A question on a Century of Progress Gibson LC Guitar.

[davidb1]

Greetings .Sorry , not a mandolin question but ...I am hoping for some advice here..two Century of Progress guitars have come up for auction..sadly both have issues with the neck..do they have a truss rod ..I don't think so ..and how does one go about getting something like that repaired without ruining the cellulose neck covering and inlays ?..even a refret..how do you cope with it ..any advice..even..don't buy them..most appreciated

[rcc56]

The 14 fret L-Century necks should all have truss rods.

Most of the 12 fret HG-Century necks do not, but they only made a few dozen of them. All of the 12 fretters were built for Hawaiian play. All of the ones I have seen were good instruments and were well worth converting for standard play. As for the 14 fretters, some of the ones I have played were good instruments, and some were not.

Century of Progress fingerboards are full thickness wood fingerboards with a thin celluloid overlay. The ones that I have worked on had maple boards.

Re-fretting them is not much different than re-fretting a standard board. It is advisable to mask off the fingerboard surface, and use more care and patience when removing the old frets. It is not practical to level the board before driving the frets, so it is advisable to use fret wire with at least a .045" crown height to provide enough material to work with when you level the frets. Keep the fingerboard masked throughout the fretting procedure, and remove the masking when it's time to string it up.

The procedure for lifting a fingerboard extension for a neck reset is a little different than usual. I found it advisable to loosen the binding and move it out of the way, then lifted the extension with a hot knife and a little water. It took patience. The same procedure can be used if it is necessary to remove the entire fingerboard. The fingerboard may cup as a result of the water used in the removal process, but it can be wetted down and clamped back into shape on a flat piece of wood with a radiused clamping caul on top. If necessary, the board can be heated gently from the bottom before clamping.

The refinished '34 model with missing binding that I see on ebay costs somewhat more than I would pay for one in that condition. It would cost several hundred dollars to fix the cracks, bind the back, etc. A rule of thumb is that the market value of a refinished instrument is 50% or less than that of one with original finish that is otherwise in similar condition.

[davidb1]

Thank you so much Sir ..for your very informative perspective.

[Jim Garber]

I got my '35 neck reset and some other work on it by an excellent luthier. It now plays like a dream. Yes the mother-of-toilet-seat fretboard is a royal PITA.