Who's a good person/shop to work on or restore a 70's Bluesbird?

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I've had my 1970-71'ish BB M75GS for pretty much forever, which means once I was young and didn't think about belt buckle rash and advanced concepts like "intonation". :)

Now that this guitar has moved from high school beater to valued old friend, I've often thought about spending a few bucks and getting it cleaned up and in tune. I mean, it's not BAD. But let's just say the 12th fret ain't saying exactly what the top is when it's on a digital tuner. The gold hardware is a little crusty. Should probably look into if it needs to be refretted at some point.

I suppose I could just see about getting intonation done locally, but is there a trusted shop that knows Guilds of this era and that do good work, but aren't too precious about it? I don't want to entrust my baby to someone that doesn't understand vintage instruments.
 

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Send it to Fixit!
Tom Jacob's custom guitars in Merrit Island, Florida. There are no better hands for this kind of work.
 

adorshki

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HI SW Welcome aboard!
Just to give some insight, Tom (Fixit) actually worked at Guild in late '70's.
His introduction post:
http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?164313-Newbie
One of his earliest restoration threads:
http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/sh...67-Guild-Starfire-IV-restoration-(Pics)/page2
Sadly most of the pics are lost likely due to Photobucket skullduggery which casued a lot mmebers to fire 'em as their hosting service, but point is that he can literally take the things apart and put 'em back together again.
RIGHT.
And reasonable too!
Link to shop, he's happy to take calls directly:
http://www.jacobscustomguitars.com/

Full disclosure I have absolutely no interest or connection with Tom, only in making sure new members get good information.
I do have one guitar that needs a bridge lift repaired and he's on the "short list", only hesitating because I myself am leery of shipping an instrument, but even there at least he knows what he's doing.

The archives here contain many testimonials from delighted owners.
 

walrus

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swtc, when you say "locally", where are you? Maybe someone knows of a luthier near you, too.

walrus
 

JohnW63

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I sent my Ovation to Tom, from So.Cal to Florida because I didn't trust my locals and a well known Hollywood guy didn't fix it right. Tom fixed it the way I wanted it fixed ! Tip: Call Tom and if you are going to send it, have him send you a prepaid shipping label. He gets better rates then you do as a consumer. Could have saved me 40 bucks in shipping one way.
 
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swtc, when you say "locally", where are you? Maybe someone knows of a luthier near you, too.

walrus

I'm in Idaho, but fly all over the world routinely.

I don't expect to find someone out here, and don't have a problem flying it out to someone that's trustworthy. Lots of love for the Jacobs Custom Guitars here, thanks for the hint. I'll look into it!

PS: Totally off topic, but I wandered into the Boise Guitar Center, cursorishly eyeballing the used rack, and WHAT... There's a "1980's Guild Bluesbird" tag hanging off what is clearly NOT a "80's" guitar. It's a 1973-4 Bluesbird GS in walnut/natural.
I 'bout twisted my neck when I saw that. Got the employee to take it down, started nerding out, letting him know they have it tagged wrong, it's not 80's, it's 70's, and here's how to tell why... Looked up the serial, etc.
Played nice, I think it has un-original binding through -- it's stark white and everything else on the guitar is mellowed with age, but in good shape. You can see it on GC's website. They said someone here in Boise actually bought itonline from GC's Vintage collection in Hollywood, CA, but returned it. (Making me wonder what he expected, or what's wrong with it). But... cool.
 

DrumBob

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You're far from New Jersey, but my friend, David Petillo, does incredible work. He's in Ocean Township. You can find him online.
 

dapmdave

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I'd take it to a local shop and have it evaluated and set up. A good cleaning and set-up may do wonders.
 

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I sent my Ovation to Tom, from So.Cal to Florida because I didn't trust my locals and a well known Hollywood guy didn't fix it right. Tom fixed it the way I wanted it fixed ! Tip: Call Tom and if you are going to send it, have him send you a prepaid shipping label. He gets better rates then you do as a consumer. Could have saved me 40 bucks in shipping one way.

Absolutely this!
 
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