Taylor Player Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 Just got a call from my Luthier that my LG1 has finished her month long spa treatment and is coming home with me tonight!! WOO HOO!!! It's supposed to rain all weekend which is long overdue here in MN and we NEED the rain. It also gives me the weekend off of lawn care duties so I can get reaquainted with my LG1. After getting her off Craigslist, I kept it for a month, just enjoying the tone but I knew she needed the neck reset since I had no saddle left and the high e string was rubbing on the bridge when I did string bends with the b string being awful close to the same problem. There was no break angle on the strings and although I loved the tone, it was very soft compared to my Taylor and especially my Advanced Jumbo Gibson. I also had him install a K & K pure western mini like I have in my AJ and he did the "Platemate" bridge plate install as well. I will certainly give you my thoughts on the platemate and the rest of the repairs once I put the LG1 down long enough to go online and type. It may be tonight but more likely tomorrow as I think I will be playing til my fingers bleed tonight! The only saving grace of having the LG1 gone for a month was that I had a couple other nice guitars to keep me occupied during her absense. Several years ago when I was having some work done on my Taylor at the factory, I was not happy that my guitar was going to be gone for 6 to 8 weeks and was able to talk my wife into me getting a Taylor 454 Ltd 12 string but this time she knew I had others to keep me company so I didn't even try that one again. Besides, I have only owned the LG1 for 2 months now, so I really would have been pushing my luck to try and get another! :P
yaz1009 Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 Hey! You sound pleased. I am off to Atlanta tomorrow to get that AJ! Called em today and news strings are going on before I get there..... frigging been shaking all week. You know that feeling? lol
onewilyfool Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 Hey T.P. congradulations.....sounds like a nice girl to bring home with you.....let us know how the baby sounds and feels with al the work done.....Wily
Gilliangirl Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 Looking forward to hearing your review, TP! It'll be like getting a new guitar, all over again! It's pouring rain here too, btw. And cold. But my lawn looks like hay so I'm not complaining. It's a good weekend to learn some new songs.
Gibson101 Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 Very cool, I know you have been waiting on that baby to come home. Please let us know ASAP if you feel like the platemate changed the tone at all. Good luck and have a great weekend!
Tobe1971 Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 My guess is that you haven't put it down long enough to get online, or your fingers are too blistered to type! :P P.S. It's about a month since I bought my first guitar (my '67 LG-1) and I just bought another one..... why didn't anyone warn me? This one is an Art and Lutherie Ami (parlor guitar).... I can't even play the first one yet! What has come over me?!?! http://www.artandlutherieguitars.com/amicedarblack.html
Gibson101 Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 My guess is that you haven't put it down long enough to get online' date=' or your fingers are too blistered to type! ;) [b']P.S. It's about a month since I bought my first guitar (my '67 LG-1) and I just bought another one..... why didn't anyone warn me? This one is an Art and Lutherie Ami (parlor guitar).... I can't even play the first one yet! What has come over me[/b]?!?! http://www.artandlutherieguitars.com/amicedarblack.html Oh Tobe it's a dangerous path my friend!! I own a bunch and I can't play worth a !@#$!!! I'm young and have not given up yet!!!
Geoffrey Lawton Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 TP Enjoy that little blues monster! I just bought a '64 LG1 from a member at the umgf. Like yours, mine needs a reset. I took i to my guitar guy and he was able to shim the nut a bit and groove the strings slots a bit. That made this one sing. Before it lacked punch and the b and e strings were dull. Not any more. So I'll reset the neck in the fall (I'm a teacher and I don't get paid through the summer so can't afford the work) and that will make this one even better. I can tell that this little guitar has already gotten under my skin. Maybe the mojo? Maybe the sound? Well... yes. Have fun. Geoff
Taylor Player Posted June 6, 2009 Author Posted June 6, 2009 Morning everyone...... You are all right, I pretty much played my little Gibby all night last night. We went to a friends house to sit on the deck with a fire in the firepit so it was the perfect venue for my Gibson. Here are my thoughts..... The neck reset makes all the difference in playability. While it wasn't to the point where I wanted to slice cheese with the strings, the saddle had been so low that it really lacked volume when I got it. Now it has low action with a great break angle over the new bone saddle and the intonation up the entire neck is spot on. I was playing stuff where I go above the 12th to 15th fret and still it was ringing out perfectly in tune. As for the "Platemate" repair. I pulled my automotive mirror out and checked out the inside. The plate is really smaller than I had imagined. The luthier did trim it down some to make room for the K & K mini. There doesn't look to be any problems with the K & K being too close to the brass plate. I don't know how much of this can be attributed to the platemate and how much to the neck reset, but the whole guitar is louder and the tone is still what I remembered. The only thing I know for sure it that it sounds much better, has very good string separation now and maybe a bit more sustain than it had prior to the work. The guy who did it, Jeb Germond, is a younger luthier/repair guy in town and I had heard he is a perfectionist. I have to agree. There is no way to see that the neck was ever off the body everything on the interior looks perfect. He even added a capacitor to the K & K which he said fixes any impedence problems with some DI boxes. I plugged the LG1 into my Genz Benz Shenendoah 200 watt stereo amp last night after the party and loved the pure LG1 tone coming out. Great pickups and a great newly playable 1964 Gibby LG1.... Life is good!!! I really think everyone needs a good ladder braced blues box in their stable. If you don't have one, you all have my permission to go as quick as possible and grab one! If you don't believe me, ask Geoffrey or Tobe... they will tell you! =D> =D>
Gibson101 Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 Tobe that's a nice little guitar you picked up. Be careful guitars are like rabbits, they just multiply. TP glad to hear it worked out. I wanted to buy one off of ebay, Mulausk got it instead. I wonder how that one turned out I haven't heard anything.
Taylor Player Posted June 7, 2009 Author Posted June 7, 2009 Too bad you missed the LG1 on Ebay Gibson101.... Keep looking, there are a few around all the time. I have to say the neck reset is Da Bomb!!! My LG is playing like never before. I can't put it down much to the dismay of my AJ and my Taylor. I actually think that in the case of an LG1, the platemate might just be an improvement to these little guitars. I don't think I would do it to my Taylor or AJ, but with this guitar, it would seem that the platemate added sustain and makes each string sing out a bit more. There is still the hint of the old smokey voice it had pre platemate, but now it seems to have more of a smokey singers voice if you will. I have to say it is the platemate that is giving the little extra "zing" I am hearing. I know that the strings on the guitar are the same ones that I had on it when I brought it in for the neck reset which is alright as they were only about 2 weeks old Elixir Nano PB's and still had a lot of life left, so it is not the strings making the difference.... the guitar is louder than before but I attribute that to the neck reset and new saddle with an actual break angle on the strings. The extra "zing" I am talking about can be heard both plugged in to my Genz Benz or unplugged. I think it took a nice sounding LG1 and helped to make it a great LG1! It was a necessary modification as the B string was sticking to the old bridge plate and always had to be removed carefully with a pliers and me pulling the ball end from the inside too. Now it will be effortless to change the strings. I am thinking that a platemate might not be great on all guitars, but it seems to work like a charm on the LG1. It was a great extra $12.00 spent on the repair.
Taylor Player Posted June 8, 2009 Author Posted June 8, 2009 Anyone else have a good or bad experience with the "Platemate"? As I said above, I actually am thinking that maybe it helped my LG1 in the tone department. It seems a bit brighter but not in a bad way and I am amazed at the plugged in sound of the K & K being so close to the platemate and not causing any problems. For those not familier with the platemate, here is a link to Stew Mac's... PlateMate link Any other experiences out there?
Jerry K Posted June 8, 2009 Posted June 8, 2009 I would guess that most of the differences you are hearing are attributable to the change in the break angle over the saddle. That is where the energy of the strings is transferred to the top. If the platemate affects tone it would be on a similar order of magnitude to changing the bridge pins.
mulausk Posted June 13, 2009 Posted June 13, 2009 Tobe that's a nice little guitar you picked up. Be careful guitars are like rabbits' date=' they just multiply. TP glad to hear it worked out. I wanted to buy one off of ebay, Mulausk got it instead. I wonder how that one turned out I haven't heard anything.[/quote'] Hi. Haven't posted/lurked here in awhile, and saw this today. My LG-1 is currently off receiving "spa" treatment as well. It's probably #7-8 in line right now, and might be 2-3 months before I get it back. Neck reset, bone nut/saddle, frets, repairing a small/developing crack near the pickguard... "the works." But given what I paid for it (a pretty good deal, IMO), I felt I had some room to move re: repair costs. I hope it's worth it in the end. I think it will be. I'll be sure to post some pics & my thoughts when I get it back. Taylor Player, sounds like you're loving yours. That's great. I thought about putting a pick-up in mine, but am holding off for now. We'll see how things go. Enjoy yours!
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