Dan Erlewine
Forum Replies Created
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Hi Scott, it’s been 8 years my last Buck Owens and I think the first two I did I mixed Mixol blue with a tad of yellow, white, and black to darken it. Then, the last one I went to Walmart and found an aerosol lacquer that was so close that I used it. All the white binding and letters were silk-screened. I should probably go back to the silkscreen shop and get that screen now that I think of it. Thanks for asking me, and good luck! Dan
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Hi Scott, it’s been 8 years my last Buck Owens and I think the first two I did I mixed Mixol blue with a tad of yellow, white, and black to darken it. Then, the last one I went to Walmart and found an aerosol lacquer that was so close that I used it. All the white binding and letters were silk-screened. I should probably go back to the silkscreen shop and get that screen now that I think of it. Thanks for asking me, and good luck! Dan
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Hi Chris, I have so many samples of these finishes, that I would have to see photos of the ones you have, please send me them; please post them here and I bet we have the same stuff. I have been adding Colortone (Transtint) and it works; Bryan Galloup told me that it worked. I don’t know yet of every color though. thanks, Dan
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I suggest waiting for an answer from John Suhr, or contacting customer service again; I have great respect for John, and can’t imagine that he would drive a screw through the body and into the neck. I think it’s a weird problem which can only be solved by experimenting and then taking chances. I would take some pieces of wood the same basic type as the guitar, drive a screw or two through it and tighten it until it broke; then I would see if I could drill the broken part of the screw out to free it from the body, however I would likely use an end-mill not a drill-bit. I would also have a hardwood block, phenolic, steel, aluminum, or composite with a hole through it the size of the end-mill to keep it square to the work and unable to run out while cutting.
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That is really interesting Michael!
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I think Tony is right and that it should work.
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Hi Corey, I’m glad to hear that you are starting an actual shop. I have wondered why you weren’t around the Looth group lately. I read all the advice from the others, and of course I started in a small shop, and had a number of small shops for many years until finally, and age 72, I built the shop that you visited for the workshop. Before that it was the garage of the house, before that the basement of the house since the now-garage building didn’t exist. We added that onto the house in the mid-90s. I agree that your 8 years of hard work and dedication will pay off greatly. Like Ian said, if you take on “learning projects” as repair jobs do them only if you feel you can, and only one at a time. Will you be building a website? That’s important eventually, and if you have a presence on Instagram that is good. I am just starting to post on Instagram to be honest. Any advice you need can be found on the loothalong and you are welcome to contact me when you think I can help. Bon Voyage! Dan
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Hi John, welcome to the Looth Group. Yes, Doug Proper’s radius-sanding tool is wonderful – he should have invented it 50 years ago, and that really annoys me. However it is one of the most “why din’t I think of dat” tools ever. Here is a 6-year old Gibson Byrdland, that needed: 1) the bridge base fit better to the top; 2) a SMac Benedetto archtop fit to the top (the customer wants a traditonal archtop bridge and an a stock T.O.M. bridge so he can switch them out for tone). Before Doug’s tool, I always taped the top with low-tack sign-painter’s tape, laid sandpaper over that, and sanded carefully north and south and it is a delicate, slow job. This is my favorite new tool except for Ian’s pickguard-gluing cauls, or the Total Vise, or learning how to use a 3D printer, and many more. Thanks Doug!
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Jacob that is a great video. Thanks for sharing. The video quality is super! Dan Erlewine
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I agree with Isn on the square tube fix: neck clamped straight (or in the position you want, if other than straight), carbon fiber rod or combo of rods to fill the the square hole with semi tight/loose fit and epoxy, sliding the carbon into the glue-filled hole like using a ramrod to load a musket until glue stops pumping out (with an apron around the exposed hole to catch squeeze out). You may even want to introduce a tad of backbow if you can judge/guess how weak the neck wood is, which can easily be wrong. Good luck, and thanks for sharing! Dan
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Here is an excerpt from a SM video on doing this job: see it here: https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-ideas/trade-secrets/strengthening-a-square-tube-martin-truss-rod/
The SMac 1/4″ x .200″ carbon fiber rod slides easily into the tube. There’s a little gap beside this rectangular rod in the square tube. Here I’m doing a test-fitting a strip of .020″ plastic binding, which creates a snug fit. (A thin strip of hardwood would also be a good choice of shim material.) Now that I know the pieces fit, I’ll pull them out and set up for gluing.
stewmac.com
Strengthening a square-tube Martin truss rod - StewMac
Dan Erlewine's doing a neck reset on a Martin that has a square-tube truss rod. While he has the neck off, he shows how to improve the truss rod before regluing the neck.
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Hi Rick, I have used them since day one and they are the greatest ever. I put them on my acoustic guitars, and on the “Strational”. For that, since the knobs are too wide to be easy to use on a 6-in-line pehead we made a lathe fixture and turned them down in size and shape and polished them. I put them on my ’37 Kalamzoo, ’39 J-35, Iris, DE-11, a Mahogany Tele neck for a guitar I’m making, and will on any guitar I use alot.
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If you removed wood there you will see the end of the rod and that there is likely still thread there and it could possibly be used with a longer nut of the right size thread. Or, it is quite possilbe to use the SMac truss rod rescue tools (one to bored around around the rod at the end of the neck to clear some wood and then go in with a second tool and chase or cut threads. This would not require removing a chunk of wood from the heel. Here is a link to those tools: https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/tools-by-job/tools-for-truss-rods/stewmac-truss-rod-rescue-tool-sets/
stewmac.com
StewMac Truss Rod Rescue Tool Sets - StewMac
Repair a broken or cross-threaded truss rod. These tools will save your neck!
