Best New York City Area Luthier for work on 1922 Gibson A4

[Glennly]

I have recently obtained a 1922 Gibson A-4 (Lefty). It's a beaut and the body is in great shape. It needs some work, however, particularly on the neck, where there is a dip in the fretboard around the 6th-7th fret under the high strings. Raising the bridge has made it playable, but i have been advised that the fretboard will need to be removed and reset, the frets redone and a new bridge made.

Any recommendations in the NYC area for luthiers to do the work?


Thanks in advance for the advice.

[Tom Cherubini]

I would contact the Gibson Company directly. I believe they do restorations and repairs on old Gibson products.

Strings

[mrmando]

Contacting Gibson for repairs is a very bad idea unless you like the prospect of spending three times as much as you should.

In NYC, there's Retrofret in Brooklyn and Mandolin Bros. on Staten Island. Maybe some other individual repair techs that locals can point you to.

[Django Fret]

I would suggest that you contact Jim DeCava in Fairfield County, CT at http://decava.com/repairs.htm. I've always been very pleased with Jim's repairs for my vintage Gibson, Lyon & Healy and Vega instruments that I've owned over the years. He is a true craftsman and appreciates a fine instrument and takes a lot of pride in bringing them back to good playing condition.

[James S]

Without a doubt, I would get in touch with Bob Jones in Brooklyn (Park Slope). He is super-knowledgable on vintage instruments and very competitively priced. If it's going to be too much, he'll let you know from the beginning. I unfortunately don't have his number at the moment - as I'm out of the country. Anyone?

[Jim Garber]

All the above are excellent. I have used RetroFret, Bob Jones and Jim DeCava.

Bob Jones: 718-965-6786 he has an email address but i am not sure he ever uses it.

If you are north of the city, Eddie Diehl is in Poughkeepsie 845-454-5794 and is in the same league as those above.

I also highly recommend Lyn Hardy in Woodstock: (845) 332 8072 email (lyn@lynhardy.com) She has been doing a lot of my instrument work recently and is very thorough and really knows her stuff.


there is a dip in the fretboard around the 6th-7th fret under the high strings. Raising the bridge has made it playable, but i have been advised that the fretboard will need to be removed and reset, the frets redone and a new bridge made.

I am not altogether sure that that makes any sense, however any of those folks above should tell you properly what needs to be done. it sounds like possibly tighten the truss rod to fix the dip and of that doesn't work, take off frets and plane fretboard and refret. You may be looking at a few hundred for this work.

My only fear would be that there is some sinkage in the top due to a loose brace or worse. if I were you I would loosen the strings and stop playing this mandolin until you had someone look at it.

[G7MOF]

I have recently obtained a 1922 Gibson A-4 (Lefty). It's a beaut and the body is in great shape. It needs some work, however, particularly on the neck, where there is a dip in the fretboard around the 6th-7th fret under the high strings. Raising the bridge has made it playable, but i have been advised that the fretboard will need to be removed and reset, the frets redone and a new bridge made.

Any recommendations in the NYC area for luthiers to do the work?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Hi Glen, Hasn't raising the bridge made the action higher on the other frets. The problem could be that when it was shipped from the UK, the whole of the neck was affected with the change in humidity. I had J74s on it, you could try different guages of strings to see if it changes things. (That's a cheaper way to go at first.)
The bridge top, as you know had to be made so as to turn it back to it's original lefty form, I never had a bridge problem. I would look at the strings first. Peter.

[G7MOF]

All the above are excellent. I have used RetroFret, Bob Jones and Jim DeCava.

Bob Jones: 718-965-6786 he has an email address but i am not sure he ever uses it.

If you are north of the city, Eddie Diehl is in Poughkeepsie 845-454-5794 and is in the same league as those above.

I also highly recommend Lyn Hardy in Woodstock: (845) 332 8072 email (lyn@lynhardy.com) She has been doing a lot of my instrument work recently and is very thorough and really knows her stuff.



I am not altogether sure that that makes any sense, however any of those folks above should tell you properly what needs to be done. it sounds like possibly tighten the truss rod to fix the dip and of that doesn't work, take off frets and plane fretboard and refret. You may be looking at a few hundred for this work.

My only fear would be that there is some sinkage in the top due to a loose brace or worse. if I were you I would loosen the strings and stop playing this mandolin until you had someone look at it.

There isn't a truss rod on this model from 1922...

[mrmando]

Many if not most '22s have truss rods ... I suppose an early '22 might not.

[joebrent]

Tom Crandall at Umanov, Mamie Minch at Retrofret, and Yuriy Kovalev at Rudy's repair shop are the three best in the city. Bob Jones is also excellent, but he's sometimes tough to get a hold of. Tom Crandall customarily has a long waiting list as well, but he's worth a call to find out.

[G7MOF]

Many if not most '22s have truss rods ... I suppose an early '22 might not.

This one must be an early one, It definately doesn't have a truss rod, I know, It used to be mine.

[pete12string]

I've had a lot of experience with Mandolin Brothers on Staten Island and I can say they have an excellent repair shop. I'm sure the others mentioned here are up to the job as well!

[Glennly]

Thanks, all, for the various info. Peter, it does play pretty well with the bridge up a bit (and sounds great - I've been having a lot of fun with it), but i did see the slight dip in the fretboard. The mando guy at Mandolin Brothers (whose name i've blanked on for the moment) looked at it, and he has done setups for me before, but I just want to make sure with this baby that i do right by her, and that i get a second opinion before i do anything.

[G7MOF]

If you put a ruler down the frets, are they out too? It can't be just the fret board!