Official Luthiers Forum!

So, I have a dealer here in Houston who carries my classical guitars. He also has guitars from several other luthiers. One of these is a fantastic luthier named Guillermo Salazar from Costa Rica. He ships guitars to Houston all the time.

Recently a few of the guitars shipped from San Jose ( Costa Rica) through DHL have come back with some minor ( but deliberate) finish damage. I get a call from the dealer in Houston telling me about severe damage to the neck.

Here is a picture of the fretboard damage, someone took a 3/16" drill and decided to mine for gold.


The back is even worse


So I decided that routing out the fretboard between the 4th and 6th and grafting in a matching piece of ebony would be the best approach



The back was a little bit more of a challange. In order to cover all the holes in the back of the neck I would need a 3/4" wide piece of ebony. I felt that looked a little weird. so I decided on more of a Somogyi approach. I don't have pics of the process of routing the back of the neck, but I made a router fixture which clamped to the neck. then inlaid the Cedar and Ebony Rectangle. Here is the result.


Now I have to refinish it. I'll post some pics of the finished repair when I'm done.

Thanks for looking,

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Matt Jacobs

"Don't tase me bro"

NICE work. What a tragedy. Do you think they were looking for drugs?

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David Morris

I doubt they were looking for drugs. There has been some sort of willful damage to 2 other guitars from the same builder coming form that DHL office, mostly finish damage. So we think it was someone at that office. It's possible customs , or DHL here did it, but I doubt customs would bother to ship a guitar forward after destroying/confiscating it. And DHL here is a good company with a rep to uphold, I don't think they would do this intentionally. But who knows?

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Matt Jacobs

"Don't tase me bro"

Holy crap!
Nice work Mike!
Looks like you will have it better-than-new in no time!

That's just nasty. Good recovery.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

I'm actually having trouble understanding the "why" behind these actions (the damaging, not the repairs). It boggles my mind.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

Matt, that is impressive!!!!!!

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

If i were guessing....... weill i am ...... I would say that someone onthe other end of this is jealous of our luthier friend and doing dammage and sending them on .

It would seem to me that DHL would be getting to the bottom of this since there should be damage claim availability here .

All that being said , excellent work in the repair .

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Mike - You managed to make that guitar look even better than before the damage!! Awesome repair !!! I think that a router bit can be damaged wood's best friend!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Grudge or no, I still don't get it, or understand why DHL can't prevent it.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Very nice work Matt.

Nice save Matt

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

Thanks for the compliments guys.

I don't know all the details as far as DHL goes. I know a rep from DHL has looked at the guitar, but I don't know if they have resolevd the situation.

As far as why anyone would do what they did is beyond me.

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Matt Jacobs

"Don't tase me bro"

Nice job Matt! What a sad situation though.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Matt, that repair is both creative as well as impressive.
Me hat's off to ya, mate!

(Think I will send my guitars to you for similar redesign work.)

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Agree with all above- a fantastic recovery from the damage, and the guitar
actually looks better after your work.

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Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain

Matt, what a great save!!! And I think the rectangle on the neck back is a stroke of pure design genius. You really did make it look better. I am amazed and in awe of your skill. Man, I thought I was pretty good at hiding some of my goofs, but your save of a willfully-damaged instrument is just fabulous. As to why people do these things, who can say. Today, my wife caught a woman (a total stranger) snapping off and stealing stems from our hydrangeas in broad daylight. Who knows what worms crawl through the thoughts and minds of vandals, petty thieves, and liars? Not me.

" THE SHADOW DO ! "


Ok so now Ive dated myself

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/