| Guitar Restorations: 1935 Martin D18, Part 2: Wood Repair and Neck Set |
| Andy Jellison, ace repair technician Nashville's Gruhn Guitars, continues the restoration of a classic 1935 Martin guitar. |
From "Handmade Music"
episode DHMM-304 |
|
|
(Continued from page )
Martin D18 Guitar: Performing a Neck SetAccording to George Gruhn neck sets are "at least as difficult to do as for a surgeon to do an appendectomy." If that doesn't put pressure on Andy Jellison nothing will. But, as usual, he handles the chore with grace.
George Gruhn samples the tone. . .
| 
on a restored vintage Martin.
|
- Using a straight edge Andy Jellison aligns the D18's neck so that its plain falls in line with the top edge of the guitar's bridge (figure C). To achieve that angle Andy applies shims around the dovetail and/or removes material from the heel of the neck.
- First the heel is addressed. This will adjust the "front to back" angle. Material removal is not difficult. The trick is to remove microscopic bits. Andy does that by dragging very fine sandpaper under the heel (figure D) and he checks the angle after nearly every drag.
Now the side-to-side stability of the neck is addressed. Shims are attached to the sides of the dovetail (figure E) and Andy adds sheets of carbon paper to the shims. When he squeezes the neck into the joint the carbon paper leaves black spots at the points of contact (figure F).
When Andy chisels away those points (figure G) he has a perfect join and a well set neck.As the story of this guitar's restoration continues in later phases of this project, a period-authentic replica pick-guard is created and installed on the guitar's top, and the bridge and nut are replaced with new pieces--specially treated to "look the age" of the 1935 guitar. Also, George Gruhn opens up "the vault" at his shop to showcase some of his rarest and most valuable stringed instruments.
RESOURCES :
Gruhn Guitars
Nashville, Tennessee
www.gruhn.com
GUESTS :
George Gruhn
Proprietor, Gruhn Guitars
Nashville, Tenn.
www.gruhn.com
Andy Jellison, Vintage Instrument Repair Specialist
Gruhn Guitars
Nashville, Tenn.
www.gruhn.com
| RELATED PROJECTS: | | Handmade Guitar, Part 1: Introduction and Wood Selection | | Handmade Guitar, Part 2: Top, Back and Inlays | | Handmade Guitar, Part 3: Top Bracing and Tone Bars | | Handmade Guitar, Part 4: Back Bracing | | Handmade Guitar, Part 5: Making the Curved Sides | | Handmade Guitar, Part 6: Head Block and Tail Block | | Handmade Guitar, Part 7: Kerfed Lining and Attaching the Back | | Handmade Guitar, Part 8: Gluing on the Top | | Handmade Guitar, Part 9: Completing the Body | | Handmade Guitar, Part 10: The Fingerboard | | Handmade Guitar, Part 11: Building the Neck | | Handmade Guitar, Part 12: Hand-Shaping the Neck | | Handmade Guitar, Part 13: Wood Finish | | Handmade Guitar, Part 14: French-Polish, Neck and Bridge | | Handmade Guitar, Part 15: Tuners, Saddle, Nut and Strings | | Handmade Guitar, Part 16: Christening the Dudenbostel #050 | | Guitar Restorations: 1935 Martin D18, Part 1: Neck and Bridge |
|
| 
)
)
)
)
)
)
![PHOTO](javascript:popup("http://img.diynetwork.com/DIY/2006/10/18/dhmm304_1fg_e.jpg",350,450))
