1969 Gallagher G-70 Brazilian Rosewood

[ChadEtris]

A few frets seem to have popped up. Is this common and is it as simple as taking it to a guitar shop and having them tap the popped ones back in?

[ChalkLitIScream]

Depends on why the frets came loose. If it was just changes in humidity, gluing and tapping it back into place is all that is needed. But if the wood of the fretboard was chipped and will not hold the frets even with glue, youll need to replace the fretboard

[Osage]

Originally Posted by ChalkLitIScream

Depends on why the frets came loose. If it was just changes in humidity, gluing and tapping it back into place is all that is needed. But if the wood of the fretboard was chipped and will not hold the frets even with glue, youll need to replace the fretboard

Replace the fretboard for a couple loose frets??? No offense but that is just not the case. You will not have to do this. Even if, as you say, the fretboard is chipped and it won't hold a fret, all that has to be done is the slot needs to be filled and re-cut. Not a big deal at all.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by ChadEtris

A few frets seem to have popped up. Is this common and is it as simple as taking it to a guitar shop and having them tap the popped ones back in?

Chad, what's surprising here is not that a few frets have popped loose on a 48 year old guitar, but that the guitar hasn't had any other age- or environment-related problems manifest themselves. That is, so far as we know.

There are multiple factors that affect the angle of the neck, the wood of the fingerboard and the frets embedded into it. Neckset geometry is fairly complex by its very nature, even on brand new instruments. So neither I nor anyone else on this forum can accurately predict whether it's going to be very simple or a bit more complicated to return the frets and fingerboard to their correct relationship.

It shouldn't be any big deal, though, and it shouldn't be costly to have repaired. Something you should be aware of, however, is that there are a great many acoustic guitar enthusiasts who like to work on their own guitars who read this forum, and who might encourage you to do the work yourself.

This sort of thing might be easily fixed, but it might not be, too. So unless you do, in fact, work on your guitars on a regular basis, I strongly recommend that you take the guitar in to a guitar repair technician to be worked on. It's with these seemingly simple repairs where it's absolutely essential that the work be executed with precision.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[ChadEtris]

Thank you for your reply, Wade. I'm very new to the forum and appreciate any and all information. I don't do much work on my guitars besides changing the strings and giving them a little cleaning. I just got this Gallagher a few days ago. It's my 30th birthday present to myself. I've never had a guitar of this caliber before and would like to take the absolute best care of it. It's a pretty clean guitar considering it's age. The fret issue could be weather... but I'm not 100%. It's just that a few frets are bouncy. I'll be sure to take it to a reputable luthier for servicing. I thought about taking it up to the Gallagher shop up in Tennessee since I'm in Georgia, but have had a hard time getting a hold of them via phone and email.


-Chad Etris

[Wade Hampton]

Chad, it won't hurt to continue to try to reach Gallagher Guitars. It's apparently a one man shop these, days, however: I recently read an article about how it's the grandson of the original guy who's building them now. The older gentleman was referred to by Doc Watson as "Old Man Gallagher, up in War Trace, Tennessee" in one of the more memorable conversations preserved on the original "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" album.

Here's an article about Gallagher Guitars that was published about 10 years ago:

https://www.premierguitar.com/articl...gher-guitars-1

It's not the same article I read a month or two ago, though, which emphasized that the Gallagher operation is now down to Stephen working alone as a one man band, basically.

You'll probably be better off getting the guitar fixed by a good local guitar repairman, anyway. Guitar factories and guitar handbuilders are generally not nearly as fast and efficient at getting repair done as repairman are, for the simple reason that they're set up to BUILD guitars, not repair them. Using local repair techs also spares you the expense and calculated risk involved in shipping instruments anywhere.

Anyway, it's cool that you've found yourself a Brazilian rosewood Gallagher. I've never seen any of those in person, myself. Most of the Gallaghers I've had my hands on had mahogany backs and sides, which makes sense, since mahogany Gallaghers were what Doc Watson always played. So other musicians trying to sound like Doc undoubtedly gravitated to those mahogany instruments. Which in turn meant that Gallagher has probably sold more of them than anything else.

Some guy with a Gallagher guitar



Same guy with a DIFFERENT Gallagher guitar

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Otterhound]

Originally Posted by ChadEtris

Thank you for your reply, Wade. I'm very new to the forum and appreciate any and all information. I don't do much work on my guitars besides changing the strings and giving them a little cleaning. I just got this Gallagher a few days ago. It's my 30th birthday present to myself. I've never had a guitar of this caliber before and would like to take the absolute best care of it. It's a pretty clean guitar considering it's age. The fret issue could be weather... but I'm not 100%. It's just that a few frets are bouncy. I'll be sure to take it to a reputable luthier for servicing. I thought about taking it up to the Gallagher shop up in Tennessee since I'm in Georgia, but have had a hard time getting a hold of them via phone and email.


-Chad Etris

Do try to contact them regardless .
They will be able to tell you when the guitar was made and who it was originally sold to .
Wartrace a very cool small town . I have been there . Just a few doors down from the Gallagher shop , there is a store/restaurant that appears to be the hub of Wartrace . Everyone seems to know everyone else .
Of course , being from Georgia , you likely know of a few places just like it .
Good people .

[George Henry]

I'd like to see and hear that Gallagher. I play a Gallagher Custom D of Indian rosewood. It's much newer than yours but likewise very unique and cool. A competent repairman should be able repair your frets easily and evaluate the overall condition of your guitar.

I was up at Wartrace several months ago. Steve, another builder, and a young woman who participates in building and does sectretary work, were working Mondays - Thursdays in the shop.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by George Henry

I was up at Wartrace several months ago. Steve, another builder, and a young woman who participates in building and does sectretary work, were working Mondays - Thursdays in the shop.

Oh, okay, that's good. The article that I read made it sound as though Stephen was operating as the Lone Ranger, building the guitars all by himself.

Stephen Gallagher wearing his guitar-building outfit




Stephen Gallagher with his trusty guitar-building co-worker

Was the other builder working on the guitars with him named Tonto, by any chance?

Just curious....


whm