GUITAR PROBLEM

[Jon Hall]

I apologize for the non-mando topic but I would appreciate any comments or sugestions. I bought this G-45 new in '87 and it's been a good guitar until now.

When looking down the fretboard from the peghead toward the bridge, the nut isn't parallel with the guitar. I appears to be twisted with the bass side low.

1) Don Gallagher said it isn't covered by the warranty and said a neck reset would cost $300 and a neck replacement $500.

2) A local luthier said that the fetboard could be removed and the neck planed flat but thought I should send it to Gallagher's and trust them to do what's best.

I'm thanking you in advance for your suggestions.

Jon

[Rick Schmidlin]

I would trust Don Gallagher. The other option is to check with Frank Ford at frets.com #Frank is the best guitar repair luthier in the U.S. and is a mandolin player ,so that now make this topic mandolin friendly I hope.

Best,
Rick

[BigJoe]

Don Gallagher has been a good friend for many years and is truly a man of his word. You can trust him to do what he says. We are Gallagher dealers and can do the work also. Having it done at the factory will help retain its value. It could be when he recieves it he can give a better diagnosis and it may not be quite as dire as suspected. However, he was wise to give a worst case diagnosis. That way if it is not so dire you will know he is the hero and save you some work and cash. If it is that bad, you will be prepared and will not be surprised by the expense. I will say this; the prices he quoted you are well below industry standards and would be well worth considering.

[Jon Hall]

Rick/Joe

Thanks for the advice.

Jon

[Luthier Vandross]

-edit- LMAO!

I am *NOT* the best repair luthier in the US, and I would heat set the neck with weight off the treble side.

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

It's a piece of cake, and if re-occuring, it needs a new neck, likely.

Sounds like a 'Parts' problem, if I built it, I'd feel responsible.. to some extent, I'd also charge you closer to $1,000 to replace it (if I hadn't made it).. well.. better part of $900.. so.. $500 sounds cheap.


M

[Bandersnatch Reverb]

Well it cant be any worse than that LP I had and babied. The neck lifted at the joint making a valley at about the 14th fret (or upper fret rise if you wish). The neck also corkscrewed clockwise - treble end low, and the whole thing too a right hand turn (down) to the floor. The high e string was just about off the neck in the middle, but of course, in right position at the nut and bridge...so it was off by about 1/16 inch in the middle.

Friendly folks at Gibson said - NO WARRANTY. It was eight months old, never left home. Of course this was the dark days of Gibson - about 82. I hear they only had about 60 employees total in the whole company at that point, things were so bad.

I feel for ya.

[Dave Wendler]

Is this something you've noticed while actually PLAYING the guitar? It's been my experience that a slight twist in the neck really doesn't hurt playability at all. And, it would be my guess that since it's a mahogany neck, and the guitar is 17 years old...it's probably been this way for quite a while. Mahogany usually stabilizes within a couple of years at the latest. So unless you've radically changes string gauges the last year or so....it's been this way for quite a while.

However, if the twist is bad enough to affect the playability, I would first consider just planing and refretting the neck; as it is SO old, I doubt it will change shape again. The next alternative would be to put on a thicker new board, and then plane out the anomaly...keeping the old neck. A refret should run $200; a new board maybe $400...a neck refret/reset isn't out of the question for an instrument this old, either.

I would at the very least have a qualified tech look at it; if the twist is less than a couple of degrees(or another way, less than half the thickness of the fretboard), the problem can be planed out, then refretted. If you have a 17 year old chunk of mahogany, that should never be traded for something a lot younger and less stable.

[mandroid]

So he doesn't use a watermelon mallet,? thats the other guy. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Coy Wylie]

Check out Bryan Kimsey's Website (www.bryankimsey.com). Bryan is a great guy and a good mando picker too. He was the on site luthier for Steve Kaufman's camp last week. He's a regular on Flatpick L too. His prices are very reasonable and his work is highly valued.