A Blues Creek Guitars visit...

[justrfb]

Hello All.
My 13 year old son Willie and I took a road trip yesterday to Hegins, PA to visit John and Brenda Hall at Blues Creek Guitars. In review, I recently finished a Martin Dreadnaught kit for Willie and thanks to you and your great help (especially John with his YouTube videos and a few phone calls), the guitar came out OK. It didn't implode when I strung it up, it made some noise when I strummed it... Seriously, it sounds real nice and again, thanks to this list and John's video's, the intonation is spot on. There has just been one thing that has been nagging at me ever since the initial setup... The saddle was at minimum height and the action was at or slightly above maximum. Not a situation you want to be in. I tried all kinds of denial methods (see separate threads on topic) knowing all along, pulling the neck and resetting it was the only answer. I could have (and did several times) watched John's video on neck pulls, got the pressure cooker and other tools to do the work and attempt it myself or... I could see if John was willing to steam the neck off for me. A phone call a few weeks ago lead to the awesome day yesterday!...
We pulled off this rural "Main Street" type road onto a small winding road amongst tree lined fields of different crops on beautiful rolling hills in Hegins, PA., up to a beautiful house with a big (matching the house) detached shop. We knocked on the door and over the hum of a power tool, we hear John yell, "come on in, no need to knock..." Willie and I shake John's hand and I am confirmed with my previous assessment form his video's and phone calls that John is a great guy, who loves what he is doing and who is eager to help... We immediately go up stairs to his "setup and work area"... Best I could see is down stairs is all of their big wood working tools, saws, sanders, planers... Plus his ample stock of different wood and his building area we see in his video's. Upstairs is his guitar setup and working area along with his supply of "everything you could possibly need for building your own guitar", packing and shipping area too. Here we met his lovely wife and coworker, Brenda, a sweet woman, greeting us both with a warm smile and handshake. Both John and Brenda welcomed Willie and I into their shop (it could've just as well been their home) as if we were friends for a long time and they were there to help us with anything we may have needed... John handed Willie a beautiful 000 he built, pointed to a stool and invited him to play for us. (I can't play a note to save my life but love everything about guitars...) John took Willies guitar and after a quick "once over" to confirm the situation, invited me right along to work with him pulling the neck. Long story short, I went there with the expectation of getting my neck steamed off and maybe some direction on how to reset the neck at the correct angle. What we got was much more and much better... John not only completed but made sure I understood, as he steamed off the neck, shimmed and reset the neck making sure all parameters were in order, glued and clamped the neck. Then we went to a nice little Chinese restaurant and had a nice sit down lunch (very good food), Willie and I learned from Brenda and John about their family and the way Blues Creek Guitars came about... Then we went back and John just kept teaching and working, we un-clamped the instrument, John pulled out his marker and fret leveler and leveled Willies frets, then proceeded to show me a trick or two to perfectly crown and polish the leveled frets. All I have to do now is set the new saddle height and string up the guitar. If Willie had a nice guitar before, he has a real nice guitar now thank you John. They both treated Willie and I as if we were the only people around, all the while answering the phone, trying to fill orders, checking for the UPS guy... All in all, a great business run by great people and an awesome day my son and I won't soon forget. Thank you John and Brenda Hall.

Sincerely,
Rich

[tippie53]

Glad you had a nice time. We try and treat people the way we want to be treated.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Awesome experience Rich, I think most of us wish we were close enough to visit John.

Kevin

[justrfb]

Hello All.
A quick update... I recently strung up Willie's guitar after the neck reset and (thank you again John) after taking a few 64'ths off the bottom of the new saddle, the action is "spot on" with plenty of room for future adjustments. Couldn't have done it without the help of this list and especially John. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Rich

[tippie53]

Super
When we say we are here to help We are . Willie is such a nice young man. You can be proud.