I mentioned that I am apprenticing in a busy, college town shop in another thread and Filippo thought that was interesting and mentioned that he was apprenticing too and had been doing so since 2005. He didn't say with who though. In yet another thread he asked me to talk about what I am doing in my apprenticeship so here is a bit on that.
My apprenticeship with David Collins started about a year ago and the focus is on guitar repair. Some of you will recall Rick Turner's assertions that repair is a great thing to learn and I took Rick to heart on this and sought out an apprenticeship exactly for this reason.
It's impossible to list what I have learned to date but what I can say which I believe is the most important thing anyway is that I have been learning a new approach or a new way to think about problem solving when approaching a repair. Of course this approach translates beautifully to building, my primary focus in my own shop, as well.
Each guitar that I work on starts with a really comprehensive inspection of the instrument including checking every single fret to see if any of them are loose. Of course you can only fix what is within the scope and budget of the owner but many times issues not addressed are related to or clues for what the main issue may be. So for all of you computer programmers out here it's the same thing that we learned in terms of defining the problem first.
The work varies of course from guitar to guitar and can range from new guitars that are not as playable as they should be right out of the box to guitars that are twice my age.... and completely unplayable now but perhaps a beloved family heirloom that some folks are going to really be happy when their departed loved one's favorite guitar is once again singing.
You can tell that I appreciate the romantic side of helping bring some of these very cool old guitars back to life...
And of course the smiles that we often see when the owner picks up the guitar are priceless.So here are a couple of pics of a 1930's Gibsonesque (different name on it but either made by Gibson or copied from a Gibson) archtop that I am currently working on. Sorry for the not-so-great photos I took them with my IPhone. It has some cracks, needs a neck reset but is kind of on the line in terms of how bad it needs a neck reset, and it needed a complete fret job and releveling of the board. Some of the frets in the first and second position were so very worn that they were nearly worn through.... It was amazing that anyone would play this guitar in that condition but the wear level proves that someone just kept playing it anyway...
The frets were pulled and great care was taken to not chip away the BRW board. Removing frets is pretty easy and a little patience and good technique can really save the board from chipping.
Notice the divots on the first couple of fret positions? These were far worse before I started the board leveling process. It will take me a while to relevel this board and focus additional attention on the areas with the worse divots. The goal is not to make this guitar like new again and no finish repairs will be made. But the goal is to make it completely functional again and having it playing perhaps better than it ever has. A very worthy goal I will add.
You can also see from where my sanding beam is hitting the fret board that three is a dip in the board too. All of this will be leveled out, the fret slots will be recut or touched up where necessary, and new frets will be installed, leveled, crowned, and sanded and shined.
Once the fret work is done we will decide if a neck reset is to be done. Since there is an effort to remove or reduce the divots in the first couple of fret positions the emphasis on the sanding beam is toward the first couple of frets. This may change the fretboards angle when completed enough to belay the neck reset, if not it gets done.
Here are some pics:
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I also wanted to add a word about apprenticing if I may please. I have been asked a number of times why I wanted to do an apprenticeship. Folks said to me that my guitars are in their opinions great, nothing fails, they play well etc. so why now would I want to do anything that might leave anyone with the impression that I am just starting out.
The answer is that in terms of repair work I am just starting out, well a year into my apprenticeship now, and more importantly learning repair makes me a better builder. Why? Because I can see why some guitars fail now, what construction methods did not work, what designs did better than others, etc. It's fantastic experience and I am very, very fortunate to have this opportunity.
In addition it's VERY fun work too, not even what I would call work since I enjoy it so very much. And unlike building a new guitar the process of repairing a guitar can be completed much faster and then you move on. As such it's not as potentially boring as building can be at times when doing the same old things on every build.
If anyone is interested in this kind of post I would be happy to in the future post about some of the more interesting guitars that I have the honor of helping to be whole again.
Also anyone else who is apprenticing, Filippo ???, if you would be so kind please as to let us know about your apprenticeship it would be much appreciated?
Thanks!
![[clap]](./images/smilies/smiley32.gif "adulations")
- I wish someday I will have same type of opportunity. I think the moment we stop trying to learn is when we begin to die intellectually! 
Yes Rick was right on a lot of levels and regardless of the delivery the message was valid. It's not easy to be an expert and try to lead folks to water when you know what you are talking about but at least Rick's message was intended to be of value and not shameless self-promotion. He is the real deal!![[:Y:]](./images/smilies/smiley20.gif "Thumbs Up")
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