Blog

Archive for November 2011

Martin re-top

       The first step in re-topping this Martin is to remove the neck. This is accomplished by pulling the 15th fret and drilling a small (3/32”) hole in the fret slot; this allows access to the dovetail “pocket”. A heat blanket is used to soften the glue, so that the fingerboard “tongue ” can be loosened. Now comes the steam! I use a modified esp…  » read more

11/17/2011  | comments (0)

Frankenstein Martin

  Ah, the 70's the era of exploding Ford Pintos, Disco Fever and dubious guitar repair. This 1956 Martin 00-18 recently came in for repair. A receipt in the owners case dates the worst of these repairs to 1976. It’s obviously been through a lot but what is the most egregious is the Gibson adjustable, reverse belly bridge. These bridges were quite common on the Gibson LG series and are…  » read more

11/15/2011  | comments (0)