Recently, i got my Cort G series (solid body electric) refretted at local luthier.. he got good rating at google maps review.. so i got my guitar stays a week on him. But end results are not satisfy me.. there are still some fret buzz.. later i found that the original luthier was deceased, and the nephew has taken his place to keep the business on.. so, i was reluctant to bring back my guitar to him, and i watched youtube (including your channel) and i encourage my self to refretted my guitar.. now my guitar is better then it was.. ;) its not perfect fret job, but it is better than before.
One of the top banjo restorers, repairers, rebuilders and mechanics anywhere is Renee Karnes. She has been restoring and repairing banjos for a very long time. This supports your statement about women in the guitar repair biz.
I've been repairing and building guitars for 2 years now and after the first month I've never had to do any marketing/ advertising. Just do good work for a fair price and people will send you every guitar they own. Especially things like a good fret job can really get players to appreciate your work so if you just do a proper one for less then the local guitar store (who usually half ass it for a couple hundred😳) you would be surprised how many people end up wanting every guitar they owned fixed by you.
Hey who doest want a good job at a fair price. Good luck and I hope your business remains successful. To many guitar shops are charging to much for mediocre at best work.
Union Scale USWA was my gig watch RUNNING MAN staring Arnold Swartzenegger. The Blast Furnace was the prison I worked on 29.plus years and it was not a very nice winter in 1993-94 and 2013-14 on Detroit River working in -52 below on a 2700 degree blast furnace with water pipes to cold freezing and bursting like glass. The work I did was the impossible job every single day to feed my boys. One copper sleeve lining inside the cast pipes weight 500lbs. By hand the furnace has taken apart and by hand 500 lb solid copper linings were loaded into the cast pipes for more iron to flow.
If I recall correctly from some light research I did years ago, "piezo" has Greek roots. Its meaning has to do with pressure, and it would traditionally be pronounced pee-AY-zoh. Anyway, your videos are my absolute favorite guitar-repair content out there. Thanks for passing along your knowledge and taking the time to shoot and explain it all so well. Because of you and others like you, many of us are able to get our guitars back up and running ourselves, at least some of the time.
We take our abilities for granted and many people who never try for fear of failure. Thanks for your help with my guitar repairs now they play and sound like guitars! Thanks 😊
Man, the shoutout to women in luthery is one of the coolest things I've heard on this channel. This is true of so many traditionally masculine trades, since women have to be incredibly resilient and talented to withstand all of the macho insecurity projected their way. My amp tech is a woman, too, and she's phenomenal.
I get it but I also don't. The guitar world can be very snobbish and gatekeeping, but no one can tell a woman "you can't do this job because you're a woman". And if they do, they're most likely a nobody that no one likes in the first place
Had a thought, re jammed jack. As it is basically a nut around a tube and to be disposed, rather than drill it what about an "easy out" in the plug hole then you can work two wrenches against each other with no stress on the instrument. It works to get broken pipe fittings apart. If it is going to work it takes about 10 seconds.
So here we go. 11 people didn't like this bit of honesty. They're the kind of people who think that good work can't come cheaper than $1000 an hour. Do not give those suckers an even break. Bankrupt them. Keep it up, pal.
Greetings from Salt Lake City! You are a fine craftsman and a born instructor. My own guitars are nothing special and I've had repair people tell me they're not worth involved repairs. Your videos are very close to inspiring me to clean off my workbench and attempt some things myself. Many thanks!
There exists a tool shaped like a jack that, when inserted into these connectors, allows you to lock into two holes in the threaded barrel. These holes are located underneath the strap nut that you tried to unscrew. This way you can grab the connector from inside when unscrewing the nut.
I especially liked your own self correction..."a trick", edited into, "a warning". I do something quite similar with my own music/guitar students (which includes me, of course). I hate the phrase, "tricks of the trade"...I offer, "advice from previous musical travelers"...it gets a chuckle, and seems to make a point...on occasion, even several. Another nice video, thanks.
My brother dropped his D-18 50th Anniversary Edition and cracked it once. The way he he found a guy was to ask his best friend, who happens to be Bob Dylan's guitar tech. Needless to say, he was pleased with the repair.
Wonderful and instructive as always. Wrt the Guild, if you ever hit that again, try using Klein-style wire stripper/cutters to bite into the narrow part of the strap button while wedging in the opposite direction with a jack-the-gripper or something similar. The bite of the irregular wire cutter surface allows for exerting a lot of torque often enough to loosen anything that’s not glued on....(and yes, I gave seen those glued on. yecch)
Great video. Word of mouth is definitely the way to find a repair person. But trial and error still applies; I brought a guitar to someone I'd heard good things about and was really unimpressed. Mentioned it to a friend who had a similar experience, and he recommended his guy - who did a great job.
I've had great success with nuts like that using a cutting wheel in a Dremel. Just cut across the stuck nut on one side, then a flat head screwdriver in the slot to pry it wider and off the bolt, or in this case, the jack.
Excellent videos. I gain something new every time I watch these. Although, I still feel that my setups are far from great…. Also, I’m tired of paying the only guy around that does this kind of work (and he’s extremely lacking, at best) too do setups, etc. and pickup the guitar to actually believe the only thing he did to it was polish it? Again, thanks for these videos, I need to hone my setup skills and more… ✌🏼
Girls gonna love you! Great and useful video as usual. Ever tried taking a video of the inside of a guitar with your smartphone? Works much better than mirror and light...
I believe I know who you are talking about. She works up on the mountain. She fixed my Ibanez ags hollowbody that had a caved in input jack. Beautiful work.
I had a Fender classical, maybe the same model. Very playable with a nice balanced tone. I'd say it was a 'good quality student model'. The shoddy machine heads let it down however - split barrels and shredded gears - I remember having to use pliers to assist tuning. I hope they've been replaced by whoever stole it.
YOUR THOUGHTS PLEASE...:I used a Master, Internationally renowned Luthier that I followed in Vintage Guitar magazine that is in Ohio that has a very long association with StewMac. I am several states away. Although his work was fabulous, his concept of time simply doesn't exist. On a WWII Gibson ...To make a bridge, glue several braces, reset the neck and add new tuners, he kept the guitar nearly 14 months. Yes, 14 months. I told him I was going to pickup the guitar finished or not, otherwise this would have gone on another half year or longer. A friend of his said I was lucky as one of his guitars has been with this Luthier for 2 1/2 years. How long would others keep the guitar for these repairs? I hear two weeks. Keep in mind, he only had about ten guitars at most ahead of mine. Any responses?
Similar to the Hohoner MC-01 from about the same time. Well they look similar to me but i suppose they all do. My Hohoner is a bit road worn but it keeps going, very well made. The only con is it's a little to thick on the sound board. I think the Spruce is cut to thick and it kind of flattens the sound, dulls the sustain. It would have been a student model in it's day, i'm interested in seeing the little differences . Thanks for your uploads man their great.
What an outstanding pickup! I don't know how much of that is Fender tone (my experience with Fender steel acoustics is mixed) and how much is the piezo, but it sounds fantastic!
I think you should add a nut splitter to your toolbox, for the next time you have an uncooperative jack. They can be had for about ten bucks and would have kept you on track and on time with your jack replacement. With no risk of damaging the instrument like dremels or drills or other powered implements of destruction
In general I agree about word of mouth approach, with one caveat: I've met "local legend" kind of techs and luthiers with years of experience that I think at one point can get a little overconfident, stop paying attention to detail and make mistakes, and then dismiss any signs of the customer being disappointed, with the vibe of "I'm so much smarter so you can't question my authority, if you have any doubts then I'm fine with you not coming back". Stay positive man and don't be one of those old, jaded, burnt out guys that act like they're forced to fix guitars. After a few cases of unexpected disappointment I'm at the point of never fully trusting overwhelmingly positive opinions (of course nobody tries out a guy that everybody complains about). When I try out somebody that never worked on my guitars, I tend to start with a "recon" cheap guitar that has some pretty standard thing to be done, if not a specific problem to be fixed then I come up with an upgrade that I've been considering anyway. Sometimes they were even surprised I want to put in brand tuners and a boutique pickup in a cheap Asian guitar as the parts and work can cost more than the guitar, but then if the tuner pin holes are drilled all crooked or the soldering is messed up on the first try, I have the option to not come back with the expensive instruments or more complicated repairs where a botched job would hurt much more.
Where I live there's literally only one real guitar luthier in a reasonable driving distance, and he's been working for the local music store for a long time, probably 20 years or so. He builds guitars and certainly knows what he's doing, but I feel like the price for minor repairs is way too expensive sometimes. I paid 175$ to have my frets leveled and supposedly crowned on my strat. He did a good job getting the playability back in order, but I felt like there wasn't a great deal of time spent crowning the frets after leveling, and my fret board took some hits, scratches and such. It cost $50 just to get a couple nut slots filed down to the right depth, on another guitar. That one really seemed rediculous.
One time I removed a bridge on an Ohana concert ukulele that had the bridge glued thick. I found that I could lift the whole layer of glue from the bottom of the bridge with a single edge razor. Using my micrometers I measured that layer of glue and it was thirty thousanths of an inch thick. The old cohesion/ adhesion dilemma!!
I have a classical with a cedar top and the 1st thing that occurred to me is that pencils are made of cedar. I thought the guitar was sure to fall apart but it's 30 years old and its the only acoustic I have that hasn't fallen apart and the action is still low as can be. Must be the nylon strings.
Not scribing the lacquer all the way to the edge of the bridge is not only common on cheaper guitars, large expensive brands also use this cost cutting method. I am currently resetting a Taylor Baritone bridge and the same issue was under the bridge; lacquer that should have not been there, reducing the bonded area.
Don't comment normally on channels but, after your statement of support for female luthiers I had to just say good for you. I think the world is only now beginning to scratch the surface (bad pun for a luthier sorry) of what female craftswomen are capable of in all skills. Leave it at the door like he said guys.
I've been playing guitar since 1963. So here's a heads up from an old fart that's been through it all. If you get a recommendation from another guitarist for a luthier ask him if he's actually had work done on his own guitar by the luthier he's recommending, and what was the work done. Need I say more? Another excellent video from twoodfrd.
i had a couple of loose back braces on a martin knock-off, so on a whim and because i'm lazy i went to the local musical instrument store where they sell band instruments and a few guitars and asked them if they could fix it. they said they 'had a guy' and said to bring it in. it was fixed (sloppily IMO) for a reasonable price, i guess, and within a couple of weeks. BTW, i don't recommend finding someone to fix your guitar like it did. it's just that it wasn't a really expensive guitar (< 1000) and wanted it done in a hurry and figured even a luthier with less than average skills and/or ambition could do the job. that was at least seven years ago and the braces are still solid, AFAIK.
Great vids my friend, you have some very informative content. I’ve found some water thin super glue seals bridges really well. You just have to be very careful that is doesn’t get under the bridge. But it dries super fast and you can sand and shellac it really quickly. Saludos from Texas. 👍🏼✌🏼
Speaking of female luthiers, isn't Linda Manzer, Pay Metheny's luthier, based in Toronto? I have also met Shelley Park when she was working with Webber Guitars in Vancouver. On my first tour of Webber Guitars, Shelley demoed the guitars in their various states of build. She is very skilled.
Great episode! Gutsy move drilling out the jack with a handheld drill. One snag/catch and it’s game over. There is no reason for you to take the entire hit on those in the future - just add a line item for “machining” or similar to your price list and explain why sometimes that (or any) pickup job could be $50( 75ca$) more than other times. “Machining out old hardware if required...add $50. etc.
I loved your shout out to female luthiers and techs. I took my Taylor to Dagna at Silesia Guitars in Seattle for a partial refret and a new bone saddle, and I recommend her highly.
Very good direction. A gunsmith is the same, same. An individual that is hanging with other shooters will ask around & be "referred" to a gunsmith (just as a Luther) by someone else and the results will be better by far.
i had to swap out bridges for 6 out of 10 brand new classical guitars from a single manufacturer that all had the same problem as in your video. they had jammed a saddle that was too big for the slot and as soon as you tuned it broke the front of the bridge off.
LOOK! LOOK!!!! He’s tricking us!!!! I’m sure the number of likes he gets it’s not accurate..... SINCE MANY OF US KEEP COMING BACK AND LIKING IT AGAIN AND AGAIN!!! LOL love your videos brother!
Great vid, and excellent comment about female repairers, who are a lot rarer than makers. Chelsea Clark has a great site. So, at 4.30 your point about scribing through wood fibres is that doing this basically isolates the area under the bridge from the rest of the top? If you do this by mistake presumably you would have to scrape/sand away down to below where you had scribed in order restore the top's integrity. Sounds messy.
I believe that once the wood fibers are cut the strength is gone. Sanding down would not help. The wood would end up 75% or even 50% of the thickness of the original. I don't work with guitars but I do work extensively with wood.
Hello from the UK. I actually have a very very similar Fender classical acoustic to that one. Mine is an fc40 I've no idea what the difference is in model numbers as the bridge, top etc all looks identical. My mum bought me mine in 1977.
Just stumbled on your channel and have been on a marathon watching all your vids. Awesome content. I have a question that maybe you could answer for your next Q&A vid (or if anyone else has any thoughts on this would love to hear them), what would be the best way to acclimatize a guitar that's lived in a tropical environment for all of it's life and moving to Canada. I have 2 Hofner guitars (1 electric, 1 archtop acoustic, both circa 1950-s) and I want to bring to Canada (I'm in BC). Thoughts?
If you were to re glue a bridge on a Martin HPL guitar, what kind of glue would you use? I've tried several epoxies and other glue but I've had no success. Love the videos. Very informative.
I'd use epoxy, but make sure the surface is scored with a knife or 60 grit paper or something to give it a lot of tooth for the adhesive to grab on to. Also, be sure to degrease first with alcohol. There's probably a high-tech epoxy designed for this purpose not commercially available to the public.
Do you own a "Jack the Gripper" from Sew Mac? I use one all the time in my shop. Tighten loose jacks without removing them, or in your case loosen a tight jack.
so finding a good repair guy (gal) is kinda like getting your quest in a role playing game :) (makes sense though) when the "easy" job turns into a nightmare, especially because of something the customer obviously did (like gluing on a strapjack nut) we should be able to call them and revise the estimate accordingly. that's not always how it works out but it's on us repair people to always push for getting the proper value for our time. as for the stuck strapjack outer nut, stewmac sells a fancy gripper-thing which i could never justify buying, i just jam a beat-up tapered reamer into the hole to grip it from the inside while i turn the nut around it. i have to think that unless it was completely cross-threaded, with enough soldering iron heat that outer nut would eventually come off.
Oh Ted. You should've just cut the strap button/jack cover thing off with a dremel in just a couple of minutes. Since you were replacing it anyway, it wouldn't matter and it's faster than, drilling it out.
I was the best because I was cheapest and I did qualify work but I retired from my job and I never worked on guitars and the people I know are music store owners and they are salesman not luthiers but I do my best and I shy away from big jobs.
I say PEE-zo because it's easiest for me. I have heard it pronounced PEE-zo, PIE-zo, PAY-zo, PEE-AY-zo, PIE-AY-zo PEE-ET-zo and PIE-ET-zo so who knows-zo?
It's Pea-ay-zo. They make things called dictionaries. In these dictionaries, they have things called pronunciations. Can you guess what they're for? Right. They tell you how to pronounce a word. Didn't they teach you this in 2nd grade? 🤷♂️ Jeez, man. I guess if it doesn't involve computers or video games, it's not important, huh? 👎
Oh yes....that sinking feeling of “I was gonna bang this out nice and quick but now I’m making $10/hr”. The worst, the WORST part of those jobs is that they’re almost always fiddly and weird, so you can’t really hand them off to the apprentices for some bonus xp.
I'm a welder and the few women whom I have encountered in my professional working life have all been good at there job. As a welder id have ground it off?
I work for Oceaneering. I'm a welder as well. Unfortunately, the three women they just hired are completely incompetent and have cost us tens of thousands of dollars in mistakes on their first job here in Hawaii. We are working on nuclear systems. I can't believe they even got hire. They can't even grind properly.
I'm reluctant to take my guitars to a place like Guitar Center for setups, etc. because I think those people who work there, are not real luthiers, experienced enough and don't care enough to do an excellent job. I may be wrong but I'm not willing to trust them to do the job I expect from them.
The thing about setups is there's little chance of doing damage. They're reversible and I suppose if you weren't satisfied they might give you your money back. Big structural repairs are different. It's good to build a relationship with the person doing the work.
I took one of my Gibson SG to Guitar Center for a setup. The Tech was Gibson Certified. I was changing from Light Gauge 10s to Extra Light 9 gauge which left the intonation all over the place. Gibson in Nashville said that I would have to have a complete setup as their guitars ship with light gauge 10s. The Tech removed the strings, cleaned the fretboard, adjusted the bridge height, adjusted the truss rod, adjusted the saddles. My guitar now plays like a Les Paul. The cost was $49.
Recently, i got my Cort G series (solid body electric) refretted at local luthier.. he got good rating at google maps review.. so i got my guitar stays a week on him. But end results are not satisfy me.. there are still some fret buzz.. later i found that the original luthier was deceased, and the nephew has taken his place to keep the business on..
so, i was reluctant to bring back my guitar to him, and i watched youtube (including your channel) and i encourage my self to refretted my guitar.. now my guitar is better then it was.. ;) its not perfect fret job, but it is better than before.
That’s shady lol
One of the top banjo restorers, repairers, rebuilders and mechanics anywhere is Renee Karnes. She has been restoring and repairing banjos for a very long time. This supports your statement about women in the guitar repair biz.
Well, finally found the most annoying sound in the world. Scraping poly finish off a cedar top. Great video. You rock, Ted!
Thank you for your professional tips especially not cutting into cedar,
I've been repairing and building guitars for 2 years now and after the first month I've never had to do any marketing/ advertising. Just do good work for a fair price and people will send you every guitar they own. Especially things like a good fret job can really get players to appreciate your work so if you just do a proper one for less then the local guitar store (who usually half ass it for a couple hundred😳) you would be surprised how many people end up wanting every guitar they owned fixed by you.
My experience exactly.
Hey who doest want a good job at a fair price. Good luck and I hope your business remains successful. To many guitar shops are charging to much for mediocre at best work.
Union Scale USWA was my gig watch RUNNING MAN staring Arnold Swartzenegger. The Blast Furnace was the prison I worked on 29.plus years and it was not a very nice winter in 1993-94 and 2013-14 on Detroit River working in -52 below on a 2700 degree blast furnace with water pipes to cold freezing and bursting like glass. The work I did was the impossible job every single day to feed my boys. One copper sleeve lining inside the cast pipes weight 500lbs. By hand the furnace has taken apart and by hand 500 lb solid copper linings were loaded into the cast pipes for more iron to flow.
If I recall correctly from some light research I did years ago, "piezo" has Greek roots. Its meaning has to do with pressure, and it would traditionally be pronounced pee-AY-zoh. Anyway, your videos are my absolute favorite guitar-repair content out there. Thanks for passing along your knowledge and taking the time to shoot and explain it all so well. Because of you and others like you, many of us are able to get our guitars back up and running ourselves, at least some of the time.
Correct pronunciation. PeeAYEzoh and it is Grk.
We take our abilities for granted and many people who never try for fear of failure. Thanks for your help with my guitar repairs now they play and sound like guitars! Thanks 😊
A great video again. This kinda reminded me of ThisOldTony's videos, especially the bit around 8:30
Man, the shoutout to women in luthery is one of the coolest things I've heard on this channel. This is true of so many traditionally masculine trades, since women have to be incredibly resilient and talented to withstand all of the macho insecurity projected their way. My amp tech is a woman, too, and she's phenomenal.
I get it but I also don't. The guitar world can be very snobbish and gatekeeping, but no one can tell a woman "you can't do this job because you're a woman". And if they do, they're most likely a nobody that no one likes in the first place
Had a thought, re jammed jack. As it is basically a nut around a tube and to be disposed, rather than drill it what about an "easy out" in the plug hole then you can work two wrenches against each other with no stress on the instrument. It works to get broken pipe fittings apart. If it is going to work it takes about 10 seconds.
I was thinking to make some kind of expanding collet to go inside the jack, but I like your idea a lot better. Thanks for this tip.
So here we go. 11 people didn't like this bit of honesty. They're the kind of people who think that good work can't come cheaper than $1000 an hour. Do not give those suckers an even break. Bankrupt them. Keep it up, pal.
Greetings from Salt Lake City! You are a fine craftsman and a born instructor. My own guitars are nothing special and I've had repair people tell me they're not worth involved repairs. Your videos are very close to inspiring me to clean off my workbench and attempt some things myself. Many thanks!
There exists a tool shaped like a jack that, when inserted into these connectors, allows you to lock into two holes in the threaded barrel. These holes are located underneath the strap nut that you tried to unscrew. This way you can grab the connector from inside when unscrewing the nut.
I especially liked your own self correction..."a trick", edited into, "a warning". I do something quite similar with my own music/guitar students (which includes me, of course). I hate the phrase, "tricks of the trade"...I offer, "advice from previous musical travelers"...it gets a chuckle, and seems to make a point...on occasion, even several. Another nice video, thanks.
Top Gear in San Diego. My go to. They are always busy! Great bunch of guys.. do amps too
Fantastic. I learn SO much on these videos. Much appreciated!
Because of these videos i don't have to find someone to fix it, i did it myself and i thank you kindly for your knowledge sir
My brother dropped his D-18 50th Anniversary Edition and cracked it once. The way he he found a guy was to ask his best friend, who happens to be Bob Dylan's guitar tech. Needless to say, he was pleased with the repair.
@ 5:36 Tutorial begins for "How to Find Someone To Fix Your Guitar!"
Wonderful and instructive as always. Wrt the Guild, if you ever hit that again, try using Klein-style wire stripper/cutters to bite into the narrow part of the strap button while wedging in the opposite direction with a jack-the-gripper or something similar. The bite of the irregular wire cutter surface allows for exerting a lot of torque often enough to loosen anything that’s not glued on....(and yes, I gave seen those glued on. yecch)
Great video. Word of mouth is definitely the way to find a repair person. But trial and error still applies; I brought a guitar to someone I'd heard good things about and was really unimpressed. Mentioned it to a friend who had a similar experience, and he recommended his guy - who did a great job.
I've had great success with nuts like that using a cutting wheel in a Dremel. Just cut across the stuck nut on one side, then a flat head screwdriver in the slot to pry it wider and off the bolt, or in this case, the jack.
Yvan Shank yea I'd be too nervous with that big ass drill bit
My thoughts exactly.
Very nice! Thank you from the UK.
Really appreciate your videos and especially this FAQs.
That classical guitar sounds so steely and high pitched... i love it!
Just found your channel and im chuffed that i found it. It would be awsome if you made a video describing the life of a guitar repairman.
Cheers luka
Nice work Friend! I have a 50's Martin tenor that needs some work.. Might have to take a vaca up your way!
A couple of options to remove that barrel jack is to use an easy out or a dremel cut off wheel to split the frozen nut. Cheers
Those forearms tho...! Cool licks at the end too. Thanks for sharing this stuff.
That was some great playing twoodfrd. I would love to hear an album from you. Playing the guitars you repair.
Excellent videos.
I gain something new every time I watch these.
Although, I still feel that my setups are far from great….
Also, I’m tired of paying the only guy around that does this kind of work (and he’s extremely lacking, at best) too do setups, etc. and pickup the guitar to actually believe the only thing he did to it was polish it?
Again, thanks for these videos, I need to hone my setup skills and more… ✌🏼
Girls gonna love you!
Great and useful video as usual. Ever tried taking a video of the inside of a guitar with your smartphone? Works much better than mirror and light...
I believe I know who you are talking about. She works up on the mountain. She fixed my Ibanez ags hollowbody that had a caved in input jack. Beautiful work.
hi, great video, you could try an expanding concrete plug in the hole where the jack goes to get hold of it next time, just an idea. Love your work!
@Silver Back I think he meant a concrete anchor bolt. They go in and expand to grip the hole.
I had a Fender classical, maybe the same model. Very playable with a nice balanced tone. I'd say it was a 'good quality student model'. The shoddy machine heads let it down however - split barrels and shredded gears - I remember having to use pliers to assist tuning. I hope they've been replaced by whoever stole it.
Thanks for the reply. I’ve tried various epoxies but none seemed to work. I may try JB Weld.
Great videos, man! I love your handwork.
Awesome video as always and Great advice !!
Thank You
YOUR THOUGHTS PLEASE...:I used a Master, Internationally renowned Luthier that I followed in Vintage Guitar magazine that is in Ohio that has a very long association with StewMac. I am several states away. Although his work was fabulous, his concept of time simply doesn't exist. On a WWII Gibson ...To make a bridge, glue several braces, reset the neck and add new tuners, he kept the guitar nearly 14 months. Yes, 14 months. I told him I was going to pickup the guitar finished or not, otherwise this would have gone on another half year or longer. A friend of his said I was lucky as one of his guitars has been with this Luthier for 2 1/2 years. How long would others keep the guitar for these repairs? I hear two weeks. Keep in mind, he only had about ten guitars at most ahead of mine. Any responses?
Haha, if it was a good instrument I’ll keep it forever (no I won’t 😂)
Another great, informative video. Coming from an electronics background, I've always pronounced piezo as 'pie-zo'. That may just be me, though.
This is how I always heard it, too.
Similar to the Hohoner MC-01 from about the same time. Well they look similar to me but i suppose they all do. My Hohoner is a bit road worn but it keeps going, very well made. The only con is it's a little to thick on the sound board. I think the Spruce is cut to thick and it kind of flattens the sound, dulls the sustain. It would have been a student model in it's day, i'm interested in seeing the little differences . Thanks for your uploads man their great.
What an outstanding pickup! I don't know how much of that is Fender tone (my experience with Fender steel acoustics is mixed) and how much is the piezo, but it sounds fantastic!
I think you should add a nut splitter to your toolbox, for the next time you have an uncooperative jack. They can be had for about ten bucks and would have kept you on track and on time with your jack replacement. With no risk of damaging the instrument like dremels or drills or other powered implements of destruction
In general I agree about word of mouth approach, with one caveat: I've met "local legend" kind of techs and luthiers with years of experience that I think at one point can get a little overconfident, stop paying attention to detail and make mistakes, and then dismiss any signs of the customer being disappointed, with the vibe of "I'm so much smarter so you can't question my authority, if you have any doubts then I'm fine with you not coming back". Stay positive man and don't be one of those old, jaded, burnt out guys that act like they're forced to fix guitars.
After a few cases of unexpected disappointment I'm at the point of never fully trusting overwhelmingly positive opinions (of course nobody tries out a guy that everybody complains about). When I try out somebody that never worked on my guitars, I tend to start with a "recon" cheap guitar that has some pretty standard thing to be done, if not a specific problem to be fixed then I come up with an upgrade that I've been considering anyway. Sometimes they were even surprised I want to put in brand tuners and a boutique pickup in a cheap Asian guitar as the parts and work can cost more than the guitar, but then if the tuner pin holes are drilled all crooked or the soldering is messed up on the first try, I have the option to not come back with the expensive instruments or more complicated repairs where a botched job would hurt much more.
Where I live there's literally only one real guitar luthier in a reasonable driving distance, and he's been working for the local music store for a long time, probably 20 years or so. He builds guitars and certainly knows what he's doing, but I feel like the price for minor repairs is way too expensive sometimes. I paid 175$ to have my frets leveled and supposedly crowned on my strat. He did a good job getting the playability back in order, but I felt like there wasn't a great deal of time spent crowning the frets after leveling, and my fret board took some hits, scratches and such. It cost $50 just to get a couple nut slots filed down to the right depth, on another guitar. That one really seemed rediculous.
One time I removed a bridge on an Ohana concert ukulele that had the bridge glued thick. I found that I could lift the whole layer of glue from the bottom of the bridge with a single edge razor. Using my micrometers I measured that layer of glue and it was thirty thousanths of an inch thick. The old cohesion/ adhesion dilemma!!
I have a classical with a cedar top and the 1st thing that occurred to me is that pencils are made of cedar. I thought the guitar was sure to fall apart but it's 30 years old and its the only acoustic I have that hasn't fallen apart and the action is still low as can be. Must be the nylon strings.
"looked kinda clunky and cheesy" You mean Looked like a practical craftsman getting on with the work !
Not scribing the lacquer all the way to the edge of the bridge is not only common on cheaper guitars, large expensive brands also use this cost cutting method.
I am currently resetting a Taylor Baritone bridge and the same issue was under the bridge; lacquer that should have not been there, reducing the bonded area.
Don't comment normally on channels but, after your statement of support for female luthiers I had to just say good for you. I think the world is only now beginning to scratch the surface (bad pun for a luthier sorry) of what female craftswomen are capable of in all skills. Leave it at the door like he said guys.
My thoughts exactly.
yeah guys!
fucking men!!
agggggghhhhh!!!!
sheesh..
there is no opposition to women.
i've met a few and they were alright.
stop faning a dead fire.
I've been playing guitar since 1963. So here's a heads up from an old fart that's been through it all. If you get a recommendation from another guitarist for a luthier ask him if he's actually had work done on his own guitar by the luthier he's recommending, and what was the work done. Need I say more? Another excellent video from twoodfrd.
i had a couple of loose back braces on a martin knock-off, so on a whim and because i'm lazy i went to the local musical instrument store where they sell band instruments and a few guitars and asked them if they could fix it. they said they 'had a guy' and said to bring it in. it was fixed (sloppily IMO) for a reasonable price, i guess, and within a couple of weeks.
BTW, i don't recommend finding someone to fix your guitar like it did. it's just that it wasn't a really expensive guitar (< 1000) and wanted it done in a hurry and figured even a luthier with less than average skills and/or ambition could do the job. that was at least seven years ago and the braces are still solid, AFAIK.
Great vids my friend, you have some very informative content. I’ve found some water thin super glue seals bridges really well. You just have to be very careful that is doesn’t get under the bridge. But it dries super fast and you can sand and shellac it really quickly. Saludos from Texas. 👍🏼✌🏼
Love your videos and skill thank you 👍🇬🇧
Speaking of female luthiers, isn't Linda Manzer, Pay Metheny's luthier, based in Toronto? I have also met Shelley Park when she was working with Webber Guitars in Vancouver. On my first tour of Webber Guitars, Shelley demoed the guitars in their various states of build. She is very skilled.
Great episode! Gutsy move drilling out the jack with a handheld drill. One snag/catch and it’s game over. There is no reason for you to take the entire hit on those in the future - just add a line item for “machining” or similar to your price list and explain why sometimes that (or any) pickup job could be $50( 75ca$) more than other times. “Machining out old hardware if required...add $50. etc.
I loved your shout out to female luthiers and techs. I took my Taylor to Dagna at Silesia Guitars in Seattle for a partial refret and a new bone saddle, and I recommend her highly.
Very good direction. A gunsmith is the same, same. An individual that is hanging with other shooters will ask around & be "referred" to a gunsmith (just as a Luther) by someone else and the results will be better by far.
i had to swap out bridges for 6 out of 10 brand new classical guitars from a single manufacturer that all had the same problem as in your video. they had jammed a saddle that was too big for the slot and as soon as you tuned it broke the front of the bridge off.
What about before and after recording? Some of these repairs alter the sound quality and will be interesting to hear the effect
LOOK! LOOK!!!! He’s tricking us!!!! I’m sure the number of likes he gets it’s not accurate..... SINCE MANY OF US KEEP COMING BACK AND LIKING IT AGAIN AND AGAIN!!! LOL love your videos brother!
Great vid, and excellent comment about female repairers, who are a lot rarer than makers. Chelsea Clark has a great site. So, at 4.30 your point about scribing through wood fibres is that doing this basically isolates the area under the bridge from the rest of the top? If you do this by mistake presumably you would have to scrape/sand away down to below where you had scribed in order restore the top's integrity. Sounds messy.
I believe that once the wood fibers are cut the strength is gone. Sanding down would not help. The wood would end up 75% or even 50% of the thickness of the original. I don't work with guitars but I do work extensively with wood.
I love the phrase you use"Polish Polish Polish.😂
Hello from the UK. I actually have a very very similar Fender classical acoustic to that one. Mine is an fc40 I've no idea what the difference is in model numbers as the bridge, top etc all looks identical. My mum bought me mine in 1977.
Just stumbled on your channel and have been on a marathon watching all your vids. Awesome content. I have a question that maybe you could answer for your next Q&A vid (or if anyone else has any thoughts on this would love to hear them), what would be the best way to acclimatize a guitar that's lived in a tropical environment for all of it's life and moving to Canada. I have 2 Hofner guitars (1 electric, 1 archtop acoustic, both circa 1950-s) and I want to bring to Canada (I'm in BC). Thoughts?
Hi. Good vid. Good advice. If you need work done in the Los Angejes area, hit me up. Sloak's 6 Strangs in Culver City. Cheers!
If you were to re glue a bridge on a Martin HPL guitar, what kind of glue would you use? I've tried several epoxies and other glue but I've had no success. Love the videos. Very informative.
I'd use epoxy, but make sure the surface is scored with a knife or 60 grit paper or something to give it a lot of tooth for the adhesive to grab on to. Also, be sure to degrease first with alcohol. There's probably a high-tech epoxy designed for this purpose not commercially available to the public.
10:27 king moment
Do you own a "Jack the Gripper" from Sew Mac? I use one all the time in my shop. Tighten loose jacks without removing them, or in your case loosen a tight jack.
I do, and I tried it, to no avail!
@@twoodfrd Bummer
so finding a good repair guy (gal) is kinda like getting your quest in a role playing game :)
(makes sense though)
when the "easy" job turns into a nightmare, especially because of something the customer obviously did (like gluing on a strapjack nut) we should be able to call them and revise the estimate accordingly. that's not always how it works out but it's on us repair people to always push for getting the proper value for our time.
as for the stuck strapjack outer nut, stewmac sells a fancy gripper-thing which i could never justify buying, i just jam a beat-up tapered reamer into the hole to grip it from the inside while i turn the nut around it.
i have to think that unless it was completely cross-threaded, with enough soldering iron heat that outer nut would eventually come off.
Great.video. Liked the information, thanks!
I made a nut from a plastic toothbrush once. It worked great, but the pink color was slightly odd-looking.
I'm gonna do the same thing with a transparent green t.brush handle! Hope it works good ! Great minds think alike !
That's actually an automotive repair tool first. Likely used to heat up things like body side molding for removal.
Love your videos!!!!
I love your videos. Thank you so much.
Great video bro! If anyone is from the Boston area they can bring there guitar to me! 🎸🎸👍
You 'Italian' version of the word piezo is correct.
Sorry, Ted. I cracked up at 16:50. But only because I felt that.
Oh Ted. You should've just cut the strap button/jack cover thing off with a dremel in just a couple of minutes. Since you were replacing it anyway, it wouldn't matter and it's faster than, drilling it out.
use a eazie out? like for extracting a 1/4 -20 bolt right into the plug in hole.
That would be like trying to extract a bolt through a surface from the side opposite the head.
Thanks you for your tutorials
👍👍👍👍
Have ever used a nut splitter?
This video really helped me thank you.
Excellent video! Thanks !!
Im gonna buying a Yamaha CG100A next week. Bridge wasnt atrached. want to know what kind of glue i need to attach it. Like is there a specific?
Yellow woodworking glue works fine.
hot hide
Hey slowly with France ;o) We are die hard romantics !
The naughty jack-end pin...Couldn't you've just cut it off? Like, cut the nut and threads off and the rest would fall out wouldn't it?
Nice work
Please relocate to Dallas Texas. Thank You...
I'd definitely go with the Italian pronunciation, but maybe without the pause. Pee-ay-zoe😉 Ciao!
I was the best because I was cheapest and I did qualify work but I retired from my job and I never worked on guitars and the people I know are music store owners and they are salesman not luthiers but I do my best and I shy away from big jobs.
I say PEE-zo because it's easiest for me. I have heard it pronounced PEE-zo, PIE-zo, PAY-zo, PEE-AY-zo, PIE-AY-zo PEE-ET-zo and PIE-ET-zo so who knows-zo?
It is pronounced Pee-ay-tso. It is derived from a greek word which means "to press".
Pee-aye-zo.
Let’s call the whole thing off 😎
It's Pea-ay-zo. They make things called dictionaries. In these dictionaries, they have things called pronunciations. Can you guess what they're for? Right. They tell you how to pronounce a word.
Didn't they teach you this in 2nd grade? 🤷♂️ Jeez, man. I guess if it doesn't involve computers or video games, it's not important, huh? 👎
Though I had someone. They damaged my fretboard. Marked it up during a fret repair. Wouldn't take ownership. Not going back.
Oh yes....that sinking feeling of “I was gonna bang this out nice and quick but now I’m making $10/hr”. The worst, the WORST part of those jobs is that they’re almost always fiddly and weird, so you can’t really hand them off to the apprentices for some bonus xp.
I'm a welder and the few women whom I have encountered in my professional working life have all been good at there job. As a welder id have ground it off?
I work for Oceaneering. I'm a welder as well. Unfortunately, the three women they just hired are completely incompetent and have cost us tens of thousands of dollars in mistakes on their first job here in Hawaii. We are working on nuclear systems. I can't believe they even got hire. They can't even grind properly.
Yes Piezo the Italian way !!
pea ay zo
You need a claw hammer to get those bridges off
pee-AY-zo (US) or pee-zo (UK). Just don't call it pee-zee-oh.
Pee-why-zo
pee-et-so is how the classical guys say it.
I'm reluctant to take my guitars to a place like Guitar Center for setups, etc. because I think those people who work there, are not real luthiers, experienced enough and don't care enough to do an excellent job. I may be wrong but I'm not willing to trust them to do the job I expect from them.
The thing about setups is there's little chance of doing damage. They're reversible and I suppose if you weren't satisfied they might give you your money back. Big structural repairs are different. It's good to build a relationship with the person doing the work.
I took one of my Gibson SG to Guitar Center for a setup. The Tech was Gibson Certified. I was changing from Light Gauge 10s to Extra Light 9 gauge which left the intonation all over the place. Gibson in Nashville said that I would have to have a complete setup as their guitars ship with light gauge 10s. The Tech removed the strings, cleaned the fretboard, adjusted the bridge height, adjusted the truss rod, adjusted the saddles. My guitar now plays like a Les Paul. The cost was $49.