blindboygrunt Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 in light of Em7's gynecology experiment with brace shaving (which i truly hope makes the difference you are looking for ) has anyone any stories where hindsight is a wonderful thing ? i'm not gonna go near my guitar with sandpaper but maybe some would be inspired by Em's experimental nature , some of you fellas / ladies must have made a few faux pa's in your day ... maybe share them as a precautionary tale to those who think that luthiery is easy ? i once shaved a saddle which turned out well , and once painted a picture on a guitar , but it was just an old encore ,still regretted it a month later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 You are right - this is controversial and mysterious ground. Experts (if you can reach expertise on this) and experienced speak here and there on the web. Would be fine to hear some of them here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Thing is, if Em7's modding is significant enough it'll show one day, he mightn't sell the guitar, but someone will one day and there will be a post saying WTF with Gibson Montana and the bracing? I have this H'bird and the bracing seems different from other guitars of that time, those Gibson fellas, they just could never get to a point of manufacturing with consistency..... It doesn't sound to me like a few passes with sandpaper will do much of anything but if it was modded significantly enough that it did, I'd be pretty miffed to buy a guitar structurally modded by a non-professional and not disclosed, especially if I was paying the kind of cash G-branded models tend to go for. On to the topic, I once sanded down a Mexican Telecaster body which had been black, huge mistake, ugly wood underneath, an arduous task too removing that thick poly coating. Not a job I'd ever take on again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 in light of Em7's gynecology experiment with brace shaving (which i truly hope makes the difference you are looking for ) has anyone any stories where hindsight is a wonderful thing ? Well, there's the story of my '65 B25n that had the plastic bridge. I desperately wanted to get it off of there, and expecting a major improvement in tone, replaced it with one made of ebony. It actually sounded a bit better with the plastic bridge! It needed to be done anyway due to structural damage, but man, what a let down. Lesson learned was: Buy 'em sounding good from day one, and leave it alone! And btw, recently replaced the long gone B25n with a '66 Epi Cortez (FT45n), sporting a structurally intact plastic bridge. It sounds great, and the bridge is staying put this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorrisrownSal Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I crazy-glued my fingers to the underside of my saddle in the soundhole, while trying to install a K&K pickup. The owner of the guitar today complains that my fingertip remains inside the guitar dampen tone. Other stuff I still do myself: adjustments to the truss and neck, saddle, shims, strap buttons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I crazy-glued my fingers to the underside of my saddle in the soundhole, while trying to install a K&K pickup. The owner of the guitar today complains that my fingertip remains inside the guitar dampen tone. Other stuff I still do myself: adjustments to the truss and neck, saddle, shims, strap buttons... And here I thought tone was in the fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Nilppeznaf Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Well.. told it before here but I shaved the nut of an ex girlfriends Takamine...and took too much..had to stick a tiny bit of silver foil under the top E to stop it buzzing on first fret.. Didn't even know then that a nut job should be left to a luthier or experienced person...... I think i recall you were contemplating attempting such a move before asking here BBG .. wish i had been able to ask before I tried lesson learned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I shaved the nut of an ex girlfriends Takamine... I couldn't help it...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvguit Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I shaved the braces on an Alvarez (solid top at least) I had laying around. I couldn't make out any discernable difference so I kept going as long as I was comfortable with. I still couldn't tell a difference. Hopefully your experience turned out better than mine Em7. My first neck set went pretty rough. It was a Harmony flat top (not a Sovereign) and I didn't adequately release the fret board extension from the top. When I went to extract the neck from its pocket snap! There went the fret board. All subsequent neck sets have gone well and although that first Harmony didn't make it, it didn't go in vain! I learned a lot on that first one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 As I said, I have done some serious messing around with guitars but only with el cheapo mail order catalog instruments. In the end though unless you are some guy known for an ability to voice a guitar, once you start molesting the innards you will have killed the value of your istrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I always 'leave it to the pro's', BBG. I have four thumbs for fixing stuff.... BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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