Post by CTGull on Jul 11, 2020 19:23:12 GMT -5
His story:
I found this FG-180 on craigslist in May. It was a couple hours outside NYC on the Jersey Shore, had a cigarette burn mark, missing pickguard, loose tuners, and an obscenely low saddle BUT it looked good and smelled good and somehow still sounded good. Plus it was cheap. I met the previous owner on a scaldingly hot day at a gas station off the turnpike and plopped down under the shade of a tree in some dead spiky grass and strummed a few chords. I bought it and drove to the beach to go for a swim, plucking open strings at each stop light. Once I got to the beach I decided to leave the guitar in the trunk in case someone snagged it off the sand while I was swimming. When I got back to the car, I took it out of the trunk and sat on a curb and played and felt grateful for the warm old wood pressing against my body.
I had been eyeing FG guitars since I was in high school when I found out Elliott Smith played one. I loved the tone of his guitar both in live shows and recordings but for some reason always gravitated toward nylon string guitars, mainly because I loved the warmth and never found a steel string with enough bassy low end and round tone. During the lockdown, I started transcribing a lot of steel string music and reasoned it was finally time to get one of my own. Here's hoping for a successful neck surgery and speedy recovery so it can last another 50 years.
My story:
Today we met at a Dunkin’ in Southport CT. And insane amount of traffic in and out of the drive thru!! We (mostly me, as usual) talked for about a half hour. I mentioned the heavily divoted first 3 frets and the rest are very low. He doesn’t want to turn this into a money pit, so I told him I would tweak the truss rod and level the first 3 frets, along with the usual 14th fret hump, as part of the neck reset. The pictures he sent showed the windings of the strings laying on the saddle, making me think the bridge plate must be shot and the ball ends where up in the bridge. But when I saw the very thin bridge I knew that was the problem. I told him it probably didn’t need a bridge plate patch as I had previously suggested. The neck reset, with a new taller saddle, should fix that. He mentioned the high E bridge pin sits lower than the others, the hole must be worn. I told him I’d drop some superglue in the hole and build it up slightly.
When we got home I did my usual taking pictures, observations, and measurements. The frets are very low, except for the first 3 that are heavily divoted. The neck projects 1/16” below the bridge, which normally isn’t terrible, but the bridge has been sanded down to .20” (normally (.31” to .34”) and only .05”/.06” of saddle sticking out. I actually forgot to record the action numbers! I think they were around 1/8” to 9/64”. The bridge is also cracked thru the pin holes and is missing a few chunks. There are MANY dings and scrapes all over. There are HUGE divots in the fretboard at the first position. The inside is insanely dirty! Dust, hair and many stains! This guitar was loved and played for many years!!
Lots of deep pick marks.
The bridge is low and the saddle is lower!!
Divots in the frets & fretboard.
The rest of the frets are very low.
He replace the tuners with Stew Mac's "Golden Age" tuners that have the same 6mm (.236) dia shafts as the old Yamaha's, vs. today's 1/4" (.250").
Only some buckle rash on the back.
The action is a little high.
The saddle is short. I was worried since the bridge had been sanded there would be very little saddle slot available to support a taller saddle. Then I find someone "dug out" the saddle slot to make it deeper. It's a little rough. I have to see if I can clean that up to be able to get the saddle to fit snuggly.
DIVOTS!!!
I put all the loose parts in a plastic bag (including the truss rod cover & screws in separate bags) and label it with the customer name and info about the guitar. I cloned out the name for the picture.
View of the top bracing.
The bridge plate has a few small chunks missing, but it's not bad.
The date code.
DIRTY!
I found this FG-180 on craigslist in May. It was a couple hours outside NYC on the Jersey Shore, had a cigarette burn mark, missing pickguard, loose tuners, and an obscenely low saddle BUT it looked good and smelled good and somehow still sounded good. Plus it was cheap. I met the previous owner on a scaldingly hot day at a gas station off the turnpike and plopped down under the shade of a tree in some dead spiky grass and strummed a few chords. I bought it and drove to the beach to go for a swim, plucking open strings at each stop light. Once I got to the beach I decided to leave the guitar in the trunk in case someone snagged it off the sand while I was swimming. When I got back to the car, I took it out of the trunk and sat on a curb and played and felt grateful for the warm old wood pressing against my body.
I had been eyeing FG guitars since I was in high school when I found out Elliott Smith played one. I loved the tone of his guitar both in live shows and recordings but for some reason always gravitated toward nylon string guitars, mainly because I loved the warmth and never found a steel string with enough bassy low end and round tone. During the lockdown, I started transcribing a lot of steel string music and reasoned it was finally time to get one of my own. Here's hoping for a successful neck surgery and speedy recovery so it can last another 50 years.
My story:
Today we met at a Dunkin’ in Southport CT. And insane amount of traffic in and out of the drive thru!! We (mostly me, as usual) talked for about a half hour. I mentioned the heavily divoted first 3 frets and the rest are very low. He doesn’t want to turn this into a money pit, so I told him I would tweak the truss rod and level the first 3 frets, along with the usual 14th fret hump, as part of the neck reset. The pictures he sent showed the windings of the strings laying on the saddle, making me think the bridge plate must be shot and the ball ends where up in the bridge. But when I saw the very thin bridge I knew that was the problem. I told him it probably didn’t need a bridge plate patch as I had previously suggested. The neck reset, with a new taller saddle, should fix that. He mentioned the high E bridge pin sits lower than the others, the hole must be worn. I told him I’d drop some superglue in the hole and build it up slightly.
When we got home I did my usual taking pictures, observations, and measurements. The frets are very low, except for the first 3 that are heavily divoted. The neck projects 1/16” below the bridge, which normally isn’t terrible, but the bridge has been sanded down to .20” (normally (.31” to .34”) and only .05”/.06” of saddle sticking out. I actually forgot to record the action numbers! I think they were around 1/8” to 9/64”. The bridge is also cracked thru the pin holes and is missing a few chunks. There are MANY dings and scrapes all over. There are HUGE divots in the fretboard at the first position. The inside is insanely dirty! Dust, hair and many stains! This guitar was loved and played for many years!!
Lots of deep pick marks.
The bridge is low and the saddle is lower!!
Divots in the frets & fretboard.
The rest of the frets are very low.
He replace the tuners with Stew Mac's "Golden Age" tuners that have the same 6mm (.236) dia shafts as the old Yamaha's, vs. today's 1/4" (.250").
Only some buckle rash on the back.
The action is a little high.
The saddle is short. I was worried since the bridge had been sanded there would be very little saddle slot available to support a taller saddle. Then I find someone "dug out" the saddle slot to make it deeper. It's a little rough. I have to see if I can clean that up to be able to get the saddle to fit snuggly.
DIVOTS!!!
I put all the loose parts in a plastic bag (including the truss rod cover & screws in separate bags) and label it with the customer name and info about the guitar. I cloned out the name for the picture.
View of the top bracing.
The bridge plate has a few small chunks missing, but it's not bad.
The date code.
DIRTY!
