I have a 1965 Gretch Country Gentleman on the bench for a repair to the back of the neck. The brass knob on the tool storage in the case, under the neck, had dug into the finish. The guitar had just come back from a luthier in Connecticut, who did an excellent job of replacing the old cracked cellulose bindings, an expensive repair. The guitar spent 2 years in his shop, so I was recommend to the client since I'm local. I do no advertising. Everything is word of mouth.
I told my client that I could minimize the damage, and make it less noticeable. But the knob had gone down into the wood. Short of refinishing the neck, it wouldn't disappear. I didn't recommend refinish. It would affect the value of the instrument. He agreed.
The guitar is 55+ years old. Except for 3 tiny chips in the finish and this damage, it's pristine. I wanted to tread carefully.
I'll post the repair and techniques in the repair section of the forum
I'm not done yet. But, I got to the point where I could send an update with photos, to my client.
He sent the photos to the Connecticut luthier. The Connecticut luthier is a member of a video group with Dan Erliwine. For newbies who don't know, Dan Erlewine is one of the top luthiers in the country. He's a product developer at Stewmac and he's written a lot of books. He does videos about luthiery.
First, I received an email from the Connecticut luthier, which said:
Hi,
I wrote him back and told him that I didn't believe in secrets. I'd gladly share what I've done. He called me asking if I'd consider joining the video group.I was sent some pictures by Bill Adkins concerning a repair on a Country Gent I repaired for him and I wanted to drop a note and say that it looks amazing and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about the technique you used. I respect trade secrets though and if you prefer not to, I would totally understand.
Then, I received this email:
To be honest, I didn't know I had a trick. I just used common sense.Diane: That touchup on the Gretsch is great! Ian sent it to me. Where did you learn that trick, or did you come up with it yourself? Thanks, Dan Erliwine
Those videos that Ian spoke of are the Stewmac videos with Dan Erliwine featuring other luthiers.
It's strange. I'm shocked and a little scared, to be quite honest. Maybe this is a one time freak incident where I just got lucky. I'm not equal to people like John Hall or Dan Erliwine.
But, it was nice of Dan to write me. But most of all. I'm glad my client is happy, because after all, that's the name of the game.