kross Posted March 5, 2011 Posted March 5, 2011 hi i'm new to the forum, having only recently talked my wife into letting me buy a gibson! i bought a 1983 J 45 Celebration model, #19 of #90. Apparently 90 of these were made to celebrate gibson's 90th anniversary. I didn't buy it because of those details (I wasnt really aware of them when i bought it!), but because it sounds & plays nicer than any other guitar i ever tried. I'm very happy with it for those reasons! It seems to have had some not-too-professional repair work done on it which is intriguing me , though, - i can't figure out exactly what was done or why - & i wondered if anyone here had any thoughts. The fingerboard seems to have been cut at the 14th fret and is now in two pieces, one attached to the neck & one attached to the soundboard. There's a quite large change of angle at the join of the two "halves" - the section attached to the fingerboard pointing up towards the top of the saddle. whilst the section attached to the soundboard runs parallel to the top of the soundboard. The fret wire at the 14th fret is new & goes all the way through the fingerboard. All i can think is that someone has done a neck reset, without removing the fingerboard (but sawing through it instead!), but the change in angle seems so large i can't quite figure it. Here's some fotos that i hope will illustrate it better - any thoughts anyone? you can see fret wire goes right through fingerboard and these pix show the change in angle (i hope!) None of this seems to affect the playing of it (i certainly don't play up above the 14th fret!) Can anyone recommend a good acoustic guitar technician in the wrexham/chester/north-west area of UK? It's got a good action, but i think it could probably be tweaked a little. thanks chris
ksdaddy Posted March 5, 2011 Posted March 5, 2011 Years ago that's how they reset necks. They'd remove the 14th fret (in this case), saw down through the fingerboard at that point, remove the fingerboard extension (the piece over the soundboard) thereby exposing the dovetail joint. They could then remove the neck, shave the heel a little, and glue it all back together. It's just the way many of them were done back 20-30-40 years ago. In more recent years it's more common to remove the 15th fret, drill a tiny hole into the fret slot and therefore into the dovetail joint, inject steam to soften the glue, and remove the neck/fingerboard as a unit. This retains any strength and structural integrity the fingerboard has. An even better method, although more labor intensive, is to remove the board completely, then remove the neck. The fingerboard would be glued back on, all intact, after the heel shaving was done. Taking it one step further (even better!) would be to perform a refret after the neck reset was done and the fingerboard reattached. This gives the repair person a chance to plane any weirdness out of the board... if done right, it will be as good or better than new.
kross Posted March 5, 2011 Author Posted March 5, 2011 thanks for that explanation, ksdaddy! - i'd kinda thought that might be the case, but havent seen any references on the web to resetting necks in the old manner - all i could find was the steam method ps if you couldnt see my fotos its because they are hosted on my own website which coincidentally seems to be down at the moment!
frenchie1281734003 Posted March 5, 2011 Posted March 5, 2011 Welcome to the forum Kross. It looks as though you aren`t too far away from me (Holywell/Greenfield), with respect to a good guitar repairman Matthew Baschetta is probably your best/nearest bet, and can be found at Back alley in Mold on alternate Wednesdays (Should be there next week). Alternatively there is David Millington at the "Well guitar clinic" in Old Colwyn, who is very good at setting up acoustics. I once owned a 62 Levin Goliath that had a neck reset done like that, and it wasn`t an issue. Steve.
ponty Posted March 5, 2011 Posted March 5, 2011 Frailers in In Runcorn is not that far from you. Well worth a trip. You can get Frank to look at your guitar whilst you look at all his!
BigKahune Posted March 5, 2011 Posted March 5, 2011 Welcome Kross. Interesting J-45 you've got there, with the old neck reset. Love to see a close up of the headstock and fingerboard inlays. She's a beauty. B)
Triumph1050 Posted March 5, 2011 Posted March 5, 2011 Can't help you with a luthier but just wanted to compliment you on your beautiful guitar. Not something you see everyday and the headstock is awesome.
kross Posted March 5, 2011 Author Posted March 5, 2011 thanks for all those replies everyone! i'll do some more close up pix as requested, but i'll have to wait till tomorrow for daylight. and i'll definitely check out the luthier refs - thanks chris
SoonerBuckeye Posted March 5, 2011 Posted March 5, 2011 It appears that the fret used to go back in to the 14th fret slot is not the correct size either.
kross Posted March 6, 2011 Author Posted March 6, 2011 here's some more pix - not brill i'm afraid but the best i coul do
6stringTom Posted March 6, 2011 Posted March 6, 2011 It appears that the fret used to go back in to the 14th fret slot is not the correct size either. I noticed that, too, but I wonder if it is deliberate. If the 14th fret were the same size/height as the others, I think you would have a high fret at the break between the two angles of the finger board. This way it doesn't interfere. Very interesting thread. I was not aware of this method of neck resetting either, and I'm surprised it isn''t discussed more often. Kross, thanks for posting and welcome to the forum. That is certainly a beautiful old Gibson. I realize you don't care about playing above the 14th fret, but I'm curious to know if the guitar plays reasonably well all the way up. Or does the action get bad on the 14+ frets?
BigKahune Posted March 6, 2011 Posted March 6, 2011 Thanks for posting the extra pics. You've got a real beauty there.
TommyK Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 Welcome Kross. Frank Ford at Frets.com explains how they 'used' to do neck re-sets and how he does them now. I believe, he developed the remove-the-14th-fret-drill-a-hole-and-steam-the-neck-joint technique.
kross Posted March 11, 2011 Author Posted March 11, 2011 i've put some vids of me attempting to play this lovely instrument on youtube:-
BigKahune Posted March 11, 2011 Posted March 11, 2011 . Beautiful guitar. I really like the tone she has, and she looks fantastic on video. As far as the player - very respectable renditions and a nice voice to boot. Thanks Kross. B)
TommyK Posted March 12, 2011 Posted March 12, 2011 Koss, you two deserve each other. "Pass Me Not Oh Gentle Savior" Yeah, that'll get 'em rolling in the aisles.
fp Posted March 12, 2011 Posted March 12, 2011 Rosewood body on that one, nice looking guitar ! What is the white dot on the treble side of the bridge ?
kross Posted March 16, 2011 Author Posted March 16, 2011 Rosewood body on that one, nice looking guitar ! What is the white dot on the treble side of the bridge ? i'm embarrassed to say it was a sticky label- presumably something to do with the shop i bought it from - i had wondered about it myself to be honest, but until you mentioned it i never actually inspected it!
kross Posted March 16, 2011 Author Posted March 16, 2011 ... I realize you don't care about playing above the 14th fret, but I'm curious to know if the guitar plays reasonably well all the way up. Or does the action get bad on the 14+ frets? the action's not too terrible on those frets, but obviously not as good as the rest - you can still play those notes if you want to (& can!)
ChrisA83 Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 i've put some vids of me attempting to play this lovely instrument on youtube:- That's beautiful, calming, would love to learn it.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.