Thread: Gibson J40??
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Old 05-01-2012, 12:33 PM
The Giant The Giant is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2011
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Hi All, incredibly late reply here...

Tboney4, just wondering if you ever had the J-40 looked at? I ask because I recently came into a 1979 J-40 that my wife's stepdad has had hid away for years. Guitar is all dried out, has a few cracks on the back, and a real nasty crack between the pickguard and bottom of the neck. I've heard this is caused by the pickguard shrinking with humidity loss, and the guitar top gives way before the adhesive. This crack is causing the neck angle to come in too low, meaning very high action (almost unplayable, even though someone tried to sand the saddle down to compensate).

My first step was to get a new case (old cardboard one had all but disintegrated), and put some Dampits in the soundhole to get some much needed moisture into the thing. Unfortunately that about exhausts my guitar repair skills...

I called a local luthier who a few people mentioned as being the best around, and he actually told me this is a fairly simple (and economical) fix that is common in those 70s Gibsons. Bringing it in tomorrow to have the guy take a look. I was wondering if you had any luck getting it corrected, and if this was the same issue.

I don't want to sink a lot of money into this fiddle, and am hoping I can at least get it playable and stable on the cheap.
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