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Bridgeplate repair question
http://mowrystrings.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=13754		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  Michael Dale Payne [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:30 am ]
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Ot Oh spaghetti "O" I have to think on this one
Author:  Michael Dale Payne [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:38 am ]
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Ok I thought about it. Put a new top on it
Author:  David Collins [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:55 am ]
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The best way to repair this one is rather than putting a new top on the
guitar, put a new guitar in the case. Seriously. If the guitar is not worth re-
topping, then it's not worth doing anything to. I would likely refuse to do
any repairs short of top replacement, simply because anything short of a
new top would be seen as a shoddy quick fix on this beast that I wouldn't
want my name to be associated with.

I'd have to tell the customer, sorry but you got screwed on this one, and any
more money you invest in it would only be screwing you further. Cut your
losses, play it 'till it dies, and any money that you would have considered
investing in this guitar, put it in to a slush fund toward a future replacement
instead.
Author:  Cocephus [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:59 am ]
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New top with correct bracing for the scale length. 


Better yet, search out the hack that passed this sort of stuff for money, and from what you stated, more than once. Once found, beat him with it.


I keep my head down in the trenches where I belong, but this, this... geesh, where`s my shovel?


Coe
Author:  jerr6 [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:02 pm ]
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is that bridge even in the right position? looks close to the soundhole.
Author:  Dave Anderson [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:59 pm ]
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That is ridiculous. Too bad someone got ripped off by this guy!I wouldn't try any quick fixes on it Terry. Did he even know he drilled through the x brace I wonder?    .
Author:  David Collins [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 1:06 pm ]
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The danger I always feel in doing substandard semi-repairs on
instruments that aren't worth a full proper repair job, is that they can
come back to haunt you in several ways.
One is that the top fails shortly after the repair through no fault of your
own, but because of existing problems that you didn't address.

Second is the abbreviated, "yeah, I had Terry fix it up for me a few years
back" that the owner inevitably spits out to another luthier looking it over
in years to come. These things follow you, and affect your credibility
among clients and peers.

There will always be certain situations where I will do a "quick fix" for a
student or on some basket case, but I choose which jobs I will accept very
carefully based on both the instrument and the client. This is one I almost
certainly would rather walk away from entirely.
Author:  Jim Watts [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 1:23 pm ]
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wow!
Perhaps a pinless bridge?
ditching it or re-topping is by far the best choice I think.
Author:  old man [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 1:28 pm ]
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What a mess. Makes me want to put a light inside mine just to be sure.    I can't believe the strings haven't pulled through the spruce.

Ron
Author:  A Peebels [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 1:29 pm ]
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Tell him that you will re-use the tuners when you make him a new guitar.

Al
Author:  WaddyThomson [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 1:45 pm ]
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What junk.   How can people sell stuff like that?   
Author:  davidmor [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 1:54 pm ]
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Maybe I am just naive, but I just don't get why someone would spend all the time to hand build a guitar (or in this case a GLO) and not take a little extra time and do it right.  I'm not talking about the obvious mistake that is the subject of this post, but the little things like sanding the braces so they look nice, cleaning the glue squeeze out, shaping the X brace cap and sanding it smooth, and clipping the edges of the back center strip.  I mean really, if you are going to spend the hours it takes to actually hand build a guitar (even a bad one takes a lot of time), why not spend another 10% more time and build something you can be proud of?  I just don't get doing a job 90% and letting the 10% you couldn't be bothered with do the speaking of the quality of your work.  It's one thing to try your best and not have the skills yet, but it is another thing to just do a lousy job and say 'eh, that's good enough!'.  This is obviously in that second category. 
Author:  David Collins [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 6:14 pm ]
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Oh, it's not limited to small shabby builders at all. Big shabby builders do
stuff like this too.
I had a Rickenbacker acoustic (yeah, I know - why would they even try it)
come through a few years ago. They simply forgot to put any bridge plate in
at all, and it took weeks of haggling and a threat to take it to court before
they finally accepted it as a warranty repair (less than a year old, original
owner, with copy of receipt and all warranty paperwork). I've had encounters
with Ric before, and I wouldn't be surprised if we were the first people in the
history of Rickenbacker to ever be granted a successful warranty claim.

I guess warranty work isn't much of an option with this one though....
Author:  Allen McFarlen [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 6:55 pm ]
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No matter how big of a favor you do him by patching this up for him, it will somehow get told, or heard differently down the road, and you'll more than likely be the one that ends up with the bad rep. It's happened to me enough times working on automobiles that I finally learned to turn work away when I had that ugly gut wrenching feeling that I didn't want to get involved. They might not like what you have to tell them, but it usually stops with them, not the ten people that they tell down the road if you work on it.

My 2 cents anyway.
Author:  crazymanmichael [ Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:07 am ]
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sometimes you have to be the bearer of bad news, and this is one of them. i would love to see the builders name, along with the photos, published far and wide to help prevent him taking someone else to the cleaners.
Author:  burbank [ Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:26 am ]
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Was this built for a lefty? The saddle says yes, bracing says no.
Author:  Michael Dale Payne [ Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:39 am ]
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If the whole guitar is this bad as you say. Call the owner up and have him come by your shop. Show him the problem just as you have shown us. Offer to build him a replacement but tell him that unfortanately you can't work on this guitar.

It is important to do this face to face. So he can see the problem first hand (if he has not ever noticed.)
Author:  David R White [ Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:06 am ]
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This is good news...I'm not the worst builder in the world!
Author:  Bruce Dickey [ Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:56 am ]
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Terry,
Wow, I looked at a handmade guitar last week that came from Branson Missouri. He had a student builder put this together under tutelage of a better builder. Oh gee, he should ask for all his money back. The heel of the neck had a 1/16th inch of air under it and it was glued solidly.

I kind of agree with the other comment in this thread. Put a new guitar under those tuners and in this box. Jim did have a good idea of salvaging it. Patch the xbraces and then make and install a pinless bridge.

This type work is an obvious MISTAKE. The guy who did it may not have a clue he missed? It's possible? Most likely he did, but couldn't afford the repair and new materials it would take to make it right. Who knows. It's sad, sorry it found it's way to your door.

Thanks for sharing it though, we need to be reminded that what we do takes careful planning and execution and that we should be paid well for what we do.
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