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Anyone have success re-gluing back braces on a Gibson f-hole arch top? I've got an L-50 in the shop with very small f holes. My jack braces won't even fit through the holes. The back is flat like a standard guitar with transverse ladder bracing. All 4 back braces are loose on the ends. I think I can get a go-bar on the lower 2, but the upper 2 will be very difficult to reach. I'd rather not take the back off if possible. I wish I h…

Hi all, I am building a mandocello, Gibson style but with f holes, currently working on the top. I got to a point where I carved it to about 5 mm in the center and about 3,3 around the edges. If has some flexibility but still feels quite stiff. I tap and listen but having experience only with flat top guitars I don't really know what I'm looking for in terms of tap tone and flexibility. I know there is no correct answer to this, but anyo…

A customer recently brought in a Gibson J-185-EC for some setup work, and also wanted me to address some leakage from a humidity pack the was apparently left in the guitar before he bought it, and it leaked in a number of places. I was wondering what the best way to clean this up from the inside? There's also finish lifting on the back of the guitar where it's leaked through the wood. I'm curious to know the approach here. I believe it…

I’ve had a customer come to me wanting to electrify the guitar without any modifications to it. No drilling, routing etc. I did convince him an end pin jack would be the only mod I would make, and he was ok with that. After a little thought, I thought, a K&K with a microphone (K&K Mini Pro) might work, using the transducers on the six string side and the microphone on the ten string side. I have no doubt the transducers would work fine.…

I've had a customer come to me wanting to electrify the guitar without any modifications to it. No drilling, routing etc. I did convince him an end pin jack would be the only option, and he was ok with that. After a little thought I thought a K&K with a microphone (K&K Mini Pro) might work, using the transducers on the six string side and the microphone on the ten string side. I have no doubt the transducers would work fine. My concern…

Hey all - I've got a couple Gibson headstock repair investments that I'd like to practice inserting splines for reinforcement (or I may go the backstrap method..tbd). Do you have any jig recommendations or preferences? I've only seen the G&W option (which looks awesome), several ebay knock-offs and lots of DIY jigs. I welcome your feedback. Thanks and all the best, Chris

I bought a boutique guitar, used from Guitar Center. I really want to like this guitar. I just got it a couple of days ago. Looking forward to doing a setup. The neck is straight. I went to add some relief and found that the wood around the truss rod keeps the 4mm hex key from engaging. Any suggestions on how to hog out enough wood to get access? I was thinking of superglueing some 180 sand paper to a 4.5 mm hex key and sanding the…

Does anyone have a vintage Gibson LP Special around to check the body edge radiuses for me? Is it a consistent 1/8” (or so) all the way around the entire top and entire bottom? Including the horn, ledge behind the neck heel, etc? Thank you! This 56 seems pretty consistently rounded over across the entire top and back.

Hi, I have a 1950's Gibson LG-3 that's had some poor work done to the spruce under the area of the bridge where the spruce has pulled away and or been sanded excessively. It's missing about .020-0.30 thou of spruce and I'm wondering/looking for advice about how to go about splicing in a thin piece of spruce before I re-glue the bridge. Please see pictures attached. My main questions are: glues for the patch, should the patch be mitered…

What would be a proper roundover bit for a Gibson special to reestablish a nice consistent rounded edge? 1/8” or 3/16”?

Just wondering how normal the following is on Gibsons. When I run a straight edge from the 7th to the 15th fret on this modern J45 the 12 fret (and neighboring frets) are 3-4 thousands low. The result is fret buzz on the 9th to the 14th fret on the wound strings. Picture attached. Guitar is around 5 years old and otherwise in very good condition.

My son in law texted me the following pic of a Gibson he once played and would like to find one for sale. I have searched the web to no avail, so I thought the collective here would have someone that recognizes the model. I was told it was an sj200 but I can’t find any sj200s that look like this instrument. Thanks in advance, Tom

A customer brought this Gibson songwriter deluxe in, it’s approximately 20 years old to his recollection. It needs a few things done including fret work and a bridge re glue. At some point the guitar was lent out to a friend who dropped it then tried to fix the finish themselves. It looks like they used some kind of cleaner or something that didn’t get along with the lacquer at all. I’ll attach pictures but it’s kinda hard to get a pic…