The Story of a Guitar Collector

You know how I mentioned before about being as inclined to sand the bridge down as lowering the saddle - I had in mind the idea of keeping good break angle, but it would also keep more saddle above the bridge. Most people are quick to sand down the saddle because it is so easy to do, but I wonder if it would be better to be as ready to shave the bridge.

My fears over a poor resonating FG300 have gone. It was just new strings that needed to be played in.

I've brought out the next guitar to work on. The FG800J. It cost me an awful lot of money to buy. About $1900 AUD. Well, the first thing I noticed was the thinness of the bridge and saddle. The guitar is quite close to requiring a neck reset. I had no idea! When I bought the guitar, about 4 months ago, I knew about one tenth of what I know now. I had no idea about these things. How gullible most people are when they buy a secondhand guitar! And how tight-lipped the sellers are about such matters. I have bought about half a dozen guitars off the one seller, and not once did he really inform me about these important details. I brought out the FG580 hoping to find the bridge and saddle in better shape only to find it not much better than the FG800J. None of this information comes down the pipe when you buy these guitars. One is kept uninformed.

Now I've got to ask myself, do I plan to try and do a neck reset myself, or do I look around for a luthier to do it for me? I not even sure if I want to keep these guitars. I am most doubtful about keeping the FG800J. The FG580 I am more inclined to want to keep.

It is a massive undertaking for me to consider, a neck reset. I have so very little skill. And yet there are a thousand videos on youtube showing clearly step by step instructions. It is not out of the realm of possibility.

I have been so uneducated while buying all these guitars. I knew none of these details, about bridge height, saddle height. Now I have the uncomfortable feeling of been taken advantage of.

I wonder what gauge strings you use on your guitars? I've gone down to Custom light. 11-52. I would like to go back up to lights 12-53 but finding out my guitars have warping has got me worried.

Learning to do neck resets seems the ultimate commitment to owning vintage guitars.

I've been weighing it up in my mind what the odds are of me being able to do the job. Even if set myself up with a good work station, there is the matter of not being skilled and trained at this sort of thing. The odds of stuffing up seems so very high. And working on a $1900 guitar.

But it is disappointing in a sense, to feel defeated without even trying. To feel defeated at the very beginning. I think of all the incredible artisans down the centuries that have created amazing things. I think to myself, I have all the instructions in the world, I know exactly all the tools it requires, I have got a pretty mature head on my shoulders - what's stopping me doing this?

I'd love to hear more about the guitar repair table. I was looking around at my place, this morning, thinking where I could set up a work table.

I got a quote for doing a neck reset. It starts at $350, but another $200 for a bridge replacement. So, at the lowest, $550 AUD. If I got it at that price I would be happy.

I went to a luthier today, asked him if I should get a neck reset done on the FG800J. He didn't think I should. He said it was still playable, as it is. He said it would be good to do some string ramps. I learned some good things from him. He said replacing a bridge is quite a complicated procedure, especially when it requires making a bridge from scratch. And he said that it is not always guaranteed that the bridge will come off smoothly, without some of the top coming off.

I've been reading the forum you provided as a link, on the subject of ramps. It is quite a debate! Those guys get very technical.

There is a newly listed model on ebay which has caught my eye. An FG201B. I've been wanting to buy an Ezo spruce laminate model for a while. There are about a dozen ezo spruce models that were produced before 1980. More models were released later on - the FG300D for instance. But I'm like you, I prefer the lighter models and the ones with the truss rod access at the headstock.

The model I feel I like the most is the FG150B. It has mahogany back and sides. The FG201B is sapele back and sides with a nato neck. The auction for the FG201B starts at a low price - one could be lucky.

There is another ezo spruce model that's selling on gumtree -an FG251B. But it's selling for $500. It has plenty of bridge and saddle left. Perfect actually.

I wonder if you have noticed an improvement in tone and volume after a neck reset?

I can see you are setting yourself up to becoming a full-fledged workman of vintage guitars. Are you wanting to set up a business eventually?
I've kind of gotten inspired by this whole side of guitar ownership. Many doors have opened up for me this last year. Only a year ago I barely knew a thing about the subject of guitars. This time last year I owned three cheap lawsuit guitars - a Tokai Cateyes, an Ibanez hummingbird copy and a Ibanez Martin copy. I didn't know about nut slot height, about saddle height, bridge height. I knew a little about neck relief but that was all. I didn't know at all about adjusting the heights of the bridge and saddle. I didn't even know that was done.
But a year later my eyes are open to all these things.
I'm tempted to have a go at more complicated repair jobs. I've never been a tradesman. Never acquired precise skill. Yet I wonder if I could meet the challenge and do what it takes to accomplish these complicated jobs.

The Guild you bought was a great score. I looked up the price of secondhand D4-NT-HR and they were about $700.

I am wanting to add string ramps for my Yamaha FG800J. I wonder if you know of an article that gives some instructions? I read earlier today about using a jeweler's file for the job.

I've been thinking what is in the range of my capabilities. I think refretting it one. A couple of frets on the FG300 need replacing. And doing bridge ramps is the other thing to do.
Those bridge slots are interesting, where the bridge is slotted all the way down to the bridge plate. It seems a better arrangement than the normal bridge with slotted pins.
I bought a FG201B last night. Thankfully it didn't cost too much. $200 AUD. It is an Ezo spruce laminate model - I've been looking for such a model. There is another selling at the moment. The noteworthy thing about this guitar is the bridge/saddle height. It is a full 12mm. The action at the 12th is 2mm. I wonder how it has kept those measurements. They are virtually the condition of a new guitar. I've been thinking it must have received a neck reset. The only other explanation would be that it hasn't been used - it hasn't been strung up.
Unfortunately it costs $440 plus postage. And the postage is going to cost a lot. It is coming from Western Australia. It doesn't come with a case which presents problems. If I could find a way to use Aust Post, which is often possible, the postage comes down to $40-50. But to take that course you would want the guitar in a proper case. The courier option costs about three times more.
I'm tempted to still buy it for the string height alone. I've come to value string height off the top, for the quality they call 'torque'.

I'm thinking of selling the L10, the most valuable guitar I've got. It is made from solid brazilian rosewood. The guitar is wasted on someone like me, who is just a casual, past-time player. I bought it for $2200 but I have seen them advertised for quite a lot more. It has a remarkable sound.

I'm off to look at StewMac and think about buying tools. Fret work tools. There are luthier suppliers here in Australia - I look at their sites too.