woodsong58 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 My J-50 is back home! This is a follow-up to the J-50 neck reset thread just in case anyone is still interested or just curious about it. Well, I picked it up on Saturday and before I go into the details, I have to say that over all I am very pleased with the results. Now to get down to the nitty-gritty. He didn’t replace the top braces after all. He did however replace the bridge plate. So I guess the originality of my guitar is now compromised. He said that upon further inspection, the original bridge plate just popped off with very little pressure. In the interest of full disclosure I also have to tell you that the replacement he made is somewhat larger than the original and is made of rosewood instead of maple. I have no idea how much this will affect the potential resale value and I hope I never find myself in a situation where I need to find out. Now for the good parts. The action on the low E string is now a respectable 2.8mm (just under 1/8 in. I hope I got those measurements right this time). It’s not quite as low as I hoped for but the playability is vastly improved. The best part however is the major improvement in sound. It sounded great before but is now even better. Before, the trebles seemed to be somewhat overpowered by the bass and mids. Now it has a nice even balance all across. Sustain, volume and note clarity were also greatly improved. So with the sacrifice of originality I have gained a guitar that is a joy to play. I think this guitar is a forever keeper that will be passed on to my daughter some day unless unfortunate circumstances dictate otherwise. I realize this is not the course of action some of you would have chosen but my choice was whether to reset the neck to align to a top with a bulge or attempt to bring the top back down in line with the neck. I think I made the right decision for my situation. Once again, I am very appreciative of all the comments to the original thread and I hope my experience will help someone else to know what to do if they are in a similar situation. Your choice may not be the one I made but it will be the right choice for you. Thanks to all, especially pfox14 and j45nick. Woodsong58 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Some pictures would be perfect! My imagination ain,t all that great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsong58 Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 Some pictures would be perfect! My imagination ain,t all that great! I'd be happy to post some pics. I'll need some time to get set up to do that though. Anything in particular about the guitar you'd like to see? woodsong58 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Naaa! Don,t worry about it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Interesting that he chose to do a rosewood bridgeplate rather than maple. I think maple is a bit harder, and it is certainly a brighter-sounding wood than rosewood in general. When I had the million-mile tuneup done on my '48 J-45, Ross Teigen replaced the big, thick 1968 plywood Gibson bridgeplate with an original-spec solid maple one, and the tone brightened noticeably, particularly across the upper mid-range. If the old plate popped out easily, it may not have been properly coupled to the top, which would have a negative impact on tone. The bridgeplate is glued onto the top, but the small machine screws that locate and hold the bridge on (in addition to the glue under the bridge) also help hold the plate in place. Both tone and volume are largely about getting the top moving in response to the vibration of the strings. Solid coupling between all the components (top, braces, bridge, saddle, plate, strings) is a big part of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
527 Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 In the interest of full disclosure I also have to tell you that the replacement he made is somewhat larger than the original and is made of rosewood instead of maple. The action on the low E string is now a respectable 2.8mm (just under 1/8 in. I hope I got those measurements right this time). It’s not quite as low as I hoped for but the playability is vastly improved. Who did the work? I hate to say I see some big red flags. It should come back with action where you want it, that's the whole point of a neck set. If it's too high he can shave the saddle for you. Oversized bridge plate? Rosewood? I'm not giving you a hard time, it's on the guy who fixed the guitar. Don't give him the chance to ruin any others. Who was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.