for your reply, I’ll add a photo for you, although when studying other bridges on the same guitar if may have been stained separate, I’m hoping it’s not going to be though as the guy was less genuine than I thought. 
 

just tried to add photos, and this site won’t allow it due to the size cap of the file size, any way i can get them to you ? 

 

The forum has limits so what most of us do is create an account on something like imugr and uploadthese photos there.  and copy the image url from that site.

Then you can post them where  with the "Other Media" drop down option in the lower right corner of the edit window  eg: "Insert Image from URL"

like this  here..

Edited August 18, 2022 by kidblast

[Sgt. Pepper]

Are nuts supposed to glued in?

Survey says - yes. Your bridge should be glued too, but not the saddle.

[Stevie22]

20 hours ago, kidblast said:

The forum has limits so what most of us do is create an account on something like imugr and uploadthese photos there.  and copy the image url from that site.

Then you can post them where  with the "Other Media" drop down option in the lower right corner of the edit window  eg: "Insert Image from URL"

like this  here..

Cheers, nice SG by the way ! 

[kidblast]

On 8/18/2022 at 5:02 PM, Sgt. Pepper said:

Are nuts supposed to glued in?

Survey says - yes. Your bridge should be glued too, but not the saddle.

sure Sarge, otherwise they're gonna fall off hit the floor and make a run for it on the next string change.

but not too much glued in tho..  you don't want to be taking chunks of headstock or off the edge of the fretboard when / if it needs to be replaced.

like I mentioned  a light drop of super glue on either edge keeps it in place.  I've secured many nuts like this and all it takes is a gentle tap  with a small hammer and a Punch or Awl to remove it.