Highly educational and much appreciated. Especially your taking the time to write out the neck angle formula and the reference to Don Teeter's guitar repair book ( which I just ordered on Amazon). Thanks!
Man the fret on fifteen removed looks like it was done with a pickax and a honey badger 🦡. I hope the half hole isn’t as...... oh damn now the neck got broke in two pieces 😳!! Hey we roll on let’s go baby.....ok I ain’t watching all these commercials soooo, what’s happening capn ? He say chiseling the neck bone? Oh hell its on now stand back don’t get cut. This guy straight out the looney bin and into my heart. ❣️❤️❣️❤️ They make em you break umm, and he remake em. This cat is pretty damn good at this folks . Only hacking on you about the fret.
Frank Ford came up with with some 1/16” heating elements so you don’t have to drill a 1/8” hole. I’m going to talk to Ian Davlin and see if I can get some.
So much work went into this! I love how you take no shortcuts and take care and pride in your work. Am I allowed to ask how much you charged for this job? 👀
I thought it was great that you used the old ebony saddle. I hope the owner appreciated the extra attention to detail and originality of that part of the work! A hack would have taken the easy route and replaced the entire thing.
Love the comment about collectors whose guitars are simply an asset hidden away from public eyes...never to be played. I truly believe guitars should be played and loved. They contain the DNA of their owners...present in the oils and skin cells deposited on them over the years. They have a soul. My younger brother recently passed and I have his 12 string. We used to play our guitars whenever we got together. When I hold his guitar it feels as if I can still feel his hand on the fret board.
Amen. 2 stories for you.... One acquaintance has an arsenal of cheap guitars, but also has a top of the line Martin D18. I've never seen it, because he apparently isn't willing to play it, or at least carry it around. On the flip side to that, I was given a Spanish guitar to play, in Mexico, by an elderly woman. This guitar belonged to her brother, who was blind, and apparently played guitar constantly. This guitar had the quintessential grooves cut into the fret board from his fingers, and usual battle scars, but also had a pickguard that appeared to be made of real abalone. It was worn completely through to the wood. No joke. Just imagine that...the hours of playing, the passion. That guitar had more soul than any I've ever set eyes on, let alone played. It could give Willy's Trigger a run for the money.
Please find out my video hopely can inspire you “FROM BAD BAD GUITAR TO BE NICE GUITAR ( MY STRATOCASTER REPARATION)” ruclips.net/video/IwQ_EqSKeuc/видео.html
it's a pleasure watching you work you are a fine craftsman. The worse the job is the more entertaining it is watching you solve problems. Thank you for making great content keep it up
I too left the guitar forums because of all the arm chair experts that build a couple guitars and think that they know every fucking thing! I've been building, painting restoring, and making my own instruments for over 35 years! I know exactly how you feel about this. I've seen a lot of those bridges on guitars from the 20s' all the way up to the 50s'. Harmony being a smaller company could concentrate on doing a much better job and better workmanship and materials that Gibson. Which begs the one question - why did you sand the slots off the bridge? Now it will play better and sound better too!!! What's wrong with you? Don't you want to keep the true Gibson vibe? You know - the "We are so big everyone will buy our shit regardless of the quality!!" way of thinking. Although we may differ in our methods somewhat it's a real treat to watch you work. It's apparent that you know your stuff. Let the experts come here on RUclips and learn something if they need to. I'm done pandering to them! Thank you for sharing this with the rest of us.
Have you seen a dude called the guitar doctor?? Yeah his stuff is questionable when I question it, it was his vid on how to get rid of fret buzz before leveling the frets. Yeah he was talking about front bow, back bow and like back bow on the first fret yeah and fall away that's good and all. When he got to the I'll say meat and taters of the vid is when he was like this neck has high frets. When he proceeded to do it he got a strait edge.... and measured the straightness of the neck on the frets. To me I was like, what's the one of the darkest reds???..... Oh yeah crimson that was a crimson red flag to me. And what made it worse was he is like I know a not a lot of people don't like my methods but whatever I know more than they do. I was still Damn dude conceded much there's people who also do this as a living and they had people doing this way before you even finished kindergarten and teaching others...... and as a collective group have much more knowledge than he will ever know lol. This guy however, this guy is pure genius I feel dumb never seeing his videos in the first place
Guitar collectors kinda bother me, especially people who collect guitars played by famous musicians. Guitars are meant to be played. Any guitar owned by a famous player that’s worth is owning was played and loved by the original owner. Those guitars deserve to be played until they fall apart. If I become renowned enough to have people want my guitars, I want them to go to people who will play them as hard and with as much emotion as I play them. I don’t want any guitar of mine to become a museum piece that never gets to write a new song or help someone work through their rough days.
People who have money to buy a star’s guitar are not always those who have the time to play for the price they are sold🤷🏻♂️ collectors give artists awesome paychecks so that comment is not really relevant
Beautiful work with commendable attention to detail. Bravo! It is wonderful that the guitar is now in excellent playable condition - these instruments were made to be played, not just admired as objects.
Your videos are the real deal I miss my repairman to death ..R.I.P Mr Charlie Brewer.....fixed, repaired and set up all my guitars and basses from 1961-2004 when my dad bought me two before i was 3, Charlie you got em stacked outside your shop door and two blocks down Larkin and all the way up I-55 just about a mile or two on Broadway / up to 16th ave, All the way into music row, But every picker said i would rather die than to ever have anyone to fix my guitar so i'll just wait for Charlie and thats what we did and still do Really Miss you Charlie and just tell My daddy, Thank you once again for the 59 sunburst and the 61 Esquire Tele Thats the two that i'm gonna leave Cory Michael my son and Jaden your grandson want's the other one, Love you Daddy cause for first time yesterday, i missed your Birthday and i promise not to ever miss one again.....love your Cotton Jr.....
Love your shot at those collectors, guitars are supposed to be played- if you want to look at something go get a Rolex i d much rather see a guitar in the hands of a not so good player [ like me] than gathering dust-fascinating video i would love to grab a Gibson acoustic to go with my Les Paul.I belong to some nice guitar forums where we compliment each others guitars and talk about guitar stuff no flame wars ive seen.
I love your attitude, Ted. Even when noticing a crack that could mean the heel of the neck is broken off, you never seem to get worried about it - the mark of someone so good at their craft that they know they can overcome anything. Cost/time notwithstanding, you can fix anything. Thank you for taking us with you.
It’s refreshing to watch a real professional in comparison to some of the hacks on RUclips. I am a machinist by trade so I am accustomed to close tolerance work and I am encouraged when I see luthiers working in thousandths of an inch instead of hearing “that’s close enough” from poor practitioners who don’t know or don’t care enough to work in the tolerances required for a superior repair job. Another great job to your credit that distinguishes you from the hacks and amateurs.
through my eyes: In the “old days”, each guitar was a one-off, made according to the experience gained during training under a master luthier. In 2020, guitars are manufactured according to detailed drawings, standard parts lists, and Standard Operating Procedures. In addition, there are in-process quality checks and final inspections that remove much of the Art of guitar making and replace it with operations that require only strict adherence to procedures to produce a high quality instrument that rivals the handmade instruments of the old days. A modern luthier has a combination of skills that include engineering, carpentry, quality assurance, and (yes) machining. Austin has demonstrated that he possesses all of these skills as well as having the “soft skills” of patience, touch, feel, and the “eye” and judgment of a master craftsman. I started as an apprentice machinist after having 2 years of high school machine shop, worked my way up to Master Machinist while finishing my Engineering degree. I worked in Medical Device design and manufacturing until retiring in 2017. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with people talented in many disciplines and trades, and have also dealt with a lot of hacks. I believe that I can tell the difference between a skilled craftsman and a hack by watching their work habits. Ultimately, good work speaks for itself about the person who performs it. Austin is a master craftsman. He is a pleasure to watch and I would be honored to have him work on my guitar.
21:05 I've seen some adjustable bridges made out of ceramic, some made out of plastic, and I've seen alot of B-25 6 String Guitars that have been converted to 12 String Guitars with bridges made entirely out of plastic, alot of those were changed out to rosewood in the 60s and 70s.
You are a magician, sir. Would you mind saying how much you charged for this? If you don't want to, could you speculate as to how much such work might cost from a "typical" luthier?
I used to use chalk like you, but now I use copying-paper (the stuff that is pressure-sensitive), I can get it for free from my bank-wire-transfer-forms: Cut into small strips that go into the neck-joint.. Much more precise than the chalk-method.
OMG! You discovered why vintage bracing sounds so spectacular ... Alien Life Forms creating alien adhesive mods(?!)...(huge smile)! I appreciate your sesquipedalian Skookum approach to fine modern instruments. Your experience, understanding and practical application of the physics of fretted string instruments recreates the innovation and development of violins from Cremona and Brescia in the 17th century. However, the Italian masters didn't have access to You Tube (smile). You are a master luthier, providing superlative content instructing others to preserve our instruments for centuries to come... By the way, who the heck is Adam Sanage and why is his shout out important? Our community binge watches your channel. Thx.
Wow, what a beautiful looking and sounding guitar. At the end of the day, after all the grief that neck gave you, the end product is so worth it. That thing sounds beautiful. Amazing work
i thought i was watching a doctor performing surgery while teaching med students--- i understood nothing but watched the whole thing out of amazement! 👏
i will never understand why gibsons are so "valueble" poor craftsmanship. there are a lot of other guitars out there from the same aera that are much much better! and lower in "value"
Das war unfreundlich gesagt. LOL I have noticed a lot of high end guitars aren't built or setup very well. Gibsons aren't one of them, most that I've seen are well built, Taylors on the other hand sound real bright but I've seen sloppy craftsmanship. Martins feel like dining room chairs. What guitars are you thinking about that are so much better? I always like someone else's view. Edited for grammar.
21:24 This is the 1st time I've seen an ebony saddle, so rather than throw this away we can actually keep it. What we'll do is plane it flat, and then route a channel in there for a standard saddle blank, that way we can file forward for the Octave strings and get better intonation.
All I can see is a final bill for a heap of $$$$. At what point do we stop to tell the customer that it has reached millions and maybe he should take up the banjo.
New subscriber! Very meticulous and surgical work. Very interesting! I liked another video on the parlor too (I have one). Thanks for sharing. Cheers from France 🎶🎶🎶
I traded the B25 for another mistake: an older Framus Texan with a pickup and then traded it within a year for a brand new Martin D28 with hardshell case for $495 in 1972. That guitar was great but I didn't keep that one for more than two years--traded it for a 1964 Martin D28SW that I kept for nearly 40 years.
Been lurking on your channel watching all your back catalogue of videos for the last couple weeks. Amazing work man. Hello from a fellow Canadian and Ontarian.... hey from Ottawa.:-)
Very nicely done. I've had very good luck with older martin necks popping right out with a steam needle. Like you maybe to many "easy" ones in a row. I'm doing a 70ish Guild d-35 and it was really tough to get out and I ended up with more finish damage around the heal then usual. So lots of time drop filling lacquer.
I Have a Levin Guitar bought in the mid 1960's which needed a neck reset and also a refret. I managed to get the neck off using an old pressure cooker to deliver the steam and a football pump valve to get the steam into the neck slot. All went reasonably well but as you have indicated the lacquer took a hit. The fretboard also has a binding down the edge so the frets are slightly inset. I found the frets were very low so replaced them with a similar fret wire. Originally the guitar played very well and many people commented on how good was the action. Now unfortunately it isn't so good. I made many mistakes some of which you have covered in your excellent video; I think I will now have another go at it using your video as reference. Incidentally I have now made 2 guitars (from StewMac kits) so feeling a little more confident in taking on this task. Many thanks for your videos and I look forward to more in the future.
Nice vid. You could have put carbon rods through the heel from the top to reinforce the weakened broken heel. We had an old Schatz that had been broken like that and we cut a channel into the dovetail and installed a plywood spline. Really nice work in any case.
Great vid. I've started recommending you to musician friends in Toronto and Hamilton. Hopefully some interesting work spins your way as a result. Keep up the great work!
As a multi-12 string owner, just love the ‘string height equalising’ work - gonna try it (first) on my ‘working’ Vintage VE2000GG-12 (a vastly underrated instrument) then, if it works (i.e. I can do it successfully) I’ll do it on the others. 👍
I love that you are very skilled at this work and respect vintage instruments, but as instruments to be played rather than to sit in cases. It comes through in your videos that your priority is making sure these instruments serve their players.
Starting at about 16:00 I didn't know if I wanted to watch anymore! I never worry about repairing my own stuff; do my best and it's water under the bridge que sara sara. But, being paid to screw up a customer's high-end stuff? That's another feeling altogether.
20:57 I was just looking at this saddle. We were thinking of getting rid of it because we figured it was plastic but it's not plastic it's actually Ebony which is interesting.
Can't wait to get the things done on my 65 Texan. Think I found a couple good luthiers, now it's the finances...lol... These old guitars are awesome but quality work done to them isn't cheap.
Nice work, Your an inspiration to craftsmen everywhere... btw, I have a 74 j55 that could use the same treatment. Keep it as long as u like, haven't played it in two years...
Hey there, I know this video was quite a while ago now but I thought you might be interested to hear a theory on those "popsicle sticks" you found jammed down the end of the dovetail pin there: Have seen builds where, after finessing the joint for a tight fit (during first construction) the result is good and tight but there is a small gap at the back of the dovetail pin, and so to protect against the forces of the truss rod compressing this area, a small shim of wood is placed in this gap before proceeding to attach the fingerboard - but why would Gibson use popsicle sticks? Now in this case, that might have been done or instead to improve (or as we call it in old fashioned English "to fettle") the neck angle, but that strikes me as a bit shoddy for Gibson factory work. The other things that strike me as odd are the signs that the fingerboard extension has previously been detached and glued back on, and you also found other shims down the cheeks of the dovetail pin - so maybe this was all done during a previous repair (including those popsicle sticks) or something? Fascinating all the same (whoever did this) 👍
I have a B45 from early 1963. I bought it with no top, and when I took it out of the case the neck fell off. This one is newer. Gibson put the double X on to stop the tops from popping off in late 63. Before that they braced them exactly like the 6 string version. Apparently, they sounded amazing but fell apart pretty fast. The dovetail was unbelievable, with a whole load of filler in it. Heck of a job. I'm left handed and wanted to play it myself, so I sold the bridge on (brazilian rosewood!) and modified it as a floating bridge and tailpiece, which was an alternative contemporary configuration. I had precisely the same heel crack. Mine fell to bits. Ted kills the steam/probe debate in a second the moment he mentions blush. The older the guitar, the greater the risk. I'll take the half moons over that every day. I missed this the first time round, and he's now using foam cutters, where the drill hole is a good bit smaller.
Definitely looks like it was reset before, by someone who follows the old ways to access the neck, but cutting off the fret board. It's a shame they did that
i repaired an adj45 once. i ended up replacing the original saddle with a wide piece of cow bone that filled the entire old slot. essencially a super wide saddle. i filed compensation into the top, and that piece of bone sat directly on the tonewood top in the old saddle hole. sounded killer! so much better that the old ceramic one that was basically resting on the two screw adjustment points. this one with the ebony replacement reminded me of that experience. great videos!
I just started watching your videos and I am hooked. Haven't played guitar since college (now 68 years old) Your assets: 1) Master artisan/sculpter 2) Enormous body of knowledge in woodworking, electronics, chemistry and physics 3) Ability to explain, teach, relate to viewers 4) Excellent videograper Thank you
I must say your math on the neck angle is amazing ,never seen this as a commercial Electrician I can apprieciate your formulas as i use them all the time pardon my spelling but you know what im saying ,really leaning more to your techniques your formulas are amazing good job nice to watch someone who was schooled in thier craft im amazed !!!!
Wow. That thing has a beautiful sound. Even with your microphone (which i'm not saying anything bad about, it is fine for talking) I can hear that it sounds amazing
![Yailin La Mas Viral, @kreizyk.official - Dale 2 (Remix) [Video Oficial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JaYHBzgqz94/mqdefault.jpg)
Highly educational and much appreciated. Especially your taking the time to write out the neck angle formula and the reference to Don Teeter's guitar repair book ( which I just ordered on Amazon). Thanks!
Hats off to Mr. Don Teeter, my first guitar mentor back in the 70's
Your videos are almost therapeutic . ...your the Bob Ross of guitar repair . ..well done my friend .
Yes. It's like ASMR guitar repair.
It's kind of funny seeing these kind of comments on every guitar repair video. I guess it's pretty relaxing to see something fixed up.
They are made from happy trees. We just need a cameo from Mr Squirrel Friend. Love Bob Ross.
I agree
Hhaha you say he only repair trees??? Because bob ross only paint trees hahah
Watching Your Videos Has Me Now Thinking more before acting on a guitar. And Knowing the value of Right Tools ie Clamping cauls jigs guides etc
This is absolute gold. Thank you!
Man the fret on fifteen removed looks like it was done with a pickax and a honey badger 🦡. I hope the half hole isn’t as...... oh damn now the neck got broke in two pieces 😳!!
Hey we roll on let’s go baby.....ok I ain’t watching all these commercials soooo, what’s happening capn ? He say chiseling the neck bone? Oh hell its on now stand back don’t get cut. This guy straight out the looney bin and into my heart. ❣️❤️❣️❤️
They make em you break umm, and he remake em. This cat is pretty damn good at this folks . Only hacking on you about the fret.
Frank Ford came up with with some 1/16” heating elements so you don’t have to drill a 1/8” hole. I’m going to talk to Ian Davlin and see if I can get some.
So much work went into this! I love how you take no shortcuts and take care and pride in your work. Am I allowed to ask how much you charged for this job? 👀
You're a genius!
I thought it was great that you used the old ebony saddle. I hope the owner appreciated the extra attention to detail and originality of that part of the work! A hack would have taken the easy route and replaced the entire thing.
9:45 reminds my why the metric system is so great. XD
I much prefer metric but each to his/her/its own.
Love the comment about collectors whose guitars are simply an asset hidden away from public eyes...never to be played. I truly believe guitars should be played and loved. They contain the DNA of their owners...present in the oils and skin cells deposited on them over the years. They have a soul. My younger brother recently passed and I have his 12 string. We used to play our guitars whenever we got together. When I hold his guitar it feels as if I can still feel his hand on the fret board.
🙏❤️🙏
I’ve been honking on the same Yamaha I’ve owned since high school. It knows me if that makes any sense.
Amen. 2 stories for you.... One acquaintance has an arsenal of cheap guitars, but also has a top of the line Martin D18. I've never seen it, because he apparently isn't willing to play it, or at least carry it around. On the flip side to that, I was given a Spanish guitar to play, in Mexico, by an elderly woman. This guitar belonged to her brother, who was blind, and apparently played guitar constantly. This guitar had the quintessential grooves cut into the fret board from his fingers, and usual battle scars, but also had a pickguard that appeared to be made of real abalone. It was worn completely through to the wood. No joke. Just imagine that...the hours of playing, the passion. That guitar had more soul than any I've ever set eyes on, let alone played. It could give Willy's Trigger a run for the money.
I make sure to play my guitar but also keep it in the best shape possible so I can display it on my wall one day and remember it
@Douglas Puett play them in honour of your brother.
Lol "humidified bunker", a few guys not only didnt get the joke but are now googling "humidified bunker for guitars".
Good thing this pain in the ass made it into someones hand who could handle it. Great result.
Please find out my video
hopely can inspire you
“FROM BAD BAD GUITAR TO BE NICE GUITAR ( MY STRATOCASTER REPARATION)”
ruclips.net/video/IwQ_EqSKeuc/видео.html
it's a pleasure watching you work you are a fine craftsman. The worse the job is the more entertaining it is watching you solve problems. Thank you for making great content keep it up
I am pleasure
Love all the detail in this video, thanks for taking us along!
It's so satisfying watch your work! I could even say that this is art!
It is an art and it's art.
Of course, its an exquisite art :-)
I too left the guitar forums because of all the arm chair experts that build a couple guitars and think that they know every fucking thing! I've been building, painting restoring, and making my own instruments for over 35 years! I know exactly how you feel about this. I've seen a lot of those bridges on guitars from the 20s' all the way up to the 50s'. Harmony being a smaller company could concentrate on doing a much better job and better workmanship and materials that Gibson. Which begs the one question - why did you sand the slots off the bridge? Now it will play better and sound better too!!! What's wrong with you? Don't you want to keep the true Gibson vibe? You know - the "We are so big everyone will buy our shit regardless of the quality!!" way of thinking. Although we may differ in our methods somewhat it's a real treat to watch you work. It's apparent that you know your stuff. Let the experts come here on RUclips and learn something if they need to. I'm done pandering to them! Thank you for sharing this with the rest of us.
Your credo should be "Remain Calm".... Fabulous work!!!
Rarely have I come across someone who knows their stuff as well as you do. This was an absolute pleasure to watch!
Have you seen a dude called the guitar doctor?? Yeah his stuff is questionable when I question it, it was his vid on how to get rid of fret buzz before leveling the frets. Yeah he was talking about front bow, back bow and like back bow on the first fret yeah and fall away that's good and all. When he got to the I'll say meat and taters of the vid is when he was like this neck has high frets. When he proceeded to do it he got a strait edge.... and measured the straightness of the neck on the frets. To me I was like, what's the one of the darkest reds???..... Oh yeah crimson that was a crimson red flag to me. And what made it worse was he is like I know a not a lot of people don't like my methods but whatever I know more than they do. I was still Damn dude conceded much there's people who also do this as a living and they had people doing this way before you even finished kindergarten and teaching others...... and as a collective group have much more knowledge than he will ever know lol. This guy however, this guy is pure genius I feel dumb never seeing his videos in the first place
Pleasure dome
@@photondebuger45what the fuck kind of typing is this
Guitar collectors kinda bother me, especially people who collect guitars played by famous musicians. Guitars are meant to be played. Any guitar owned by a famous player that’s worth is owning was played and loved by the original owner. Those guitars deserve to be played until they fall apart.
If I become renowned enough to have people want my guitars, I want them to go to people who will play them as hard and with as much emotion as I play them. I don’t want any guitar of mine to become a museum piece that never gets to write a new song or help someone work through their rough days.
People who have money to buy a star’s guitar are not always those who have the time to play for the price they are sold🤷🏻♂️ collectors give artists awesome paychecks so that comment is not really relevant
Beautiful work with commendable attention to detail. Bravo! It is wonderful that the guitar is now in excellent playable condition - these instruments were made to be played, not just admired as objects.
Every time I think it would be fun to own an acoustic, I just watch a video like this.
It is fun.
You had me sitting on the edge of my seat. Whew! You pulled out another one. Great job.
Your videos are the real deal I miss my repairman to death ..R.I.P Mr Charlie Brewer.....fixed, repaired and set up all my guitars and basses from 1961-2004 when my dad bought me two before i was 3, Charlie you got em stacked outside your shop door and two blocks down Larkin and all the way up I-55 just about a mile or two on Broadway / up to 16th ave, All the way into music row, But every picker said i would rather die than to ever have anyone to fix my guitar so i'll just wait for Charlie and thats what we did and still do Really Miss you Charlie and just tell My daddy, Thank you once again for the 59 sunburst and the 61 Esquire Tele Thats the two that i'm gonna leave Cory Michael my son and Jaden your grandson want's the other one, Love you Daddy cause for first time yesterday, i missed your Birthday and i promise not to ever miss one again.....love your Cotton Jr.....
Love your shot at those collectors, guitars are supposed to be played- if you want to look at something go get a Rolex i d much rather see a guitar in the hands of a not so good player [ like me] than gathering dust-fascinating video i would love to grab a Gibson acoustic to go with my Les Paul.I belong to some nice guitar forums where we compliment each others guitars and talk about guitar stuff no flame wars ive seen.
As someone who can't do any woodwork or DIY for sh*t, I really like watching these videos where real craftsmen are working. Thank you.
I love your attitude, Ted. Even when noticing a crack that could mean the heel of the neck is broken off, you never seem to get worried about it - the mark of someone so good at their craft that they know they can overcome anything. Cost/time notwithstanding, you can fix anything. Thank you for taking us with you.
Let me show you something
It’s refreshing to watch a real professional in comparison to some of the hacks on RUclips. I am a machinist by trade so I am accustomed to close tolerance work and I am encouraged when I see luthiers working in thousandths of an inch instead of hearing “that’s close enough” from poor practitioners who don’t know or don’t care enough to work in the tolerances required for a superior repair job. Another great job to your credit that distinguishes you from the hacks and amateurs.
let's start with how they're put together in the first place; think they're machinists?!
through my eyes: In the “old days”, each guitar was a one-off, made according to the experience gained during training under a master luthier. In 2020, guitars are manufactured according to detailed drawings, standard parts lists, and Standard Operating Procedures. In addition, there are in-process quality checks and final inspections that remove much of the Art of guitar making and replace it with operations that require only strict adherence to procedures to produce a high quality instrument that rivals the handmade instruments of the old days. A modern luthier has a combination of skills that include engineering, carpentry, quality assurance, and (yes) machining. Austin has demonstrated that he possesses all of these skills as well as having the “soft skills” of patience, touch, feel, and the “eye” and judgment of a master craftsman. I started as an apprentice machinist after having 2 years of high school machine shop, worked my way up to Master Machinist while finishing my Engineering degree. I worked in Medical Device design and manufacturing until retiring in 2017. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with people talented in many disciplines and trades, and have also dealt with a lot of hacks. I believe that I can tell the difference between a skilled craftsman and a hack by watching their work habits. Ultimately, good work speaks for itself about the person who performs it. Austin is a master craftsman. He is a pleasure to watch and I would be honored to have him work on my guitar.
“There’s all sorts of weird stuff going on in here.” - life lessons from TWoodford
"Weird growths", "Alien lifeforms"... I think a hippie went up to the mothership with this one
21:05 I've seen some adjustable bridges made out of ceramic, some made out of plastic, and I've seen alot of B-25 6 String Guitars that have been converted to 12 String Guitars with bridges made entirely out of plastic, alot of those were changed out to rosewood in the 60s and 70s.
You are a magician, sir. Would you mind saying how much you charged for this? If you don't want to, could you speculate as to how much such work might cost from a "typical" luthier?
I used to use chalk like you, but now I use copying-paper (the stuff that is pressure-sensitive), I can get it for free from my bank-wire-transfer-forms: Cut into small strips that go into the neck-joint..
Much more precise than the chalk-method.
OMG! You discovered why vintage bracing sounds so spectacular ... Alien Life Forms creating alien adhesive mods(?!)...(huge smile)!
I appreciate your sesquipedalian Skookum approach to fine modern instruments.
Your experience, understanding and practical application of the physics of fretted string instruments recreates the innovation and development of violins from Cremona and Brescia in the 17th century. However, the Italian masters didn't have access to You Tube (smile).
You are a master luthier, providing superlative content instructing others to preserve our instruments for centuries to come...
By the way, who the heck is Adam Sanage and why is his shout out important? Our community binge watches your channel. Thx.
13:20: That clamping frame is gorgeous!
Wow, what a beautiful looking and sounding guitar. At the end of the day, after all the grief that neck gave you, the end product is so worth it. That thing sounds beautiful. Amazing work
20:56 The Owner of this Guitar realized that the Saddle is actually Ebony instead of Plastic so we could actually keep it.
i thought i was watching a doctor performing surgery while teaching med students--- i understood nothing but watched the whole thing out of amazement! 👏
i will never understand why gibsons are so "valueble" poor craftsmanship. there are a lot of other guitars out there from the same aera that are much much better! and lower in "value"
Das war unfreundlich gesagt. LOL
I have noticed a lot of high end guitars aren't built or setup very well. Gibsons aren't one of them, most that I've seen are well built, Taylors on the other hand sound real bright but I've seen sloppy craftsmanship. Martins feel like dining room chairs. What guitars are you thinking about that are so much better? I always like someone else's view.
Edited for grammar.
Good dining room chairs or crappy dining room chairs?
@@fleadoggreen9062 Expensive dining room chairs..very expensive.
21:24 This is the 1st time I've seen an ebony saddle, so rather than throw this away we can actually keep it. What we'll do is plane it flat, and then route a channel in there for a standard saddle blank, that way we can file forward for the Octave strings and get better intonation.
All I can see is a final bill for a heap of $$$$. At what point do we stop to tell the customer that it has reached millions and maybe he should take up the banjo.
I'm not a luthier....but I can't get enough of these videos
New subscriber! Very meticulous and surgical work. Very interesting! I liked another video on the parlor too (I have one). Thanks for sharing. Cheers from France 🎶🎶🎶
Remarkable craftsmanship. Somewhere between art and science. Remarkable!
My first guitar was a B-25. Never regretted trading it in as it had that famous shouting into a pillow sound.
Typical Gibson sound, nice and dark, I actualy like those "dead" sounding guitars... it's a matter of taste I guess..
I traded the B25 for another mistake: an older Framus Texan with a pickup and then traded it within a year for a brand new Martin D28 with hardshell case for $495 in 1972. That guitar was great but I didn't keep that one for more than two years--traded it for a 1964 Martin D28SW that I kept for nearly 40 years.
Been lurking on your channel watching all your back catalogue of videos for the last couple weeks. Amazing work man. Hello from a fellow Canadian and Ontarian.... hey from Ottawa.:-)
Very nicely done. I've had very good luck with older martin necks popping right out with a steam needle. Like you maybe to many "easy" ones in a row. I'm doing a 70ish Guild d-35 and it was really tough to get out and I ended up with more finish damage around the heal then usual. So lots of time drop filling lacquer.
Rewatched this one a few times. Outstanding to see a 12 string play as easy as a six string. Thank you for sharing your superior techniques.
I Have a Levin Guitar bought in the mid 1960's which needed a neck reset and also a refret. I managed to get the neck off using an old pressure cooker to deliver the steam and a football pump valve to get the steam into the neck slot. All went reasonably well but as you have indicated the lacquer took a hit. The fretboard also has a binding down the edge so the frets are slightly inset. I found the frets were very low so replaced them with a similar fret wire. Originally the guitar played very well and many people commented on how good was the action. Now unfortunately it isn't so good. I made many mistakes some of which you have covered in your excellent video; I think I will now have another go at it using your video as reference. Incidentally I have now made 2 guitars (from StewMac kits) so feeling a little more confident in taking on this task. Many thanks for your videos and I look forward to more in the future.
This is my therapy. After a stressful day it is most enjoyable to watch a guitar repair video. Good stuff we appreciate you.
Nice vid. You could have put carbon rods through the heel from the top to reinforce the weakened broken heel. We had an old Schatz that had been broken like that and we cut a channel into the dovetail and installed a plywood spline. Really nice work in any case.
I admire your skill and craftsmanship. Thank you for making these videos.
Great vid. I've started recommending you to musician friends in Toronto and Hamilton. Hopefully some interesting work spins your way as a result. Keep up the great work!
As a multi-12 string owner, just love the ‘string height equalising’ work - gonna try it (first) on my ‘working’ Vintage VE2000GG-12 (a vastly underrated instrument) then, if it works (i.e. I can do it successfully) I’ll do it on the others. 👍
I love that you are very skilled at this work and respect vintage instruments, but as instruments to be played rather than to sit in cases. It comes through in your videos that your priority is making sure these instruments serve their players.
Awesome job. I love your candor. It's refreshing in today's environment.
Tenon? If anything it's a dovetail pin fitting into a dovetail pocket....
Wow ! Great work Ted. That sounded amazing.
Not only you learn a lot........you also bash Gibson, and their cheap ice-cream techniques on their USD 4.000 instruments
Starting at about 16:00 I didn't know if I wanted to watch anymore! I never worry about repairing my own stuff; do my best and it's water under the bridge que sara sara. But, being paid to screw up a customer's high-end stuff? That's another feeling altogether.
My word, you made that beat up old beast sing mate.
Equalising the string heights. Good!
Nice video, thank you for taking the time to record and share your technique.
"It's a monster. Look at that thing. Huuuggeeeee!"
Do I have to say it? 🤷♂️😆😁
😂
20:57 I was just looking at this saddle. We were thinking of getting rid of it because we figured it was plastic but it's not plastic it's actually Ebony which is interesting.
Did I miss something? What did you use to bond the two pieces of the heel back together? Great work!
Hide glue. I thought I pressed record, but my camera had other ideas.
That's the prettiest break I've ever seen lol
Another fantastically performed restoration. Good tips to be had here.
The metric system is so much better
yes
LOL, imperial: another lost art!
Brilliant! Thx for publishing this.
Enjoyed watching your skillset and work ethics.
Your rant about guitar collectors made this video absolute gold. Haven't actually laughed out loud like that for a while
you're Super man.. really .. wow
Ted, this is the best no nonsense guitar repair video I have seen. You are a thoughtful teacher as well as a learned practitioner.
Can't wait to get the things done on my 65 Texan. Think I found a couple good luthiers, now it's the finances...lol... These old guitars are awesome but quality work done to them isn't cheap.
Despite my best efforts, I learned some stuff. Thanks much. I subscribed, and clicked thumbs up to crush a troll.
Great work and as a tech I love your attitude towards the haters
My wife just said that our prime minister declared that we are going to elections but, I watch this!
It's important to vote, Ofer!
Looked back through your videos and found this one. Iv got a mandolin that im dreading getting sent in to have the neck fixed!
Nice work, Your an inspiration to craftsmen everywhere... btw, I have a 74 j55 that could use the same treatment. Keep it as long as u like, haven't played it in two years...
Thank you for sharing your skills. I'm wondering do you make the fingerboard extension shim the same thickness as the heel removal amount?
Love the way you don't jabber on like some of the others on RUclips.. you edit your videos perfectly!
that bridge is ridiculously giant. still sounded great in the end !
Hey there, I know this video was quite a while ago now but I thought you might be interested to hear a theory on those "popsicle sticks" you found jammed down the end of the dovetail pin there: Have seen builds where, after finessing the joint for a tight fit (during first construction) the result is good and tight but there is a small gap at the back of the dovetail pin, and so to protect against the forces of the truss rod compressing this area, a small shim of wood is placed in this gap before proceeding to attach the fingerboard - but why would Gibson use popsicle sticks? Now in this case, that might have been done or instead to improve (or as we call it in old fashioned English "to fettle") the neck angle, but that strikes me as a bit shoddy for Gibson factory work. The other things that strike me as odd are the signs that the fingerboard extension has previously been detached and glued back on, and you also found other shims down the cheeks of the dovetail pin - so maybe this was all done during a previous repair (including those popsicle sticks) or something? Fascinating all the same (whoever did this) 👍
Nice job!... a real pleasure watching you work. I especially enjoy the fact you go to bed instead of railing on Facebook...
Interesting that you, a Canadian, are calculating in inches rather than metric...what's that a-boot? :)
Hahaha! I was thinking that and thats exactly what i would have said (aboot). But the guy is still a repair guru right?
I have a B45 from early 1963. I bought it with no top, and when I took it out of the case the neck fell off. This one is newer. Gibson put the double X on to stop the tops from popping off in late 63. Before that they braced them exactly like the 6 string version. Apparently, they sounded amazing but fell apart pretty fast. The dovetail was unbelievable, with a whole load of filler in it. Heck of a job. I'm left handed and wanted to play it myself, so I sold the bridge on (brazilian rosewood!) and modified it as a floating bridge and tailpiece, which was an alternative contemporary configuration. I had precisely the same heel crack. Mine fell to bits. Ted kills the steam/probe debate in a second the moment he mentions blush. The older the guitar, the greater the risk. I'll take the half moons over that every day. I missed this the first time round, and he's now using foam cutters, where the drill hole is a good bit smaller.
Definitely looks like it was reset before, by someone who follows the old ways to access the neck, but cutting off the fret board. It's a shame they did that
Magnifique !
My dad would have been impressed! Great greetings from bakersfield Calif.
An open, nice sounding twelve string guitar. A fascinating video to watch. You do good work, twoodfrd.
good recovery from that heel break. and great tip on the string height equalization at the new saddle.
The bridge of my very first guitar was broken.
My guitar has a second new life as a light guitar 😁 i.imgur.com/m1CwQU1.jpg 🎸
i repaired an adj45 once. i ended up replacing the original saddle with a wide piece of cow bone that filled the entire old slot. essencially a super wide saddle. i filed compensation into the top, and that piece of bone sat directly on the tonewood top in the old saddle hole. sounded killer! so much better that the old ceramic one that was basically resting on the two screw adjustment points. this one with the ebony replacement reminded me of that experience. great videos!
Fun wayching a 5yr old video of yours...some good updates to how your do aspects ...very cool seeing your progress
I just started watching your videos and I am hooked. Haven't played guitar since college (now 68 years old)
Your assets:
1) Master artisan/sculpter
2) Enormous body of knowledge in woodworking, electronics, chemistry and physics
3) Ability to explain, teach, relate to viewers
4) Excellent videograper
Thank you
Hey I had no clue you were in hamilton. I'm a tech in beamsville. Learned tons from your vids!
I must say your math on the neck angle is amazing ,never seen this as a commercial Electrician I can apprieciate your formulas as i use them all the time pardon my spelling but you know what im saying ,really leaning more to your techniques your formulas are amazing good job nice to watch someone who was schooled in thier craft im amazed !!!!
God bless you for keeping the art alive
Wow. That thing has a beautiful sound. Even with your microphone (which i'm not saying anything bad about, it is fine for talking) I can hear that it sounds amazing
I really enjoyed watching you repair the Gibson Guitar 🎸🎶🎶 You are really talented.