[pianissimo]

Originally Posted by tadol

This is one of the reasons building in traditional and time proven ways is so important. The main reason a good luthier can do such a great job repairing a 100 year old Martin is because the materials and techniques haven’t changed hardly at all. It’s when you get into builds by people (or companies) who think they can do it better - like epoxying necks on, or assembling things in ways that you are better off going to a machinist rather than a woodworker - that’s when I would worry.

Not all luthiers have the experience and expertise to rebuild an instrument of that quality, but you shouldn’t have any problem with basic repairs, like neck resets and re-frets, nuts, saddles, set-ups, etc. If you had a serious accident, and needed to re-top it, or some similar major surgery, you would want to check with a few of the better shops (whoever they’ll be in 20 years) before committing to who would do it. Also, with an instrument of that quality, it will be very worth any cost you might incur to keep it in premium condition.

A Claxton, or any of the premium hand-builders we have currently working in traditional techniques, should not be a major concern for long-term reliability and maintainability. Just gotta figure out how to pay for them up front! ;-)

Thank you! That is a much better way to phrase my question! Does Ed Klaxton use only traditional and time-proven techniques that other luthiers repairing would all be familiar with and could work with, or does he use some methods that are relatively rare and unfamiliar?