Shipping guitar for a neck reset?

[Plainsman]

I need a neck reset on a Martin D16. I'm in Nebraska and have been unable to find someone to do it closer than 3 hours. I'm considering shipping it somewhere.

Does anyone have a recommendation of who to use for the reset?

Or recommendation in Nebraska also?

Thanks!

[hearsedriver]

Bryan Kimsey http://www.bryankimsey.com/

[DenverSteve]

Bryan is very well known and excellent but you've found a place 3 hours away, why don't you just ship it to them? Otherwise, the world is your oyster.

[Plainsman]

Originally Posted by DenverSteve

Bryan is very well known and excellent but you've found a place 3 hours away, why don't you just ship it to them? Otherwise, the world is your oyster.

Thanks guys.

The place 3 hours away I don't know anything about. Just thought that they do resets. I was hoping for some personal recommendations.

I'd probably just drive there if I go with them. If someone was highly recommended but far away I'd ship it. I've never needed a reset before this one and don't have any experience with it.

[ManyMartinMan]

Bryan K is HIGHLY recommended.

[Earl49]

Shipping is shipping, with all the corresponding risk and worry -- and horror stories. When my Martin J-40 needed a neck reset, I happily drove four hours to deliver it to the only authorized repair station "nearby" (and to meet the repair tech / luthier).

I look at this the same as flying myself somewhere. I figured out a long time ago that if it is less than 4 hours drive time each way, flying commercially does not save any time at all. (Drive to the airport, check in, wait for TSA, wait for the flight to depart, fly there, deplane, collect luggage, rent car, go to job site, etc).

Since you’re shipping and it doesn’t appear that you’re looking for warranty repair, I can certainly recommend Bryan. He has some useful packing instructions on his website.

[ChrisN]

I'd go with Bryan since you don't have info on the local guy. It's common for a reset to require some amount of fretwork at additional cost. It's a guarantee you'll need a new saddle shaped to fit, and likely a nut if frets get jiggered. There's the matter of the 14th fret hump, and how the fretboard extension is handled. Different luthiers will handle these issues differently. Some will do only what you tell them to do, while others will "require" a complete refret be part of any reset, at significant cost.

The skills can vary as wildly as the price. Bryan has the skills, to be sure, but as important, he also has hundreds of satisfied customers happily posting about his work wherever they can. I read a lot of internet, and I've never heard a whiff of problem. Instead, I read how he bent over backward to be fair, sometimes to his detriment. His pricing on his site clearly shows what's included and what's not (most stuff is), when other things may be needed, and he's prepared to walk you through it.

Has he done any work for me? Nope - I've not needed any yet, but barring local recommendations, he's where I'd start.

[Plainsman]

Thanks guys.