Guild neck resets

[Brad Little]

That seems pretty underhanded... quoting the reset and coming back later and adding on all the stuff that is required when you do a reset. When I quote a neck reset it includes everything that will be needed.... new saddle, shim, any fretwork, setup...

Just ran across the receipt for the neck reset on my F50, done last Mar$500 for the reset, $275 to repair a crack in the bridge, both in the verbal estimate before the work was done. I've used this luthier for at least 40 years, and have always accepted his verbal estimates and never had a problem, I'm sure if he ran across any thing else that need to be done, he'd contact me before doing anything. That's the way to do business right.

 

[bobouz]

Interesting observation. I'd have to go back through my records, but based on my admittedly foggy memory, it seems I do as many Gibson resets as Martins. I have a '78 J-45 in the shop right now needing one.
If what you're saying is true, perhaps it's because of the shorter scale - lower tension. Incidentally, the one in my shop is a square-shoulderd, long-scale model.

Admittedly, I’ve thrown ‘70s Gibsons out the window in this discussion. That’s because throughout the ‘70s Norlin Era, Gibson made a number of moves to “Martinize” their acoustic line, and one of those moves included changing their long standing wide-paddle dovetail neck joint to a Martinish narrow-taper dovetail. The square-shouldered ‘78 J-45 in your shop should be one of those, and has almost nothing in common with the historic (and resurrected in Bozeman) round-shouldered J-45, J-50, Southern Jumbo, & others that I’m referencing.

 

[stormin1155]

Just ran across the receipt for the neck reset on my F50, done last Mar$500 for the reset, $275 to repair a crack in the bridge, both in the verbal estimate before the work was done. I've used this luthier for at least 40 years, and have always accepted his verbal estimates and never had a problem, I'm sure if he ran across any thing else that need to be done, he'd contact me before doing anything. That's the way to do business right.

Yes, that's all on the up and up, and that's not what I was referring to. Mickey made it sound like techs were quoting $500 for a reset, then later coming back and saying, yes, the reset was $500, but it also needed this and that and the other thing, and that is all extra.

 

[donnylang]

I’ve noticed in listings for Gibsons, people seem to commonly note “no neck reset” as if it’s a positive thing that it never was done. Seems opposite for Guilds and Martins.

 

[chrisdb]

I recently had a 1964 M-30 restored by Tom Jacobs that included a neck reset, and a laundry list of other issues caused by age and neglect. The quality of his work is unbelievable, and the cost was very reasonable.
I live just west of Philadelphia about an hour away from the Martin factory. I was referred to the "BEST" guitar repair shop by a well respected Philadelphia store that deals in vintage instruments. The two brothers who own the shop are former employees of Martin Guitars and have a great reputation (and a fancy website) for doing restorations and repairs.
The brother I talked with when I called wouldn't even look at my guitar when I told him it was a Guild and kept me on the phone for 10 minutes, explaining how "difficult" Guild guitar neck resets are and how he'd have to charge double or triple his regular price because it would take him so long to do the job and still wouldn't break even and couldn't guarantee that it could be done and if he took it on it would be MONTHS before he could get to it .
Other Luthiers and 'Certified " repair shops I called, and there were quite a few, also made it clear that they didn't want to work on an old Guild acoustic. Believe me, if they don't think they want to work on it then I wouldn't let them touch this guitar.
I've been playing it for a few weeks now that it is back from Tom Jacob's shop and it still just blows my mind- it looks, feels and sounds so good and plays so easily. It's really amazing what he made from a neglected guitar with so many problems.
So now it's my turn to do what others did for me... I suggest you talk to Tom Jacobs. He is a really nice guy, easy to talk to and a superb craftsman who worked a miracle on my guitar.

 

[beecee]

chrisdb,

Agreed, I've heard nothing but great stuff about Tom,

I called him more than once for advice and he was wonderful. Funny too.

But your story of the two brother shop is what I was referring to...all these horror stories about luthiers who won't/can't /don't.

I'm fortunate to have a pretty good guy within a 20 minute drive otherwise yeah, I'd be shipping my guitars to Tom!

 

[Russell Letson]

A couple years back I had the neck on my 1965 D-40 reset--the second time since I bought it new in '67. My repairman (actually a restoration artist) is extremely skilled and experienced, and he said it was about the hardest such job he'd ever had, but not atypical for a Guild of that age. (And, to be fair, he had to deal with the results of the earlier reset, which had been a learning experience for the repairman who did it.) Nevertheless, he got it done and done well, though it took a while. (After all, he had other clients to serve, and bills to pay.)

So I'm not surprised that there are shops that will turn down such work--or charge more for it. And it's good to know that there is a specialist like Tom Jacobs who can take on the challenge. Nor do I think less of my GP because he doesn't do heart surgery.