Post by CTGull on Aug 30, 2020 12:42:12 GMT -5
His Story: I began playing guitar when the Beatles came out and Bob Dylan first went electric. There were no tuners, no tab, no online lessons, and we walked to school in the snow uphill both ways. Inexpensive guitars were cheap. Junk really. I got my first decent acoustic (Gibson B25) in college. Eventually I got some good guitars. In the 1980’s my daughter said she wanted to learn guitar so I began looking for a student guitar, but it needed to be small bodied, and hopefully short scale, too. I stumbled onto a Seagull Grand (spruce) which I bought for her because I loved its simplicity, the engineering, the local woods used, and the apportionment of costs based on each components contribution to tone, volume and playability. Though I own some pretty nice Martins, I loved that little Seagull - it had its own unique, sweet voice - and played it a lot, until my daughter took it to college and sold it to a friend. Now I’m retired, and play guitar every day. At a jam a month or two before Corona arrived a fellow came in with a Seagull S6 - I liked what it felt and sounded like. So, I looked at used Seagulls and found first a very nice S6 (used ones are plentiful at about $350) even though like many older folks I don’t play dreads much anymore. Then I began looking for a Folk model - a little bigger than the parlor sized Grand, but smaller than the S6 Dreadnaught. One turned up for a couple hundred on Craigslist claiming to be in excellent shape. The seller claimed to have planned to learn guitar, but never did, now want to sell the guitar 20 years later!
I drove up to northern Connecticut to buy it after an afternoon bicycling along the Windsor Locks Canal. The seller came down from Massachusetts. The guitar looked great, but had original (?) old corroded cruddy strings, and really high action (some of which was certainly due to too much curvature in the neck). It seemed like 20 years of sitting in a closet with the strings tightened had probably distorted the wood enough that a neck reset was imminent. It has a couple minor dings on the Cedar top, but otherwise it’s a Closet Queen. The frets have no wear, neither does the fretboard. The bridge pins - I think they are original - are still straight. I bought it at a further discount in respect of the action - a full half inch high at fret 12! With a truss rod adjustment, and some new strings, it is playable. It has a sweet voice, like you would expect from aged cedar, but also unexpectedly loud and snappy - like a Honey Crisp apple. Still a little rough, but a diamond for sure.
It just needs a neck reset (love that 2 bolt neck joint) and a little TLC. I take it as a sign that that Dave (CTGull) plays one of these too!
My story: Last week we met at my work. I told him I have a 2004 S6+ Folk, it is my favorite Seagull, hanging over the bed. In excellent condition except for a large ding in the top. Needs neck reset, frets look good. Neck Relief is a little high. Neck projects .09" below the bridge with .02" gap in the middle. The action is a little under 1/8" low E & 3/32" high E. The bridge is .26" high, saddle sticks out .11"/.06". Nut action is good except B & E are a high, it possible the B & E were filed recently and the E was taken too low and filled (some debris on the front of the slot).
He's also asked for replacing the dark existing 1/16" dia. side fret markers with slightly larger 3/32" creme color side fret markers, and add the ones Seagull didn't put in at that time, at the 3rd & 9th frets; and slot the bridge pin holes to be able to use unslotted pins.
My messy work table.
It doesn't get much more minty than that!
There's something odd about the area near the high E slot in the nut.
Minty frets!
Not a lot of saddle left
A few minor marks on the top.
I drove up to northern Connecticut to buy it after an afternoon bicycling along the Windsor Locks Canal. The seller came down from Massachusetts. The guitar looked great, but had original (?) old corroded cruddy strings, and really high action (some of which was certainly due to too much curvature in the neck). It seemed like 20 years of sitting in a closet with the strings tightened had probably distorted the wood enough that a neck reset was imminent. It has a couple minor dings on the Cedar top, but otherwise it’s a Closet Queen. The frets have no wear, neither does the fretboard. The bridge pins - I think they are original - are still straight. I bought it at a further discount in respect of the action - a full half inch high at fret 12! With a truss rod adjustment, and some new strings, it is playable. It has a sweet voice, like you would expect from aged cedar, but also unexpectedly loud and snappy - like a Honey Crisp apple. Still a little rough, but a diamond for sure.
It just needs a neck reset (love that 2 bolt neck joint) and a little TLC. I take it as a sign that that Dave (CTGull) plays one of these too!
My story: Last week we met at my work. I told him I have a 2004 S6+ Folk, it is my favorite Seagull, hanging over the bed. In excellent condition except for a large ding in the top. Needs neck reset, frets look good. Neck Relief is a little high. Neck projects .09" below the bridge with .02" gap in the middle. The action is a little under 1/8" low E & 3/32" high E. The bridge is .26" high, saddle sticks out .11"/.06". Nut action is good except B & E are a high, it possible the B & E were filed recently and the E was taken too low and filled (some debris on the front of the slot).
He's also asked for replacing the dark existing 1/16" dia. side fret markers with slightly larger 3/32" creme color side fret markers, and add the ones Seagull didn't put in at that time, at the 3rd & 9th frets; and slot the bridge pin holes to be able to use unslotted pins.
My messy work table.
It doesn't get much more minty than that!
There's something odd about the area near the high E slot in the nut.
Minty frets!
Not a lot of saddle left
A few minor marks on the top.
